Chapter 1: Introduction to Research

Business Research Methodology

Assignment
(MBA FINANCE)

Uniglobe College

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 Submitted by:

Submitted to: Salil Thapa

Mr. Phul Prasad Subedi Sangita Aryal

Sanjay Rai
Sanjay Sah
Sarita Shrestha
Sashi Sundar Hada
Shanti Nath
Shekha Chand
Sneha Tandukar
Subina Adhikari
Sudesh Paudel
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Urusha Joshi
We would like to express special thanks to Mr. Phul Prasad Subedi, Business
Research Methodology faculty at Uniglobe College, whose able support and
guidance propelled our sucess towards the completion of this group assignment.
Likewise, we would like to thank Uniglobe College and Pokhara University for
inculcating Business Research Methodology in our syllabus which has yielded great
fruits in expanding our research competence and depth of knowledge of the same.
Lastly, we would like to thank our parents, friends and family membersfor their
continuous direct and indirect support to our completion of this group assignment.

DATE: 6/1/20
Salil Thapa
Sangita Aryal
Sanjay Rai
Sanjay Sah
Sarita Shrestha 2
Sashi Sundar Hada
 TABLE OF CONTENT

1) Introduction to research 4

2) Types of research 5

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3) Types of management research 6

4) Why do we undertake research? 8

5) Characteristics of scientific research 10

6) Paradigms of research 12

7) Issues in research 15

8) Ethics in research 17

9) Ethical principles for researchers 20

10) Tringulation 22

11) Social Research 24

12) Deductive and inductive research 26

13) Research process 29

14) Research structure 31

Bibliography 33

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 1) INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH

Submitted by Sarita Shrestha

In general language, research means search again and again to find the actual fact of
phenomenon. It is the process of searching again and again to come closer to the truth.
It is the study of specific problem or issue using the scientific method. Research can
be done from observing the world, prior research, friend etc. research is the
investigation to know more about something. It is the depth analysis of all data and
information collected from different source.
Research highlight two important aspects. First, research investigation are sufficiently
broad to include all types of investigation requiring solution to a problem, or creation
of new knowledge. Second, they explicitly recognize the systematic nature of the
research process in which data are gathered, recorded, analyzed and interpreted in an
organized and systematic manner.
John W. Best (1992): “Research is a systematic and objective analysis and recording
of controlled observations that may lead to the development of a theory.”
Uma Sekaran (2007): “Research is an organized, systematic, data-based, critical,
scientific enquiry or investigation into a specific problem, undertaken with the
objective of finding answers or solution to it.
Research process involves the series of activities of gathering, recording analyzing,
and interpreting the data to find the solution of certain problem.

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 2) TYPES OF RESEARCH

Submitted by Subina Adhikari

There are different types of research and are classified according to its nature and
purpose of the study. The types of research according to the purpose of study are
described below:

i. Applied Research:

Applied research is a methodology that is used to solve a particular problem of an

individual or group and mostly these types of research are used in business sector,
medicine as well as education sector in order to find the solution or to develop new
technology or innovation. The nature of applied research is practical and its utility
remains for limited time period. It includes research that focuses on certain types of
conclusions experiencing a business problem. The main objective of applied research
isto find out the solution for the problem at hand. For example: ways to market
products, ways of improving the levels of customer retention, ways of improving
agricultural crops production and so on.

ii. Basic Research:

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Basic research is a type of research that aims to improve scientific theories forthe
improvement of understanding or prediction of nature and it is purely theoretical with
the intent of increasing our understanding of certain behavior but does not find
solution for the problems. The nature of basic research is theoretical and has universal
applicability. The main objective of basic research is to add some knowledge to the
existing one. For example: a study to find whether men or women are more likely to
suffer from depression, an investigation to know the stress level, a study looking at
how caffeine consumption impacts the brain and so on.

3) TYPES OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

Submitted by Sarita Shrestha

Management research can be broadly classified into the following categories:

1. Policy research

It is the development of foundation of information that is used to make plan and

decision. The purpose of policy research is to support planning and decision making
in forming policies. Especially it is related to the strategic analysis and planning
activities of the organization. According to Manson and Bramble, “Policy research is
defined as the development of a foundation of information to be used as a basis for
making plans and decisions that will impact policy”. It is concerned with analysis of
overall analysis organization situation propose of formulating policy proposal and
establishing their priorities. There are three basic element of policy research. They are

 Study occurrence of policy formulation with a view to understand and

improving the process
 Designed to analyze the situation at strategic level and to formulate overall
policy proposal.
 Evaluate the priorities to be accorded to conflicting and complementary policy
alternatives.

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 2. Managerial Research

It is related to specific problem of limited scope to take decision based on need of

information. It is focus on the activities, scheme or project run by management.
Managerial research helps to find the actual problem in plan or research. It indicate
that there is something wrong in the project and their plan and also shows why the
project has gone wrong. It shows the detail information about the mistake and reason
of failure. It is concern with the finding the solution of specific problem and how to
implement the solution.

3. Action Research

Action research is the task oriented forms of the study designed to provide feedback
about the performance of management activity and to improve the performance. It
gather and analyze the research data during the operation of an organization. It helps
to find out the way to solve the problem of business. During the study, the researcher
repeat the process of performing an action , so they can know what is happening and
they can use this information to plan the next action. The basic feature of action
research are as follows:

 Addresses practical problem

 Generate new knowledge
 Enacts change
 Is participatory
 Relies on a cyclical process

4. Evaluation Research

According to Manson and Bramble, “Evaluation is the process of determining the

value or the worth of something.”

It is done to measure the achievement against the objectives, to identify the gaps and
problem areas and to suggest that there need the improvement or not. It is related with
policy research in which policies, objectives, strategies and programs are examined. It

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helps to analyze the cause of failure. There are two types of evaluation research. They
are

a) Formative Evaluation

It is the study which seek to collect the information during the implementation
process, with the view to informing the development of program. The goal is to
provide information for the development of particular change or intervention
program.

b) Summative Evaluation

It is a study which helps to gather information on the effectiveness of program after

implementing. It seek the answer to the question about what relationship exist
between the goals of the program and its outcome.

4) WHY UNDERTAKE RESEARCH?

Submitted by Shreya Manandhar

Research is pervasive in nature and it affects all the people in their daily life as well as
in the family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Findings from research studies
appear on broadcast news programs, in magazines and newspapers, and on many Web
sites and blogs. They cover dozens of topics and fields: law and public safety,
schooling, health care, personal and family relations, political issues, and business
activities as well as international and social trends. The main purpose of research is to
inform action, to prove a theory, and contribute to developing knowledge in a field or
study. Research allows you to pursue your interests, to learn something new, to

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enhance your problem-solving skills and to challenge yourself in new ways. Some of
the reason why people undertake research are as follows:

 Opportunity to discover new knowledge and expand about what you already
know.
 Means to understand various issues and increase public awareness.
 To get research degree with its consequential benefits.
 An aid to Business Success.
 A way to Prove Lies and to Support Truths.
 To serve the society and to get respect.

Different purposes of research

 Exploratory: Exploratory research is conducted to explore a group of questions.

The answers and analytics may not offer a final conclusion to the perceived
problem. It is conducted to handle new problem areas which haven’t been
explored before.
 Descriptive: Descriptive research focuses on expanding knowledge on current
issues through a process of data collection. Descriptive studies are used to
describe the behavior of a sample population. In a descriptive study, only one
variable is required to conduct the study. The three main purposes of
descriptive research are describing, explaining, and validating the findings.
 Explanatory: Explanatory research or causal research is conducted to
understand the impact of certain changes in existing standard procedures.
Conducting experiments is the most popular form of casual research. For
example, a study conducted to understand the effect of rebranding on customer
loyalty.

Research is also done to reduce five errors .They are:

 Overgeneralization: It occurs when we have some believable evidence and

then assume that it applies to many other situations as well. Note the word
“over.” Generalization can be appropriate but it is limited. We can
generalize a small amount of evidence to a broader situation but only if we
do so with great care.

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  Selective observation: It occurs when we take special notice of certain people
or events and then generalize from them. Most often we focus on
particular cases or situations, especially when they fit preconceived ideas.
 Premature closure: It operates with and enforces the first two errors. It occurs
when we feel we have the answer and no longer need to listen, seek
information, or raise questions. For practical purposes, at some point, we
need to stop gathering information and come to a decision. We gather a
small amount of evidence or look at events for a short time and then think
we have it figured out. We look for evidence to confirm or reject an idea
and stop after getting a small amount of evidence and jump to conclusions.
 Halo effect: The halo effect occurs when we overgeneralize from what we
believe to be highly positive or prestigious. We give a halo to, or a positive
reputation to, things or people we respect.
 False consensus: It suggests that we are not good at distinguishing between
what we personally think and what we think most other people believe. In
short, we tend to see the views of most other people as being similar to our
own views. This is not a matter of purposely conforming to and copying a
crowd perspective. Rather, most of us feel that our own views are
“normal” or “ordinary” in comparison with others.

Research helps address the errors of personal experience. Research standards, rules,
and principles are designed to reduce the misjudgment, bias, and distorted thinking
that frequently occurs with personal experience.

5) CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Submitted by Urusha Joshi

Scientific research are studies that should be systematically planned before

performing them. Below are the important characteristics of scientific which are
explained as follows.

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Control

Control refers to holding constant or eliminating the influence of extraneous variables

so that an unambiguous claim about cause and effect can be made. One of the most
important tasks of the psychological researcher is to identify causal relationships, and
without control for extraneous variables, this is not possible. It is important that we
remember this point: experiments are the preferred research method whenever you
need to address the issue of cause and effect. Experiments are conducted in an attempt
to answer questions, such as why forgetting occurs, what reduces the symptoms of
schizophrenia, or what treatment is most effective for depression. In order to provide
unambiguous answers to such questions, researchers must rely on control.

Replication

Scientific knowledge is greatly advanced by replication. Replication refers to the

reproduction of the results obtained from one study in additional studies. It is
important to remember this key point: Before you can trust the findings of a single
research study, you must determine whether the observed results are reliable. You
should always be cautious when interpreting findings from a single study in isolation
from other research. To make a general claim, you must know whether the same
results will be found if the study is repeated. If the observations are not repeatable, the
observations were either due to chance or they operate differently in different contexts.
If the variables of interest operate differently in different contexts, then contextual
factors must be systematically examined in additional research. Failure to replicate the
results of a previous study can be interpreted in several ways because there are many
possible reasons why it might occur. For example, social psychological research on
gender stereotypes has yielded different findings across the last four decades. These
changes in findings (failures to replicate) are very informative.

Rational

Science in general is characterized by being rational and logical. In a scientific

investigation must emphasize the rationality on the subjectivity. Its empirical
characteristic makes it necessary to be based on real and verifiable facts, and demands
from the researcher a critical attitude and a dispossession of his personal conceptions or

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judgments of value. Some scientists and philosophers maintain that it is precisely the
rational and critical character of an investigation that generates progress in the
intellectual field and an important development of knowledge.

Empirical

The results of a scientific investigation must deal with the aspects of reality related to
the subject under investigation. The aspects that characterize a particular research must
be observable in the real world. Scientific research refers to issues that can be measured
and identified as facts. Is about Experiment with evidence. In this way it is possible to
test the research hypothesis, and thus be able to affirm, deny or supplement it, as the
case may be.

Systematics

The systematization of scientific research is linked to the need for it to be rigorous in

procedures. This is not a random observation, but is the result of a well-structured plan,
with specific objectives. The processes must be standardized, always be sought to
execute the actions in the same way, so that the result can be reliable as a result of
having always followed the same guidelines. The systematic plan that must guide a
scientific investigation must consider all the aspects and moments of this research:
from the objects of study and the variables to be taken into account, to the rhythm of
work that must be followed in order to arrive at conclusions in time expected.

Generalizability

Scientific research must have characteristics of generalizability. The research obtained

from the research must be applicable and accepted worldwide. It refer to the scope of
applying the research finding of one research to other setting of almost similar nature.
The most general the research is more it is useful and valued.

6) PARADIGMS OF RESEARCH

Submitted by Shekha Chand

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Paradigm refers to the model research to conduct a research that has approved for a
long period of time and which have been followed for a long period. The word
paradigm have derive from Greek word “paradeigma” which refers to pattern
(readingcraze.com, 2018). The word paradeigma was first used by the “Kuhn” during
1962 in order to describe conceptual framework that is accepted by the community of
different researchers providing them with an in-depth guideline to conduct research
(readingcraze.com, 2018). In a simple paradigm refers to the model.

Paradigm have basic four assumptions known to be basic belief system and
framework which are to be Ontology, epistemology, methodology and method.
Paradigm can be characterised through “the set of common beliefs and agreement
shared between scientists about how problems should be understood (kuhn, 1962).
The four components of paradigm are

1. Ontology

Ontology means “the nature of our belief and reality” (Richards, 2003). It is to be
assumed that how to be exists and what can be known about it. It’s the ontological
questions that leads researcher to inquiry about what kind of reality exists “a singular,
variable reality truth or the socially constructed multiple realities. (Patton, 2002).
Ontology simply arise the question what is reality? Reality in the certain to context,
time, space and group or individual in a given situation and cannot be generalized into
common reality. Where there are both individual and grouped shared realities.

2. Epistemology

Epistemology refers to the truth, the knowledge of truth the researchers with paradigm
maintains, if it can be turned into exercise that empowers and transforms the living of
the people. It is the also known to be the “the branch of philosophy that studies the
nature of the knowledge and the process by which knowledge is acquired and
validated (Gall, 2003). So the knowledge is built from the participant’s frame of
reference. The power of hierarchy is not based upon the relationship between the
researchers and researched which may result in the interpretative paradigm, but

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certainly involves a transformation and emancipation of both participants and
researcher.

3. Methodology

It means the study and critical analysis of data production techniques. Methodology is
“an articulated, theoretically informed approach to production of data (Ellen, 1984). It
is also the process and design, strategy and plan of action that informs ones choice of
research. (crotty, 1998). It helps researcher to make decision on what type of data is to
be needed for the study and what kind of Data collection tools to be helpful for the
purpose of the study. Common designs are the participatory rural appraisal approach
and action research.

4. Method

This are the specific medium of collecting and analysing data, such as open ended
interviews and questioners. The types of methods used for the research project will
depend of that project and the researcher’s theoretical mindset. It must be noted that
use of particular methods does not entail ontological and epistemology assumptions.

Different approaches to research

There are mainly three approaches positivism, interpretivist and critical theory which
are very important as a consumers of the research have to deeply understand into
claims made by the researcher to different research. Wellbeing known about the
ontology and epistemology will helps to understand better of the import and relevance
of the study:

1. Positivism

The reality that exits independently of humans is positivism. It is not focused by our
sense and is controlled by immutable law. . Positivism have been started from the
philosophy dating the ninetieth century because of work of French philopsher
Auguste Comte (Richards, 2003). The position that determines ontology is that of

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realism. It is like understanding the social world like natural world. In nature where
the cause effect relationship between phenomena and once established they can be
predict with certainty in the future. Whereas, the epistemology position of positivism
is that of objectivism. The objects are observed by the researcher are studied for the
phenomena that exist independently of them and also researcher do not disturb what is
being observed. The best way to describe the phenomena is to use language or symbol
in their real form as they exist.

There are many criticism like the positivism doesn’t exist saying that “it has been
dead it has gone off and begin to smell and it has little bit term of abuse” (Richards,
2003). Criticism of the positivist paradigm lead to the emergence of post-positivism,
which straddles both positivist and interpretivist (Grix, 2004).

2. Interpretivism

It’s a response to over dominance of positivism (Grix, 2004). Interpretivism reject the
single verifiable reality exist indented of our senses. It also doesn’t adopt any
permanent, unvarying standard by which truth can be universally known. It also
mentioned truth and reality are created not discovered. It is not possible to see our
reality because it is always known by our sense. According to different philosopher
researchers are inextricably part of the social reality being researched i.e. they are not
detached from the subject they are studying (Grix, 2004). The main goal of the
interpretive is not to discover universal, value and context free knowledge and truth but
to give the better understanding the interpretation of the individual about the social
phenomena they interact with.

The interpretivist have been also criticised for being soft and and in able of yielding
theories that could be generalised to the larger population and the involvement of the
researchers with the participants which leads to lack of objectives (Grix, 2004).

3. Critical theory

It is originated from the group of works of authors of twenty century who were
affiliated to the institution of social research at the University of Frankfurt. Here it is

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assumed that reality exist but it has been shaped by cultural, ethical, political, gender
and religious factor which interact with each other to create the social system. The main
focus of critical education is not to merely explain or understand the society but to
change it (patton, 2002).

Here the qualitative data are been generated and also known to be very good quality if it
takes the political, gender ,ethical and gender antecedents of the situations.

“straddles both the positivist and interpretivist paradigms” (Grix, 2004, p. 86)

7) ISSUES WITH RESEARCH

Submitted by Shanti Nath

Issues with Research

i. Violate an individual’s right to privacy: No one has right to put pressure on the
individual to grant access to idea, information, or research. If someone
forcefully try to grant access to idea, information, or research then it will
violate an individual’s right to privacy. So, before doing anything against
anyone we should know about the privacy policy. Forcefully taking other
ideas or information is one of the ethical issue.

ii. Data analysis: The responsibility of researcher is to analyze data appropriately.

Sometimes the inappropriate analysis misconducts and mislead the readers.
For ensuring appropriate data analysis, all sources and methods should be fully
disclosed. Failure of doing this will lead readers to misinterpret the results.

iii. Conflicts of interest: When researcher interests are not fully apparent then that
may influence their judgements on what is published these conflict may be
personal, commercial, political, academic or financial interest. Such interest
should be discussed in the early stage of research. The research need to take
extra effort to ensure that their conflicts of interest do not influence the
methodology and outcome of the research.

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 iv. Redundant publication and plagiarism: Redundant publication occurs when two
or more papers share the same hypothesis, data, discussion points, or
conclusions. To avoid this the full disclosure should be made at the time of
submission. Plagiarism ranges from unreferenced use of others published
and unpublished ideas or research in same or different language. Therefore, it
is important to disclose all sources of information, permission must be taken
before using others ideas or research.

v. Claim Credit for the work done by others: There are some people who claim
credit for the work done by others. So the privacy level should be maintained
and we must be alert for the research work which is going on. Credit for the
work should be given to the genuine people.

vi. Replace actual data with false data: There are many organization which want
good result only. Sometimes the research may not be in the favor but they may
replace actual data with false data for their benefit. This will change the
direction of research and will not be beneficial.

vii. Legal issue pertaining to regulatory bodies: There are various regulatory bodies to
uphold the safety of subjects involved in research. It is necessary to take
approval from these authorities before proceeding to any research. The
constitution and types of these bodies vary in different nations. The researcher
are accepted to know about these authorities and bodies.

viii. Overlapping publication: Overlapping publications violate international copyright

law and it will waste valuable resources. Due to this nowadays research are
evidence based which will enlarge one’s scientific work. Overlapping is the
duplication of same research in different paper which is one of the major issue
in research.

ix. Fraud in research and publication: Fabrication and manipulation of data leads to
the fraud in research. This will leads in misconduct of research and can change
in direction of research.

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 x. Copyright: Authors are required to sign a copyright because they may publish
the same paper in two different journals without telling the editors.

ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Submitted by Sudesh Paudel

Ethics are norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior
and our relationships with others. The objective of ethics in research is to guarantee
that nobody is hurt or endures adverse results from research activities. Unethical
practices in research cannot be stopped fully but can be controlled by amendment of
strict rules and regulations.

Ethical treatment of participants

We must first think about protecting the right of the participants. Research conducted
should not harm participant in any ways such as discomfort, pain, embarrassment, or
loss of privacy to the participant. So, three steps should be followed:

1. Explain study benefits.

2. Explain participant rights and protections.

3. Obtain informed consent.

Some of the common ethical issues in business research are:

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  Put pressure on the respondents to grant access to confidential information,
violate an individual’s right to privacy; force the respondents to provide
personal data.

 Fabricate the data; replace actual data with false data.

 Alter the data to make them “look better” or fit with theory.

 Select only the best data for reporting.

 Claim credit for the work done by others.

 Report data without permission from the organization.

 Make unauthorized copies of data and reports.

 Publish the same paper in two different journals.

Researcher and Participants

The following should be taken care between the researcher and the participants:

 Benefits: Whenever direct contact is made with a participant, the researcher

should discuss the study’s benefits, being careful to neither overstate nor
understate the benefits.

 Deception: Deception occurs when the participants are told only part of the truth
or when the truth is fully compromised.

 Informed consent: the researcher should take the informed consent of the
participant.

 Rights to privacy: The privacy guarantee is important not only to retain validity
of the research but also to protect participants.

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 Data collection in cyberspace: It is a major problem in ethics in research as who
weren’t able to get information are spied now to get information.

 Data mining ethics: collection of data in cyberspace should be also held

confidential.

Sponsor-Researcher Relationship

 Confidentiality: Sponsor non-disclosure, Purpose non-disclosure, Findings

nondisclosure.

May be conflict between sponsor and researcher on: Knowledge gap, Job status and
internal coalitions, unneeded or inappropriate research.

 Right to quality research

Sponsor has right to quality research for which researcher must provide three things:

Provide appropriate research design for the research question.

 Maximize sponsor’s value for using the resource.

 Provide appropriate data-handling and reporting technique for the data collected.

 Sponsor’s ethics

Sponsor may ask researcher to participate in unethical behavior which may include:

Violating participant’s confidentiality, changing data or creating false data to meet

desired objective, changing data presentation and interpretations, interpret data in a

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biased way, omitting section of data analysis and conclusions, making
recommendations beyond the scope.

To avoid from these problems, researcher must:

Educate sponsor about the purpose of the research, explain researcher’s role in fact
finding versus the sponsor’s role in decision making, explain how breaking faith with
participants leads to future problem.

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 8) ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RESEARCH

Submitted by Sanjay Sah

The ethical principles to be adhered to when conducting research are as follows:

1. Informed Consent:

While conducting research, we need to make sure that we need to take permission as
well as consent of the particular areas of the people.

2. Respect for Privacy:

The privacy needs to be maintain of the particular areas of research and without the
permission, it should not be secretly acquire the knowledge.

3. Confidentiality and anonymity of data:

The data collected should be confidential and anonymity or duplication should not be
presented or it should not be manipulated.

4.What is permissible to ask?

There are various aspects where the research needs to be taken into permission so that
it can maintain the discipline.

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5. No harm to researcher’s subjects

Researcher should always should maintain discipline as well as ethics while doing
research and they should not make any harm to their subject

6. No dishonesty or lying in the course of research

Honesty should be carried out during the entire research. Cheating or fraud types of
things should not done for the sake of the results

7. Non-discrimination

The people from different aspects should be respected and should not be
discriminated on the basis of caste, age, color, sex and others

8. Respect for Intellectual Property

The various cultural heritages inns, pagoda, and others physical property needs to be
taken care of while conducting the research

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 9) TRINGULATION

Submitted by Sashi Hada

The case for triangulation

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The term ‘triangulation’ is actually originated from the field of navigation where a
location is determined by using the angles from two known points. In research
triangulation is the use of more than one approach to question a research work or
results. By using this triangulation, we can increase confidence in the findings through
the confirmation of a proposition using two or more independent measures. It is
usually used to do cross examination and often used to indicate that more than two
methods are used in a study with a view to double checking results.

When using two or more than two methods and similar result is generated then, more
confidence is generated in the finding or result. Upon using only one method the
temptation is strong to believe in the findings and similarly, when using two methods
the results may well tends to be similar. By using three methods to get the answer to
one question, the hope is that two of the three will produce similar answers. But in the
case where all of the three findings are clashed one must know that the question needs
to be reframed, methods reconsidered, or both.

Triangulation is typically associated with research methods and designs; however, it

has implication on other areas as well. It might be the use of multiple theories, data
sources, methods or investigators within the study of a single phenomenon. The
technique was originally introduced into qualitative research in the 1950s as a means
to avoid potential biases arising from the use of a single methodology. And not only
that this technique is used to confirm suggested findings, but it can also be used to
determine the completeness of data.

Types of Triangulation

1. Data triangulation: In this data is collected at different times or from different

sources in the study of a phenomenon.
2. Methodological triangulation: Different methods of data collection, commonly
both qualitative and quantitative are combined in the study under this type.
3. Investigator triangulation: Here several researchers collect the data
independently on the same phenomenon and compared accordingly on the
basis of their finding and outcomes.
4. Theory triangulation: The research phenomenon or findings is examined from
different theoretical perspectives, disciplines or sub-disciplines.

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 10) SOCIAL RESEARCH

Submitted by Sanjay Rai

Social Research is a method used by social scientists and researchers to learn about
people and societies so that they can design products/services that cater to various
needs of the people. Different socio-economic groups belonging to different parts of a
county think differently. Various aspects of human behavior need to be addressed to
understand their thoughts and feedback about the social world, which can be done
using Social Research. Any topic can trigger social research – new feature, new
market trend or an upgrade in old technology.

Social Research is conducted by following a systematic plan of action which

includes qualitative and quantitative observation methods.

 Qualitative methods rely on direct communication with members of a market,

observation, text analysis. The results of this method are focused more on being
accurate rather than generalizing to the entire population.

 Quantitative methods use statistical analysis techniques to evaluate data

collected via surveys, polls or questionnaires.

Types of Social Research

There are four main types of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Research,
Primary and Secondary Research.

Qualitative Research: Qualitative Research is defined as a method to collect data via

open-ended and conversational discussions, There are five main qualitative research
methods- ethnographic research, focus groups, one-on-one online interview, content

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analysis and case study research. Usually, participants are not taken out of their
ecosystem for qualitative data collection to gather information in real-time which helps
in building trust. Researchers depend on multiple methods to gather qualitative data for
complex issues.

Quantitative Research: Quantitative Research is an extremely informative source of

data collection conducted via mediums such as surveys, polls, and questionnaires. The
gathered data can be analyzed to conclude numerical or statistical results. There are
four distinct quantitative research methods: survey research, correlational research,
causal-comparative research and experimental research. This research is carried out on
a sample that is representative of the target market usually using close-ended questions
and data is presented in tables, charts, graphs etc.

Primary Research: Primary Research is conducted by the researchers themselves.

There are a list of questions that a researcher intends to ask which need to be
customized according to the target market. These questions are sent to the respondents
via surveys, polls or questionnaires so that analyzing them becomes convenient for the
researcher. Since data is collected first-hand, it’s highly accurate according to the
requirement of research.

Secondary Research: Secondary Research is a method where information has already

been collected by research organizations or marketers. Newspapers, online
communities, reports, audio-visual evidence etc. fall under the category of secondary
data. After identifying the topic of research and research sources, a researcher can
collect existing information available from the noted sources. They can then combine
all the information to compare and analyze it to derive conclusions.

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 11) DEDUCTIVE AND INDUCTIVE RESEARCH

Submitted by Salil

The Research Cycle

The Research Cycle is an original idea of Jamie McKenzie that details how students
should complete research assignments, and how teachers should teach their students to
complete research assignments. The information below will guide you to what we
believe is the best way for research work to be completed.

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The main steps in the Research Cycle are...

Questioning- determine the problem to be solved and the questions to ask to get it done
Planning- decide where to seek information and how to store it
Gathering- refer to the plan and collect sources
Sorting & Sifting- reduce the gathered information to that which is relevant and
insightful
Synthesizing- information is reshaped into a new whole in order to find focus
Evaluating- determination is made to move on to next stage or revise efforts with
another cycle
Reporting- production of final work

Inductive Research

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Induction research begins with research questions and these research questions guides
your collection of impaired data which you use them to generate a testable hypothesis
or a tentative hypothesis that are confirmed with additional data. These data becomes
the basis for forming a social theory of a set of ideas that can be used to explain the
topic.

It begins with empirical data such as empirical observation that has formed a
hypothesis which you use to test with additional data to develop a theory.

Example

How do undergraduate student view the causes of homelessness?

What do they perceive as the solution to homelessness?

(Phillips, 2015, Journal by Poverty)

These questions were interviewed and the answer to it was inductive in nature.
Everyone answered the cause and solution that were their own belief.

Deductive Research

It actually begins by reviewing a particular social theory and based on that theory, you
form hypothesis which will test with empirical data. It begins with a theory driven
hypothesis. So, there might be an existing theory to explain a particular topic and you

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form a hypothesis which guides the theory. There might be a design to a particular
survey to collect information about a set of variable in your hypothesis. This will
analyze that feedback to the theory.

Example

Are perceptions of discrimination among young adults related to psychological

distress?

Does discrimination help to explain racial differences in depression?

(Taylor, 2002, Social Psychology Quarterly)

Drawn from existing social theory (stress processed theory) how stress is related to
health and how social characteristics affect exposure to stress and how personal social
resources moderate the relation between stresses to health. This was an exaggeration
to the theory derived and extracted with the help of that theory.

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 12) RESEARCH PROCESS

Submitted by Sangita Aryal

Research process

Sensing or realizing problem:

The first step start with acknowledgement of the existing problem. Here, you don’t
know what is wrong but you can sense that thing is not going smoothly. For example
relating to daily life an individual may feel uneasy in the body but don’t know reason
behind it.

Problem identification:

Under this stage you know what is wrong and you can concerntrate on the problem
and factors affecting it. There is a saying in research that a problem well defined is a
problem half solved. When the problem is known it becomes easy to carry out the
process in less time and proper utilization of resource.

Theoretical framework:

In this stage researcher attempt to integrate the information logically.Theoretical

framework is a collection of interrelated concepts that provides general representation
pf relationship between the things.Here the variables are examined and the association
between them is identified.

Hypothesis formulation:

A research hypothesis is a statement of expectation or prediction that will be tested by

research this is a process of discovery to create greater understanding or conclusions.
It is the tentative estimation about the nature of the relationship between two or more
variables. The hypothesis should be testable, specific ,verifiable.

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Research Design:

It is the framework created to seek answers to research questions. Research design

helps in identifying which nature of data is to be taken , timescale,
method,sources,participants etc. It describes the the general framework for
collecting,analyzing and evaluating data after knowing what you want.

Collection of data :

It is the process of gathering and measuring information on the field of study. The
data is collected from relevant sources to answer research problem,test the hypothesis
and evaluate the problems. The data can be collected through primary or secondary
source,

Data analysis:

The data collected is in raw form here the data is analyzed to make sense.
Statistical tool is used to analyze data.It is the process of
inspecting,rearranging ,modifying and transforming data to extract useful information.

Refinement of theory and practice:

The final step involves the interpretation of the findings. It is the process of expanding
knowledge. Here thye previous research may be the starting of the next research.

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 13) STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH

Submitted by Sneha Tandukar

Research Structure is basically an outline of the scientific investigation put up in an

order. It is a structure formed with IMRAD (Introduction, Method, Results and
Interpretation, Discussion.) It is a prominent norm for the structure of a scientific
journal article of the original research type. It is structured in the shape of an hour glass.

The structure starts with a board area of the interest, than narrow down to the
reasonable study. At the narrowest point of the structure, the researcher is engaged in
specific and empirical measurement or observation of the question of interest. The
structure begins with title page, acknowledgements, abstract and table of content.
Further the research is concluded by bibliography and appendix section.

Original Research articles are typically structured in the following basic order:

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1. Introduction
It deals with the questions as, ‘‘why was the study undertaken? What was
the research question, the tested hypothesis or the purpose of the research?’’
This section identifies problem area and state importance, review relevant
research literature, identify the research gap, state research area to fill the gap.

2. Methods
It is the specific, empirical and original part of the study. It states, ‘‘ When,
where, and how was the study done? What materials were used or who was
included in the study groups (patients, etc.)?’’

3. Results and interpretation

It is also the specific, empirical and original part of the study. It states, ‘‘ What
answer was found to the research question; what did the study find? Was the
tested hypothesis true?’’

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 4. Discussion
It analyzes the result and hypothesis, includes the implication of specific
knowledge area, significant of the field, recommendation for further research
and conclusion. It states, ‘‘ What might the answer imply and why does it matter?
How does it fit in with what other researchers have found? What are the
perspectives for future research?’’

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blumberg, B., Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business research methods.
Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Basics of social research: qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Don Mills, Ontario: Pearson Canada Inc.

Triangulation. (n.d.) Retrieved from

https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/evaluation-options/triangulation.

Inductive and deductive research (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB41z6_mUxk.

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