Research process

Various issues and decisions in research design

Elements of research design

Purpose of the study Location of the study The Type of Investigation The extent of the researcher interference Time horizon Unit of analysis(population to be studied) Sampling design Data collection methods Measurement Data analysis

Types of Research based on purpose of study

Exploratory Study Descriptive Study Hypotheses testing Study Case Study Casual Research

Exploratory Study
Exploratory study is under taken when not much is known about the situation in hand or no information is available on how similar problem have been solved in the past. Extensive preliminary work needs to be done to gain familiarity with the phenomena before we develop a model and set up a rigorous design for comprehensive investigation. Exploratory studies can be done by interviewing individuals and through focus groups. Eg: A Company manufacturing cosmetics wants to know what it is that arouses emotive appeal for that product and induces people to buy cosmetics. It is important to note that during a study for that first time in a particular organization does not make the research exploratory in nature, only when knowledge is scant and a deeper understanding is sought, does that study become exploratory

Descriptive study
A descriptive study is undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to describe the characteristics of the variables of interests in a situation. (1) Study of an organizational members with a view to describe characteristics of employees such as age, educational and, job status, length of service, etc. (2) A Bank Manager wants to have a profile of the individuals who have Loan payments outstanding for 6 months or more. A descriptive study can be undertaken to get details of such individuals average age, earning, nature of education, occupations, employment status, etc.

Hypotheses Testing
Hypothesis testing usually explain the nature of certain relationships or establish the differences among groups or the independence of two or more factors in a situation. Eg: 1. A Marketing Manager wants to know if the sales of the company will increase if he doubles the advertising budget. Hypotheses: If advertising is increased, them sales will also group. 2. Test Hypotheses: More men than women are whistle- blowers, The study establishes difference between the groups men & women in regard to their whistle- blowing behavior.

Case Study
Case studies involve in depth, contextual analyses of similar situations in the other organizations, where the nature and definition of the problem happen to be the same as experienced in the current situation. Case study, as a problem solving technique, is not often undertaken in organizations because such studies dealing with problems similar to the one experienced by a particular organization of a particular size and in a particular type of setting are difficult to come by.

They are useful for understanding certain phenomena and generating further theories for empirical testing
Casual Research:- Casual research is done to establish a cause and effect relationship among variables. A causal study question: Does smoking cause cancer?