Chapter 6 Elements of Research Design I.
The Research Design A research design is a master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the data. It involves a series of ratio rational nal decisi decisionon-ma makin king g choice choices s depend depending ing upon upon the variou various s options available to the researchers. This chapter will examine the six basic aspects of research design which is purpose of the study, the type of investigation, the extent of researcher interference, the study setting, the unit of analysis and time horizon of the study.
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Purpose of the Study The purpose or nature of the study depends on the stage to which knowledge about the research topic has advanced. It becomes more metic eticul ulou ous s from from expl explor orat ator ory y stag stage e to desc descri ript ptiv ive e stag stage e unti untill hypotheses testing stage. i. xploratory This study undertaken when not much is situation known and no information information available about the similar problem or past research. It als also nece necess ssar ary y when some ome fact facts s are are kno known, but but more ore info inforrmatio ation n is need needed ed for for deve develo lopi ping ng a viab viable le theo theorretic etical al frame framewor work. k. xplor xplorato atory ry studie studies s are are impor importan tantt for obtain obtaining ing a good good gras grasp p of the the phen phenom omen ena a of inte interrest est and and adva advanc ncin ing g knowledge through subse!uent theory building and hypothesis testing. xample" The manager of a multinational corporation is curious to know if the work ethic values of employees working in its subsidiary in #ennath ennathur ur $ity $ity would would be di%er di%erent ent from from those those of Ameri American cans. s. There is very little information about #ennathur #ennathur &except that it is a small city in southern India', and since there is considerable controversy about what work ethic values mean to people in other cultures, the manager( curiosity can be satis)ed only by an exploratory study, interviewing the employees in organizations in #ennathur. #ennathur. ii.
*escriptive This study undertaken undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to desc descri ribe be the the char charac acte teri rist stic ics s of the the vari variab able les s of inte interrest est in a situ situat atio ion. n. It aim aims to o%er o%er to the the resea esearrcher cher a pro) pro)le le or to describe relevant aspects of the phenomena of interest from an indiv dividual, organizational, industry-or -oriented, or other perspective. xample"
A $+ may be interested in having a description of organizations in her industry that follow the I+ system. In this case, the report might include the age of the organizations, their locations, their production levels, assets, sales, inventory levels, suppliers, and pro)ts. uch information might allow comparison later of the performance levels of speci)c types of companies.
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/ypotheses Testing This study usually explains the nature of certain relationships, or establish the di%erences among groups or the independence of two or more factors in a situation. xample" A marketing manager wants to know if the sales of the company will increase if he doubles the advertising dollars. /ere, the manager would like to know the nature of the relationship that can be established between advertising and sales by testing the hypothesis" If advertising is increased, then sales will also go up.
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$ase tudy Analysis This study involves in-depth, contextual analyses of matters relating to similar situations in other organizations. $ase study that !ualitative in nature can be use in understanding phenomenon, applying solutions to current problems based on past experience, and generating further theories for empirical testing.
Type of Investigation: Causal vs Correlational $ausal study is when the researcher wants to describe the cause of one or more problems. $orrelational study is when the researcher is interested in describing the important variable associated with the problem. Its important to determine whether a study is causal or correlational to )nd an answer to the issue and it is necessary to establish a de)nitive cause-and-e%ect relationship. 0hether a study is a causal or a correlational one depends on the type of research !uestions asked and how the problem is de)ned. xample" $ausal study !uestion" *oes smoking cause cancer1 $orrelational study !uestion" Are smoking and cancer related1
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E!tent of Researcher Interference "ith the Study The extent of interference by the researcher has a direct bearing on whether the study undertaken is causal or correlational. A correlational study is conducted in the natural environment of the organization with minimum interference by the researcher with the normal 2ow of work. or example, if a researcher wants to study the factors in2uencing training e%ectiveness, all that the individual has
to do is develop a theoretical framework, collect the relevant data, and analyze them to come up with the )ndings. In correlational study, the researcher tries to manipulate certain variables so as to study the e%ects of such manipulation on the dependent variable of interest. As an example, a researcher might want to study the in2uence of lighting on worker performance, and hence manipulates the lighting in the work situation to varying intensities.
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Study Setting: Contrived and #on$Contrived +rganizational research can be done in the natural environment where work proceeds normally &non-contrived settings' or in arti)cial &contrived settings'. $orrelational studies are invariably conducted in non-contrived settings by doing )eld study &a non-contrived setting where various factors are examined in the natural setting in which daily activities go on as normal with minimal researcher interference' or a )eld experiment &non-contrived setting where cause and e%ect relationships are studied with some 3 moderate amount of researcher interference, but still in the natural setting where work continues in the normal fashion', whereas most rigorous causal studies are done in contrived lab settings by lab experiment &a contrived setting where the researcher explores cause-and-e%ect relationships not only exercising a high degree of control but also in an arti)cial and deliberately created setting with researcher interference to an excessive degree'. xample" ituation" A bank manager wants to analyze the relationship between interest rates and bank deposit patterns of clients. ield tudy" The bank manager tries to correlate the two by looking at deposits into di%erent kinds of accounts &such as savings, certi)cates of deposit, golden passbooks, and interest-bearing checking accounts' as interest rates changed. ield xperiment" The bank manager now wants to determine the cause-and-e%ect relationship between interest rate and the inducements it o%ers to clients to save and deposit money in the bank. ab xperiment" The bank manager now wants to establish the causal connection between interest rates and savings, beyond a doubt. 4ecause of this she wants to create an arti)cial environment and trace the true cause-and-e%ect relationship.
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%nit of &nalysis: Individuals' )rgani*ations' Cultures
Dyads'
(roups'
The unit of analysis refers to the level of aggregation of the data collected during the subse!uent data analysis stage. +ur research !uestion determines the unit of analysis. As our research !uestion
addresses issues that move away from the individual to dyads, and to groups, organizations, and even nations, so also does the unit of analysis shift from individuals to dyads, groups, organizations, and nations. i. Individuals 5esearcher interested in studying individual behavior or in2uenced in organization and )nd out individual relation with the problems being research. xample" The $hief inancial +6cer of a manufacturing company wants to know how many of the sta% would be interested in attending a 7-day seminar on making appropriate investment decisions. ii.
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*yads The researcher is interested in studying two-person interactions, then several two-person groups. xample" A human resources manager wants to )rst identify the number of employees in three departments of the organization who are in mentoring relationships, and then )nd out what the 8ointly perceived bene)ts &i.e., by both the mentor and the one mentored' of such a relationship are. 9roups The unit of analysis will be groups if the problem statement is related to group e%ectiveness. In other words, even though the relevant data gather from all individuals comprising, say, six groups, it would being aggregate from individual data into group data. xample" A manager wants to see the patterns of usage of the newly installed Information ystem &I' by the production, sales, and operations personnel.
Time +ori*on of Study i.
$ross-sectional It is a study that can be done in which data are gathered 8ust once, perhaps over a period of days or weeks or months, in order to answer a research !uestion, it also known as one-shot studies. xample" *ata were collected from stock brokers between April and :une of last year to study their concerns in a turbulent stock market.
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ongitudinal It is a study that done more than one point in time &before and after' to know what e%ect the change accomplished and the data gathered at two di%erent points in time. xample" A marketing manager is interested in tracing the pattern of sales of a particular product in four di%erent regions of the country on a !uarterly basis for the next ; years.
,anagerial Implications
