Applied Research in Business

Business Opportunity

A situation that makes some possible competitive advantage

Business Problem

A situation that makes some significicant consequences more likely.

Symptoms

Observable cues that serve as a sinal of a problem because they are caused by that problem

Decision Making

The process of developin and deciding among alternative ways of resolving a problem or choosing from among alternative opportunities

Exploratory Research

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

Descriptive Research

Describes characteristics of objects. people, groups, organizations or enviroments

Diagnostic Analysis

Seeks to diagnose reasons for business outcomes and focuses on beliefs and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products

Casual Research

Allows casual inferences to be made seeks to idenitfy cayse and effect relationships

Temporal Sequence

deals with the time order of events that cause must occue before the effect

Concomitant Variation

Occuers when two events vary systematically

Nonspurious Association

Any covariation between a cause and an effect is true and not simply due to some other variable

Casual Inference

A conclusion that when one thing happens another specific thing will follow

Absolute Casuality

Cause is necessary and sufficient to bring about the effect

Conditional Causality

Cause s necessary but not sufficient to bring about effect

Experiment

Carefully controlled study in which the research manipulates a proposed cause and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect

Experimental Variable

Repersent the proposed cause and is controlled by the researcher by manipulating it

Manipulation

Means that the researcher alters the leel of the variable in specific increments

Forward Linkage

Implies that the earlier stages of the research process influence the later stages

Backward Linkage

Implies that later steps influence earlier stages of the research process

Research Objectives

The goals to be achieved by conducting research

Deliverables

Used in consulting to describe research objectives to a research client

Literature Review

A directed search of published works including periodicals and books that discusses theoru and presents emperical resulats that are relevant to the topic at hand

Pilot Study

A small scale reseach project that collects data from respondents similar to those to be used in the full study

Pretest

A small scale study in which the results are only pelimenary and intended to only assist in design of a subsquent study

Focus Group

A small discussion about some research topic led by a moderator who guides discussion among the participants

Research Design

A madter plan that specifies the methods and procedurese for collecting and analysing the needed information

Survey

Research technique in which a sample is interviewed in some form or the behaviour of respondents is observed and descrived in some ways

Sampling

Involves any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurement of a portion of the population

Unobtrusive Methods

Methods n which research respondents do not have to be distributed for data to be gathered

Data Analysis

Application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered

Research Project

A single study that addressees on or a small number of research objectives

Research Program

Numerous related studies that come together to address multiple related research projects

Decision Statement

Written expression of the key questions that reseach user wishes to answer.

Problem Definition

The process of defininf and developing a decision statment and the steps involved in translating into more precise research terminology including a set of research objectives

Problem

Occurs when there s a difference between the current conditions and a more preferable set of conditions

Situation Analysis

The gathering of background information to familiarize researchers and managers with the decision making environment

Interrogative Techniques

Asking multiple what, where, when who, why and how questions

Probing

An interview technique that tries to draw deeper and more elaborate explanations from the discussion

Unit of Analysis

A study indicates what or who should provde the data and at what level of aggregation

Variable

Anything that varies or changes from one instance to another can exhipt differences in value usually in magnitude or strength or in directon

Constant

Variable that can take on a range of values that correspond to some quantitative amount

Catergorical Variable

Variable that indicates membership in some group

Continuous Variable

A variable that can take on a range of values that correspond to some quantitative amount

Classificatory Variable

Another term for categorical variable because it classifies untis into categories

Dependent Variable

A process outcome or a variable that is predicted and or explained by other variables

Indpendent Variable

Variable that s expected to inluence the dependent variable in some way

Research Questions

Express the research objectives in terms of questions that can be addressed by research

Managerial Action Standard

Specific performance criterion upon which a decision can be based

Research Proposal

Written statement of the research design

Funded Business Research

Refers to basic research usually performed by academic researchers that is financially supported by some publlic or private institution as in federal government

Dummy Table

Tables places in research proposals that are exact repersentations of the actual tables that will show results in the final report with the exception that the results are hypothetical

Outside Agency

An independent researcher firm contracted by the company that actually will benefit from the research

In-house Research

Research performed by employees of the company that will benefit from the research

Research Analyst

A person responsible for client contract, project design preperrations of proposals, sekection of research suppliers and supervision of data collection, analysis and reporting activities.

Research Assistants

Research employees who provide technical assistance with questionaire design, data analysis and similar activities

Manager of Decision Support Systems

Employee who supervices the collection and analysis of slaes inventoru and other periodic customer relationsjip management data

Fprcast Analyst

Employee who provides technical assistance such as running computer programs and manipulating data to generate sales

Research Generalist

An employee who serves as the linkage between management and research specialists the research generalist acts as a problem definner, an educator, a laision, a communicator and a friendly ear

Cross Functional Teams

Employee teams composed of individuals from various functional areas such as engineering, production, finance and marketing who share a common purpose

Research Suppliers

Commerical providers of research services

Syndicated Service

Research suppliers that provides standardized information for many clients in return for a fee

Standardized Research Service

Companies that develop a uniquw methodlogy for investigating a business speciality area

Custom Research

Research projects that are tailored specifically to a client’s unique needs

Business Ethics

The application of morals to behaviour related to the exchange environment

Moral Standards

Principles that reflect beliefs about what is ethical and what is unethical

Ethical Dilemma

Refers to a situation in which one chooses from allternative courses of actions each with different ethical implications

Relativism

A term that relfects the degree to which one rejects moral standards in favor of the accessibility of some action this way of thinking rejects absolute principles in favor of situation based evaluation

Idealism

A term that reflects the degree to which ones bases one’s moraltiy on moral standards

Informed Consent

When an individual understrand what the reeatrch wants him or her to do and consents to the reseach study

Confidentiality

The information involved in a research study will not be shared with others

Do-not-call Legislations

Restricts any telemarketign effort from calling consuemrs who either register with a no-call-list or who request not to be called

Spyware

Software places ona computer without consent or knowledge of the user

Placebo

A false experimental effect used to create the perception that some effect has been administrated

Debriefing

Research subjects are fully informed and provided witha chance to ask any questions they may have about the experiment

Human Subjects Review Committee

Carefully reviews proposed research designs to try to make sure that no harm cn come to any participants

Sugging

Selling under the guise of research

Frugging

Fundraising under the guise of research

Pseudo-Research

Conducted not to gather information for marketing decisions but to bolster a POV and satisfy other needs

Push Poll

Telemakrting under the guise of research

Conflict of Interst

Occurs when one researcher works for two competing companies

Advocacy Research

Research undertaken to supprot a specific claim in a legal actions or repersent some advocay group

Qualitative Business Research

Research that addresses business objectives through techniques that allow the researvher to provide elaborate interpretations of phenomena without depnding on numerical measurement its focus is on discovreing true inner meanging and new insights

Research Dependent

Research in which the researcher must extract meaning from unstructured responses suchas text from recorded interview or collagr repersenting the meaning of some experience

Quantitative Business Research

Business researcht hat address objectives through emperical assements that involve measuerment and analysis

Subjective

Results are researcher dependent meaning different researchers may reach different conculsions based on the same interview

Intersubjective Certifiability

Different individuals following the same procedure will produce the same reuslts or come to the same conclusion

Intersubjective Certifiability

Different individuals following the same procedure will produce the same results or come to the same conclusion

Qualitative Data

Data that are characterized by numbers and instead are textual, visual or oral focus is on stories, visual portrayals, meaningful characterizations, interpretations and other expressive descriptions

Quantitative Data

Repersent phenomena by assigning numbers in an ordered and meaningful way

Phenomenology

A philosphical 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

Hemenutics

An approach to understanding phenomenology that relies on analysis of texts through which a person tells a story about him or herself

Hemeneutic Unit

Refers to a text passage from a repondent

s story that is linked with a key theme from with this story or provided by the researcher

Ethnography

Repersents ways of studying culture through methods that involve becoming highly active within that culture

Participant Observations

Ethnographic research apprach where th researcher becomes immered within the culture that he or she is studing and draws data from his or her observations

Grounded Theory

Repersents 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 response to derive deeper explanations

Case Study

The documented history of a particular person group organization or event

Themes

Identified by the frequency with which the same term arises in the narrative description

Piggyback

A procedure in which one respondent stimulkates thoughts among olther as this process continues increasingly creative insights are possible

Moderator

A person who leads a focus group interview and ensure that everyone gets a chance to speak and contribute to the discussion

Discussion Guide

A focus group outline that includes written introuctory comments informing the group about the focus group and rules and then outlines topics or questions to be addressed in the group session