Presented by

AJISH V C (CE)
SUDHEER PADIKKAL (CE)
RAJESH MENON B (ME)
 Study the nature of management research
 Understand the process of scientific enquiry
 Develop definitions and hypothesis
 Appreciate the principles of formal science
 Study empiricism in scientific method
 Understand the logic of scientific method
 Study the inductive method for hypothesis generation
 Study the deductive method for hypothesis testing
 Study the hypothetico-deductive approach
 Appreciate scientific attitude
 Understand the current objections to the use of scientific
method in research
 Enumerate alternatives to scientific method in
management research
 Research
a systematic, self critical enquiry
 Scientific Research
research which employs scientific method
 Management Research
applied research directed to aid the manager in
his decision making process
 Management Research
 Reporting Research
 Descriptive Research
 Explanatory Research
 Predictive Research
 Reporting Research
furnishing data, information or statistics
 Descriptive Research
describes a single event or relates a few events through statistical
analysis
 Explanatory Research
answers why and how of the phenomenon through hypotheses
and theories
 Predictive Research
constructs and uses models to forecast the occurrence of an event
or events
 Definition of science
is a body of knowledge and also the process of
generating that knowledge
 The central goal of science
 Advancement of knowledge and prediction
 Mapping the patterns of various domains of facts
 Continuous improvement of its products through a
set of partial models, using logical and empirical
analysis
 Metascience
 Scientific enquiry is a mental activity both
speculative and critical in which critical (analytical)
activity dominates
 Analysis is concerned with the language in
which thinking is expressed
 Through the method of redefinition
 The method of explication
 Method of illustration
 Scientific knowledge is the knowledge gained
systematically through a cycle of process
Processes of
Enquiry
 Observation
 Starting point of research
 Concept
 Basic building block of thought and communication
which helps in organizing an observation
 Classification
Objects are classified together based on what hey have
in common such as generic similarity, structural
similarity or fundamental similarity
 Definition
 Descriptive definition
 Operational definition
 Mathematical definition
 Construct
 A refined concept to suit a particular discipline
 Hypotheses
 Declarative statement in which at least one
empirical generalization follows and states the
existence of the size, form or distribution of some
variables (descriptive, relational, explanatory)
 Laws
 An empirical generalization accepted as true
 Theory
 A set of asserted universal propositions
communicated in a set of universal sentences
Theory Development Process
 Formal Science and Empirical Science
 Logic of Scientific Method
 Deductive logic
 Inductive Logic
 Inductive –deductive Thinking

 Hypothetico-deductive Method
 Models
 Scientific Attitude
 Deductive Logic
 Inferences drawn from a general principle to
particular conclusion
 Inductive Logic
 Inference is drawn from the evidence in the form of
conclusions, which explain the evidence or facts
 Inductive-deductive thinking
 Hypotheses are developed by scientific method
inductively using a limited observation of facts. The
hypotheses is rigorously checked through the
procedure of deductive thinking
 This is a process of operations of raising precise
questions converting the questions into
hypotheses.
 The logical consequences of the hypotheses are
obtained
 They are tested and verified
 Used to define relationships among variables,
concepts and constructs
 Models are representation of phenomena
 A model tries to represent its structure,
function and process
 The attitude of scientifically-oriented people differs
from the traditional attitude in the following ways
 A scientist should have a firm conviction that there exists
an “order of things”, which is subject to laws.
 A scientist should be devoted to facts, accurate empirical
data, and to being in close touch with phenomena
 A scientist should search for theories that are refutable
 There must be an appreciation of the possibility of error
and, therefore, in the tentativeness of scientific conclusions
 Science is open to public criticism and correction
 Widely accepted views of important variables, theories and
the basic nature of discipline serve as a model for further
scientific work in the area
 Use of Scientific Method

 Alternative perspectives of Research

 Nomothetic Knowledge
 Idiographic Knowledge
The main objections of management research are:

 Uniqueness
 Instability
 Sensitivity
 Lack of realism
 Epistemological differences
 Nomothetic knowledge
 Emphasizes the generalization as in natural science.
Management science approach relies predominantly
on model building and is nomothetic
 Idiographic knowledge
 Emphasizes the importance of the knowledge of the
particular.
 Organizational enquiries like action research and
situational learning emphasizes the idiographic
approach
Differences between Two Ways of Enquiry