CHAPTER 3,4, & 5

Question 1

The logical process of deriving a conclusion about a specific instance based on a known general premise or something known to be true

Answer 1

DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Question 2

The logical process establishing a general proposition on the basis of observation of particular facts.

Answer 2

NDUCTIVE REASONING

Question 3

business research can be

Answer 3

EXPLORATORY, DECRIPTIVE, CAUSAL

Question 4

Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities.

Answer 4

EXPLORATORY

Question 5

Describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments; tries to “paint a picture” of a given situation.

Answer 5

DESCRIPTIVE

Question 6

Allows causal inferences to be made; seeks to identify cause-and- effect relationships.

Answer 6

CAUSAL

Question 7

Stages of research process

Answer 7

DEFINING RESEARCH OBJECTIVES, RESEARCH DESIGN, SAMPLING, DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, CONCLUSION AND REPORTING

Question 8

It is a concise and descriptive statement that encapsulates the main topic or focus of a research study.

Answer 8

RESEARCH TITLE

Question 9

A good research title typically contains

Answer 9

SIGNAL WORDS, VARIABLE(S), LOCATION

Question 10

These are terms or phrases that indicate the relationship between ideas, concepts, or variables in the study.

Answer 10

SIGNAL WORDS

Question 11

These are the elements, characteristics, or conditions that can vary or change in a research study. Target Population or Sample: This refers to the specific group of individuals or entities that the research focuses on.

Answer 11

VARIABLE(S)

Question 12

This refers to the geographical area or context where the study is conducted.

Answer 12

LOCATION

Question 13

was introduced in the early chapters and highlighted in translating the business decision situation into specific research objectives. While it is tempting to skip this step and go directly to designing a research project, the chances that a research project will prove useful are directly related to how well the research objectives correspond to the true business problem

Answer 13

FIRST STAGE OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Question 14

is a written expression of the key question(s) that a research user wishes to answer. It is the reason that research is being considered. It must be well stated and relevant.

Answer 14

DECISION STATEMENT

Question 15

The process of defining and developing a decision statement and the steps involved in translating it into more precise research terminology, including a set of research

Answer 15

PROBLEM DEFINITION

Question 16

Ultimately, the quality of business research in improving business decisions are limited by the quality of the problem definition stage. This is far from the easiest stage of the research process. Indeed, it can be the most complex.

Answer 16

PROBLEM COMPLEXITY

Question 17

A problem occurs when there is a difference between the current conditions and a more preferable set of conditions. In other words, a gap exists between the way things are now and a way that things could be better.

Answer 17

A PROBLEM DEFINITION PROCESS

Question 18

the problem definition process

Answer 18

1. Business performance is worse than expected business performance.
2. Actual business performance is less than possible business performance.
3. Expected business performance is greater than possible business performance.

Question 19

involves several interrelated steps. Sometimes, the boundaries between each step aren’t exactly clear. But generally, completing one step leads to the other and by the time the problem is defined, each of these steps has been addressed in some way.

Answer 19

PROBLEM DEFINITION PROCESS

Question 20

THE PROBLEM DEFINITION PROCESS STEPS

Answer 20

Understand the business situation—identify key symptoms
Identify key problem(s) from symptoms
Write managerial decision statement and corresponding research objectives
Determine the unit of analysis
Determine the relevant variables
Write research questions and/or research hypotheses

Question 21

is an interview technique that tries to draw deeper and more elaborate explanations from the discussion. This discussion may involve potential problem causes. This process will likely be very helpful in identifying key variables that are prime candidates for study. Often, multiple interviews are necessary to identify all the key symptoms and gain a better understanding of the actual business situation.

Answer 21

PROBING

Question 22

is extremely useful in translating the decision situation into a working problem definition by focusing on symptoms. The probing process discussed on pages 115–116 begins this process. However, the researcher needs to be doubly certain that the research attacks real problems and not superficial symptoms.

Answer 22

PRECEDING INTERVIEW

Question 23

TRANSLATING DECISION STATEMENTS

Answer 23

DECISION STATEMENT, RESEARCH OBJECTIVES, RESEARCH QUESTIONS, RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Question 24

Express in actionable terms and make sure decision makers are in agreement

Answer 24

DECISION STATEMENT

Question 25

Expresses potential research results that should aid decision- making

Answer 25

RESEARCXH OBJECTIVES

Question 26

Ask a question that corresponds to each research objective

Answer 26

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Question 27

Specific statement explaining relationships, usually involving two variables, and including the direction of the relationship

Answer 27

RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Question 28

express the research objectives in terms of questions that can be addressed by research. For example, one of the key research questions involved in the opening vignette is “Are wages and long-haul distance related to driver loyalty and retention?”

Answer 28

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Question 29

are more specific than research questions. One key distinction between research questions and hypotheses is that hypotheses can generally specify the direction of a relationship. In other words, when an independent variable goes up, we have sufficient knowledge to predict that the dependent variable should also go up (or down as the case may be).

Answer 29

HYPOTHESES

Question 30

make it easier to understand what is perplexing managers and to indicate what issues have to be resolved. This is the researcher’s translation of the marketing problem into a specific inquiry.

Answer 30

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Question 31

is a written statement of the research design. It always includes a statement explaining the purpose of the study (in the form of research objectives or deliverables) and a definition of the problem, often in the form of a decision statement.

Answer 31

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Question 32

systematically outlines the particular research methodology and details procedures that will be used during each stage of the research process. Normally a schedule of costs and deadlines are included in the research proposal. The research proposal becomes the primary communication document between the researcher and the research user.

Answer 32

GOOD PROPOSAL

Question 33

is a written statement of the research design that will be followed in addressing a specific problem. The research proposal allows managers to evaluate the details of the proposed research and determine if alterations are needed. Most research proposals include the following sections: decision description, purpose of the research including the research objectives, research design, sample design, data gathering and/ or fieldwork techniques, data processing and analysis, budget, and time schedule.

Answer 33

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Question 34

are included in research proposals and look exactly like the real tables that will be included in the final research report. However, they cannot actually contain results since the study has not yet been done. So, they include hypothetical results that look as much as possible like the actual results.

Answer 34

DUMMY TABLES

Question 35

These tables are a very good tool for communicating the value of a research project to management because they provide a real sense for implications that may result from the research

Answer 35

DUMMY TABLES

Question 36

is research that addresses business objectives through techniques that allow the researcher to provide elaborate interpretations of market phenomena without depending on numerical measurement. Its focus is on discovering true inner meanings and new insights.

Answer 36

QUALITATIVE BUSINESS RESEARCH

Question 37

is very widely applied in practice. There are many research firms that specialize in qualitative research.

Answer 37

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Question 38

is less structured than most quantitative approaches. It does not rely on self-response questionnaires containing structured response formats. Instead, it is more researcher-dependent in that the researcher must extract meaning from unstructured responses, such as text from a recorded interview or a collage representing the meaning of some experience, such as skateboarding. The researcher interprets the data to extract its meaning and converts it to information.

Answer 38

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Question 39

can be defined as business research that addresses research objectives through empirical assessments that involve numerical measurement and analysis approaches. Qualitative research is more apt to stand on its own in the sense that it requires less interpretation.

Answer 39

QUALITATIVE BUSINESS RESEARCH

Question 40

orientations to qualitative research

Answer 40

PHENOMOLOGY, ETHNOGRAPHY, GROUNDED THEORY, CASE STUDIES

Question 41

(originating in anthropology) represents ways of studying cultures through methods that involve becoming highly active within that culture. Participant-observation typifies an ethnographic research approach. Participant observation means the researcher becomes immersed within the culture that he or she is studying and draws data from his or her observations.

Answer 41

ENTHOGRAPHY

Question 42

(originating in sociology) Represents an inductive investigation in which the researcher poses questions about information provided by respondents or taken from historical records; the researcher asks the questions to him or herself and repeatedly questions the responses to derive deeper explanations.

Answer 42

GROUNDED THEORY

Question 43

(originating in psychology and in business research) simply refer to the documented history of a particular person, group, organization, or event. Typically, a case study may describe the events of a specific company as it faces an important decision or situation, such as introducing a new product or dealing with some management crisis. Textbook cases typify this kind of case study. Clinical interviews of managers, employees, or customers can represent a case study. The case studies can then be analyzed for important themes. Themes are identified by the frequency with which the same term (or a synonym) arises in the narrative description. The themes may be useful in discovering variables that are relevant to potential explanations.

Answer 43

CASE STUDIES

Question 44

(originating in philosophy and psychology) A philosophical approach to studying human experiences based on the idea that human experience itself is inherently subjective and determined by the context in which people live.

Answer 44

PHENOMOLOGY

Question 45

are more economical ways of trying to do much the same as traditional focus group interviews. Some companies have even established a focus blog that is a source for continuous commentary on a company. While they are certainly cost advantageous, there is less control over who participates.

Answer 45

VIDEO CONFERENCING AND ONLINE CHAT ROOMS

Question 46

The most common qualitative research tools include

Answer 46

FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW, THE DEPTH INTERVIEW

Question 47

has some cost advantage per respondent because it would take ten times as long to conduct the interview portion(s) of a series of depth interviews compared to one focus group.

Answer 47

FOCUS GROUP

Question 48

is more appropriate for discussing sensitive topics.

Answer 48

IN DEPTH INTEVIEW

Question 49

(also known as second-party data) refers to any dataset collected by any person other than the one using it.

Answer 49

SECONDARY DATA

Question 50

is the data that has already been collected through primary sources and made readily available for researchers to use for their own research.

Answer 50

SECONDARY DATA

Question 51

sources of secondary data

Answer 51

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

Question 52

(data that originate inside the organization)

Answer 52

INTERNAL

Question 53

(Data created, recorded, or generated by an entity other than the researcher’s organization.

Answer 53

EXTERNAL

Question 54

Advantages and disadvantages of secondary data

Answer 54

The primary advantage of secondary data is their availability. Obtaining secondary data is almost always faster and less expensive than acquiring primary data. An inherent disadvantage of secondary data is that they were not designed specifically to meet the researchers’ needs.

Question 55

is any characteristic, factor, or attribute that can take on different values. Variables are essential in research because they represent the elements or conditions being studied, and their variations help researchers understand relationships and draw conclusions.

Answer 55

VARIABLE

Question 56

is some aspect of an experiment that can be subject to change, which a researcher typically manipulate and/or measures.

Answer 56

VARIABLE

Question 57

types of variables

Answer 57

INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Question 58

These are the variables the researchers manipulate or control to observe their effect on other variables. These are considered the "cause" in a cause-and-effect relationship.

Answer 58

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Question 59

These are the variables that researchers measure or observe to see the effect of the independent variables. These are considered the "effect" in the relationship

Answer 59

DEPENDENT VARAIBLES