Defining a Research Problem - Business Research - PDF

Defining a Research Problem 3: Ch 6 BME5002 Ethics Module Check-in Feedback?  A Sustainable Protein Source A startup protein powder company is not only health but MINI CASE #1 also environmentally conscious. It has set up a booth where...

Defining a Research Problem 3: Ch 6 BME5002 Ethics Module Check-in Feedback?  A Sustainable Protein Source A startup protein powder company is not only health but MINI CASE #1 also environmentally conscious. It has set up a booth where it is offering free strawberry protein shakes infused with its Sustainable Protein protein powder. They offered a small sample shake to Powder anyone who expressed an interest. As people gathered around the booth sipping their sample, they asked people for their names and email addresses, as well as feedback on Discussion – the protein shake. The people who are sampling the shake don’t know that the 5 minutes protein powder is made from grounded up crickets, which are a safe, nutritious, and sustainable source of protein1. activity They especially tried to encourage teenagers to taste the strawberry shake. Based on the ethics module from last week: Q1: What are some ethical issues in this scenario? Q2: How should the start-up address these ethical issues? 1 https://www.fao.org/asiapacific/news/detail-events/en/c/1365143/ MINI CASE #2 Organ Donation Discussion – 5 minutes activity New organ donation policy: A person can opt-in or opt-out to be a non-living donor. Anyone who did not register as opt-in OR opt-out is considered to have consented to opt-in. Q1: Is this a good policy? What are the pros & cons of a policy like this? Q2: What are the ethics involved? Teamwork Teamwork is a common reality for many jobs Teams in the workplace: “…diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic (with frequent changes in membership)” (Haas & Mortenson, 2016) Basics of Team effectiveness: 1. Compelling direction 2. Strong structure 3. Supportive context 4. Shared mindset Haas & Mortenson, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/06/the-secrets-of-great-teamwork  Team Charter: Things to consider Each team-member’s: Strengths and weaknesses Goals for the assignment (e.g., expected grade, learning, quality of work) Workstyle Preferred method/frequency of communication Role and responsibilities Competing priorities (e.g., employment, family) and expected time commitment Expectations around attendance and participation in group meetings As a group, decide on: How you will make decisions How you will navigate conflict A plan to enact if group members find that not everyone is doing their part Reference: https://teaching.uwo.ca/teaching/engaging/setting-up-teamwork.html#skills Team Charter – 3% Types of Business Research Exploratory Research Conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities Initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature of a problem Descriptive Research Conducted where researcher already has a firm grasp of the nature of the research problem (unlike exploratory research) Describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments; tries to “paint a picture” of a given situation Data can be used for diagnostic analysis, to find out the reason behind a particular business outcome (e.g., feelings people have towards particular products that can explain sales patterns). Types of Business Research (Cont’d) Causal Research Conducted to identify cause and effect relationships (inferences) Evidence of causality: Temporal sequence—the appropriate causal order of events Concomitant variation—two phenomena vary together Nonspurious association—an absence of alternative plausible explanations  When two factors appear causally related to one Spurious another but are not Relationship The supposed causal relationship is due to a confounding factor What are some potential confounding factors here? Bottle Water Infant health  Socioeconomic Class Spurious Relationship Bottle Water Infant Health Business Research Process (Exhibit 4.6) Problem Definition The process of defining and developing a decision statement (key questions to answer in a research study) The steps involved in translating a business situation into more precise research terminology, including a set of research objectives What do we mean by “problem”? Where there’s a difference between the current conditions and a more preferable set of conditions Problems Mean Gaps Business performance is worse than expected business performance. Actual business performance is less than possible business performance. Expected business performance is greater than possible business performance.  Symptom vs Problem  The Problem-Definition Process Steps 6. Write research 5. questions & Determine hypothesis 4. the relevant Determine variables 3. Write managerial the unit of Process 2. Identify key decision analysis problem(s) statements / 1. Understand from the research the Business symptoms objective Situation – identify key symptoms Example Increasing Increased turn- To understand Individual E.g., Driver’s Will higher recruitment over of drivers; how Deland can (drivers) demographics, cent-per-mile costs at Deland delayed build driver tenure at org, improve driver Trucking increasing cent- loyalty so cost-per-mile, loyalty? per-mile for retention job satisfaction drivers; new HR increases and manager subsequent recruitment 1 2 3 decreases 4 5 6 Theories, Constructs, & Hypotheses Theory A formal, logical explanation of some events that includes predictions or how things relate to one another Constructs A generalized idea (abstract) about a class of objects, attributes, occurrences or process (real) Hypothesis Formal statement of an unproven proposition that is empirically testable. Example: Giving employees one Friday off each month will result in lower employee turnover. Construct: Abstraction of Measurable (concrete) Elements (Exhibit 3.2) Hypotheses: Empirical Counterparts of Propositions (Exhibit 3.3) Defining the research problem & objective(s) of your group project CONSIDER: 1. What is the current situation or problem that could be impacting a small/medium enterprise? 2. Why would it be good to solve this problem or situation, or why would it be good to gather more information on this problem or situation? 3. How can we tell if this problem exists (what are the symptoms?) 4. Does the information about this problem or situation and how to address it already exist? 5. By conducting a review of the literature (existing information) and a survey with students, will you be able to get more information about the problem and how to address it? 6. What is the research objective(s)?