BUSINESS RESEARCH METHOD

The Series of Essay

1
ESSAY ONE
Basic research would basically refer to systematic study which is aimed at fuller
knowledgeor a deeper understanding of the essential aspects of phenomena as
well as of observablefacts. This would be done with no precise applications
towards any processes or products inmind. At the same time basic research
could possibly comprise activities with maybe broadapplications in mind.
On the other hand, applied research identifies a systematic study undertaken to
obtainknowledge or understanding which is necessary in order to establish the
possible means bywhich a known and exact need may be met.
The terms fundamental or pure research have also been applied to basic
research. It refersto research motivated by a scientist's or person's curiosity or
keen interest in a scientificquestion. Applied research may be thought of as
intended to solve practical problems.
Basic research whether in business research or any other field has as its basic
goal, toexpand one's knowledge. Basic questions such as, “How can we increase
production andsave money at the same time”, might be a question for business.
If, we increase production,we also increase the cost of payroll by hiring
additional production employees. “How can thissave money?” Curiosity lies at
the heart of all business and it is this curiosity, which causesbusiness to
constantly ask questions that require research. Today modern business
usesresearch techniques and the latest technology to achieve these goals.
Basic research aims to enhance the understanding of problems that commonly
occur acrossa range of organisations while an applied research is done with the
intention of applyingresults to specific problems in the especially in business.
One person has at any given timecan defines his or her research goal, as an idea
to investigate, and a question to answer. Itis the type of question which
determines the nature of the research.
Applied research is solutions designed from basic research information, aimed
at thesolution of business problems within the company. The goal of applied
research is changefor the better, improvements in business management and
practice aimed at improving thehuman condition. Regardless of the type of
business, applied research has as its goal inbusiness to improve production,
increase sales, control losses, restore efficiency andestablish solid financial
investment in the future.
2

Basic research has understanding as only goal. Basic research does only
promise acontribution to question, not to anything else, but it can give the most
unexpectedapplications. Therefore as researcher, we can draw a borderline
between basic and appliedresearch by sorting questions into those with or
without knowledge as to be achieved.
As any business theory is based upon an idea or mental plan for creating a
successfulbusiness, investigation into what others are doing and using what is
known to discover newand better ways to solve the unknown answers in
business is an ongoing process. Usinginnovative technology and modern
developmental processes paved the way for industrydevelopment in today's
modern world.
As conclusion, historically basic research has led to the application of basic
research toimprove and develop our modern world of business industries world
wide. Good concepts ofbasic or applied research in the context of business
policy must be inspiring for the individualin any research group.
REFERENCE
C.C Beri (2000) Marketing Research. (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill
Sekaran, U. (2000). Research Methods for Business. New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
Tuckman, B. (1999). Conducting Educational Research (5th ed.). Fort Worth,
TX: Harcourt
Brace College Publishers.
3
ESSAY 2
The research process should be understood as one of ongoing planning,
searching,discovery, reflection, synthesis, revision, and learning. According to
Sekaran. U (2001),research is a process of thoroughly studying and analyzing
the situational factorssurrounding a problem in order to seek out solutions to it.
Therefore research process is asystematic, careful inquiry or examination to
discover new information or relationships and toexpand or verify existing
knowledge for some specified purpose.
In the business world, research process includes the systematic identification,
collection,analysis and distribution of information for the purpose of knowledge
development anddecision making. It can be in the form of marketing research,
product research or SWOTanalysis.The reasons and times at which the
company or organization might considerperforming research varies, but the
general purpose of gaining intelligence for decisionmaking remains constant
throughout.
There are plenty of little steps along the way of research process. Each of those
steps fits
into one of the six major steps of the research process. They are:
1.Identifying the Problem
This step is always the first of the research process. At this point, the problem
will havebeen recognized by at least one level of management, and internal
discussions will havetaken place. Sometimes, further definition of the issue or
problem is needed. The mostcommon tools are internal and external secondary
research. Secondary researchintelligence consists of information that was
collected for another purpose, but can beuseful for other purposes.
Examples of internal secondary research for a marketing research consist of
salesrevenues, sales forecasts, customer demographics, purchase patterns, and
otherinformation that has been collected about the customer. Often referred to
as data mining,this information can be critical in diagnosing the problem for
further exploration andshould be leveraged when available and appropriate. The
amount of internal secondaryinformation that can be applied is typically limited.
External secondary research is typically far more available. Most external
secondaryinformation is produced via research conducted for other purposes,
financialperformance data, expert opinions and analysis, corporate executive
interviews, legalproceedings, and competitive intelligence firms

2. Research Approach
Once the problem is better defined, researcher can move onto developing the
research
approach, which will generally be around a defined set of objectives.
Any clear objectives will lend researcher to better marketing research
approachdevelopment. Developing the approach should consist of honestly
assessing theresearch skills, understanding the environment and its influencing
factors, developing ananalysis model, and formulating hypotheses.
3.Research Design and Strategy
Research design and strategy is the most encompassing of all steps in the
researchprocess, requiring the greatest amount of thought, time and expertise.
Since theintelligence eventually gained from the research is so closely related to
the selectedresearch design, this is the single most import step in the research
process and the stepmost vulnerable to common marketing research errors.
Research design and strategy includes secondary information analysis,
qualitativeresearch, methodology selection, question measurement and scale
selection,questionnaire design, sample design & size and determining data
analysis to be used.
4.Research Data Collection
The research data collection (often called survey fielding) is the point at which
thefinalized survey instrument is used in gathering information among the
chosen samplesegments. There are a variety of data collection methodologies to
consider.
Any research data collection typically begins with field testing the final
questionnaire witha small portion of the sample taken to make sure it is
gathering information correctly.Then data collection can be fairly automatic
throughout the remainder of the researchdata collection process. When quota
groups and/or sample subgroups are beingscreened for, data collection will
require more oversight, maintenance time and cost.Regardless of the data
collection methodology chosen, the data collection process oftentakes half of
the total time needed to complete a research project.
5.Survey Data Analysis
Any survey data analysis will depend on how the survey questionnaire was
constructed.
Less complex survey data analysis can be handled with any of a number of
office suite
5
tools, while more complex questionnaire data analysis requires dedicated
research
analysis programs.
Types of statistical survey data analysis that might be performed are simple
frequencydistributions, cross tab analysis, multiple regression (driver analysis),
cluster analysis,factor analysis, perceptual mapping (multidimensional scaling),
structural equationmodeling and data mining. The more complex the needed
level of statistical dataanalysis is, the more time and cost it will take to execute.
6. Research Reports
Any critical information and knowledge that comes from the research findings
will belimited by how the research reports are presented to decision makers.
Once researchinformation is collected and analyzed, present it in an organized
manner to the decisionmakers of the business. The data gathered was created to
help guide the businessdecisions, so it needs to be readily accessible and
understandable to the decision makers.
As conclusion, building a framework process for a research is very important.
Equallyimportant is to establish links between research type of approach,
theoretical framework,and process involve during research and results of a
research finding. In addition, theproposed sequence or step in research process
helps answer the question, whether thefindings answer and justify the rationale
or base for conducting the research which benefitingthe company and the
organization.
6
REFERENCE
C.C Beri (2000) Marketing Research. (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill
Hudson, W. & Nurius, P. (1994). Controversial Issues in Social Work Research.
Boston,
MA:Allyn and Bacon.
Sekaran, U. (2000). Research Methods for Business. New York: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
Tuckman, B. (1999). Conducting Educational Research (5th ed.). Fort Worth,
TX: Harcourt
Brace College Publishers