Business Research: Chapter 3- Clarify the research question

In general, this literature search starts with the management dilemma or question and has four steps. Place these steps in proper sequence.

1. Consult encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and textbooks to identify key terms, people, companies, or events. 2. Apply these key terms, amd such in searching indexes, Bibliographies, and the web to identify specific secondary sources. 3. Locate and review specific secondary sources for relevance to the management dilemma. 4. Evaluate the value of each source and its content.

Periodically the _ updates population estimates with sample studies, as well as conducting numerous other studies on current topics of interest, including retail and food, services, housing, capital expenditures, time use, wholesale trade, business dynamics, research and development, county business patterns, exports and imports and more.

Census Bureau

Internal sources should be evaluated on the following criteria. Match each criteria with its description.

Compatibility- the more the data meshes with the current management dilemma, the more valuable the data. Timelessness- the less the data has been affected by time, the more valuable the data. Recentness- the more current the data, the more valuable the data. Quality- the more that standards of good research were applied in collecting the original data, the more valuable the data. Author experience- the more experienced the individuals, the more valuable the data.

Match these tyoes of management questions with their description.

Evaluation of solutions- choices between concrete actions to solve problems or take advantage of opportunities. Choice of purpose- choice of objectives. Troubleshooting- diagnosing ways an organization is failing to meet its goals. Control- Monitoring or diagnosing ways an organization is failing to meet its goals.

_ is loosely structured research but with defined purpose.

Exploration

_ the question is what a skillfull practitioner must do after the exploration is complete.

Fine-tuning

Which of the following are tertiary sources?

Indexes Bibliographies Internet searches

These individuals can provide substantiation for trends, the identity of firms who have faced similar problems amd identified solutions, background on management dilemmas in the broad sense, and more.

Industry experts

What they offer is not only information about past decisions and effects of those decisions, but decision-making context.

Institutional memory guardians

_ questions represent the information that the decision maker needs to know.

Investigative

Researchers should evaluate and select information sources based on five factors. Which of thw following questions would be used to evaluate format?

Is the design appealing? How quickly can you find needed information? Is the information downloadable into a spreadsheet or word processing program, if desired?

Stage 1 in the research process accomplishes which of the following tasks?

Justify and budget for research. Define the management-research question hierarchy. Define amd execute the exploration strategy. Value the research.

In a business situation, investing in research should increase the desired effect on _.

KPI

Match each with their explanation.

Management question- this is a restatement of the managers dilemma in question form. Research questions- these questions explore the various options and forms one or more hypotheses that best states the objective of the research. Investigative questions- these are questions the researcher must answer to satisfactorily answer the research question. Measurement questions- these are questions that participants in research are asked or what specifically is observed in a research study.

_ could become questions on a survey or elements on an observation checklist.

Measurement questions

Researchers should evaluate and select information sources based on five factors. Match each factor with its description.

Purpose- the explicit or hidden agenda of the information source. Scope- the breadth and depth of topic coverage, including time period, geographic limitations, and the criteria for information inclusion. Authority- the level of the data and the credentials of the source authors. Audience- the characteristics and background of the people or groups for whom the source was created. Format- how the information is presented and the degree of ease of locating specific information within the source.

One way to value research is using option analysis. This needs several pieces of information. Match the information needed with its description.

Two or more options- these are actions a manager might take to address a management dilemma. One or more decision variables- these are projected quantifiable effects of any option being considered. A decision rule- this is the criteria the manager will use to make an unbiased decision among the options. The estimated budget- this is the expected cost of the research.

Which of the following represents a management dilemma?

What environmental stimuli raise management interest?

Researchers should evaluate and select information sources based on five factors. Which of the following questions would be used to evaluate authority?

Who links to this site? Does this site give you a means of contacting anyone for further information? What are the credentials of the author or institution or organization sponsoring the site? If facts are supplied, where do they come from?

Every decision in business needs an _.

advocate

A strong search of published and digital sources will reveal the identity of people who can add valuable insight. They fall into which of the following groups?

affected company employees institutional memory guardians industry experts directly involved company employees

For many businesses, the most valuable information will be embedded in the firm's current digital _.

dashboard

Uses artificial intelligence to discover patterns and trends in the data and to infer rules from patterns in the data.

data mining

An electronic repository for data that organizes large volumes of data into categories or folders to facilitate retrieval, interpretation, and sorting by end users.

data warehouse

In business, as in every field, there are many specialized _ that define words, terms, or jargon unique to a discipline.

dictionaries glossaries

Stage 1 in the research process uses _ research.

exploratory

A _ search is a review of books, as well as articles in journals or professional literature that relate to your management dilemma.

literature

Regardless of the organizational structure, the _ shares the heaviest weight in executing stage 1 ethically.

manager

An example of _ is the detection of stolen credit cards based on analysis of credit card transaction records.

pattern discovery

A _ question best states the objective of the business research study.

research

Dollars are drawn from the discretionary reserves of an organization ot the budget of an inhouse research operation to fund a research project.

task budget