Question

1. (a) What is Research (b) What is business research (c) What are the characteristics of research (d)What are the importance of research (e)Types of research

Please reference the site if you are taking the definitions from internet.

  

Answer 1

1. What is Research
2. What is business research
3. What are the characteristics of research
4. What are the importance of research
5. Types of research  

I. Research

By definition it is a systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie, “Research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed phenomenon. Research involves inductive and deductive methods.”

• Inductive research methods are used to analyze an observed event. (qualitative research)
• Deductive methods are used to verify the observed event. (quantitative research.)

II. Business research

The process of undertaking a detailed study of all the areas of a business including its customers and the market and effectively using such information gathered in maximizing the sales and profit of the business can be defined as Business Research.

Business Research is done for any one or all of the following reasons:

• Targeting of customers
• Understanding of market trends
• Better knowledge about production departments
• Projection of sales
• Gaining knowledge about financial practices
• Locating opportunities
• For adopting steps to prevent future problems

It helps companies in better understanding of the needs and requirements of the existing and potential customers. It acts as a guiding force in the development of products and services as per the customer’s requirements and helps keep an eye with their competitors actions.

III. Characteristics of research

Systematic Process

Research is a systematic process which focuses on investigating and finding new facts. This process should follow a logical sequence for better result. Every step should go in chronological order and should not be done in haphazard way. All steps follow each other and are interlinked with each other.

Systematic approach must be followed for accurate data. Rules and procedures are an integral part of the process that set the objective. Researchers need to practice ethics and a code of conduct while making observations or drawing conclusions.

Valid and Verifiable

Valid and verifiable conclusion is must for every research project undertaken. Findings of research process should be logical and based on correct and fair information. Researchers collecting various information for analysis purposes should ensure that its source is genuine and accurate. Research is ethical only if it is based on right information. It should be easily verifiable by researcher himself and others.

Cyclical Nature

Research process is cyclical in nature. It starts with a research question defining the main aim of research project and also ends with different question arising out of research conclusion. Many times findings of the research bring several new questions in the mind of people.

Critical

Critical study and analysis of available information and methods to be used is a must for performing better research. Researchers should make precise judgement during process free from any drawbacks. They should not be biased and judgemental during performing research. The procedures and method used should be able to withstand critical scrutiny.

Generalization

Generalization refers to the ability to apply the results to a large portion of the population. In the research term, it simply means how far the finding of research can be applied to the large population. Researcher generally chooses a small sample termed as target population out of whole large population for his analysis and research purpose. This target population is the representative of the whole population and in the same say, sample findings are also termed as the findings of the whole population. Research is called generalizable if the findings of the sample can be applied to any portion or sample of the whole population.

Research is based on logical reasoning and involves both inductive and deductive methods.

Accuracy is one of the most important aspects of research. The information that is obtained should be accurate and true to its nature. For example, laboratories provide a controlled environment to collect data. Accuracy is measured in the instruments used, the calibrations of instruments or tools, and the final result of the experiment.

IV. Importance of research

Researching on any particular subject we are dealing with is much crucial and beneficial for the business or firm or industry or even in our day to day tasks.

In a normal household it is a regular habit to analyse which product is healthier that’s available in the market, which Airlines provide the cheapest flight at which interval, where to do the shopping etc. These small activities that take place in every household helps them to plan their budget according to their income and spend money mindfully - Make profit out of the research they do and get a wider knowledge to apply them in future.

Same concept is been applied in large firms and industries that derives maximum benefits to them with a more defined and systematic tools available and get experts help too.

V. Types of research

Basic research:

A basic research definition is data collected to enhance knowledge. The main motivation is knowledge expansion. It is a non-commercial research that doesn’t facilitate in creating or inventing anything. For example: an experiment to determine a simple fact.

Applied research:

Applied research focuses on analysing and solving real-life problems. This type refers to the study that helps solve practical problems using scientific methods. Studies play an important role in solving issues that impact the overall well-being of humans. For example: finding a specific cure for a disease.

Problem oriented research:

As the name suggests, problem-oriented research is conducted to understand the exact nature of a problem to find out relevant solutions. The term “problem” refers to multiple choices or issues when analysing a situation.

For example, revenue of a car company has decreased by 12% in the last year. The following could be the probable causes: there is no optimum production, poor quality of a product, no advertising, or economic conditions.

Problem solving research:

This type of research is conducted by companies to understand and resolve their own problems. The problem-solving method uses applied research to find solutions to the existing problems.

Qualitative research:

Qualitative research is a process that is about inquiry. It helps create in-depth understanding of problems or issues in their natural settings. This is a non-statistical method.

Qualitative research is heavily dependent on the experience of the researchers and the questions used to probe the sample. The sample size is usually restricted to 6-10 people. Open-ended questions are asked in a manner that encourages answers that lead to another question or group of questions. The purpose of asking open-ended questions is to gather as much information as possible from the sample.

The following are the methods used for qualitative research:

2. One-to-one interview
3. Focus groups
4. Ethnographic research
5. Content/Text Analysis
6. Case study research

Quantitative research:

Qualitative research is a structured way of collecting data and analysing it to draw conclusions. Unlike qualitative methods, this method uses a computational and statistical process to collect and analyse data. Quantitative data is all about numbers.

Quantitative research involves a larger population — more people means more data. With more data to analyse, you can obtain more accurate results. This method uses close-ended questions because the researchers are typically looking to gather statistical data.

Online surveys, questionnaires, and polls are preferable data collection tools used in quantitative research. There are various methods of deploying surveys or questionnaires.

Online surveys allow survey creators to reach large amounts of people or smaller focus groups for different types of research that meet different goals. Survey respondents can receive surveys on mobile phones, in emails, or can simply use the internet to access surveys.