RTT lecture business student & research
- 1. Scientific Investigation Dr. M. Imran Malik COMSATS University Islamabad (Attock campus), Attock, Pakistan.
- 2. Scientific Research • The scientific research is conducted to solve a problem based on facts and figures. • The scientific research focuses on solving problems by following a logical, organized, and rigorous method to identify the problem, gather data, analyse the data, and then draw valid conclusions from it. • Logical method means based on valid and correct reasoning. • Organized means in a specific flow, by following steps, in a structured form. • Rigorous means “with clarity” and “with solid support”. The problem should be based on the solid support.
- 3. Eight Hallmarks of Scientific Research
- 4. The hallmarks of scientific research 1-3 • 1. Purposiveness • 2. Rigor •3. Testability •4. Replicability •5. Precision and confidence •6. Objectivity •7. Generalizability •8. Parsimony 4
- 5. Purposiveness • The scientific research has well defined purpose. • Start the research with a definite aim or purpose • The purpose of research in the organization can be; • The sales are going down • People are leaving the organization every three months • A lot of conflicts are arising while working • Customer complaints are increasing • Employee commitment is decreasing • To find out the reasons for declining customer satisfaction Actually you are interested to know that why this is happening in the organization?
- 6. Rigor (well-knit) • The research should be based on a good theoretical base, a good methodology, carefulness, scrupulousness (ethical), and the degree of exactitude. • Rigor in research, in simple terms, means doing research very carefully and thoroughly, like paying close attention to details and making sure everything is done correctly. • Gather the relevant information/facts to solidify your purpose of study. • For example • e.g., there are 10,000 customers of a company, so the researcher must collect data about their complaints/ decreased customer satisfaction from 1000-2000 people. • The manager should collect complaints from a good number of customers and there should not be biasness of age, gender etc. So that the research should be rigorous. • To increase rigor to your study, collect as much information/data as possible. (Qualitative and Quantitative data) سختی
- 7. Rigor- Example • For instance, a company wants to analyze customer feedback to improve their products. • To have rigor in their research, they would carefully collect feedback from a wide range of customers, ensure that the data is accurate and complete, and use well-established methods to analyze it. • They wouldn't rush through the process or take shortcuts because that could lead to unreliable results. • Rigor means being super careful and precise in your research to make good decisions and improvements in business.
- 8. Rigor • If you select the wrong query (problem), there will be no rigor • If you select the wrong method to address that query, there will be no rigor • If the query is based on false facts, there will be no rigor
- 9. Testability • The scientific research is used to test the logical hypothesis. • Do not relate tea with intelligence OR walk with good performance. • To see whether or not the data that is collected support the hypothesis developed. Example • The researcher will develop a hypothesis that customer satisfaction can be maximized if we improve our services. • Now the researcher will test this hypothesis by considering different factors such as; • improving the service speed • adopting the technology, or; • giving customer service at the spot
- 10. Testability • Develop the logical hypothesis/ hypotheses • e.g. listening to the music can improve student’s performance is a wrong and ill-logical hypothesis. whereas • e.g. consistent study will lead to student’s good performance is a right/logical hypothesis. • Collect the data from the right people • For the problems related to the students you have to collect data from students and not from the employees. • For the problems related to the employees you have to collect data from employees and not from students.
- 11. Replicability • Replicability in research means that other researchers can repeat or reproduce a study's methods to obtain similar results. It's like a recipe that, when followed correctly, should produce the same dish every time. Replicability is important in science because it helps confirm the reliability and validity of research findings. • Example • Suppose a management researcher conducts a study to examine the impact of effective use of technology on customer satisfaction. They designed the study, collected data, and found that the effective use of technology lead to a significant increase in customer satisfaction.
- 12. Replicability • The methods and data collection tools used for one study can be used again for conducting another similar study. • OR • If you conduct the study again and again the results produced should remain similar. • If we conduct research today and conduct the same research after five years, the results should remain similar.
- 13. Precision and confidence • Precision in research means being very accurate and exact in your measurements, calculations, or findings. It's about minimizing errors and making sure that the information you gather is as close to the real value as possible. • Confidence in research refers to how sure you are about the results or conclusions you've drawn from your research. It's a measure of how reliable and trustworthy your findings are. • This is the probability that our estimation is correct. It refer to the probability that our estimations are correct, it is important that we can confidently claim that 95% of the time our results will be true and there is only a 5 % chance of our being wrong.
- 14. Precision and confidence • Example • If the study is conducted for the customer complaints and the results indicate that the customer complaints are minimized 70% everyday by the use of technology, so, our research will be precise. • In statistics, generally the degree of confidence is taken as 95% (for social sciences) as a rule of thumb. So we can say that we are 95% confident that the customer complaints can be minimized by the use of technology.
- 15. Objectivity • The results should be based on the facts derived from the actual data and should not be based on our own subjective understanding. • Objectivity in research means being impartial and not letting personal opinions, biases, or emotions influence the research process or the interpretation of results. • Example • A company is conducting a performance evaluation of its employees to determine who should receive promotions. To maintain objectivity, the company ensures that the evaluation criteria are clear, measurable, and based on job-related factors such as skills, experience, and results. They also use a standardized evaluation process that involves multiple supervisors or managers to minimize individual biases. • By applying objectivity in this scenario, the company aims to make sure that the promotions are awarded based on the employees' actual job performance rather than favoritism or personal biases.
- 16. Objectivity • An employee who completes 90% orders will be awarded with a certificate, he should not be awarded on the basis of relationships or someone's opinion.
- 17. Generalizability • Generalizability in research means the extent to which the findings or conclusions from a study can be applied or extended to a larger population or other similar situations. • Example • If the findings of our study, that are, “effective use of technology can increase the customer satisfaction”, is used by any other industry then our study/findings are more generalized.
- 18. Generalizability- Example • Imagine a retail company is conducting customer satisfaction research by surveying a group of 500 customers who shopped at one of their stores in a specific city. They find that 80% of these customers are satisfied with the store's services. • Generalizability in this case would involve considering whether the high satisfaction rate observed in this specific city's store can be applied to all of the company's stores nationwide.
- 19. Parsimony • Parsimony in research means keeping things simple and not making your explanations or models more complicated than necessary. • Example • If the customer complaints are minimized up to 20%-30% by marketing message, good dressing of staff, good packaging and so forth. • If the customer complaints are minimized up to 80% by technology upgrade and 70% by giving them service at the spot then the second one is more parsimonious.
- 20. 20 The Hallmarks of Scientific Research- Summary Purposiveness: Research with a clear goal or purpose. Rigor: Thoroughness and precision in research methods. Testability: The ability to verify or test research hypotheses. Replicability: The ability to repeat a study and get similar results. Precision and confidence: Being accurate and certain in research findings. Objectivity: Remaining unbiased and impartial in research. Generalizability: Extending research findings to broader situations. Parsimony: Keeping research simple and not overly complex.
- 21. Obstacles in Conducting Research in the Management Area
- 22. 22 Some Obstacles while Conducting Scientific Research in the Management Sciences filed * In the management and behavioral areas, It is not always possible to conduct investigations that are 100 % scientific, in the sense that, unlike in the physical sciences, the results obtained will not be exact and error-free. This is primarily because of difficulties likely to be encountered in the measurement and collection of data in the subjective areas of feelings, emotions, attitudes, and perceptions. At the same time meeting all the hallmarks of research is difficult in social sciences research whereas, it is possible in the physical research.
- 23. Obstacles In research in Management Area • Mis-match between right time and collecting right responses • Changing human tendencies • Lack of computerization/softwares • Lack of resources • Difficulty in accessibility to data • Uncontrollable factors effecting the response (heat, cold, smoke, dust etc.)
- 25. Deduction vs. Induction • Induction – Specific to General • It is a process where we observe certain phenomenon and on the basis of this specific information arrive at conclusions. • Inductive reasoning involves drawing general conclusions based on specific observations or evidence. • Example • Observation: Every observed swan is white. • Inductive Conclusion: All swans are white. • Deductive methods – General to Specific • These are the methods when we arrive at a decision by logically generalizing from a known fact. • Example • All LUMS students are proficient in their jobs. If SAMMAR is a LUMS student, then she is proficient in his work.
- 26. Inductive reasoning • Moving from Known to unknown • Concrete to abstract • Bottom to up • Specific to general • Example to rule • Simple to complex • Example • Observation: My dog barks (Specific) • Inductive Conclusion: All the dogs bark (general statement) Example Observation: Ali wakes at night he wears glasses (specific) Observation: Bilal wakes at night and wears glasses (specific) Conclusion: Who so ever wakes at night he must wear glasses (General)
- 27. Deductive reasoning • Unknown to known • Abstract to concrete • Top to down/bottom • Rule to example • General to specific • Complex to simple • Deriving arguments from general and making it specific • Example • Waking up at night for long makes the eyes effected (General) • If Ali wakes up at night for long his eyes will be affected (Specific)
- 28. The hypothetico- deductive method Scientific research pursues a step-by-step, logical, organized, and rigorous method to find a solution to a problem. The hypothetico-deductive method is an approach to research that begins with a theory about how things work and derives testable hypotheses from it. It is a seven steps process 28
- 29. 29 The seven-step process in the hypothetico-deductive method 1-2 1. Identify a broad problem area A drop in sales, frequent production interruptions,… and the like, could attract the attention of manager and catalyze the research project 2. Define the problem statement Problem statement that states the general objective of the research should be developed 3. Develop hypotheses In this step variable are examined as to their contribution or influence in explaining why the problem occurs and how it can be solved. 4. Determine measures Unless the variables in the theoretical framework are measured in some way, we will not be able to test our hypotheses.
- 30. 30 The seven-step process in the hypothetico-deductive method 2-2 5. Data collection Data with respect to each variable in the hypothesis need to be obtained. 6. Data analysis In the data analysis step, the data gathered are statistically analyzed to see if the hypotheses that were generated have been supported 7. Interpretation of data Now we must decide whether our hypotheses are supported or not by interpreting the meaning of the results of the data analysis.
- 31. HD method- Summary • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning is a scientific method that involves creating and testing hypotheses to address specific problems or questions.
- 32. HD Method- Example • Broad Problem Area: Examining the effects of sleep on academic performance. • Research Question/ Problem Statement: • Does the amount of sleep a person gets affect their ability to retain information and perform well on academic-based tasks? • This study examines the amount of sleep a person gets and its effects on the ability to retain information and perform well on academic-based tasks. • Develop Hypotheses: • Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between the amount of sleep and academic performance. • Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is a significant relationship between the amount of sleep and academic performance.
- 33. HD Method – Example Continued • Determine Measures: To test the hypotheses, we need to determine specific measures. In this case, the measures could include: • Amount of sleep: measured in hours. • Academic performance: measured using a standardized exam result. • Data Collection: For instance, you could recruit a group of participants and have them take a memory test after either a full night's sleep or a night of sleep deprivation. Record the number of hours of sleep each participant got and their memory test scores. • Questionnaires • Interviews • Data Analysis: Use statistical methods to analyze the data.
- 34. HD Method Example Continued • Statistical tests and Data Analysis: • Percentage – for examining increase or decrease • Percentage – for comparing the performance of individuals or organizations • Correlation – to examine the relationship of variables • Regression – to examine the effect of one variable on the other • T-test – to examine the differences between two groups • Interpretation of Data: After analyzing the data, you can interpret the results. • If the analysis shows a statistically significant correlation between the amount of sleep and academic performance, you could conclude that sleep has an impact on academic performance. (Alternate hypothesis accepted) • If not, you might conclude that there's no significant relationship. (H0 accepted)
- 36. Other types of research • Descriptive Research • Exploratory Research • Correlational Research • Experimental Research • Qualitative Research • Quantitative Research • Longitudinal Research • Cross-Sectional Research • Action Research • Mixed-Methods Research
- 37. Other Types of Research • Descriptive Research: This method involves observing and documenting behavior or phenomena without attempting to manipulate variables. It aims to provide a detailed and accurate account of what is being observed. • Exploratory Research: This type of research is conducted when the topic is relatively new or not well understood. It aims to explore and generate hypotheses or ideas rather than testing them rigorously. Exploratory research often involves qualitative methods like interviews, focus groups, or literature reviews.
- 38. Types of Research • Correlational Research: Correlational studies examine the statistical relationship between two or more variables without manipulating them. Researchers assess whether changes in one variable are associated with changes in another variable. Correlation does not imply causation, but it can identify patterns and relationships between variables. • Experimental Research: Experimental research involves manipulating one or more independent variables to observe their effects on one or more dependent variables. It allows researchers to establish cause-and-effect relationships. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a common form of experimental research used in fields like medicine and psychology.
- 39. Types of Research • Qualitative Research: Qualitative research aims to understand the underlying meanings, motivations, and experiences of individuals or groups. Researchers often use open-ended interviews, focus groups, content analysis, or ethnographic methods to gather rich, non- numerical data. • Quantitative Research: Quantitative research collects and analyzes numerical data to answer research questions. Surveys, experiments, and statistical analyses are typical methods in quantitative research. This approach is often used to test hypotheses and generalize findings to larger populations.
- 40. Types of Research • Longitudinal Research: Longitudinal studies involve collecting data from the same individuals or groups over an extended period to examine changes and trends over time. This type of research is useful for studying development, aging, and social change. • Cross-Sectional Research: Cross-sectional studies collect data from a diverse group of individuals at a single point in time. Researchers use this method to compare different groups or cohorts. It's often used in social sciences and public health to understand trends and differences.
- 41. Types of Research • Action Research: Action research is a collaborative approach where researchers work with practitioners or communities to address specific problems and bring about positive changes. The research process is used as a tool for problem-solving and improvement. • Mixed-Methods Research: This approach combines both qualitative and quantitative research methods within a single study. Researchers use mixed methods to gain a more comprehensive understanding of complex research questions.
- 42. Conclusion • The choice of research type/method depends on the research question, the available resources, and the desired outcomes. • Researchers often select the method that best suits their goals and the nature of the phenomenon they are studying.
- 43. Thank You 43