Homa Milani Oct.

2011 Business Research Article Review 2: Identifying the Research Design for Business Research Question Choosing the best design for the research is very crucial step in order to find the right answer to the research question, sometimes we choose the design which we are familiar to or even sometimes we change the question somehow to fit to that kind of design but we should keep in mind that our research will be more fruitful if we make our decision based on well-considered, suitable design rather than simply choosing a design that is more familiar or comfortable to us. Also, beside the research question, ethics, budget and time are all major considerations in any design. [1] At this article review, three articles related to Choosing the Design of Business Research have been selected, then the purpose and content of the three articles have been described briefly and at the final part I have tried to compare and contrast the authors point of view. Article #1 Identifying the Best Research Design to Fit the Question. Qualitative Designs Jenny Ploeg School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada In this article author does focus on qualitative research and the research design which help to answer the research question, as she mentioned: Qualitative research questions often take the form of what is this or what is happening here? and the answer of these question may produce a rich, deep description of the phenomenon being studied or a theory about the phenomenon. The author debates that qualitative research methods have become increasingly important as ways of developing nursing ( human related) knowledge and as a first step to design a research she mentioned the different types of sampling in qualitative research and data saturation as the ending point of it. The next step in research design is data collection and the related techniques, she debates that the most common are interviewing and participant observation.

And final step in research design is data analysis, unlike quantitative data analysis, is not concerned with statistical analysis, but with analysis of codes, themes, and patterns in the data. To achieve and find the best answer for the research questions we should choose the appropriate research approach, she debates three of the most commonly used approaches to qualitative research: phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory. Phenomenology Approach The aim of a phenomenological approach to qualitative research is to describe accurately the lived experiences of people, and not to generate theories or models of the phenomenon being studied, in this approach depth interviews are the most common means of data collection. Ethnography Approach The goal of ethnography is to learn about a culture from the people who actually live in that culture. A culture can be defined not only as an ethnic population but also as a society, a community, an organization, a spatial location, or a social world. The essential data collection methods of participant observation and in depth interviewing permit the researcher to learn about the meanings that informants attach to their knowledge, behaviors, and activities. Grounded theory Approach The purpose of a grounded theory approach to qualitative research is to discover social-psychological processes. Distinct features of grounded theory include theoretical sampling and the constant comparative method. Theoretical sampling refers to sampling decisions made throughout the entire research process in which participants are selected based on their knowledge of the topic and based on emerging study findings. In data analysis, the researcher constantly compares incidents, categories, and constructs to determine similarities and differences and to develop a theory that accounts for behavioral variation. Both observation and interviewing are commonly used for data collection.

Article #2 Towards a Guide for Novice Researchers on Research Methodology:

Review and Proposed Methods Timothy J. Ellis and Yair Levy Nova Southeastern University, Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Florida, USA In this article, the authors, Timothy and Yair, believe that one of the major challenges facing the novice researcher is matching the research she or he proposes with a research method that is appropriate. In this paper authors present a foundation for producing legitimate, valid results and conclusions in a research, here is what they suggest: 1. Developing the PLD, a model for selection of research approach based upon the Problem driving the study, the body of knowledge documented in peer-reviewed Literature and the Data available to the researcher. 2. Identifying, in brief, several of the research approaches commonly used in information systems studies. 3. Exploring several of the important terms and constructs that apply to scholarly research, regardless of the specific approach selected. They bring up this point that in order to answer the research question we need to know: the problem that driving the study, the body of knowledge, and the nature of the data available to the researcher: P. Research worthy problem: The research-worthy problem serves as the point of departure for the research. The nature of the research problem and the domain from which it is drawn serves as a limiting factor on the type of research that can be conducted. L. Body of knowledge documented in peer-reviewed Literature The body of knowledge serves as the foundation upon which the study is built. D. Data availability From an entirely practical perspective, the nature of the data available to the researcher serves as a final filter in determining the type of study to conduct. The type of data available should be considered a necessary, but certainly not sufficient, consideration for selecting research methods. Every solid research study must use data in order to validate the proposed theory. Without access to data, it is impossible for a researcher to make any meaningful conclusions on the phenomena. Type of Research

The author debates at this article that the type of data available is certainly one vital aspect to choose the type of research. Here is the list of research approaches they mentioned in their article: Experimental, Quantitative. Causal-comparative, Quantitative. Historical, Quantitative or Qualitative Developmental ,Quantitative and qualitative Correlation, Quantitative Description Testing Case study, Qualitative Grounded theory, Qualitative Ethnography, Qualitative Action research, Quantitative and qualitative

In general, research studies can be classified into three categories: theory building, theory testing, and theory revising. Research methods Regardless of the type of study being conducted, there are a number of important factors that must be accommodated in an effective description of the research methods. In brief, the description must provide a detailed, step-by-step description of how the study will be conducted, answering the vital who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. 1. What is going to be done? 2. Who is going to do each thing to be done? 3. How will each thing to be done be accomplished? 4. When, and in what order, will the things to be accomplished actually be done? 5. Where will those things be done? 6. Why supported by the literature for the answers to the What, Who, How, When, and Where? A properly developed description of the research methods would allow the reader to actually conduct the study being proposed based upon the processes outlined. Included among those processes are: forming research questions and hypotheses; identifying assumptions, limitations, and delimitations; as well as establishing reliability and validity. Research Question

In general, research questions are specific questions that researchers seek to answer or in other word research questions state what you want to learn. Hypotheses In general, a hypothesis can be defined as a logical supposition, a reasonable guess, an educated conjecture about some aspect of daily life. In scholarly research, however, hypotheses are more than educated guesses. A research hypothesis is a prediction or conjecture about the outcome of a relationship among attributes or characteristics Assumptions Assumptions can be viewed as something the researcher accepts as true without a concrete proof. Limitation A limitation is an uncontrollable threat to the internal validity of a study. Validity and Reliability The validity and reliability of your measurement instruments influences the extent to which you can learn something about the phenomenon you are studyingand the extent to which you can draw meaningful conclusions from your data

Article #2 Qualitative and Quantitative Research: How to Choose the Best Design Greg L. Lowhorn, Regent University,UK At this article, authors will help to clarify how a researcher can distinguish to choose between qualitative and quantitative research method based on the type of information needed and analytical capability. Quantitative Design & Analysis Quantitative research, based on this article , establishes statistically significant conclusions about a population by studying a representative sample of the population. If chosen properly, the sample will be statistically identical to the population and conclusions for the sample can be inferred to the population. Then He divided the quantitative research to 2 categories: experimental or descriptive.

Experimental research tests the accuracy of a theory by determining if the independent variable(s) (controlled by the researcher) causes an effect on the dependent variable (the variable being measured for change). Descriptive research measures the sample at a moment in time and simply describes the samples demography. Reliability and Validity Reliability is the ability of separate researchers to come to similar conclusions using the same experimental design or participants in a study to consistently produce the same measurement Validity refers to the ability of an instrument to measure what it is supposed to measure. Qualitative Design & Analysis Qualitative Research describes an event in its natural setting, It is a subjective way to look at life as it is lived and an attempt to explain the studied behavior. Unlikely to quantitative research , in qualitative research instead of providing a broad view of a phenomenon that can be generalized to the population, qualitative research seeks to explain a current situation and only describes that situation for that group. He mentions that anthropological and ethnographic methods should be used to study the participants in quantitative research. He clarifies that as little intrusion as possible should occur in qualitative research and a researcher will frequently observe the participants unnoticed. Reliability and Validity As in quantitative research, the ability to reproduce results is important in qualitative research. Whereas quantitative research seeks to validate a theory by conducting an experiment and analyzing the results numerically, qualitative research seeks to arrive at a theory that explains the behavior observed. In this way, it can be said that quantitative research is more deductive and qualitative research is more inductive

Conclusion Depending upon the desired outcome of the research, social scientists may choose between quantitative or qualitative designs. Since they seek to explain events from different perspectives, both are valid ways to evaluate a phenomenon in the proper context. By examining the current situation, the research question, and the critical factors of each design, the researcher can make a more informed choice and enhance both reliability and validity of the study. Depending upon the researchers need for objectivity, location and type of experiment can be chosen in order to maximize validity. The following grid shows when each type of design is compatible with each type of location/method. Laboratory Field

Yes control needed, Quantitative causality established can be

Yes observation, control not needed, correlation

No Qualitative except for similarities with focus groups

Yes, all observations are in the field, explain current phenomenon

Compare and Contrast of the Articles Lots of intellectual and emotional energy, ink, paper, and readers' precious time have been expended comparing, contrasting, attacking, and defending randomized control trials, outcomes research, qualitative research, and related research methods. This has mostly been a waste of time and effort, and most of the disputants, by focusing on methods rather than questions, have been arguing about the wrong things. Our thesis is short: the question being asked determines the appropriate research architecture, strategy, and tactics to be usednot tradition, authority, experts, paradigms, or schools of thought. [2] In the first, the author has chosen to describe just qualitative research for nursing issues, however she did not mentioned this in the title of her article. She summarized the research to three steps: define the question, collect the data then analyze them. I should say this article is the only one which mentioned about Data saturation which is a very important moment in qualitative research to avoid wasting money and time. The author chose 3 most commonly used approaches to qualitative research: phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory. The weak point of this article is she did not mentioned anything about the reliability and validity of research which is a vital point to make sure that we reach to right answer after all. In the article number 2, the authors introduced the PLD method which is almost the same concept that in article one she refers to but with a new name. However in this article we can see the both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The author debates at this article that the type of data available is certainly one vital aspect to choose the type of research which the other authors has other point of view. This article will be a great point to start for novice researchers. In article 3, the author wrote in a very simple way that how a researcher should choose either to have a qualitative research method or quantitative, He suggests a table which shows when each type of design is compatible with each type of location/method. None of these 3 articles have written about research question. Before we begin writing a grant proposal, we take some time to map out our research strategy. A good first step in defining a research strategy is to formulate a research question.

To develop a strong research question from your ideas, you should ask yourself these things:

Do I know the field and its literature well? What are the important research questions in my field? What areas need further exploration? Could my study fill a gap? Lead to greater understanding? Has a great deal of research already been conducted in this topic area? Has this study been done before? If so, is there room for improvement? Is the timing right for this question to be answered? Is it a hot topic, or is it becoming obsolete? Would funding sources be interested? If you are proposing a service program, is the target community interested? Most importantly, will my study have a significant impact on the field?

A research focus should be narrow, not broad-based. [3] Also ethics and budget is a very important issue in defining a design for our research question which in none of the articles has been mentioned. Among the 3 article I believe the scond article is the most robust one, it almost include all aspect of a research strategy, beside budget and ethics, however the article in suffering from lack of conclusion section.

References 1-How to Choose From the Different Research Methods From: http://www.experiment-resources.com/different-research-methods.html 2- David L Sackett, John E Wennberg, (1997) Choosing The Best Research Design for Each Question. It's Time to Stop Squabbling Over the Best Methods [electronic version] BMJ journal ,315

3- The Relationship Between the Research Question, Hypotheses, Specific Aims, and Long-Term Goals of the Project From: http://research.crc.losrios.edu/How_to_write_a_research_question.htm