MBA project

PGBM161 MBA Project

Business School,

University of Sunderland

April, 2021

Content

• Review of the Research Process

• Knowledge & Theory

• Research Philosophy

• Research Approach & Design

- deductive research

- inductive research

- abductive research

• Quantitative Research/Qualitative Research/Mixed method Research

Research Project Process

Key Terms

• Research approach

General term for inductive, deductive or abductive research approach.

• Research design

Framework for the collection and analysis of data to answer research question and meet research objectives providing reasoned justification for choice of data sources, collection methods and analysis techniques.

• Research strategy

General plan of how the researcher will go about answering the research question(s).

Methodology vs Methods

Methodology is the rationale behind your research and lens through which you will

analyse your results. Some examples:

• Experiment: it is a classical form of research that owes much the natural science, particularly used in psychology.

• Ethnography: Looks at culture and social norms and behaviour groups

• Action research: research systematically looks at a problem and tries various solutions to see how effective they are.

Methods are the tool(s) you will you use to carry our your research. Examples are:

• A survey or questionnaire

• A focus group or structured interviews or a controlled experiment

Summary

• The methodology is how you will answer your question and the method is what you do to collect your data.

Where does Knowledge reside?

• Imagine that the object of your research is an oak tree. There will no doubt be some commonality between the representations you all hold.

- Is there a reality external to the human mind?

- Are there two realities?

Such questions become more complex if you move from the consideration of tangible objects such as a tree to the types of intangible objects that often constitute the objects of social science research. For example, concepts such as 'family', 'motivation', 'learning' and 'language'.

What is THEORY?

• Theory- It is defined by Gill and Johnson (1997) as “a formulation regarding the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables, which may or may not been tested” (quoted in Saunders, et al., 2012).

- We can theorise that students with a better English language will have a better results for the final research project

- Before to theorise this we have to conduct the research that yielded and explanation of why better English language will give better results.

- Theory - By doing A, B will happen, then by manipulating the occurrence of A we can begin to predict and influence the occurrence B.

A B Good English Age of the students

Background of the studentsIELTS level??

CEFR level?? Students motivation Native speakers or non ??

Theory in Research

What is Theory? - Theory is used in many different ways, its most common meaning is as a way of explaining

observed patterns of associations between phenomena (Bell, Bryman, and Harley, 2019).

- Whetten (1989) identified that theory is composed of four elements, related to ‘what’, ‘how’,

‘why’ and a fourth group of ‘who’, ‘where’ and ‘when’.

WHAT

HOW

WHY

What are the variables or concepts that the theory examines?

How are these variables or concepts related? Key aspect: causality. Theory is

concerned with ‘CAUSE & EFFECT’ relationship

This is the critical element in a theory because a theory explains the nature

of the relationship between the Variables or Concepts

Theory in Research

• Good theory must not only include ‘what’ and ‘how’ elements to identify underpinning variables and describe the nature of their

relationship between the variables or concepts.

• It must also use logical reasoning to explain why the relationship exists.

• ‘LOGICAL’- it will be based upon what you already know, related to the ‘what is it’ and ‘how you know it’.

• Once a valid explanation has been developed the theory may be used not only to explain why the relationship exists but also to make

predictions about new outcomes if the variable's on which the

theory is based are manipulated.

Research Philosophy

Why Do Research Philosophies Matter?

• • Systems of beliefs & assumptions about… everything!

- the world (ontology)

- knowledge and ways to learn it (epistemology)

- values (axiology)

• • Do you have a research philosophy?

- are you aware of your beliefs & assumptions?

- are they systematic?

• Is your research data collection for:

- testing a theory?

- building a theory?

Research Philosophy

- A system of beliefs and assumptions about the development of knowledge

- Way of developing knowledge in a particular field

- Every stage in your research you will make assumption (Burrell and Morgan, 2016).

Three main types of assumptions:

Ontological

assumption-

studies the nature

of reality of being.

Epistemological assumption-

studies the nature of knowledge

and what constitutes acceptable

knowledge in a field of study;

“what is known” or “What we

can know”

Axiological assumption-

studies judgements about the

role of value

“ways your own value

influence your research

process”

Research Philosophy in PG Research

Five major philosophies in business and management research:

1) Positivism (truth seeker)

Where the researcher believes that reality exists objectively; be able to predict

2) Interpretivism (meaning maker)

Several realities explain the individual perspective in the context of the phenomena; collect data to understand what is happening in the context rather than measuring it

3) Pragmatism (Problem solver)

4) Critical realism

5) Postmodernism

Research Philosophy in PG Research

• Different research approaches

• Positivism vs Interpretivism

• Positivism: The researcher assumes the role of an objective analyst. High structured methodologies and measurable observations, this leads to

statistical analysis.

• Interpretivism: everyone interpret the word in his/her way, therefore, is necessary to explore the subjective meanings motivating people actions, in

order to be able to understand the environment.

Helpful source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1DDWVlgXTI

3 main assumption

Deductive vs. Inductive Approach

• Deductive research (Quantitative)

• Testing theories

- adopt a clear theoretical position that you will test though the collection of data; theory driven

• There is a search to explain the casual relationship between two variables (A and B)

• A = Students with a better English language will have a better results for the final project.

• B= Students who are studying consistently will have better project results.

 Inductive research (Qualitative)

 Building theories

 Develop a Theory

 To explore a topic and develop a

theoretical explanation as the data are

collected and analysed; data driven.

Variable A : better English language

Variable B : studying consistently

• Qualitative Research

It involves the collection of data about attitudes, beliefs and intentions.

Focus groups, interviews and observation are common to use.

• Quantitative Research

It involves the collection of data that can be measured. Surveys

(questionnaire) and the use of government publications are common.

Qualitative & Quantitative Research

Inductive approach

Deductive approach

Deductive & Inductive Research

• Deductive research

- To identify a clear theoretical position when you draft the

research question that you will

then test.

- Be familiar with the test strategies.

• Inductive research

- Still, to familiarise yourself with the theory in your chosen subject area

before you draft your research

question

- The researcher is likely to commence his/her research with

knowledge of relevant literature

and the theory it contains

Deductive & Inductive reasoning

• Deductive reasoning

It is the philosophical idea that underpins the style of research in which the investigator begins from a theoretical position and sets outs to test it by gathering and analysing data.

The researcher will outline a hypothesis based on the theory, and then uses empirical methods to see whether it is confirmed or not.

• Inductive Reasoning

Involving reasoning the development of a theory as a result of the observation of empirical data

Another Example:

Statement A- Money, as a motivator is working for blue collar workers.

Statement B- Nissan Washington has many blue collar workers.

Inference is: Money, as a motivator is working for Nissan Washing ton

blue collar workers.

Abductive Reasoning

• Abduction is a type of reasoning with strong ties to inductive reasoning.

• Abduction approach to theory development involving the collection data to explore a phenomena, identify themes and explain patterns to generate a new or modify an existing-

theory which is subsequently tested.

• Abductive reasoning is a form of logical inference which starts with an observation or set of observations then seeks to find the simplest and most likely explanation for the

observations.

• Where you are collecting data to explore a phenomenon, identify themes and explain patterns, to generate a new or modify an existing theory which you subsequently test

through additional data collection, you are using an abductive approach (Saunders, 2019,

p153).

Argument about Mix Method Research • Using more than one method in researches sometimes referred to as triangulation, but it is not as simple as it first sounds (Grix,

2018, p.132).

• The exact mixture that is considered appropriate will depend on the research questions and the situational and practical

issues facing a researcher (Antwi and Hamza, 2015).

• The popularity of using mixed method in research is accompanied with some arguments, for example:

Bryman (2016) points out that there are 2 main arguments about using mixed-method in doing research, which are about:

- The research methods carry epistemological commitment

- Quantitative and qualitative are separative paradigms

• Parvaiz, et.al. (2016) explains pragmatist conducts mixed method research believes one should stop asking questions about the

laws of nature and reality (ontology) and theory of the knowledge (epistemology).

• Creswell (2018) considers individuals holding an interpretive framework based on pragmatism focus on the outcomes of the

research- the actions, situations, and consequences of inquiry- rather than antecedent conditions (p.28).

• Fetters and Molin-Azorin (2017) consider it include using more than one method of data collection that can be all quantitative, all

qualitative or a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods; in consequence, they classify the mixed research approach as one form of

the multiple methods approaches.