UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Academic year 2019-2020

Business Research Methods: Course Manual

Bart Cambré, Walter Van Andel & Vicky Van Woensel

Alfred Hitchcock: “The three most vital elements in any good film are
the script, the script, the script.”

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Table of Contents
1 Symbols ................................................................................................................................................. 4
2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Why scientific research matters .................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Scope of the training: learning outcomes ..................................................................................... 8
2.3 Assignment: review examples of business research ..................................................................... 8
2.4 Optional background information ................................................................................................. 9
2.4.1 Neuroscience: Why good managers make bad decisions ..................................................... 9
3 Research design ................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1 Philosophical introduction .......................................................................................................... 10
3.1.1 Scientific method ................................................................................................................. 10
3.2 Post-assessment .......................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.1 What type of researcher are you?....................................................................................... 11
3.3 The research template (the Turtle!) ............................................................................................ 12
3.4 How to start your own empirical research project ..................................................................... 12
3.5 Literature review ......................................................................................................................... 15
3.6 Unit of analysis vs unit of observation ........................................................................................ 16
3.7 Measurement scales and variables ............................................................................................. 16
3.7.1 Likert scales ......................................................................................................................... 17
3.8 Validity and reliability .................................................................................................................. 19
3.9 Triangulation and mixed methods .............................................................................................. 21
3.10 Design Science ............................................................................................................................. 22
3.11 Ethics in business research .......................................................................................................... 23
3.11.1 Optional background reading .............................................................................................. 23
3.11.2 Optional useful material ...................................................................................................... 24
3.12 Optional background information ............................................................................................... 24
3.12.1 Evidence-based management ............................................................................................. 24
4 Data collection ..................................................................................................................................... 26
4.1 Theory on data collection ............................................................................................................ 26
4.2 Quantitative data collection ........................................................................................................ 26
4.2.1 Qualtrics research suite ....................................................................................................... 27
4.2.2 Designing a survey ............................................................................................................... 27

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 4.2.3 Post-assessment: Review this survey .................................................................................. 27
4.2.4 Optional assignment: create your own survey in Qualtrics ................................................ 28
4.2.5 Background: The McNamara Fallacy ................................................................................... 28
4.3 Qualitative data collection .......................................................................................................... 29
4.3.1 Performing an interview ...................................................................................................... 29
4.3.2 Interviewing in qualitative research .................................................................................... 29
4.3.3 Focus group research .......................................................................................................... 29
4.3.4 Optional assignment: Apply theory on a project ................................................................ 30
4.4 Other types of data collection ..................................................................................................... 30
4.5 Sampling ...................................................................................................................................... 30
4.6 Optional background information ............................................................................................... 32
4.6.1 Big data & business intelligence .......................................................................................... 32
5 Data analysis ........................................................................................................................................ 34
5.1 Qualitative ................................................................................................................................... 34
5.1.1 Software packages............................................................................................................... 34
5.2 Quantitative................................................................................................................................. 34
5.3 Significance testing ...................................................................................................................... 37
5.4 Correlation vs causation .............................................................................................................. 37
6 Reporting ............................................................................................................................................. 40
6.1 Academic writing ......................................................................................................................... 40
6.1.1 Writing styles ....................................................................................................................... 40
6.2 Reporting at the Faculty of Business and Economics .................................................................. 42
6.3 Presentation style: the pecha kucha ........................................................................................... 42
6.4 Optional: The deluge of science .................................................................................................. 44
6.5 Optional background information ............................................................................................... 45
6.5.1 Data visualization ................................................................................................................ 45
6.5.2 Writing a press release ........................................................................................................ 45
6.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 46
7 Attachment: Turtle Template .............................................................................................................. 47

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1 Symbols

Must reads e.g. articles, websites, etc.

Optional readings

optional

Movie clips you must see e.g. YouTube movies

Optional movie clips

Recommended individual or group assignments

optional
Optional assignments

Read this chapter from the package ‘Research and Writing Skills’
RWS via Blackboard > Courses > ECLIPS - FBE Learning Channel > Research methods and tools >
Research and Writing Skills

Optional reading from package ‘Research and Writing Skills’

RWS

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2 Introduction

Welcome to the course on Business Research Methods! As Alfred Hitchcock reflects on the art of making
a good film in the quote above, this course will make a reflection on the vital elements that are concerned
with making a good research. The study of research methods will provide you with the knowledge and
skills you need to solve the problems and meet the challenges of a fast-paced decision-making
environment. Business research may be defined as a systematic inquiry for which the objective is to
provide the correct information that will allow managerial decisions to be taken. Business research courses
recognize that students preparing to manage business, not-for-profit and public organizations – in all
functional areas – need training in a disciplined process that will enable them to investigate and solve a
research or management dilemma (i.e. any problem or opportunity that requires a management decision).
Three factors have stimulated an interest in this scientific approach to decision-making:

1. the need for more and better information as decisions become more complex
2. the availability of improved techniques and tools to meet this need
3. an information overload that is difficult to interpret as a result of incorrect and uninformed research analysis.

The past two decades have seen significant changes in the business environment. Emerging from what
historically can be labelled as an economic role, the business organization has evolved in response to the
social and political mandates of national public policy, explosive technology growth, cultural changes and
continuing innovations in global communications. These changes have created new knowledge needs for
the manager and new publics that should be considered when evaluating any decision. Other knowledge
demands have arisen as a result of problems with mergers, trade policies, protected markets, technology
transfers and macroeconomic savings–investment issues. The current trend towards complexity has
increased the risks associated with making business decisions, meaning that it is more important than ever
to have a sound information base. Likewise, the complexity of the phenomena that scientists are
investigating impedes our understanding of what is really happening. Rather than concluding that ‘all
depends on almost everything’ we must strive for meaningful explanations. Below is a list of factors that
characterize the complex business decision-making environment; each factor requires that managers and
scientists have more and better information on which to base their decisions.

 There are more variables to consider in every decision.

 More knowledge exists in every field of management.
 Global and domestic competition is more vigorous, with many businesses downsizing in order to refocus on primary
competences, reduce costs and make competitive gains.
 The quality of theories and models available to explain tactical and strategic results is improving.
 Government is continuing to show concern for all aspects of society, becoming increasingly aggressive in protecting
these various publics.
 The explosive growth of company websites on the World Wide Web, e-commerce, and the availability of company
publications via desktop and electronic publishing, have heralded the presence of extensive new arrays of
information. Its quality, however, is not always impeccable.
 Workers, shareholders, customers and the general public are demanding to be included in company decision-making;
they are better informed and more sensitive to their own interests than ever before.

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To succeed in such an environment, we need to know how to identify high-quality information and how
to recognize the solid, reliable research on which high-risk decisions can be based.1

Overview

The course is organized in five modules and follows a blended learning approach. This means that students
learn through a combination of online delivery of content and instruction – in which students maintain
control over time, place, path or pace of study – and face-to-face classroom sessions2. In-class methods
will be combined with computer-mediated activities such as watching online videos and reviewing
resource websites to deliver a series of impetus that combined form the course content.

In the text, additional links to a Blackboard self-study package ‘Research and Writing Skills’ are made for
students enrolled at the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Antwerp.

Course content

The course is structured through five instalments. Each instalment will refer to a different type of bias that
a scientific research aims to diminish. Bias in research is anything that produces systematic (but
unexpected) variation in a research finding. Research bias occurs when errors in a research design or
execution lead to selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others. Bias can occur at any phase
of research, including study design, data collection, as well as in the process of data analysis and reporting
and publication. Methodology in essence is the process of minimalizing this potential for biases, even
though a situation where bias = 0 is impossible in the research of social sciences (such as business
research). We must therefore be aware and accepting of the fact that a certain level of bias (and thus
errors in research) will always be present in any research.

Each instalment will have its own interactive sequences of videos and other reference material, arranged
in a logical progression. Instructions for each instalment will be posted on Blackboard. Please take the time
to watch each suggested video and the provided readings in detail. Additionally, optional background
material will at times be provided that give you supplementary insights into related topics at your
discretion.

Instalment 1 Introduction to Business Research Methods. Participants will learn about the importance of
studying research methods in business settings, and what are current trends in this field.
Instalment 2 Research Design. Participants will learn how to design a research study, will learn more about their
personal research preferences and will start their assignment.
Instalment 3 Data Collection. Different formats and methods in data collection will be the focus of the third
instalment. Participants will get hands-on experience in survey design and performing research
interviews, after which they will apply this directly to their group assignment.
Instalment 4 Data Analysis. Participants will learn how to perform sound analysis of both qualitative and
quantitative data.
Instalment 5 Reporting. The fifth instalment will focus on reporting of research. In particular, (academic) writing
styles and performing will be covered. For academic writing, Dutch-speaking participants are able to
contact Monitoraat op Maat of the University of Antwerp to improve their academic Dutch. For
academic English, participants can contact Linguapolis.

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Excerpt from: Blumberg, B., Cooper, D., & Schindler, P. (2014). Business Research Methods (4th Revised edition.).
McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
2
The face-to-face classroom sessions are not applicable to students who merely use this document as background
information on how to make a good paper/thesis. For them, this course is 100% e-learning.

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2.1 Why scientific research matters
Read the following article by Duncan Watts, principal researcher at Microsoft Research, in the MIT
Technology Review of 22nd January 2014 ‘Scientific Thinking in Business’. The article gives an insight into
the growing necessity of the ‘scientific method’ in business.

Scientific Thinking in Business:

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523661/scientific-thinking-in-business/

Watch the following video which gives a general overview on the topic of research, and how to perform
a research study.

What is research? (5 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og4BGyZr_Nk

The use and misuse of statistics

As an introduction text to this course, please read the following article published by The Wharton School of
the University of Pennsylvania on the use and misuse of statistics. It gives many interesting examples in
which research results are not all that they appear to be.

The Use and Misuse of Statistics: How and Why Numbers Are So Easily Manipulated.
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-use-and-misuse-of-statistics-how-and-why-
numbers-are-so-easily-manipulated/

As organizations and individuals try to make sense of an increasingly large and complex barrage of
information, the skills required to judge the validity and reliability of results are increasing. “Today,
consumers of information are drowning in data,” says Justin Wolfers, Wharton professor of business and
public policy. “Terabytes of data are being generated from the constant measurement of businesses,
workers, government and other activity, and there are many ways to draw inferences from the raw data.
Unfortunately, many of them lead in the wrong direction.”

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Background: placing everything in perspective

Even though it might seem like it, doing research is often not an exact science. The interpretation and
application of the findings to particular circumstances will always be an important part of the exercise, in
which the researchers need to be able to place the scope, ‘truthfulness’, and limitations of the findings in
perspective. The film “What the bleep do we know!?” gives an interesting viewpoint on the fact that even
though we seem to know and understand a lot, we are still missing an awful lot and instead of observing
everything without bias, we create our own reality.

Film: What the bleep do we know? http://www.whatthebleep.com/

An interesting part of the film can be found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL5fSfWgJbU

Always be critical towards scientific research and the communication about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw

2.2 Scope of the training: learning outcomes

In order to successfully pass this course, participants must show the following qualifications:

Analyst  You have insight into the formal requirements of a scientific text.
 You are able to distinguish diverse ethical aspects of research.
Coordinator  You are able, based on a given problem, to define a problem statement, to formulate
research questions and to design a research plan.
 You are able, based on a problem statement, to indicate which qualitative and/or
quantitative research methods are most appropriate.
 You are able to track, critically select, manage and process scientific sources in
references and a bibliography.
Communicator  You are able to write a text which is compliant with the rules for academic Dutch or
English (academic style and right language).

2.3 Assignment: review examples of business research

Review the following two actual business research cases. These two cases will give you a first insight in
elements that are involved in designing and executing a business research. It can give you a good first
impression of some of the many issues involved in developing sound research. The content of the readings
does not have to be known for the exam.

Case - BRM Case Temporary Organizations_final.pdf (available on Blackboard)

Case - BRM Case Job Satisfaction Banking industry_final.pdf (available on Blackboard)

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2.4 Optional background information
Throughout the course, we will provide optional (non-mandatory) background material. This optional
material represents thought-provoking recent trends in business research. As the use of and the
philosophy on business research evolves constantly, new ideas and practices emerge that are interesting
to review. The first topic that is presented in this section is the neuroscience of decision-making. Below are
several sources that elaborate on this topic that you can review as background material (optional).

2.4.1 Neuroscience: Why good managers make bad decisions

Business research ultimately is a tool that facilitates decision making, in which decision making represents
the ability to process multiple variables and to choose between two or more alternatives for devising an
optimal course of action. Neuroscience of Decision Making is a rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary field
that seeks to explain the neural basis of decision-making behaviour. This new field attempts to integrate
social, cognitive, computational and emotional factors in understanding the neural basis of decisions and
combines research methods from neuroscience, cognitive and social psychology as well as experimental
and behavioural economics.

Harvard Business Review: Campbell 2009 - Why good leaders make bad decisions.pdf
(available on Blackboard)

Forbes: Dooley - Why So Much Market Research Sucks.pdf

optional http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerdooley/2012/10/04/market-research/

Optional video: Baba Shiv: How to Make Better Decisions (4 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS4F1U5FuNM

Additionally, the following TED talk by behavioural economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably
Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research
findings to show how we are not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

TED talk: Dan Ariely: Are we in control of our own decisions? (17 min)
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_own_decisions

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3 Research design

3.1 Philosophical introduction

3.1.1 Scientific method
Research is the foundation on which any solid science must be built. It creates an organized and structured
way to gain knowledge about a certain “system”. In this unit, we will explore the scientific method and
discuss how it relates to current business research. Keep in mind that this unit will serve as a broad
introduction that is relevant to all areas of science, including management and organization studies.

Deductive and inductive reasoning

Deductive, inductive, or abductive reasoning is a way to relate theory to empirical observations. As

Sutcliffe (2011:361) states: “Some advocate that theorists start with generalizations (imagined worlds) and
determine if these generalizations apply to specific instances, whereas others advocate that theorists start
with observations of specific instances (the fallen apple) and seek to establish generalizations about the
phenomenon under investigation. These processes are often described as top-down deduction or bottom-
up induction, respectively.” In a deductive approach the theorists go from generals to particulars, hence
they start with a problem in the literature or existing knowledge and then sets up research to solve it. An
inductive approach begins with ‘general wonderment’ and raw data. As such, it moves from particulars to
generals, allowing the theory to emerge from the data.

In an abductive logic, researchers try to find the simplest and most likely explanation of the observations.
Abduction begins with and is sustained by doubt. An abductive inference to the best explanation also
includes inferring A as an explanation of B, whereas there can be multiple possible explanations for B.

Please read this webpage in order to understand the differences between inductive and deductive
reasoning. These two forms of logic (a) make general statements about incidences from the data that we
collect (induction) and (b) use those general statements to predict future incidences (deduction). At the
end of this reading, you should be able to define induction and deduction and to describe the differences
between them.

Research Methods Knowledge Base: William Trochim’s “Deduction and Induction”.pdf

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/dedind.php

For a more in-depth explanation of both types of reasoning, please watch the following video.

Deductive vs. Inductive Reasoning Review (17 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0VQUKSJ-b8

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Paradigms and research methods

Different philosophical paradigms exist in the debate on business research. These paradigms form
different ways in which we understand social reality and the nature of knowledge. The two main paradigms
are interpretivism and positivism. Positivists are concerned that social science is performed in a scientific
manner and should therefore analyse social facts. Interpretivists on the other hand are looking for
meanings and motives behind people's actions such as behaviour or interaction with others.

The following websites give a more thorough insight on the difference between the two different
paradigms:

A Realistic Way for Business Research.pdf http://richardzhu.articlealley.com/a-realistic-way-for-

business-research-35252.html

Research Philosophy and Research Paradigm.pdf

http://dissertationhelponline.blogspot.be/2011/06/research-philosophy-and-research.html

Fundamental versus applied research

In science (and society) there is a continuous debate on how to proceed with creating knowledge. In
fundamental research, the scope is to create new knowledge or insights, divided in disciplines with specific
theories and methods (e.g. marketing, strategy, logistics). In applied research the scope is more to develop
insights there are useful and applicable in everyday (management) settings, regardless of their
contribution to science. For long, research at graduate level was considered to be applied research, and
PhD-research to be fundamental research. Nowadays, a PhD research can be phenomenon or industry
based. Industry-based research refers to applying inductive or deductive (or abductive) reasoning to shed
light on an industry (e.g. banking industry, aviation industry, or e-commerce). Phenomenon-based
research focuses on identifying and reporting on new or recent phenomena of interest and relevance to
management and organization science (von Krogh et al., 2012). Rigorous phenomenon-based research
tackles problems that are relevant to management practice and fall outside the scope of existing theories.
It usually bridges epistemological and disciplinary divides to unite scholars around a phenomenon.
Examples of phenomenon-based research are (the rise and shine of) transnational corporations, the
environmental impact of firm-level conduct, and the rapid diffusion of social networking.

3.2 Post-assessment
3.2.1 What type of researcher are you?
Most of us have our own unique style of inquiry. Some styles embody the traditional norms of science
while others exemplify non-traditional norms. There is no one right or wrong way to investigate a problem
per se, but if you have a very strong research style, you might find it frustrating to work on a project that
is designed for a different type of researcher. Regardless of its intent, you should find a project that you
are passionate (or extremely interested) about working diligently on.

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It is important to keep in mind that in doing research there is room for the daring, speculative, inventive
spirit who creates new theories or tries bold, imaginative experiments, as well as for the cautious, critical
spirit who examines theories searchingly or for those who will patiently design experiments requiring
complete attention to detail. There are researchers who prefer the precision of mathematics and those
who prefer the colour of words, those who prefer to deal with human beings and human problems and
others who prefer to work with computers or microscopes. However, according to Goldstein and Goldstein
in their book How We Know (1985), “for all there should be the same goal—the joy and excitement of
discovery and the same outcome—knowledge.”

Individual assignment
optional
1. Following this link (https://uamangementschool.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_5nGFetZBrj0VbNj) you
will find a short test that give an indication of what type of researcher you are. This is based on a
typology of major ways in which people make inquiries, adapted from Mitroff and Kilmann’s
Methodological Approaches to Social Science (1978).
2. Write down your scores on each of the researcher types.
3. Review Researcher types explanation.pdf (on Blackboard) to learn more about each of the
researcher types.

3.3 The research template (the Turtle!)

In this in-class session, the ‘turtle template’ will be presented. This template will provide you the basis
necessary to write a two-page (up to a full) research proposal, and is comprised of several parts:

1. Research philosophy
2. Body of knowledge
3. Problem statement and research question
4. Conceptual model
5. Operationalization
6. Research design & methods
7. Ethics

The template can be found in attachment.

3.4 How to start your own empirical research project

A research project identifies and defines a specific problem, theme, issue, or question. To conduct
research, you will need an idea of what is already known about your topic and what resources/sources are
required to meet your project's objectives. To complete your research successfully, you will also need to
determine what theories, approaches, methodologies, modes of analysis, or aesthetic standards will
enable you to arrive at reliable and insightful results.

First, you will need a topic or research question. Please watch the following video about how to develop a
good research topic.

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 How to develop a good research topic (4 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXNztCLYgxc

For a paper or thesis, you will probably be asked to design a research proposal including a problem
statement and research question. The research proposal can serve many useful functions. The most
important is that it helps you to think out the research project you are about to undertake and predict any
difficulties that might arise. For those who are not quite sure what their focus will be, the research proposal
can be a space to explore options -- perhaps with one proposal for each potential topic (which can then
be more easily compared and evaluated than when they are still just ideas in one's head). Research
proposals can be effective starting places to discuss projects with your peers and supervisors, too. A
professor who is initially sceptical about a project may be able to imagine it more easily after reading a
well written research proposal (this does not mean he or she will approve the topic, especially if there are
significant potential difficulties that you have not considered).

A research problem or problem statement is the topic you would like to address, investigate, or study,
whether descriptively or experimentally. It is the focus or reason for engaging in your research. It is
typically a topic, phenomenon, or challenge that you are interested in and with which you are at least
somewhat familiar.

The problem statement functions as the starting point of your research project and will always describe
the managerial issue at stake. Examples of problem statements in a business research setting are:

 ‘How can we learn from our competitors?’

 ‘The aim of the research is to detect in what phase of restructuring we currently are and how this will be influenced
by leadership and communication?’
 ‘How can we create value by being located close to the customer? Is that what he wants?’

Typical elements that should be addressed when describing the problem statement are:

1. What is the problem?

2. Who has the problem?
3. What form can the resolution be? What are the scope and limitations (in time, money, resources, and technologies)
that can be used to solve the problem?

The problem statement will in turn form the basis on which the research question is formed. The research
question is in essence: what you want/have to research. A research question is a way of expressing your
interest in a problem or phenomenon. Identifying a research question will provide greater focus to your
research or clarify the direction of your investigation. Quite significantly, a well-written research question
will also shed light on appropriate research methods (e.g. specify the intended actions of the variables and
how they might be measured). Examples of research questions in a business research context are:

 ‘What are the differences in leadership styles between male and female managers?’
 ‘To what extent is job satisfaction influenced by work pressure?’

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  ‘What is the effectivity of inter-organizational relationships in the not-for-profit sector?’

Translating the problem statement into a research question can be a difficult task and should be
approached with thorough consideration as it brings direction and focus to all choices that will come in
throughout the rest of the research process. Research questions…:

 …guide your literature search

 …guide your decisions about the kind of research design to employ
 …guide your decisions about what data to collect and from whom
 …guide your analysis of your data
 …guide your writing up of your data
 …stop you from going off in unnecessary directions and tangents

And very importantly: a bad research question always leads to bad research. A good research question
does not necessary lead to good research.

Checklist: Evaluate Your Own Research Question

Below you can find 9 questions you can use to evaluate your own research question. These questions
evaluate the quality of your research question and the ease with which you should be able to answer it:

1. Does the question deal with a topic or issue that interests me enough to spark my own thoughts and opinions?
2. Is the question easily and fully researchable?
3. What type of information do I need to answer the research question? E.g., The research question, "What impact has
deregulation had on commercial airline safety?" will obviously require certain types of information:
i. statistics on airline crashes before and after
ii. statistics on other safety problems before and after
iii. information about maintenance practices before and after
iv. information about government safety requirements before and after
4. Is the scope of this information reasonable? Is it in line with the time and budget constraints (e.g., can I really research
30 online writing programs developed over a span of 10 years)?
5. Given the type and scope of the information that I need, is my question too broad, too narrow, or okay?
6. What sources will have the type of information that I need to answer the research question (journals, books, Internet
resources, government documents, and people)?
7. Can I access these sources?
8. Is the research question in line with the expectations of the research sponsor? Often times a research is issued by a
specific person or organization (the sponsor), which will have certain expectations of the direction and content of the
study. Every research will therefore necessitate a certain degree of ‘negotiation’ or ‘fine-tuning’ with the sponsor in
the design stage.
9. Given my answers to the above questions, do I have a good quality research question that I actually will be able to
answer by doing research?

 Examples (useful for your assignment, not to be studied for the exam):
https://cirt.gcu.edu/research/developmentresources/tutorials/question

optional

Individual assignment: design your own research proposal

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 Read the following chapters from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):

RWS - Chapter 2: Project-management techniques

- Chapter 3: Managing your time

Read the following chapter from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):
RWS
- Chapter 1: Preparing your research & managing your supervisor

3.5 Literature review

Writing a literature review is a specific skill, one that needs specific attention. The link below gives a short
but comprehensive guide, including very practical pointers about the number of references to include in
your literature depending on the type of dissertation (such as whether it is for undergraduate or
postgraduate study). Navigating to “Acknowledging Sources” will bring up a detailed examination of
referencing systems. The other two documents are very important for students doing a bachelor’s or
master’s thesis at the University of Antwerp.

Very important information for the exam!

- Academic Skills - Writing a Literature Review.pdf (available on Blackboard)

- Literature review – looking for resources.docx (available on Blackboard)
- Zelfstudiepakket academische bronverwerking (available in Dutch on Blackboard)

Read the following chapters from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):

RWS - Chapter 4: The literature review

- Chapter 6: Research methodology and methods (mostly for extra information concerning the
remainder of this chapter)

Watch the following video and read the documents to learn what to focus on when reading a scientific
article. Some interesting optional papers are mentioned as well.

How to Read an Academic Paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKxm2HF_-k0

15
 The Writing Center_Strategies for Reading Academic Articles.pdf (available on Blackboard)

Booth_et_al 2011 – The literature review its role within research.pdf (available on Blackboard)

Six questions to ask about your market research.pdf (available on Blackboard)

Hart - The literature review in research.pdf (available on Blackboard)
Martensson et al_2016_Evaluating Research Quality.pdf (available on Blackboard)
How to read an academic article_Kovalchik and Mills.pptx (available on Blackboard)
optional

3.6 Unit of analysis vs unit of observation

The unit of observation and unit of analysis are often confused. The unit of analysis is the object about
which generalizations can be made based on an analysis. This concept is determined by an interest in
exploring or explaining a specific phenomenon. The unit of analysis is the major entity that is
being analysed in a study. It is the 'what' or 'who' that is being studied. In social science research, typical
units of analysis include individuals, groups, and organizations.

This is not to be confused with the unit of observation, which is the unit described by one's data (for
instance employees’ opinions that are gathered using surveys, etc.). The unit of observation is a concept
in research that represents the objects that are observed and about which information is systematically
collected. This is determined by the method by which observations have been selected. For example, a
study may have a unit of observation at the individual level (employees) but may have the unit of analysis
at the organizational level and will therefore draw conclusions on organizational characteristics from data
collected from individuals.

3.7 Measurement scales and variables

Variables are an important part of science projects and experiments, but what are they?
A variable is any characteristic, number, or quantity that can be measured or counted. A variable may also
be called a data item. Age, sex, business income and expenses, country of birth, capital expenditure, class
grades, and eye colour and vehicle type are examples of variables. It is called a variable because the value
may vary between data units in a population and may change in value over time. For example; 'income' is
a variable that can vary between data units in a population (i.e. the people or businesses being studied
may not have the same incomes) and can also vary over time for each data unit (i.e. income can go up or
down).

Scientific experiments have several types of variables. The independent and dependent variables are the
ones usually plotted on a chart or graph. The independent variable is the one condition that you change
in an experiment. Example: In an experiment measuring the effect of advertisements on sales, the
independent variable is (the amount of) advertisements. The dependent variable is the variable that you
measure or observe. The dependent variable gets its name because it is the factor that is dependent on

16
the state of the independent variable. In the experiment measuring the effect of advertisements on sales,
sales would be the dependent variable.

There are different measurement scales to distinguish the content of a variable. For data analysis, it is
important to the data user to be able to understand what kind of classification scheme is used. A common
way of distinguishing measurement scales is the so-called NOIR Scale of Measurement. NOIR stands for
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio and represents four different ways to classify data.

The following video and pdf file will give you a simple explanation of the concept of variables, and the
different measurement scales most commonly used.

Measurement scales and variables (7 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyAwRGP2TZk

Types of Data & Measurement Scales: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval and Ratio
http://www.mymarketresearchmethods.com/types-of-data-nominal-ordinal-interval-ratio/

3.7.1 Likert scales

One of the most commonly used measurement scales in questionnaires is the so-called Likert Scale (Likert,
1932). The format of a typical five-level Likert item could be:

1. Strongly disagree

2. Disagree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Agree

5. Strongly agree

People have gradually come to use the term, "Likert scale" in very different ways. It is variously applied to
both groups of items and to single items, and in either case there is disagreement about what specific
formats apply. This is not good in general, since we would like mutually agreed-on definitions. Otherwise
if a researcher says, "We used a Likert scale" it is not clear what is meant. Therefore, here are some
important notes on Likert Scales:

17
 1. What is a Likert Scale vs. a Likert Item?

A “Likert Scale” is actually the sum of responses to several Likert items. These items are usually displayed
with a visual aid, such as a series of radio buttons or a horizontal bar representing a simple scale.

In a “good” Likert Scale, the scale is balanced on both sides of a neutral option, creating a less biased
measurement. The actual scale labels, as well as the numeric scale, may vary.

A “Likert Item” is a statement that the respondent is asked to evaluate. In the example below, this item,
“The checkout process was easy” is a Likert item — and the table as a whole is the Likert scale.

Here is how to remember it: The “scale” in “Likert scale” refers to the total sum of all Likert items in the
question — not the 1-5 range you see for each item.

2. What type of variables are Likert scales?

This is a tricky question. When you look at one Likert item separately, the responses should be seen as
ordinal: an order is detectable (e.g. Strongly Disagree is lower than Strongly Agree), but the difference
between specific points on the scale is not measurable (e.g. you cannot claim that Agree is two times
better than Disagree).

However, as stated above, a Likert Scale is comprised of multiple Likert Items. Responses to several Likert
items may be summed or averaged, providing that all questions use the same Likert scale. In such an
aggregated scale, the range of coded answers takes on a different format. In a single 5-point Likert item,
coded answers can be only 5 different options (1 to 5), with a Likert Scale that is averaged over a multitude
of items, coded answers have more different options (e.g. an end result of a Likert Scale comprised of four
items can be 1, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2, etc.). In this case, the Likert Scale can be treated as a metric (interval)
variable. This is an important point, as this allows the researcher to make different statistical tests to the
data that are not possible with an ordinal variable. Examples of this are an analysis of variance, or an
application of the scale in a regression analysis.

For more information on Likert Scales and its behaviour as a variable, please review the following
document.

Bertram - Likert Scales are the meaning of life.pdf

(http://poincare.matf.bg.ac.rs/~kristina/topic-dane-likert.pdf)
optional

18
3.8 Validity and reliability
Validity and reliability are two important concepts in research. Reliability is the degree to which an
assessment tool produces stable and consistent results. The idea behind reliability is that any significant
results must be more than a one-off finding and be inherently repeatable. Other researchers must be able
to perform exactly the same experiment, under the same conditions and generate the same results. This
will reinforce the findings.

Validity is described as the degree to which a research study measures what it intends to measure. There
are two main types of validity, internal and external. Internal validity refers to the validity of the
measurement and test itself, whereas external validity refers to the ability to generalize the findings to the
target population. Both are very important in analysing the appropriateness, meaningfulness and
usefulness of a research study. There are 4 main types of validity used when assessing internal validity.
Each type views validity from a different perspective and evaluates different relationships between
measurements (Definitions taken from Research Methods for the Behavioural Sciences by Gravetter and
Forzano, 2009).

1. Face validity-This refers to whether a technique looks as if it should measure the variable it intends to measure. For
example, a method where a participant is required to click a button as soon as a stimulus appears, and this time is
measured appears to have face validity for measuring reaction time.
2. Concurrent validity-This compares the results from a new measurement technique to those of a more established
technique that claims to measure the same variable to see if they are related. Often two measurements will behave
in the same way, but are not necessarily measuring the same variable, therefore this kind of validity must be examined
thoroughly.
3. Predictive validity-This is when the results obtained from measuring a construct can be accurately used to predict
behaviour. There are obvious limitations to this as behaviour cannot be fully predicted to great depths, but this validity
helps predict basic trends to a certain degree.
4. Construct validity-This is whether the measurements of a variable in a study behave in exactly the same way as
the variable itself. This involves examining past research regarding different aspects of the same variable.

External validity is related to generalizing. External validity refers to the approximate truth of conclusions
that involve generalizations. Put in more pedestrian terms, external validity is the degree to which the
conclusions in your study would hold for other persons or organizations in other places and at other times.

For more information on external validity and ways in which to provide evidence for generalization,
please review the following text.

External Validity http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/external.php

For a research to yield useful results, in measurement both reliability and validity need to be high and are
therefore important concepts to consider in your research design. We often think of reliability and validity
as separate ideas but, in fact, they are related to each other. A good metaphor for the relationship between
reliability and validity is that of the target. Think of the centre of the target as the concept that you are
trying to measure. Imagine that for each person you are measuring, you are taking a shot at the target. If

19
you measure the concept perfectly for a person, you are hitting the centre of the target. If you do not, you
are missing the centre. The more you are off for that person, the further you are from the centre.

The figure above shows four possible situations. In the first one, you are hitting the target consistently,
but you are missing the centre of the target. That is, you are consistently and systematically measuring the
wrong value for all respondents. This measure is reliable, but not valid (that is, it is consistent but wrong).
The second situation shows hits that are randomly spread across the target. You seldom hit the centre of
the target but, on average, you are getting the right answer for the group (but not very well for individuals).
In this case, you get a valid group estimate, but you are inconsistent. Here, you can clearly see that
reliability is directly related to the variability of your measure. The third scenario shows a case where your
hits are spread across the target and you are consistently missing the centre. Your measure in this case is
neither reliable nor valid. Finally, we see the ’Robin Hood‘ scenario -- you consistently hit the centre of the
target. Your measure is both reliable and valid.3

The following video gives an introduction into both concepts (mostly in regard to quantitative
research).

Establishing Validity and Reliability (4 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ztuqYO2N3g

Both qualitative and quantitative paradigms try to find the same result; the truth. However, since we
maintain our humanity throughout the research process, it is largely impossible to escape the subjective
experience, even for the most experienced of researchers. Reliability and validity are issues that have been
described in great deal by advocates of quantitative researchers. The validity and the norms of rigor that
are applied to quantitative research are not entirely applicable to qualitative research. Validity in
qualitative research means the extent to which the data is plausible, credible and trustworthy; and thus
can be defended when challenged. Reliability and validity remain however appropriate concepts for
attaining rigor in qualitative research.

Validity and reliability & qualitative research (3 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izaIWCWA5Rc

3
Adapted from: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/relandval.php

20
 Reliability and Validity Issues in Research.pdf (available on Blackboard)

Bashir - Reliability and validity of qualitative and operational research paradigm.pdf (available on
optional Blackboard)

Evaluative criteria

In their important work on qualitative research, Miles and Huberman (1994) give an overview of five
evaluative criteria that can be used to determine the quality of a (qualitative) research study. These five
evaluative criteria are:

Objectivity/Confirmability - relative neutrality, freedom from unacknowledged researcher bias,

explicitness about inevitable bias

Reliability/Dependability/Auditability is the process of the study consistent and reasonably stable over
time and across researchers and methods? (Miles and Huberman, 1994, p. 278):

Internal Validity/Credibility/Authenticity - truth value. Do the findings of the study make sense? Are they
credible to the people studied, members of the research community, and others?

External Validity/Transferability/Fittingness - Do the conclusions of a study have any larger import? Are
they transferable to other contexts? Do they fit with what we already know? How far can findings be
generalized?

Utilization/Application/Action Orientation - What does the study do for participants? What is the
pragmatic value of the research?

Reference: Miles, M.B. & Huberman, A.M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.

3.9 Triangulation and mixed methods

Triangulation

Triangulation is a powerful technique that facilitates validation of data through cross verification from two
or more sources. In particular, it refers to the application and combination of several research
methodologies in the study of the same phenomenon. By combining multiple observers, theories,
methods, and empirical materials, researchers can hope to overcome the weakness or intrinsic biases and
the problems that come from single method, single-observer and single-theory studies.

Triangulation (5 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPZsFUGRtNQ

21
 Additionally, this short document, written by Alan Bryman, is a handy guide to the issue of
triangulation. It can be found on the Encyclopaedia of Social Science Research Methods Web
site.

Triangulation.pdf https://edge.sagepub.com/system/files/Triangulation.pdf

Mixed Methods

Mixed methods research is a methodology for conducting research that involves collecting, analysing, and
integrating (or mixing) (multiple) quantitative and/or qualitative research (and data) in a single study. The
purpose of this form of research is that both qualitative and quantitative researches, in combination,
provide a better understanding of a research problem or issue than either research approach alone.

The essential goal of mixed methods research is to tackle a given research question from any relevant
angle, making use where appropriate of previous research and/or more than one type of investigative
perspective. Sometimes referred to as mixed methodology, multiple methodology or multi-methodology
research, mixed methods research offers you the best of both worlds: the in-depth, contextualized, and
natural but more time-consuming insights of qualitative research coupled with the more efficient but less
rich or compelling predictive power of quantitative research.

These approaches are far more comprehensive than attacking a problem from only one point of view and,
with the emergence of strategies and tools for blending these different types of data, allow for the crossing
of disciplinary boundaries like never before.

Prof. John Creswell - What is Mixed Methods Research (15 min):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OaNiTlpyX8

3.10 Design Science

In design science, the goal of your research is to create a new and often innovative artefact. This artefact
will bridge the gap between a problematic state an organisation is facing, and a future desired state. As
such design science is problem driven and leads to an artefact that solves the practical problem
(Johannesson & Perjons, 2014). Artefacts can be a raw material, an information system, a blueprint or
method. In the field of Business and Economics, it is often the case that you develop technology-based
solutions to important and relevant business problems (Hevner et al., 2004).

22
Examples are:

1. Building the specifications for an information system in different domains (accountancy, finance, management, etc.).
The artefact here is the specifications, or a process (flowcharts etc.) or data models.
2. Building a new organisation structure for a company or a group of companies. The artefact here is the organisational
structure.

Hevner 2004 - Design Science in Information Systems Research.pdf (available on Blackboard)

Peffers et al. 2007 -A Design Science Research Methodology for Information Systems
Research.pdf (available on Blackboard)
Sonnenberg 2012 - Evaluations in the Science of the Artificial - Reconsidering the Build-Evaluate
optional Pattern in Design Science Research.pdf (available on Blackboard)

3.11 Ethics in business research

Ethical issues arise at a variety of stages in business and management research. This part of the course
focusses on the concerns about ethics that might arise in the course of conducting research. Discussions
about the ethics of business and management research bring us into a realm in which the role of values in
the research process becomes a topic of concern. Ethical issues revolve around such concerns as the
following:

 How should we treat the people on whom we conduct research?

 Are there activities in which we should or should not engage in our relations with them?

Read the following chapter from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):
RWS
Chapter 5: The importance of ethics

To get a good introduction into ethical issues involved in business research, please read the
following chapter from the book Business Research Methods by Greener (2008). The complete
book is available on download through www.bookboon.com.

40-46 Greener 2008 - Business research methods.pdf (available on Blackboard)

As an example of a research study in which ethics are under debate, please read the following
article on Facebook’s emotion study published in The Guardian on 30 June 2014.

optional Facebook emotion study breached ethical guidelines, researchers say.pdf (available on
Blackboard)

3.11.1 Optional background reading

Questions about ethics in business and management research also bring in the role of professional
associations, such as the American Academy of Management (AoM) and the Market Research Society
(MRS), which have formulated codes of ethics on behalf of their members. Statements of professional

23
principles are frequently accessible from the Internet. Some useful codes of ethics for business and
management researchers can be found at the following Internet addresses:

Academy of management
The Academy of Management is the preeminent professional association for management and
organization scholars.
http://aom.org/About-AOM/AOM-Code-of-Ethics.aspx

Ethical Market Research

The Market Research Society (MRS) is a particularly useful resource to explore how researchers within the
field of social science are dealing with ethical research issues. The site also contains the specific guidelines
developed by the MRS on how to conduct any kind of research:
https://www.mrs.org.uk/standards/code_of_conduct

Ethical Guidance and Social Research

This is the link to a set of current ethical guidelines created and maintained by the Social Research
Association (SRA): http://the-sra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ethics03.pdf

RESPECT
The RESPECT code is a European Union project looking at developing an ethical code for all researchers
working in the socio-economic field. This site is useful because it contains not just the code but also
information on how the code was developed. www.respectproject.org/main/index.php

3.11.2 Optional useful material

In the following pdf document you will find a sample interview consent form and a sample study
information sheet (from: Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods (3 edition.).
Cambridge ; New York, NY: OUP Oxford.).

optional Ethics in business research - tips.pdf (available on Blackboard)

3.12 Optional background information

3.12.1 Evidence-based management
Evidence-based management (EBMgt or EBM) is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best
evidence in management and decision-making. Its roots are in empiricism and well developed in evidence-
based medicine and evidence-based policy. These are quality movements aimed at applying the scientific
method to evaluating practice.

NYTimes 03-09-2011 How Evidence-Based Management Pays Off.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/jobs/04pre.html?_r=0

Harvard Business Review: Pfeffer 2006 – Evidence-based management.pdf (available on

optional
Blackboard)

24
optional
Optional test (executive education participants): Assess whether your organization employs
evidence-based management (don’t click on, but copy past this link):
https://uamangementschool.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9GfiJamywObgnRj

25
4 Data collection

Read the following chapter from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):
RWS
Chapter 7: Data collection methods

4.1 Theory on data collection

The quality of your data collection process is invaluable for getting valid and reliable results. This section
of the course will therefore focus on data collection, and different data collection methods.

As a short introduction, watch the two videos below, which give an overview on data collection methods,
and a summary on the differences between qualitative and quantitative data collection methods.

Data collection methods (2 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ-YX_AcomU

Qualitative vs Quantitative research (2 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8UFS5PE_Mw

4.2 Quantitative data collection

The following video will give you an introduction into survey design.

Designing a Questionnaire - statistics help (5 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkX-t0Pgzzs

Furthermore, as an introduction to quantitative data collection, please review the following PowerPoint
presentation.

PowerPoint: Quantitative Research.pptx (available on Blackboard)

26
4.2.1 Qualtrics research suite
Qualtrics is a Web-based, research survey software licensed to UAntwerp. Qualtrics offers many advanced,
but user-friendly features such as:

 Easy survey design with question libraries, point-and-click editing, automatic choices and question randomization
 Comprehensive list of question types including pick, group & rank, drill down, rank order, heat map and hot spots
 Collaboration
 Polls
 Distribution & Panel Management

Qualtrics is available to all UAntwerp faculty, staff and students who are faculty-supervised in a class or
research setting (via https://uantwerpen.qualtrics.com). Our license allows for use of the software for
legitimate UAntwerp-related research and educational activities.

For more information on Qualtrics, please visit: http://www.qualtrics.com/about/ and

https://www.qualtrics.com/research-core/
optional

4.2.2 Designing a survey

Creating online surveys is as much an art as it is a science. It involves attention to detail in the design and
flow of your survey. Creating an effective and insightful survey that yields actionable insights can be
difficult, as surveys have a few glaring problems. However, that does not mean they should be dismissed
as a useful resource. Not surprisingly, most of these problems revolve around getting accurate answers
from respondents. Fortunately, research also offers solutions to these chronic survey problems to keep
these problems to a minimum. There are fundamental best practices for creating survey questions that all
researchers must know.

The following document helps you to gain more insights in practical considerations that are important
when designing an effective (online) questionnaire:

Creating an Insightful Survey.pdf (available on Blackboard)

4.2.3 Post-assessment: Review this survey

The following are examples of bad survey questions. As an assignment, apply what you have learned and
evaluate each question and its response choices to identify (at least) one error in each question.
Additionally, propose an alternative that solves the problem. This assignment is a self-assessment; you do
not need to send your answers to the professor.

27
 Individual assignment:
https://uamangementschool.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4PjtcRePNjZgeyh

4.2.4 Optional assignment: create your own survey in Qualtrics

All students have been provided with a personal login for Qualtrics (see this link on how to start using
Qualtrics). Using the information on designing an effective survey, construct a simple survey that can be
used in investigating your research question. This survey should be based on the research question that
you have composed in Instalment 3.4 of this course.

optional
Individual assignment:
create your own survey in Qualtrics. Send the link to the survey to the professor.

4.2.5 Background: The McNamara Fallacy

Many researchers and decision makers fall victim to a tendency described as the McNamara Fallacy (or
sometimes referred to as the quantitative fallacy). This phenomenon refers to the tendency to making a
decision based solely on quantitative observations while ignoring all other data. The thought process
behind this decision-making reasoning would be that other types of observation (i.e. that are non-
quantifiable) cannot be measured and therefore proven. This fallacy is named for Robert McNamara,
former United States Secretary of Defense during the era of the Vietnam War, and it refers to his belief as
to what led the United States to defeat in that war – specifically, his quantification of success in the war
(e.g. in terms of enemy body count), ignoring other variables.

Social scientist Daniel Yankelovich (1972) described the incorrect reasoning in the fallacy as follows:

The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is OK as far as it goes. The second
step is to disregard that which can't be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value.
This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can't be measured easily
really isn't important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can't be easily measured
really doesn't exist. This is suicide.

An example of the McNamara fallacy is the following thought process:

Ted has a lot of money. Lots of money makes a person happy. Ted says that he is depressed. What
Ted says does not necessarily indicate how he feels. Depression cannot be proven. Therefore, Ted is
happy.

Reference: Yankelovich, D. (1972). Corporate priorities: A continuing study of the new demands on
business. Yankelovich Inc., Stamford, CT.

28
4.3 Qualitative data collection
Performing a good qualitative data collection is an art on its own, and many different elements are
involved in setting the correct stage that yield valuable input.

As an introduction to qualitative data collection, please review the following PowerPoint presentation.

PowerPoint: Qualitative Research.pptx (available on Blackboard)

4.3.1 Performing an interview

With qualitative research interviews you try to understand something from the subject’s point of view and
to uncover the meaning of their experiences. Interviews allow people to convey to others a situation from
their own perspective and in their own words. Watch the following video to learn more about different
types of interview set-ups.

What is an interview? In this video, Dr. John Schulz of the Southampton Education School
discusses different types of interview set-ups: (11 min):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-VhzWKaHB4

4.3.2 Interviewing in qualitative research

There are several online sources that give practical help to improve your interviewing technique.

Interviewing in Qualitative Research.pdf. In this document, you will find many practical tips in
choosing the correct questions, probing techniques and other useful tips. (chapter 3)

On Asking Productive Research Questions.pdf. This short page by Dr. Stuart Blythe at Indiana
University has some useful information especially regarding biased questions and how to avoid
them. http://people.wku.edu/david.lenoir/sbrq.html

Skills in Questioning.pdf. This site has links to a number of pages where there are practical
examples of questions that can be asked. It also has a number of exercises that you can
undertake to improve your questioning technique.
http://managementhelp.org/communicationsskills/questioning-skills.htm
optional

4.3.3 Focus group research

The following article focuses on the practicalities of focus-group research.

A practical guide to focus-group research.pdf (available on Blackboard)

29
4.3.4 Optional assignment: Apply theory on a project
As an assignment, you are asked to create a good topic list that is useful for qualitative data collection.
This topic list should be based on the research question that you’ve composed in Instalment 3.4.

optional

Optional individual assignment: create your own topic list.

4.4 Other types of data collection

There are many different types of data collection. So far, we have discussed the two most common data
collection methods in management research: surveys and personal interviews. However, every study
requires a different approach, and in many cases, surveys and personal interviews are perhaps not the
most adequate manner of collecting data.

For a non-exhaustive overview of common (and less common) research designs, please review the
following PDF document.

Different Research Designs.pdf (available on Blackboard)

(the need-to-know items here are: action research, case study research, content analysis, CIT,
ethnographic, experimental research, grounded theory, hermeneutic research, meta-analysis,
quasi-experimental, trend analysis.)

4.5 Sampling
Sampling is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest so that
by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from which they were
chosen. As a first step into understanding how sampling works, we will examine some of the terminology
that is often used. “As with anything else in life you have to learn the language of an area if you are going
to ever hope to use it.” The following website gives an introduction into different terms involved in the
sampling process.

Sampling Terminology http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampterm.php

30
Sampling in quantitative studies

Since it is generally impossible to study an entire population (every individual in a country, all customers,
every geographic area, etc.), researchers typically rely on sampling to acquire a section of the population
to perform an experiment or observational study. It is important that the group selected be representative
of the population, and not biased in a systematic manner. For example, a group comprised of the
wealthiest individuals in a given area probably would not accurately reflect the opinions of the entire
population in that area. For this reason, randomization is typically employed to achieve an unbiased
sample. The most common sampling designs are simple random sampling, stratified random sampling,
and multistage random sampling. For more information on these three different sampling designs, please
read the following webpage from Yale University.

Sampling – Yale University.pdf - http://www.stat.yale.edu/Courses/1997-98/101/sample.htm

For more in-depth learning on sampling and its different techniques, watch the following YouTube video.

Quantitative Sampling (8 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKUAop1Pre0

Sampling in qualitative studies

In qualitative studies, sampling typically takes on a different approach. The researcher's goal is not the
representative capture of possible variations, but to gain a deeper understanding of analysed cases and
facilitate the development of concepts used in their research. In qualitative research, sampling is guided
not by the need to generalize about people but rather by the need to select subjects and data likely to
generate robust, rich, and deep levels of understanding. It is systematic but non-probabilistic sampling.

Sampling in such a research context is a very complex issue as there are many variations of qualitative
sampling described in the literature. Sampling procedures in qualitative research are not so rigidly
prescribed as in quantitative studies. This flexibility in sampling, however, may be confusing for some
researchers. Two terms are commonly used when describing sampling techniques for qualitative research:
purposeful sampling, and theoretical sampling.

The logic and power of purposeful sampling lies in selecting information-rich cases for in-depth study.
Information-rich cases are those from which one can learn a great deal about issues of central importance
to the purpose of the research.

31
In theoretical sampling, the aim is to identify specific groups of people who either possess characteristics
or are in certain circumstances relevant to the phenomenon being studied. Informants are identified
because they will enable exploration of a particular aspect or behaviour relevant to the research.

Snowball sampling

Snowball sampling (or chain referral sampling) is a non-probability sampling technique often used in
(qualitative) research. This technique is used by researchers to identify potential subjects in studies where
subjects are hard to locate. The main idea behind snowball sampling is that existing study subjects help
indicate or even recruit future subjects.

Specific to business research snowball sampling can be used to things such as identify experts in a certain
field, product, manufacturing processes, customer relation methods, etc. 3M did this when they were
trying to identify experts in different fields of work in order to become the lead user for surgical drapes,
the small plastic covering that is applied at the incision site of a surgery. To do this, 3M called in specialists
from all fields that related to how a surgical drape could be applied to the body. For example, they called
in a veterinarian, who specializes with surgeries on creatures with a lot of hair, and a Broadway make-up
artist who specialized in applying foreign materials to human skin in a non-irritating manner. In order to
successfully identify these people, 3M used snowball sampling. They called "experts" that had contacts
and after gathering information, they asked them to suggest another expert that they may know who
could offer more information. They repeated this process until they were satisfied with their experts and
felt that they had found the most knowledgeable individuals in a specific field. Thus, snowball sampling
can be used to gather expert information.

For more information on snowball sampling, please review the following website:

Snowball sampling https://explorable.com/snowball-sampling

4.6 Optional background information

4.6.1 Big data & business intelligence
In recent years, the term “Big Data” has surged into management practice. Big data is a catchphrase
referring to a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is so large that it is difficult
to process using traditional database and software techniques. Big data has the potential to help
companies improve operations and make faster, more intelligent decisions, however many challenges
arise in utilizing it, including capturing, curating, storing, searching, sharing, transferring, analysing, and
visualizing. The trend to larger data sets is due to the additional information derivable from analysis of a
single large set of related data, as compared to separate smaller sets with the same total amount of data,
allowing correlations to be found to spot business trends, prevent diseases, combat crime and so on.

32
 Creating a smarter world with big data: Sudha Ram at TEDxTucson 2013 (14 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vGR3VaFxJM

Harvard Business Review: Ross 2013 - You may not need big data after all.pdf (available on
Blackboard)

Harvard Business Review: McAfee 2012 - Big data, the management revolution.pdf (available on
optional Blackboard)

33
5 Data analysis

Read the following chapter from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):
RWS
Chapter 8: Data analysis

5.1 Qualitative
In the following videos, Dr. John Schulz of the Southampton Education School and Kent Löfgren of Umeå
University in Sweden give an interesting step-by-step explanation and guide of analysing qualitative
interviews for research purposes.

Analysing your interviews (11 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59GsjhPolPs

Qualitative analysis of interview data: A step-by-step guide (6 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRL4PF2u9XA

5.1.1 Software packages

There are several software packages available that facilitate qualitative analysis. Some of the most widely
used packages are ATLAS.ti, MAXQDA, and NVivo.

The developers of NVivo offer an NVivo eDemo package specifically for students. It is completely free and
provides an overview of how NVivo can be used to support your studies.

Click here to learn how NVivo is used as:

 A thinking tool: to help you map out your research area and define your research questions

 An organizer and analysis tool for literature review: libraries created in bibliographic tools can be
imported into NVivo, where users have additional tools to annotate, reflect upon and code your
literature

 A tool to help users see and reflect upon your research design: with NVivo you can experiment
with and refine the design of your project even before you start to collect data

5.2 Quantitative
There are many online resources that can help you in your quantitative analyses. A first interesting
resource is the personal website of University of Sussex professor of psychology Andy Field: Statistics Hell.
On his website professor Field explains various statistical concepts (including direct application in the
statistical software package SPSS) in an understandable, and often humorous manner. His book:
“Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics” is also highly recommended.

34
An important aspect of performing quantitative analyses, is to make the correct interpretation of the
findings. As a second interesting reading, the article on the misuse of statistics from the Harvard Business
Review summarizes some of the major pitfalls that you can encounter in statistical analysis.

Andy Field: Statistics Hell http://www.statisticshell.com/

Misuse of Statistics HBR2000.pdf (available on Blackboard)

optional

Choosing an appropriate statistical technique

Choosing an appropriate statistical technique can seem to be a daunting task. Dependence methods test
for the presence or absence of relationships between two sets of variables. Table 1 gives an overview of
statistical methods that are appropriate according to certain criteria (number of (in)dependent variables,
and type of variables).

Table 1 Dependence Statistical Methods

Dependent variable(s)
One More than one
Metric Nonmetric Metric Nonmetric
Independent variable(s)
One
Metric  Regression  Discriminant analysis  Canonical  Multiple-group
 Logistic regression correlation discriminant
analysis (MDA)
Nonmetric  t-test  Discrete discriminant  MANOVA  Discrete MDA
analysis
More than one
Metric  Multiple regression  Discriminant analysis  Canonical  MDA
 Logistic regression correlation
Nonmetric  ANOVA  Discrete discriminant  MANOVA  Discrete MDA
analysis
 Conjoint analysis
(MONANOVA)
Source: Sharma, S. (1995). Applied Multivariate Techniques (1 edition.). New York: Wiley.

Additionally, Table 2 provides an overview of different statistical methods ordered by the type of test you
are interested in completing.

35
Table 2 Methods of statistical analysis
Measurement variables
Nominal Ordinal Interval/Ratio
Variable description Frequency table Core numbers
Multiple-answer analysis
Determining central Mode Median Average
tendency
Comparing sample Binominal test Sign test t-test for 1 sample
average to other
averages
Testing a variable’s Chi-square Kolmogorov-Smirnov
distribution
Describing groups Crosstab Core numbers
Comparing two Chi-square Mann-Whitney t-test
independent groups Test of median
Comparing more than Chi-square Kruskal-Wallis F-test
two independent Test of Median Analysis of variance
groups
Comparing related Wilcoxon signed ranks Paired t-test
groups Sign test
Friedman
Determining the Chi-square Spearman-rank-corr. Correlation analysis
coherence between
two variables
Explaining a variable Regression analysis
Source: Huizingh, E. (1999). Inleiding SPSS voor Windows. Schoonhoven: Academic Service Economie en
Bedrijfskunde.

Basic concepts in statistics

The correct use of statistical concepts is important in the data analysis portion of your research project. In
order to get you reacquainted with the basics of statistics and some of its important elementary concepts,
the next short video will show an easy way that will make you never forget some of the basic statistic
terms again.

The Statistics Song (1 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQqYYe7_gG4

36
5.3 Significance testing
P<0.05 is the figure you will often find printed on an academic paper, that is commonly (mis)understood
as indicating that the findings have a one in twenty chance of being incorrect. The phenomenon has
become a somewhat universal barrier which scientists must cross but, in many cases, has also
inadvertently become a barrier to readers of scientific research accessing the very important numbers
often hidden underneath this indication of statistical significance. Instead of focusing just on p-values,
methodologists increasingly emphasize changing the scope from p-values to analysis of sample size and
confidence intervals.

As the misinterpretation of the use of significance testing is become increasingly widespread, one journal
(Basic and Applied Social Psychology, BASP) has taken an important step. In an editorial in their first issue
of 2015, the editors explain to have decided to not accept the use of null hypothesis significance testing in
papers any longer. As this technique is used almost universally in psychology research and much scientific
research across the board, it has created a shock in the research community.

The blogpost 'The first crack in the wall of significance testing' by Simon Oxenham gives a good explanation
of the current thinking on p-values and includes an interesting video in which a simple simulation
experiment shows the potential for wrong interpretations in statistical analysis.

Oxenham 2015 - 'The first crack in the wall of significance testing'

http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/the-first-crack-in-the-wall-of-significance-testing

5.4 Correlation vs causation

One of the most common errors made in the data analysis phase of (business) research is the confusion
between correlation and causation in scientific studies. In theory, these are easy to distinguish — an action
or occurrence can cause another (such as smoking causes lung cancer), or it can correlate with another
(such as smoking is correlated with alcoholism). If one action causes another, then they are most certainly

37
correlated. But just because two things occur together does not mean that one caused the other, even if
it seems to make sense. In general, it is extremely difficult to establish causality between two correlated
events or observances.

In this regard, an interesting type of relation between two variables is the so-called ‘spurious relationship’:
relationships in which two events have no causal link, but still appear to due to either a coincidence or a
third, confounding variable.

A well-known example is the high correlation between the number of storks and birth of babies that has
been found in several areas, such as in Copenhagen in the period after World War II. This could be wrongly
interpreted as a proof that storks deliver babies. However, a more thorough investigation of the manner
will uncover that both the number of storks and the number of babies being born are both dependent on
a third ‘lurking’ variable: urbanization. During the ten or twelve years following World War II, the
populations of most western European cities steadily grew as a result of migrations from surrounding rural
areas. There was also that spurt of fecundity known as the post-war baby boom. As population in urban
areas increased through migration and by the baby boom, there was more building construction to
accommodate the larger number, which in turn provided more nesting places for storks (chimneys); hence
increasing numbers of storks.

Created by Tyler Vigen, "Spurious Correlations" is a website devoted to documenting examples of these
spurious relationships. Vigen's charts show causal relationships between things like divorce rates in Maine
and margarine consumption, the number of people who died by becoming tangled in their bedsheets and
total revenue generated by skiing facilities, and US crude oil imports from Norway and the number of
drivers killed per annum in railway train collisions.

Spurious Correlations http://tylervigen.com/

Many studies are actually designed to test a correlation but are suggestive of “reasons” for the correlation.
People learn of a study showing that “girls who watch soap operas are more likely to have eating disorders”
— a correlation between soap opera watching and eating disorders — but then they incorrectly conclude
that watching soap operas gives girls eating disorders.

For a clear explanation and examples on the differences between correlation and causation, watch the
following TED-talk by Ionka Smeets, a Dutch mathematician.

TED Talk Ionka Smeets (6 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B271L3NtAw

38
Prof. Dr. Dries Benoit is a professor of business analytics at the University of Gent, who keeps a blog in
which he links current events to statistics and data analysis (in Dutch).

Blog by Dries Benoit about statistics and data analysis https://taptoe.wordpress.com/

optional

39
6 Reporting

Read the following chapter from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):

RWS - Chapter 9: Structuring the arguments and chapters

Read the following chapter from ‘Research and Writing Skills’ (via Blackboard):

RWS - Chapter 10: Writing up & disseminating your research

6.1 Academic writing

Watch the following video on academic writing. Professor Simon Peyton Jones, Microsoft Research, gives
a guest lecture on writing based on seven simple suggestions: do not wait - write, identify your key idea,
tell a story, nail your contributions, put related work at the end, put your readers first, and listen to your
readers.

How to Write a Great Research Paper (1h3min):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP-FkUaOcOM

Furthermore, as an introduction, please review the following PowerPoint presentation on academic

writing.

Academic Writing.pptx (available on Blackboard)

6.1.1 Writing styles

There are several different academic writing styles. APA (American Psychological Association) style is
most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences (other notable writing styles include
Chicago, AMA, Harvard, and CSE). This is also the style we use at the University of Antwerp.

40
Citations and bibliography

When you use resources in your own text, you need to mention these resources:
1) In your text (near the specific sentence): citation, AND
2) At the end of your paper in a bibliography
This way, the reader can easily find the used materials.

If you do not do this, you commit fraud (plagiarism). At our university, all bachelor and master theses are
scanned for plagiarism:

What is plagiarism? What is not plagiarism?

If you literally copy (citation) or summarise  Own words

(paraphrase) someone else’s words or ideas  General knowledge (e.g. water boils at
without mentioning the source. 100°C, Filip is the current King of Belgium)

Watch out with:

 ‘the potluck paper’: sticking fragments of
different papers to each other
 ‘the poor disguise’: literally copying a piece
from a paper, with some minor word
switches
 ‘the labour of laziness’: copying the words
from third sources without reading the
original work

When you use a reference manager, the software will help you write down your references (citations and
bibliography) in a correct way. However, it is always wise to check the automatically retrieved ways of
referring because the reference manager does not always display the source in the correct way.

There are different ways of citing and referring e.g. APA, Chicago and MLA. At our Faculty, we always use
APA:
 General guide: https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/overview.html
 In-text: citing vs. paraphrasing: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/paraphrasing/
 Bibliography: sources in one alphabetical list at the end of your paper (without subdivisions
according to the type of resource).
 ! Interviews and surveys: According to APA you do not need to refer to interviews and surveys in
your text and bibliography. For your bachelor and master theses you do need to refer to them as
follows:
o In text: (surname, year)
o In bibliography:
 Surname interviewed person
 Initials first name
 Year the interview/survey took place (between brackets)
 Subject (title) in italic font
 “(phone) interview with” and position of the interviewee
 Full date
 Place of the interview
41
 For practical guidelines on (referencing) using APA, which you need to know how to use:
 APA Citation Style – Cornell University Library.pdf
https://www.library.cornell.edu/research/citation/apa
 APA Referencing Guide.pdf http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing/apa-referencing-
guide

Advice on Paraphrasing

The following site is among the most popular links used by other academic institutions around the world.
This section is chosen for its valuable advice on paraphrasing our readings, but you will find lots of other
useful pointers elsewhere in the site’s pages.

Quoting and Paraphrasing.pdf (use the links on the site for further insights into specific quoting
and paraphrasing topics http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/QuotingSources.html

6.2 Reporting at the Faculty of Business and Economics

The documents below contain the reporting standards specifically for our FBE students and the
dissertation outline of Duquesne University. The target group for the latter is doctoral students in
psychology, with a focus on quantitative research. However, it can be applied to all research projects,
master theses and PhD manuscripts.

Reporting standards FBE.docx (available on Blackboard)

Dissertation Outline Duquesne University.pdf (available on Blackboard)

On YouTube you can find several video’s on how to work with Word (e.g. generate a table of contents,
generate a bibliography automatically (watch out with mistakes in Word!), etc.)

6.3 Presentation style: the pecha kucha

Obviously, there are multiple ways to present your research. The most common one is still (and most
probably will be) the PowerPoint presentation. At academic conferences, you will also often see a poster
presentation (check out: https://www.scientifica.uk.com/neurowire/tips-for-presenting-your-scientific-
poster-at-a-conference).

42
This is not a course on presentation styles. Below, we offer some insights in Pecha Kucha, a presentation
style that is somewhat unique and limited in time (because scholars tend to lose track of time when they
talk about their topic).

Pecha Kucha is a style of presenting that is limited to 20 slides or pictures shown for 20 seconds each so
that the presentation is limited to 6 minutes and 40 seconds in total. This style of presenting forces
students to make use of images and efficient use of spoken word in order to be able to communicate the
message in only 6 minutes. The format keeps presentations concise but requires a rather creative
approach from students.

Tips for elaborating a good pecha kucha:

 Engage your audience by telling a story

Starting your presentation with an anecdote, a personal experience or a reference to a current topic helps to captivate
your audience from the start. You need to tell an interesting story that smoothly links to the images or slides from
your presentation. Make sure that your story has a clear structure with an intro, development and a conclusion.

 Create a clear message

Decide what the main message of your presentation is. What would you like the audience to remember of your
presentation? Try to list for each slide the two key points you want to make. Build your slides / images around these
main messages and try to stick to them.

 It’s all about images

Images are key in a pecha kucha presentation. Look for images that reinforce your words and show exactly what you
are talking about. It will make your presentation more engaging and easy to follow. Always make sure that your
images are of good quality (if you enlarge the PowerPoint on a big screen) and that you have permission to use the
pictures.

 Fixed timing of 20 seconds

In a pecha kucha presentation, a slide is shown for 20 seconds after which it is automatically followed by the following
slide or picture. In PowerPoint, you can schedule the transition in the Transitions tab, in the Timing group, under
Advance Slide. To make the slide advance automatically, select the After check box, and then enter the number
seconds: 00:20. The timer starts when the final animation or other effect on the slide finishes.

 Practice makes perfect

In order for a pecha kucha to be powerful and convincing, your story should be told in a clear and smooth way. Before
you can convince people of your story or project, it is important to be convinced yourself first. The best way to prepare
for a pecha kucha is by practicing your presentation until it flows easily.

Information on how to elaborate a pecha kucha:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32WEzM3LFhw

Reading: Examples of pecha kucha’s on a broad range of topics: https://www.pechakucha.org/

43
6.4 Optional: The deluge of science
In recent years, the academic system of publishing science in peer-reviewed journals is under debate. Peer
review is commonly accepted as an essential part of science in which academic peers judge the merit of a
scientific research before it is allowed to be published in a reputable journal. Achieving publications in
reputable journals are for academics very important, as it is one of the most important measures to prove
the quality of their work.

However, the system has it downsides, as it has been criticized for enabling academic pressure to publish
in "top" journals, encouraged researchers to cut corners (with many examples of academic fraud as cases
in point) and pursue “trendy” fields of science instead of doing more important, truly ground-breaking
work. Moreover, there is a debate on the merits of the system in which especially the large publishing
houses such as Sage, Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer take an (unfair?) large part of the proceeds. Suggestions
have been made recently to change this system, as top researchers have even announced to boycott
journals as an outlet for their scientific finds.

For more information on this debate, the following articles from the Guardian form a good introduction
on current themes that are being discussed.

The Guardian - Why we are not ready for radical changes in science publishing.pdf
http://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/jan/06/radical-changes-science-
publishing-randy-schekman
optional

The Guardian - Nobel winner declares boycott of top science journals.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/09/nobel-winner-boycott-science-journals
optional

The Guardian - Hundreds of open access journals accept fake science paper.pdf
http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2013/oct/04/open-access-journals-fake-
paper
optional

The Guardian - Stop the deluge of science research.pdf http://www.theguardian.com/higher-

education-network/blog/2014/aug/05/why-we-should-publish-less-scientific-
research?CMP=new_1194
optional

44
6.5 Optional background information
6.5.1 Data visualization
Data visualization is the study of the visual representation of data and serves as a powerful way to simplify
complexity. The main goal of data visualization is to communicate information clearly and effectively
through graphical means. To convey ideas effectively, both aesthetic form and functionality need to go
hand in hand, providing insights into a rather sparse and complex data set by communicating its key-
aspects in a more intuitive way, keeping in mind the important adage: ‘a good graph contains an minimum
amount of ink and a maximum amount of information’.

Visualizations help people see things that were not obvious to them before. Even when data volumes are
very large, patterns can be spotted quickly and easily. Visualizations convey information in a universal
manner and make it simple to share ideas with others. It lets people ask others, “Do you see what I see?”
And it can even answer questions like “What would happen if we made an adjustment to that area?”

As more and more data is collected and analysed, decision makers at all levels welcome data visualization
software that enables them to see analytical results presented visually, find relevance among the millions
of variables, communicate concepts and hypotheses to others, and even predict the future.

The beauty of data visualization - David McCandless (18 min)

http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization

Statistics don’t lie – Vox (3 min)

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/6697724/5f206a34/statistieken_liegen_niet.html

3 Reasons Why You Should Use Your Survey Data to Create An Infographic.pdf
http://www.surveygizmo.com/survey-blog/3-reasons-why-should-use-your-survey-data-to-
create-an-infographic/
optional

Nice to know: Blogpost: The 36 best tools for data visualization.pdf

http://www.creativebloq.com/design-tools/data-visualization-712402

optional Graphs.ppt (available on Blackboard)

6.5.2 Writing a press release

If you are looking to get media coverage for your organization, being able to write an effective press
release is an essential skill. But how long should a press release be? And what kind of information should
you include? Here are a few tips to help you get started:

The Guardian - How to write an effective press release.pdf

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jul/14/how-to-write-press-release
optional

45
6.6 Conclusion
As we have come to the end of this course on Business Research Methods and we have reached the stage
that we can reflect on the development we have made in the course of the past weeks, we would like to
end with one summarizing quote that paraphrases Alfred Hitchcock:

The three most vital elements in any good research are

the design, the design, the design.

46
7 Attachment: Turtle Template
(Source: adapted and elaborated on Faff, 2015; Bryman & Bell, 2013; Cambré & Van Andel, 2015)

INFO
 AUTHOR(S) Name(s)

 WORKING TITLE Title

 FIELD OF RESEARCH Define the subfield

HEAD: research philosophy

 EPISTEMOLOGY & ONTOLOGY More deductive or inductive research? Positivism, post-positivism, interpretivism? Objectivism, constructionism?

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
 KEY PAPERS What is already known? What are top-articles (guru’s; high impact journal articles; high citations)?

LEG1: research strategy

 PROBLEM STATEMENT What is the managerial ‘puzzle’?

 RESEARCH QUESTION What is the basic research question? Are there sub-questions?

 IDEA What is the core idea and intellectual content?

 WHAT IS NEW Is there a gap in the literature? Is there novelty in idea, data, tools, analysis?

 SO WHAT Why is it important to know the answer to the RQ? What can be the managerial impact?

 CONTRIBUTION What is the contribution to research literature?

LEG2: conceptual model

 KEY CONCEPTS Is there enough focus? What are definitions of key concepts?

 RELATIONS & CAUSALITY What are the dependent and independent variables? What are other variables and relations?

 HYPOTHESES What are the central hypotheses?

47
LEG3: operationalization

 OPERATIONALIZATION CONCEPTS DIMENSIONS INDICATORS MEASURES

Homogeneous or heterogeneous? Making concepts measurable. Single or Coding, calculation of

multiple? scores

LEG4: design & methods

 DEFINING THE CASE What is a case?

 UNIT OF ANALYSIS & UNIT OF What is the unit of analysis? What is the unit where you collect data?
OBSERVATION

 DESIGN What major design? Combination of designs? Why is this the best possible design to answer your RQ?

 DATA What data? Why these data? Access? Primary or secondary data? Database issues? Missing data? Cleaning data?

 SAMPLING Random or purposive? Boundaries and frame? Size? Period? Interval?

 METHODS & TOOLS What data collection methods? In what sequence (if applicable)? Availability of software? How will you do the analysis? Do you
have the appropriate knowledge (e.g. statistical skills)?

 VALIDITY & RELIABILITY Meaningful data? Quality? What will you do to increase validity and reliability?

TAIL: reflective stuff

 ETHICS Are there ethical considerations in research design, access to data, analysis, reporting data?

 CHALLENGES Is collaboration needed? What are the risks? What are the challenges in executing the research? Is the time frame realistic?
Personal advantages? Potential pitfalls? What can go wrong? What will make it happen?

48