Business Research Methods I - Quantitative
Lecture summary
Content
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2
Chapter 1, 2, and 3 .................................................................................................................. 2
Measurement, scales and survey design ..................................................................................... 3
Chapter 12 and 13 ................................................................................................................... 3
Multi-item scales, reliability and validity .................................................................................. 7
Chapter 12 and 13 ................................................................................................................... 7
Factor analysis ............................................................................................................................ 9
Chapter 22 and 24 ................................................................................................................... 9
Sampling................................................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 14 and 15 ................................................................................................................. 12
Hypothesis testing .................................................................................................................... 18
Chapter 20 and 21 ................................................................................................................. 18
Regression analysis .................................................................................................................. 21
Chapter 22............................................................................................................................. 21
Moderation ............................................................................................................................... 26
Mediation ................................................................................................................................. 29
1
,Introduction
Chapter 1, 2, and 3
Future managers and research
To be able to perform business research
E.g. undertake research yourselves to solve the smaller problems you encounter
To be able to steer business research
E.g. interact effectively with researchers / research agencies
To be able to evaluate business research
To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers/research agencies
To discriminate between good and bad published research studies
Business research
“A series of well-thought-out and carefully executed activities that enable the manager to know
how organizational problems can be solved, or at least considerably minimized” - Sekaran &
Bougie (2016, p. 2)
A business researcher:
Specifies the information necessary to address these issues
Designs the method for collecting information
Manages and implements the data collection process
Analyzes the results
Communicates the findings and their implications
Hallmarks
1. Purposiveness; Knowing “the why” of your research
2. Rigor; Ensuring a sound theoretical base and methodological design
3. Testability; Being able to test logically developed ideas based on data
4. Replicability; Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
5. Precision and confidence; Drawing accurate conclusions with a high degree of confidence
6. Objectivity; Drawing conclusions based on facts (rather than on subjective ideas)
7. Generalizability; Being able to apply research findings in a wide variety of different
settings
▪ Applied research: to solve a current problem faced by a manager; applies to a
specific company; within firms or research agencies
▪ Fundamental (or basic) research: to generate new knowledge about how problems
that occur in several firms can be solved; applies to several organizational
settings; mainly within universities and knowledge institutes
8. Parsimony; Shaving away unnecessary details, explaining a lot with a little
Marketing research process
Step 1: Problem definition
Identify problem area; define problem statement
Decision problem: manager focused – Ahold and Delhaize have merged. Several former
employees of Delhaize have taken on an unmotivated attitude and have become less
productive.
Research problem: research focused – To what extent does executive communication impact
the productivity of the former employees of Delhaize through increasing their morale, and
does this depend on employee characteristics?
What is employee productivity; what is the effect of mergers on employees’
productivity? Etc.
2
, Step 2: Developing a research approach
Theoretical framework consists of:
Description of all relevant variables and their definitions
Define all variables and motivate why these are important
Hypotheses
Based on existing theory, testable, and unambiguous and provide a logical
justification
Conceptual model (i.e. a graphical representation)
Covers all variables and relationships
Step 3: Research design
Determine nature of research, measures, sampling etc.
Define the information needed
Decide on nature of research
Exploratory: a flexible and evolving approach to understand phenomena that are
inherently difficult to measure; often required when prior theory is absent and an in-
depth understanding is required; aim is to develop new theory since phenomenon is
new or previously not investigated; results theory.
▪ Qualitative: small(er), one on one, in-depth.
▪ Quantitative: large(r), one to many, broader.
Conclusive: clearly defined phenomena that can be measured by means of quantitative
data; theory results.
▪ Causal: testing the causal relationship between two or more variables by
means of a (laboratory or field) experiment.
• Correlation vs causality
▪ Descriptive: testing the correlational relationship between two or more
variables (e.g. by means of a survey or archival data).
• Longitudinal design
• Cross-sectional design
o Single cross-sectional
o Multiple cross-sectional
Decide on techniques and measurement
Construct and pre-test the research
Decide on sampling process and sample size
Develop a data analysis plan
Step 4: Fieldwork or data collection
Data collection
Step 5: Data analysis
Data analysis
Step 6: Communicating findings
Data interpretation
Measurement, scales and survey design
Chapter 12 and 13
Sources of error
Total error: Variation between true mean value in the population of the variable of interest and the
observed value.
o Random sampling errors: Error because the selected sample is an imperfect
representation of the population of interest.
3
Lecture summary
Content
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2
Chapter 1, 2, and 3 .................................................................................................................. 2
Measurement, scales and survey design ..................................................................................... 3
Chapter 12 and 13 ................................................................................................................... 3
Multi-item scales, reliability and validity .................................................................................. 7
Chapter 12 and 13 ................................................................................................................... 7
Factor analysis ............................................................................................................................ 9
Chapter 22 and 24 ................................................................................................................... 9
Sampling................................................................................................................................... 12
Chapter 14 and 15 ................................................................................................................. 12
Hypothesis testing .................................................................................................................... 18
Chapter 20 and 21 ................................................................................................................. 18
Regression analysis .................................................................................................................. 21
Chapter 22............................................................................................................................. 21
Moderation ............................................................................................................................... 26
Mediation ................................................................................................................................. 29
1
,Introduction
Chapter 1, 2, and 3
Future managers and research
To be able to perform business research
E.g. undertake research yourselves to solve the smaller problems you encounter
To be able to steer business research
E.g. interact effectively with researchers / research agencies
To be able to evaluate business research
To discriminate between good and bad research proposals of researchers/research agencies
To discriminate between good and bad published research studies
Business research
“A series of well-thought-out and carefully executed activities that enable the manager to know
how organizational problems can be solved, or at least considerably minimized” - Sekaran &
Bougie (2016, p. 2)
A business researcher:
Specifies the information necessary to address these issues
Designs the method for collecting information
Manages and implements the data collection process
Analyzes the results
Communicates the findings and their implications
Hallmarks
1. Purposiveness; Knowing “the why” of your research
2. Rigor; Ensuring a sound theoretical base and methodological design
3. Testability; Being able to test logically developed ideas based on data
4. Replicability; Finding the same results if the research is repeated in similar circumstances
5. Precision and confidence; Drawing accurate conclusions with a high degree of confidence
6. Objectivity; Drawing conclusions based on facts (rather than on subjective ideas)
7. Generalizability; Being able to apply research findings in a wide variety of different
settings
▪ Applied research: to solve a current problem faced by a manager; applies to a
specific company; within firms or research agencies
▪ Fundamental (or basic) research: to generate new knowledge about how problems
that occur in several firms can be solved; applies to several organizational
settings; mainly within universities and knowledge institutes
8. Parsimony; Shaving away unnecessary details, explaining a lot with a little
Marketing research process
Step 1: Problem definition
Identify problem area; define problem statement
Decision problem: manager focused – Ahold and Delhaize have merged. Several former
employees of Delhaize have taken on an unmotivated attitude and have become less
productive.
Research problem: research focused – To what extent does executive communication impact
the productivity of the former employees of Delhaize through increasing their morale, and
does this depend on employee characteristics?
What is employee productivity; what is the effect of mergers on employees’
productivity? Etc.
2
, Step 2: Developing a research approach
Theoretical framework consists of:
Description of all relevant variables and their definitions
Define all variables and motivate why these are important
Hypotheses
Based on existing theory, testable, and unambiguous and provide a logical
justification
Conceptual model (i.e. a graphical representation)
Covers all variables and relationships
Step 3: Research design
Determine nature of research, measures, sampling etc.
Define the information needed
Decide on nature of research
Exploratory: a flexible and evolving approach to understand phenomena that are
inherently difficult to measure; often required when prior theory is absent and an in-
depth understanding is required; aim is to develop new theory since phenomenon is
new or previously not investigated; results theory.
▪ Qualitative: small(er), one on one, in-depth.
▪ Quantitative: large(r), one to many, broader.
Conclusive: clearly defined phenomena that can be measured by means of quantitative
data; theory results.
▪ Causal: testing the causal relationship between two or more variables by
means of a (laboratory or field) experiment.
• Correlation vs causality
▪ Descriptive: testing the correlational relationship between two or more
variables (e.g. by means of a survey or archival data).
• Longitudinal design
• Cross-sectional design
o Single cross-sectional
o Multiple cross-sectional
Decide on techniques and measurement
Construct and pre-test the research
Decide on sampling process and sample size
Develop a data analysis plan
Step 4: Fieldwork or data collection
Data collection
Step 5: Data analysis
Data analysis
Step 6: Communicating findings
Data interpretation
Measurement, scales and survey design
Chapter 12 and 13
Sources of error
Total error: Variation between true mean value in the population of the variable of interest and the
observed value.
o Random sampling errors: Error because the selected sample is an imperfect
representation of the population of interest.
3
