Main Objectives

The main objectives of this section are to:

 understand the purpose of carrying out research.
 Master the steps taken when carrying out research.
 be able to classify research into different types.
 understand the significance of knowledge of data
(variable) type and the research plan
 Develop a researchable topic, identify the chapters and
sections to be included and find out the right content
in each chapter/section
 Focus areas
i. The significance of research,
ii. Importance of a research plan,
iii. Basis for the classification of research and a description
of different types of research,
iv. Characterisation of data types and the significance of
knowledge of data type,
v. Identification of a research gap,
vi. Components of a good research problem,
 Focus areas
vii. How to develop:
 a researchable title,
 A good introduction and background of study,
 a sound problem statement/ a real problem/ the
problematic issue,
 Good research questions,
 well-defined research objectives,
 Well-aligned research hypotheses,
 A vivid justification of study,
 Definition of terms,
 Study limitations and delimitation of the study.
Research Process
The research process is a walk through framework or
guideline to research (Saunders et al., 1997).
The process given below shows the orderly process
with one stage leading logically on to the next.
However, in practise, research is rarely like that.
The Research Path or Process
1. Identify a broad area of study

2. Select/ develop the research topic

3. Decide the Approach

4. Develop the Plan

5. Collect the data or information

6. Analyse & interpret the Data

7. Present the Findings

 Identifying a broad area of study
Research Problem – is the first & most crucial step in the
research process.
specifies what you want to find out about or
what research questions (problems) you want to find answers to
Sources of research problems
1. Study Population
 individuals, organizations, groups, communities
2. Subject area
Problems – issues/problems, associations, needs, attitude of
people towards an issue
Programmes – evaluating the effectiveness of an interventions,
Phenomena – establishing the existence of an irregularity,
 Sources of research problems
Marx (1997) suggests the following as possible sources of
research questions:
 Intellectual puzzles and contradictions;
 Existing literature (theoretical and empirical);
 Structures and functions;
 A social, economic, political, cultural or technological problem;
 When common sense opposes scientific truths
 Empirical examples that trigger amazement;
 New methods and theories;
 New social and technical developments and trends;
 Personal experience;
 Sponsors and tutors
 Examples of topics
The effect of employee-customer interactions and
customer-customer interactions on customer loyalty in
Zim’s cellular industry.
An analysis of factors affecting credit risk in the Zimbabwe
Banking Sector.
The impact of enterprise risk management practices on
business performance; the case of Zimbabwean SMEs.
An analysis of the perceived barriers to innovation in SMEs
in the Zimbabwean panel beating industry.
An investigation of the factors affecting tourist destination
in Zimbabwe.
The determinants of employee retention
Decide the research paradigm
Your general approach to the research is known as
your research paradigm.
The term paradigm refers to the progress of scientific
practice based on people’s philosophies and
assumptions about the world and the nature of
knowledge; in this context about how research should
be conducted
 Developing a research plan
This is a detailed course of action.

This specifies the activities to be done and the time

periods of undertaking the activities.

The resources required (financial and non-financial).

Failure to develop a proper plan of action will result in the

research not being accomplished.

A research plan also takes into account the factors that are

critical when choosing a research problem.

Framework for crafting research
WHAT?
 What puzzles/intrigues me?
 What do I want to know more about/ understand
better?
 What are my key research questions?
WHY?
 Will this be of enough interest to others to be
published as a thesis, book, paper, policy issue etc?
 Can the research be justified as a contribution to
knowledge?
 Framework for crafting research cont’d
HOW?
What models, concepts and theories can I draw on/
develop to answer my research questions?
How can these be brought together into a basic
conceptual framework to guide my in my
investigation?
What investigative styles and techniques shall I use to
apply my conceptual framework (both to gather
material and analyse it)?
How shall I gain and maintain access to information
sources?
 Research methodology vs Research
Methods
 Research methodology is the study of the general approach
used in a scientific enquiry.
 It involves two key processes:
i. Process of confirmation to establish the reliability of
knowledge.
ii. Process of discovery to create new knowledge.
 Research methods are specific tools, techniques, or
procedures applied to achieve a research objective e.g
regression analysis, mathematical analysis, use of
theoretical models, sample surveys etc.
 Steps in research problem formulation
Identify a broad subject area of interest to you.
Dissect the broad area into sub-areas.
Select what is of most interest to you.
Raise research questions.
Formulate objectives.
Formulate hypotheses.
Example:
Step 1, Identify: Business Finance
Step 2, Dissect: Sources of Finance, Determinants of
profitability, usefulness of financial statements etc.
Step 3, Select: Barriers to export marketing
Steps cont.
Step 4, Raise questions
what are the most suitable financing strategies under
tight liquidity.
What are the barriers to access of finance?
What are the effects of limited access to finance by
firms?
Step 5, Formulate objectives
To establish the most suitable financing strategies under
tight liquidity.
To examine the barriers to access of finance.
To explore the effects of limited access to finance by
firms.
Steps cont
Step 6, Formulate hypotheses
A logical claim/opinion/ proposition about the
relationship between or among factors
Internal sources of finance are the most suitable
under tight liquidity.
Give the remaining two hypotheses.
Developing a Conceptual framework
A research model showing the relationships among
variables in the study
 Variables- indicators of a research concept
factors which vary or change & measurable
A variable is different from a concept in that it is
measurable, hence a concept should be converted
into variables
Variables cont.
Researchers are mostly interested in relationships
between variables shown by
(a) independent variable.
(b) dependent variable.
Independent variable - cause or bring about change in
other variables.
Also called Predictor/Precursor/Antecedent
Dependent variable- changed or affected by independent
variables, sometimes through other variables.
 Variable cont.
Also called an outcome factor
Examples:
An investigation of the impact of employee motivation on job
performance among managers in the financial services sector

EMPLOYEE
JOP PERFORMANCE
IV MOTIVATION DV
Example
An assessment of the influence of servant leadership
on organisational commitment in Zimbabwe state
universities

SERVANT ORGANISATIONAL
LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT

IV DV
Variables cont.
Types of relationships among Variables
Direct relationships e.g one predictor one outcome,
one predictor several outcomes, several predictors one
outcome.
Indirect relationships
E.g predictor, moderator & outcome, or
predictor, mediator & outcome

DATA TYPES AND MEASUREMENT SCALES

Formulating research objectives, questions
& hypotheses
Research question
-Research questions help to develop research
objectives
How can the effectiveness of employee training be
measured?
How effective is the risk management system in
improving business performance?
How does gender moderate the relationship
between management styles and corporate
performance?
Research Objectives.
Research objective
Indicate what the research study seeks to achieve
-To establish suitable effectiveness criteria for risk
management system.
-To determine those factors associated with the
effectiveness criteria for risk management.
-to develop an explanatory theory that associates
certain factors with the effectiveness of risk
management system.
Wording of research objectives
Start objectives with the following words:
To determine, to find out, to evaluate
To ascertain, to measure, to explore
To describe, to assess, to analyse
 To compare, to investigate
Problem statement
The researcher should identify a problem within the
organisation or the industry that the research findings
will help to solve (management dilemma/management
problem)
a clear and concise description of the research problem
needs to be given.
A clear expression of the truly existing problem.
Challenging enough to deserve a lengthy research period.
Solution of such would yield substantial results.
This must be exclusively a researchable problem.
Research Gap
What previous research studies did not address
Omissions or weaknesses of previous research
How do we identify Research Gaps?
-Research gaps exist if the following exist:
1. Insufficient or Imprecise information
2. Biased information
3. Inconsistency or Unknown Consistency
4. Not the right information
Identifying a Research Gap
1. Insufficient or Imprecise information
Insufficient information can arise is:
(a) No studies are identified in your proposed research
area
(b) A limited number of studies are identified in your
research area
(c) The information available in identified studies is
insufficient to allow a conclusion
(d) The sample sizes in the available studies are too small
to allow conclusions about the question of interest
Identifying a Research Gap
2. Biased Information
Information provided in research is biased due to:
(a)Methodological limitations of studies or the
appropriateness of the study design eg sampling design,
research approach, research strategy used could result
in biased findings
Identifying a Research Gap
3. Not the right information
Identified studies might not provide the right
information because:
(a) The results might not applicable to the population
and/or setting of interest
(b) The optimal or most important outcomes might not
be assessed
(c) The study duration might be too short to adequately
assess some outcomes which might be most
important
Identifying a Research Gap
4. Inconsistency or unresolved issues/debates
 no universal agreement on a given phenomenon e.g
academics and practitioners don’t agree on.
 the impact of diversification on company performance,
 impact of globalization on the economy,
 organizational outcomes of dollarization in Zimbabwe
Creating a research space/gap
X shows Y, however, this may not be applicable in
Hong Kong
While X shows Y, he fails to take account of Z
Significance/Justification of the research
study
Should illustrate why the researcher is conducting the
research and whom it shall benefit.
In this section the researcher describes the values or
the benefits that will accrue from doing the study.
The significance of the study is concerned with the
relevance of the problem both to the practice and
theory.
That is, does the study explore an important question,
meet a recognized need or make a useful contribution
to practice and theory.
Introduction
A good introduction sets the tone and direction of the
report.
It informs the reader what the research is about, presents
the overall research objective and specific research
question
In particular, you need to make it clear what specific
business related problem or issue is being addressed.
What does your project contribute to address this
particular problem or issue?
What contribution do you hope to make to help business
with the problem or issue you have identified and
addressed?
The introduction may also present and summarise the
contents of the remaining sections to the reader
Background of the problem
History of the problem under scrutiny is put into context
Explain shading more light as to how the problem came into
being, how it has become a cause of concern , its magnitude &
consequences being caused by delay to find a solution
Statistics can be used to the seriousness of the problem
A review of efforts that have been made to solve the problem
in the past (previous studies) with problem persisting
How successful were these attempts (findings of previous
studies)
Use a funnel approach to highlight the problem (broader to
specific eg from global to continental to regional to country)
Sections in chapter one
Introduction
Background to the study/problem
Statement of the problem
Research questions
Research objectives
Hypothesis/proposition
Justification/rationale/significance
Limitations
Scope of study
Chapter summary