Chapter 2.

1: The scientific approach and alternatives approaches to investigations

Learning Objectives After completing Chapter 2 you should be able to:

 Explain what is meant by scientific investigation, giving examples of both

scientific and non-scientific investigations.
 Explain the eight hallmarks ‫ السمات المميزه‬of science.
 Describe the building blocks of science.
 Scientific research focuses on solving problems and pursues a step-by-step
logical, organized, and rigorous method to identify the problems, gather data,
analyze them, and draw valid conclusions from them.

 Scientific research enables all those who are interested in researching and
knowing about the same or similar issues to come up with comparable findings
when the data are analyzed.

 Scientific investigation tends to be more objective than subjective and helps

managers to highlight the most critical factors at the workplace that need
specific attention so as to avoid, minimize, or solve problems.

 Scientific investigation and managerial decision making are integral aspects of

effective problem solving. The term scientific research applies, therefore, to both
basic and applied research.

 At other times, the problem may be so simple that it does not call for elaborate
research, and past experience might offer the necessary solution.

The hallmarks of scientific Th e hallmarks or main distinguishing characteristics of scientific research may be listed
research as follows:

1. Purposiveness. ‫الهادفه‬
2. Rigor.‫الدقه‬
3. Testability.‫قابلية االختبار‬
4. Replicability.‫التكرار‬
5. Precision and confidence. ‫الدقه والثقه‬
6. Objectivity.‫الموضوعيه‬
7. Generalizability.‫التعميم‬
8. Parsimony. ‫التقتير‬

 Each of these characteristics can be explained in the context of a concrete

example.
 Let us consider the case of a manager who is interested in investigating how
employees’ commitment to the organization can be increased.

 We shall examine how the eight hallmarks of science apply to this investigation
so that it may be considered “scientific.”

 Purposiveness ‫الهادفه‬

Characteristics
The manager has started the research with a definite aim or purpose.
The focus is on increasing the commitment of employees to the organization, as
 this will be beneficial in many ways.
An increase in employee commitment will translate into lower turnover, less
absenteeism, and probably increased performance levels, all of which will
definitely benefit the organization. The research thus has a purposive focus.

 Rigor:‫الدقه‬
characteristics
A good theoretical base and a sound methodological design add rigor to a
purposive study. Rigor connotes carefulness, scrupulousness ‫التدقيق‬, and the
degree of exactitude ‫ دقه‬in research investigations. In the case of our example,
let us say the manager of an organization asks 10 to 12 of its employees to
indicate what would increase their level of commitment to it. If, solely on the
basis of their responses, the manager reaches several conclusions on how
employee commitment can be increased, the whole approach to the
investigation is unscientific. It lacks rigor for the following reasons:

1. The conclusions are incorrectly drawn because they are based on the
responses of just a few employees whose opinions may not be
representative of those of the entire workforce.
2. The manner of framing and addressing the questions could have introduced
bias or incorrectness in the responses.
3. There might be many other important influences on organizational
commitment that this small sample of respondents did not or could not
verbalize during the interviews, and the researcher has therefore failed to
include them.
Therefore, conclusions drawn from an investigation that lacks a good theoretical
foundation, as evidenced by reason 3, and methodological sophistication, as
evident from 1 and 2 above, are unscientific.

Rigorous research involves a good theoretical base and a carefully thought-out

methodology. These factors enable the researcher to collect the right kind of
information from an appropriate sample with the minimum degree of bias and
facilitate suitable analysis of the data gathered. The following chapters of this
book address these theoretical and methodological issues. Rigor in research
design also makes possible the achievement of the other six hallmarks of science
that we shall now discuss.

Testability:‫قابلية االختبار‬
Characteristic

Testability is a property that applies to the hypotheses of a study.

Hypotheses are derived from theory, which is based on the logical beliefs of the
researcher and on (the results of) previous, scientific research

A scientific hypothesis must be testable. Not all hypotheses can be tested. Non-
testable hypotheses are often vague statements, or they put forward something
that cannot be tested experimentally. A famous example of a hypothesis that is
not testable is the hypothesis that God created the earth. If, after talking to a
random selection of employees of the organization and study of the previous
research done in the area of organizational commitment, the manager or
researcher develops certain hypotheses on how employee commitment can be
enhanced, then these can be tested by applying certain statistical tests to the
data collected for the purpose. For instance, the researcher might hypothesize
 that those employees who perceive greater opportunities for participation in
decision making will have a higher level of commitment. This is a hypothesis that
can be tested when the data are collected.

Replicability ‫التكرار‬

 Let us suppose that the manager/researcher, based on the results of the study,
concludes that participation in decision making is one of the most important
factors that influences the commitment of employees to the organization.

 We will place more faith and credence in these findings and conclusion if similar
findings emerge on the basis of data collected by others employing the same
methods – that is, we have more faith in the findings of a study if the findings
are replicated in another study.

 Replication demonstrates that our hypotheses have not been supported merely
by chance but are reflective of the true state of affairs in the population. The
results of the tests of hypotheses should be supported again and yet again when
the same type of research is repeated in similar circumstances. To the extent
that this does happen (i.e., the results are replicated or repeated), we will gain
confidence in the scientific nature of our research.

 Replication is made possible by a detailed description of the design details of the

study, such as the sampling method and the data collection methods that were
used. This information should create the possibility to replicate the research.
Replicability is the extent to which a re-study is made possible by the provision
of the design details of the study in the research report. Replicability is another
hallmark of scientific research.

Precision and confidence

 In management research, we seldom have the luxury of being able to draw

“definitive” conclusions on the basis of the results of data analysis. This is
because we are unable to study the universe of items, events, or population we
are interested in, and have to base our findings on a sample that we draw from
the universe. In all probability, the sample in question may not reflect the exact
characteristics of the phenomenon we are trying to study (these difficulties are
discussed in greater detail in Chapter 13). Measurement errors and other
problems are also bound to introduce an element of bias or error in our findings.
However, we would like to design the research in a manner that ensures that our
findings are as close to reality (i.e., the true state of affairs in the universe) as
possible, so that we can place reliance or confidence in the results.
summary