Pre-master: Business research techniques
Table of Contents
Module 1 - The Research Process ........................................................................................................2
1.1 Why business research? ....................................................................................................................... 2
1.2. Stages of the research process............................................................................................................. 3
Module 2: Theory Formation ..............................................................................................................4
2.1. Demarcating a business problem......................................................................................................... 4
2.2. Problem relevance ............................................................................................................................... 4
2.3. Formulating research questions .......................................................................................................... 4
2.4. Writing a background section .............................................................................................................. 6
2.5. Variables .............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.6. Writing a literature review and a conceptual model section ............................................................... 8
2.7. Research hypotheses ........................................................................................................................... 9
2.8. Writing a hypothesis section ............................................................................................................. 10
Module 3 - Research strategies ......................................................................................................... 13
Module 4 - Data collection and analysis ............................................................................................ 14
4.1 The structure of a dataset................................................................................................................... 14
4.2 Sampling ............................................................................................................................................. 15
4.3 Measurement ..................................................................................................................................... 17
4.4 Choosing statistical tests/techniques.................................................................................................. 18
4.4.1. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (metric DV & IV) ....................................................................................................... 19
4.4.2. Chi-square test (categorical DV & IV) ........................................................................................................................... 19
4.4.3. T-test (metric DV & categorical IV with 2 levels) .......................................................................................................... 19
4.4.4. One-way ANOVA (metric DV & categorical IV with 3 or more levels) .......................................................................... 21
4.4.5. Regression analysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 23
Module 5 - Reliability and validity ....................................................................................................26
5.1. Measurement reliability and validity .............................................................................................................................. 26
5.1.1. Measurement reliability ............................................................................................................................................... 26
5.1.2. Measurement validity .................................................................................................................................................. 29
5.2. Internal and external validity .......................................................................................................................................... 29
Module 6 - Survey research .............................................................................................................. 29
6.1. Survey vs polls ................................................................................................................................... 29
6.2. Developing survey questions ............................................................................................................. 30
6.3. Designing a survey ............................................................................................................................. 31
6.4. Reliability and validity in survey research .......................................................................................... 32
Module 7 - Archival research ............................................................................................................ 33
7.1. Internal vs external research ............................................................................................................. 33
7.2. Piecing together archival data ........................................................................................................... 34
7.3. Reliability and validity in archival research ........................................................................................ 34
Module 8 - Experimental research ....................................................................................................35
8.1. Lab vs field experiments .................................................................................................................... 35
8.2. Experimental designs......................................................................................................................... 37
8.3. Reliability and validity in experiments ............................................................................................... 38
Module 9 - Qualitative research........................................................................................................ 40
9.1. The basics of qualitative research ...................................................................................................... 40
9.2. Collecting primary qualitative data.................................................................................................... 40
9.3. Validity in qualitative research .......................................................................................................... 41
1
,Module 1 - The Research Process
1.1 Why business research?
A business research course is valuable for future managers, consultants, and researchers because it
improves decision-making by grounding it in evidence rather than intuition.
Importance of business research:
- Many business problems have already been studied by business scientists, who use empirical
research to base their conclusions on.
- Managers can conduct their own research for moderate issues or rely on internal/external
researchers for complex problems.
- Whether you consume, produce, or delegate research, understanding research fundamentals is
essential for sound, evidence-based business decisions.
Business research: “A systematic process of testing hypotheses through carefully executed data analyses
that are aimed to help a manager solve or minimize a problem.”
Key elements:
- Systematic process: involves interrelated, universally recognized stages.
- Tests hypotheses: hypothesis-driven studies contribute more meaningfully to understanding
business problems than those without hypotheses.
- Data collection and analysis: empirical methods are central.
- Improves decision-making: enables evidence-based choices by managers.
Problem with managerial intuition: intuition should never replace research, especially when dealing with
unprecedented challenges. Managers are often affected by cognitive biases, which hinder rational and
accurate decision-making.
Common cognitive biases:
- Confirmation bias: tendency to seek or focus only on information that confirms existing beliefs,
ignoring contradictory evidence.
- Availability bias (heuristic): basing decisions on information that is easily recalled, even if it’s not
the most reliable. This can lead to overestimating rare events if they are vivid or recent (e.g.,
media coverage of plane crashes).
- WYSIATI (What you see is all there is) bias: focusing only on available information while ignoring
what’s missing, even if the missing information is crucial.
Evaluating research evidence
Adopting an evidence-based approach to decision-making required the ability to critically evaluate
research studies.
Judging academic journal quality:
- Beware of predatory journals, which charge authors to publish without proper peer review.
- To assess journal quality:
o Check if the article is peer reviewed
o Look up the impact factor (≥1.0 suggests higher credibility).
o Consult reputable lists like the TiSEM journal list: Tisem Top Journals
2
,Judging article quality (even in peer-reviewed journals):
- A large sample is often seen as ideal, but other methodological factors can be just as or more
important for assessing study quality.
Judging popular-press articles:
- Popular articles often translate academic findings for a broader audience.
- They can be unreliable if:
o Based on flawed academic research
o Mispresent the original study’s method or findings
Conclusion: To make sound, research-driven decisions in business, you must be able to:
- Evaluate the quality of business research
- Delegate research tasks effectively
- Conduct your own research when needed
1.2. Stages of the research process
Deductive vs inductive research:
- Inductive research: aims at developing a theory. Starts with collecting data and develops a
theoretical framework based on the data.
- Deductive research: aims at testing a theory. Starts with hypothesizing relationships between
variables based on theory. These hypotheses are then tested using data.
These approaches can be combined in practice, where theory-building and testing inform each other.
The 7-step deductive research process
1. Defining a problem (demarcate the business problem)
2. Formulating research questions
3. Developing a theoretical framework
4. Choosing a research strategy
5. Collecting the data
6. Analyzing the data
7. Writing a report
3
, Module 2: Theory Formation
2.1. Demarcating a business problem
A business problem arises from a threat (e.g., challenges) or an opportunity (e.g., improvement
potential). Before conducting research, the problem must be demarcated - clearly and narrowly defined
- to target a specific aspect. Example:
- Poorly: “Pfizer wants to boost its profits”
- Well: “Pfizer wants to know the impact of advertising spending on no of prescriptions written.”
2.2. Problem relevance
Two types of relevance:
1. Academic relevance - a study contributes to literature by:
o Exploring a new topic
o Studying an existing topic in a new context
o Integrating scattered findings: prior studies focus on different variables in isolation;
hence their relative impact is unclear
o Reconciling conflicting findings: prior studies report different (small vs large, positive vs
negative), and the conditions under which these findings hold are unclear.
2. Managerial relevance - the study benefits:
o Managers (in companies, industries)
o End users (consumers, investors, taxpayers)
o Public policy makers: (e.g., governments, EU)
o Combinations of stakeholders
2.3. Formulating research questions
4
Table of Contents
Module 1 - The Research Process ........................................................................................................2
1.1 Why business research? ....................................................................................................................... 2
1.2. Stages of the research process............................................................................................................. 3
Module 2: Theory Formation ..............................................................................................................4
2.1. Demarcating a business problem......................................................................................................... 4
2.2. Problem relevance ............................................................................................................................... 4
2.3. Formulating research questions .......................................................................................................... 4
2.4. Writing a background section .............................................................................................................. 6
2.5. Variables .............................................................................................................................................. 6
2.6. Writing a literature review and a conceptual model section ............................................................... 8
2.7. Research hypotheses ........................................................................................................................... 9
2.8. Writing a hypothesis section ............................................................................................................. 10
Module 3 - Research strategies ......................................................................................................... 13
Module 4 - Data collection and analysis ............................................................................................ 14
4.1 The structure of a dataset................................................................................................................... 14
4.2 Sampling ............................................................................................................................................. 15
4.3 Measurement ..................................................................................................................................... 17
4.4 Choosing statistical tests/techniques.................................................................................................. 18
4.4.1. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (metric DV & IV) ....................................................................................................... 19
4.4.2. Chi-square test (categorical DV & IV) ........................................................................................................................... 19
4.4.3. T-test (metric DV & categorical IV with 2 levels) .......................................................................................................... 19
4.4.4. One-way ANOVA (metric DV & categorical IV with 3 or more levels) .......................................................................... 21
4.4.5. Regression analysis ....................................................................................................................................................... 23
Module 5 - Reliability and validity ....................................................................................................26
5.1. Measurement reliability and validity .............................................................................................................................. 26
5.1.1. Measurement reliability ............................................................................................................................................... 26
5.1.2. Measurement validity .................................................................................................................................................. 29
5.2. Internal and external validity .......................................................................................................................................... 29
Module 6 - Survey research .............................................................................................................. 29
6.1. Survey vs polls ................................................................................................................................... 29
6.2. Developing survey questions ............................................................................................................. 30
6.3. Designing a survey ............................................................................................................................. 31
6.4. Reliability and validity in survey research .......................................................................................... 32
Module 7 - Archival research ............................................................................................................ 33
7.1. Internal vs external research ............................................................................................................. 33
7.2. Piecing together archival data ........................................................................................................... 34
7.3. Reliability and validity in archival research ........................................................................................ 34
Module 8 - Experimental research ....................................................................................................35
8.1. Lab vs field experiments .................................................................................................................... 35
8.2. Experimental designs......................................................................................................................... 37
8.3. Reliability and validity in experiments ............................................................................................... 38
Module 9 - Qualitative research........................................................................................................ 40
9.1. The basics of qualitative research ...................................................................................................... 40
9.2. Collecting primary qualitative data.................................................................................................... 40
9.3. Validity in qualitative research .......................................................................................................... 41
1
,Module 1 - The Research Process
1.1 Why business research?
A business research course is valuable for future managers, consultants, and researchers because it
improves decision-making by grounding it in evidence rather than intuition.
Importance of business research:
- Many business problems have already been studied by business scientists, who use empirical
research to base their conclusions on.
- Managers can conduct their own research for moderate issues or rely on internal/external
researchers for complex problems.
- Whether you consume, produce, or delegate research, understanding research fundamentals is
essential for sound, evidence-based business decisions.
Business research: “A systematic process of testing hypotheses through carefully executed data analyses
that are aimed to help a manager solve or minimize a problem.”
Key elements:
- Systematic process: involves interrelated, universally recognized stages.
- Tests hypotheses: hypothesis-driven studies contribute more meaningfully to understanding
business problems than those without hypotheses.
- Data collection and analysis: empirical methods are central.
- Improves decision-making: enables evidence-based choices by managers.
Problem with managerial intuition: intuition should never replace research, especially when dealing with
unprecedented challenges. Managers are often affected by cognitive biases, which hinder rational and
accurate decision-making.
Common cognitive biases:
- Confirmation bias: tendency to seek or focus only on information that confirms existing beliefs,
ignoring contradictory evidence.
- Availability bias (heuristic): basing decisions on information that is easily recalled, even if it’s not
the most reliable. This can lead to overestimating rare events if they are vivid or recent (e.g.,
media coverage of plane crashes).
- WYSIATI (What you see is all there is) bias: focusing only on available information while ignoring
what’s missing, even if the missing information is crucial.
Evaluating research evidence
Adopting an evidence-based approach to decision-making required the ability to critically evaluate
research studies.
Judging academic journal quality:
- Beware of predatory journals, which charge authors to publish without proper peer review.
- To assess journal quality:
o Check if the article is peer reviewed
o Look up the impact factor (≥1.0 suggests higher credibility).
o Consult reputable lists like the TiSEM journal list: Tisem Top Journals
2
,Judging article quality (even in peer-reviewed journals):
- A large sample is often seen as ideal, but other methodological factors can be just as or more
important for assessing study quality.
Judging popular-press articles:
- Popular articles often translate academic findings for a broader audience.
- They can be unreliable if:
o Based on flawed academic research
o Mispresent the original study’s method or findings
Conclusion: To make sound, research-driven decisions in business, you must be able to:
- Evaluate the quality of business research
- Delegate research tasks effectively
- Conduct your own research when needed
1.2. Stages of the research process
Deductive vs inductive research:
- Inductive research: aims at developing a theory. Starts with collecting data and develops a
theoretical framework based on the data.
- Deductive research: aims at testing a theory. Starts with hypothesizing relationships between
variables based on theory. These hypotheses are then tested using data.
These approaches can be combined in practice, where theory-building and testing inform each other.
The 7-step deductive research process
1. Defining a problem (demarcate the business problem)
2. Formulating research questions
3. Developing a theoretical framework
4. Choosing a research strategy
5. Collecting the data
6. Analyzing the data
7. Writing a report
3
, Module 2: Theory Formation
2.1. Demarcating a business problem
A business problem arises from a threat (e.g., challenges) or an opportunity (e.g., improvement
potential). Before conducting research, the problem must be demarcated - clearly and narrowly defined
- to target a specific aspect. Example:
- Poorly: “Pfizer wants to boost its profits”
- Well: “Pfizer wants to know the impact of advertising spending on no of prescriptions written.”
2.2. Problem relevance
Two types of relevance:
1. Academic relevance - a study contributes to literature by:
o Exploring a new topic
o Studying an existing topic in a new context
o Integrating scattered findings: prior studies focus on different variables in isolation;
hence their relative impact is unclear
o Reconciling conflicting findings: prior studies report different (small vs large, positive vs
negative), and the conditions under which these findings hold are unclear.
2. Managerial relevance - the study benefits:
o Managers (in companies, industries)
o End users (consumers, investors, taxpayers)
o Public policy makers: (e.g., governments, EU)
o Combinations of stakeholders
2.3. Formulating research questions
4
