UNIT 2: RESEARCH PROBLEM & LITERATURE REVIEW

WHAT IS A RESEARCH PROBLEM?

 A research problem, in general, refers to some difficulty a researcher experiences in the context of
either a theoretical or practical situation and wants to obtain a solution.

 A problem does not necessarily mean that something is seriously wrong with a current situation that
needs to be rectified immediately. A problem could simply indicate an interest in an issue where
finding the right answers might help to improve an existing situation.

 A research problem is any situation where a gap exists between the actual and the desired ideal state.

 A research problem refers to a specific business dilemma/concern or a theoretical knowledge gap that
a business analyst or a researcher attempts to answer or find a solution for to improve the existing
practical solution for better business decision-making and or enhance the existing theoretical body of
knowledge in the form of conceptual frameworks.

STAGES OF QUESTIONS HIERARCHY – WITH THE EXAMPLE OF THE CEO OF A BANK FACING
A PROBLEM OF DECLINING PROFIT

1. Management concern/dilemma/problem :
A management dilemma is an indication of a central problem such as rising costs, declining sales,
delayed delivery, more defects complaints, and many more.

Eg: Declining profit

2. Management question:
The management challenge/dilemma is expressed in the shape of a question and forms the basis of the
entire research.

Eg: How can we improve profit?

3. Research questions:
The concept that best expresses the purpose of the investigation is the basis for the research
questions. They are very specific in nature.

Eg: How can we improve the volume of deposits in our bank to improve profits?

How can we improve internal operations that are currently resulting in customer complaints?

4. Investigative questions:

Questions the researcher must answer to satisfactorily answer the research question; what the
decision marker feels he/she needs to know to conclude the management dilemma. They are questions
asked in uncertainty.
Eg: What is the impact of the increase in the rate of interest for deposits?
What are the chances of achieving stronger growth in deposits if new deposit products are introduced?

5. Measurement questions:

These questions are much more specific in nature and are answered using specific values and numbers.

Eg: What is the mean deposit growth rate over the years?
What is the average number of complaints per week, month, and trend over a period? What is the
existing level of customer satisfaction?

MEASUREMENT QUESTIONS AND SCALES OF MEASUREMENT

Measurement means assigning numbers or other symbols to the characteristics of objects according to
certain pre-specified rules.

1. Nominal Data: the data is categorized according to specific characteristics just for identification. They
are variables without any quantitative value. Eg: type of product, name of customer, supplier name,
gender, order no. and so on.

2. Ordinal Data: Ordinal data is a kind of qualitative data that groups variables into ordered categories. The
categories have a natural order or rank based on some hierarchal scale, like from high to low. Eg:
employee ranks based on performance, BP levels of patients, and so on.

3. Interval Data: Interval data is a type of quantitative data which is measured along a scale, in which each
point is placed at an equal distance from one another. It does not have a natural 0 point. Eg:
temperature, date, time, Likert scale, IQ scores and so on.

4. Ratio Data: Ratio data is a form of quantitative (numeric) data which is continuous in nature and has a
natural 0 point in its measurement. Eg: profits, revenues, item cost, interest rate, GDP and so on.

LITERATURE REVIEW
A literature review is an overview of previously published works on a topic. The term can refer to a full
scholarly paper or a section of a scholarly work such as a book, or an article.

“Literature survey is the documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work
from secondary sources of data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher.” – Sekaran, 2003.

WHAT ARE THE KEY INSIGHTS FROM A LITERATURE REVIEW

WHAT VARIOUS FOCI SHOULD A LITERATURE REVIEW TAKE? / TYPES OF REVIEWS

Generally speaking, literature reviews will have one of the three types of focuses (Cooper, 1984)

1. Integrative approach

 Summarizing past research based on overall conclusions of the past research.

 It is done in an integrated way such that new frameworks and perspectives on the topic are
generated.

2. Theoretical approach

 identifying and critiquing the ability of different theories to explain a phenomenon.

 Theoretical literature reviews play an instrumental role in establishing what theories already exist,
the relationships between them, to what degree existing theories have been investigated, and to
develop new hypotheses to be tested.

3. Methodological approach

 Highlighting different methodological approaches used in past research and the contributions of
each type of research.

 It focuses on the sampling methods used, statistical tools, interviewing, data collection and so on.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DATABASES/SOURCES FOR ARTICLES?

MAJOR DATABASES
 1. Google Scholar (only selective/peer-reviewed)

2. Scopus

3. Web of Science

4. Pro-Quest

5. IEEE

MAJOR JOURNAL PUBLISHERS

1. Elsevier/ScienceDirect

2. Emerald

3. T&F

4. Springer

5. Sage

6. Wiley

7. Inderscience

8. IEEE

STANDARD STYLE OF CITATION AND REFERENCING

1. APA

2. Harvard

3. IEEE

4. Chicago

APA (American Psychological Association) references are widely used in the social sciences, education,
engineering and business.

VARIABLES

A variable is anything that can take varying or different values and is classified based on what value it can
take or what type of relationship they possess with other variables or how they are constructed.

Eg: Performance of a company, business income and expenses, age and so on

TYPES OF VARIABLES
1. Discrete

 Variables that can take only specific values in a given range and typically represents the count of
some variable being measured are discrete.

 These variables can take a finite number of values that can be counted.

 Eg: number of employees, number of goals made in a football match, number of on-time
deliveries made, and so on.

2. Continuous

 Variables that can take any continuous values in a given range are continuous.

 These variables can take on an infinite number of values in a given range.

 Eg: time taken to run 10 kilometres, the weights of students, the salaries of employees and so
on.

3. Dependent

 It is the variable that depends on other factors or the independent variables.

 It is the variable of ultimate interest to the researcher as the aim is to understand, describe and
predict the variability of the dependent variable.

 It is also known as the criterion variable, response variable or outcome variable.

4. Independent

 It is the variable the researcher manipulates or changes and is assumed to directly affect the
dependent variable.
  It influences the dependent variable in either a positive or a negative direction.

 Also known as the predictor variable or the stimulus variable.

5. Mediating

 It is the variable that mediates the relationship between the independent and the dependent
variables with its indirect effect and explains how and why the independent variable influences
the dependent variable.

 In short, referred to as a ‘mediator’.

 Eg: The influence of social media on loneliness:

You hypothesise that social media may predict levels of loneliness; however,
loneliness is much stronger for adolescents than adults.

Independent Variable: Social media use

Dependent Variable: Level of loneliness
Mediator vs. Moderator Variable: Age is the mediator

6. Moderating

 It explains or modifies the strength or magnitude or direction of the relationship between the
dependent and the independent variables.

 In short, referred to as a ‘moderator’.

 Eg: A study on salary and work experience:

You hypothesize that work experience years predict your salary while controlling relevant variables.
Additionally, gender identity moderates the connection between salary and work experience.

Independent Variable: Work experience

Dependent Variable: Salary
Mediator vs. Moderator Variable: Gender is the moderator

HYPOTHESIS

 It is an assumption or a proposition indicating the relationship between two or more variables that may
be judged as true or false.
 It is a statement of expectation or prediction of a phenomenon.
 It is an assertation which can be tested.
 A hypothesis is not required for all studies.

HYPOTHESIS TYPES

1. DESCRIPTIVE HYPOTHESIS

 Describes the existence of some variable in different ways including its size, form, behaviour or
distribution, essentially in a descriptive form.
 Eg: • Cities are experiencing extreme weather conditions. • In Bangalore, our market share
stands at 18%.

2. RELATIONAL/CORRELATIONAL HYPOTHESIS
  Indicates the relationship between 2 variables in some specific manner concerning the case,
without implying the direction of the relationship.
 Eg: There is a difference between the world cultures in India and the West.

3. EXPLANATORY/CAUSAL HYPOTHESIS

 States the proposition of existence or change in one variable causing or leading to a change in
another variable along with specifying the direction of the change.
 Eg: An increase in income leads to higher savings.

4. NULL AND ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS

 The Null Hypothesis always predicts that there will be no significant difference or change in the
existing situation or some claim or scenario of the research problem being studied.

It is the statistical hypothesis that the researcher seeks to reject.

Eg: Ho: the rate of return of XYZ mutual fund is 12% per annum.

 The Alternate Hypothesis is the hypothesis that the researcher intends to support and prove right in
the context of the research problem.

It is written as the logical opposite of the null hypothesis and predicts that there will be a
statistically significant change from the existing scenario or the claim being made.

It may be of the form that highlights any of the following: “not equal”, “greater than”, “more
than”, “less than”…

Eg: Ha: the rate of return of XYZ mutual funds is not equal to 12% per annum.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

 The research question(s) that were formulated based on literature reviews are broken down into
different tasks called research objectives which need to be achieved in order to answer the research
questions.
 Research objectives can be linked to a hypothesis or can be used as a statement of purpose in a study
which does not have a hypothesis.
 These are milestones or achievements during the process of research.
 Usually starts with “to”
 Shouldn’t be too lengthy.

Ex:

To assess the relationship between sedentary habits and muscle atrophy among the participants.

To determine the impact of dietary factors, particularly protein consumption, on the muscular health
of the participants.

To determine the effect of physical activity on the participants’ muscular health.

INDICATIVE TOPICS OF THIS CHAPTER FOR EXAM PREPARATION

1. Research Problem definition, meaning examples of any 5-research problem in different industries.
2. Scales of measurement with suitable examples.

3. Meaning and important insights of Literature Review.

4. Important aspects that should be focused on and included in a Literature Review?

5. Types of variables with examples for each.

6. Types of hypothesis with examples of each

7. Considering “low sales of digital tablets” as a business concern, create a typical question hierarchy
with examples for each type of question starting from the problem statement.

8. For the study related to high attrition of employees at TCS, what would be the research question
and list out any five objectives for a study?