Topic 5: Research Design: 3 types of business research

Question 1

What determines the choice of research design and why is it NB to choose the correct design for a particular problem?

Answer 1

• The level of ambiguity or clarity/knowledge about a situation/problem determines what type of research is most appropriate and thus which research design is most appropriate.
• Choosing an inappropriate research design for a particular problem will yield useless research results

Question 2

What is the purpose and characteristics of exploratory research?

Answer 2

• Purpose: To provide insight and understanding about a situation
• Characteristics: Information & problems may be loosely defined
• Research process flexible
• smaller samples

Question 3

What is the purpose and characteristics of conclusive research?

Answer 3

• Purpose: To test specific hypotheses and measure relationships between variables
• Characteristics: Consists of descriptive and causal research
• Information and problem must be clearly defined
• Research process is formal and structured
• Sample size is generally larger and aims to be representative
• Generally more quantitative than qualitative