Business Research Methods - Term Paper Example

? Business Research Methods Table of Contents Introduction 3 Three Research Questions and Three Research Objectives 3 Research Philosophy 4 Research Approach 4 Research Strategy 5 Sampling Method 6 Target population 6 Sampling frame 6 Sampling Technique 7 Sample size 7 Sampling process Execution 7 Type of data 7 Data collection Method 8 Data analysis Procedure 8 Ethical Issues 8 Possible limitations 8 References 9 Introduction The world of the 21st century exists in a highly competitive environment, which is filled with rapid paced development and is powered by fast growth. The high penetration of the internet in the last couple of years along with the fact of the rapid development of various kinds of technological gadgets has resulted in the process of faster and better connectivity in the markets around the world. It also has to be said that the better connectivity is helping the rapid dispersion of global trends from the well established markets to the emerging markets, thereby creating the opportunity for development of consumer demands. To capitalize on the consumer demands, the companies and business organizations focus on the process of launching products which help in increasing the value of the brand image developed in the minds of the consumers all over the world. In this case, the focus is on identifying whether new Samsung Note 3 improves the image of the company Samsung Electronics. Three Research Questions and Three Research Objectives In regards to the underlying theme, it has to be stated that the focus is to understand the impact of the new product launched by the company Samsung Electronics has a positive impact on the image of the company, which has a strong brand value and brand identity in the market. The first research questions can be whether the Samsung Note 3 has succeeded in meeting customer expectations. The associated research objective is that this particular research question will help in understanding the success of the products in the global markets. The second research question will be to identify whether the product has provide value for money to the customers all over the world. The underlying research objective is that the value for money concept will help in gathering the information in connection to need as well as desire fulfilment of the global consumers for the newly launched product of Samsung Electronics. The third research question will be whether the consumers of the globe think that the Samsung Note 3 has enhanced the image of the company. The research objective in connection to this is to determine the viewpoints of the global consumers in regards to whether Samsung Note 3 has been successful in adding to the image reputation of the company. Research Philosophy In discussing about research philosophy, light has to be given on positivism, interpretivism, realism and pragmatism. It needs to be stated that positivism has its origins in natural science and forces the belief that the social reality is objective and singular and are not impacted by the investigation of the society. Positivism focuses on explaining and measuring the social phenomena while interpretivism has emerged while concentrating on exploring the complex societal needs for developing an interpretive understanding. Subjectivism stresses on the factor of understanding the subjective meaning of the actions of the masses of the society. It is interesting to state that pragmatism is based on the combining of the positivism and interpretivism philosophies and focuses on cancelling out the mutual weaknesses (Piepenburg, 2011, p. 46). Research Approach Research approach can be either deductive or inductive. The deductive research is implemented when the assumption has been an outcome of a deduction from a theoretical base and has been tested in a rigorous fashion with the data collected. Inductive research approach begins with a specific data, which helps in inducing a general theory to connect with the data. The inductive research approach helps to a great extent in discovering new patterns in the data that has been collected for testing a specific hypothesis. (Engel and Schutt, 2012, p. 43). Research Strategy The strategy that can be applied for this research method can be best explained by discussing about the various kinds of sampling techniques. It is important to state that the sampling techniques can be either non probability or probability based sampling techniques (McDaniel and Gates, 1998, p. 33). As, probability based sampling techniques reflects the chances of every element of the sample of being selected, it is highly recommended to opt for the simple random sampling technique (Malhotra and Dash, 2008, p. 346). While talking about research strategy, it is also important to consider the different kinds of research. Research can be either exploratory or descriptive or causal in nature. The exploratory research is mostly undertaken in the cases where the researchers aim on trying to gather information in relatively unknown areas that are being covered by the research question. It can be said that this kind of research are highly flexible and open in nature. It provides a high amount of opportunity to the researcher to look for finding new insights in an already existing pattern of behaviour of various factors (Krishnaswamy and et.al, 2009, p. 161). The research of descriptive kind specifically focuses on the explanation of particular phenomena or problem issues. In descriptive research, the researcher focuses on the process of conduction of interview of in depth nature with the respondents, the main purpose of which is to find out the root cause of the problems and even ways of tackling it. The main aim of the researcher for opting for a causal research is to concentrate on providing causal based explanation of the research topic (Blanche and et.al, 1999, p. 44). This kind of a primary research becomes highly effective when the researcher focuses on identifying the probable and cause effect relation in connection to the research question. In many cases, the nature of the research shares a direct connection with the process of taking descriptive inputs from various resources. Hence in many cases, the explanatory research becomes qualitative in nature. Sampling Method Preparing the sampling method is a very important process for the execution of a successful market research. Talking on this note, it can be said that the sampling method is done through a sampling design process. The sampling design process comprise of various steps like defining the target population, determining the frame of sample, selecting the appropriate kind of a sampling techniques, selecting the right sample size and finally conducting and successfully executing the sampling process. Target population While identifying the target population for the purpose of getting relevant inputs from the respondents in regards to primary research, it can be said that the respondents will be the current users of the Samsung Note 3. Sampling frame Talking about the sampling frame, it can be said that the respondents from whom the data for the primary research will be a little diverse in nature talking in a more specific manner, it can be said that the frame will comprise of the consumers of Samsung Note 3 of the developed as well as the emerging markets. The diverse sampling frame will help in deriving a global viewpoint. Sampling Technique For the purpose of collecting data from the respondents, the most appropriate sampling method will be the usage of simple random sampling technique. Sample size For getting appropriate information from the respondenta located in various geographical markets, a sample size of around 2000 will be quite appropriate. Sampling process Execution Talking about the process of execution, it can be said that the simple random sampling technique will be used to collect data from the respondents through the usage of a survey element like the questionnaire. Type of data Data can be either qualitative or quantitative in nature. In case of qualitative data based research, the researcher attempts to collect information in an open ended fashion from the respondent. In many cases, the process of taking data of qualitative nature includes conduction of one to focus group interviews, one interviews, etc (Lapan and et.al, 2011, p. 2). While collecting quantitative kind of data for research purposes, the researcher tries to observe and measure the effect and influence of the assumed variables on the main theme that is supposed to be covered by the research topic (Thomas, 2003, p.2). In this particular case, the quantitative data will be taken into consideration. Data collection Method Since in this case, a quantitative kind of data will be considered, the data collection can be accomplished by the usage of close ended interview questionnaire. The questionnaire will be designed by using a Likert scale. Data analysis Procedure The data that will be collected by using the survey instrument or the questionnaire can be best analyzed by using the various tools like bar graphs, pie charts, histograms etc. Ethical Issues In discussing about the ethical issues that might emerge in a research, the focus has to be given on the factor of accuracy and transparency. Care has to be taken so the primary research data that has been collected from the users of Samsung Note 3 all over the globe is not influenced in any way in favour of Samsung Electronics. The presentation of an uncompromised research will help in provide an accurate global market view of whether the Samsung Note 3 has improved the image of Samsung Electronics. Possible limitations The possible limitation for this research is that since the research will be conducted by taking the views of users of Samsung Note 3 from various markets around the globe, the project might get delayed because of the complication that might arise in collecting data from various international markets. References Piepenburg, K., 2011. Critical Analysis of Hofstede's Model of Cultural Dimensions: To what Extent are His Findings Reliable, Valid and Applicable to Organisations in the 21st Century? Germany: GRIN Verlag. Thomas, R.M., 2003. Blending Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods in Theses and Dissertations. USA: Corwin Press Inc. Lapan, S. D., and et.al, 2011. Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons. Blanche, M.T., and et.al., 1999. Research In Practice. Second Edition. South Africa : University of Cape Town Press. Krishnaswamy, K.N., and et.al, 2009.Management Research Methodology. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. McDaniel, C.D and Gates, R.H., 1998. Marketing Research Essentials. USA: South – Western College Publishing. Online Malhotra, N.K., and Dash, S., 2008. Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, 5/E. India: Pearson Education. Engel, R.J. and Schutt, R.K., 2012. The Practice of Research in Social Work. USA: Sage Publications. Read More