Some Obstacles To Conducting Scientific Research in The Management Area

SOME OBSTACLES TO CONDUCTING
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
IN THE MANAGEMENT AREA
• In the management and behavioral areas, it is not always possible to
conduct investigations that are 100% scientific, in the sense that, unlike in
the physical sciences, the results obtained will not be exact and error-free.
• These problems occur whenever we attempt to quantify human behavior.
Difficulties might also be encountered in obtaining a representative sample,
restricting the generalizability of the findings.
• Comparability, consistency, and wide generalizability are often difficult to
obtain in research.
the research is designed to ensure purposiveness, rigor, and the maximum possible
testability, reliability, generalizability, objectivity, parsimony, and precision and
confidence, we would have endeavored to engage in scientific investigation.
Taking an example
The Seven-Step Process in the Hypothetic-Deductive Method
The seven steps involved in the hypothetic-deductive method of research stem from
the building blocks discussed above, and are listed and discussed below.
1. Observation
2. Preliminary information gathering
3. Theory formulation
4. Hypothesizing
5. Further scientific data collection
6. Data analysis
7. Deduction
Observation
is the first stage, in which one senses that certain changes are occurring, or that some new behaviors, attitudes, and
feelings are surfacing in one‘s environment (i.e., the workplace). When the observed phenomena are seen to have
potentially important consequences, one would proceed to the next step.
Obstacle
• Likewise, a drop in sales, frequent production interruptions, incorrect accounting results, low yielding
investments, disinterestedness of employees in their work, and the like, could easily attract the
attention of the manager, though why they occur may be an enigma.
Preliminary Information Gathering
Preliminary information gathering involves the seeking of information in depth, of what is observed. This
could be done by talking informally to several people in the work setting or to clients, or to other relevant
sources, thereby gathering information on what is happening and why. Through these unstructured
interviews, one gets an idea or a ―feel for what is transpiring in the situation. Once
the researcher increases the level of awareness as to what is happening, the person could then focus on
the problem and the associated factors through further
structured, formal interviews with the relevant group
Obstacle
This information would give additional insights of possible factors that could be operating in
the particular situation—over and above those that had not surfaced in the previous
interviews. Thus, a mass of information would have been collected through the interviews
and library search.
Theory Formulation
Theory formulation, the next step, is an attempt to integrate all the information in a logical
manner, so that the factors responsible for the problem can be conceptualized and tested.
The theoretical framework formulated is often guided by experience and intuition.
One might wonder at this juncture why a theory has to be formulated each time a problem
is investigated, and why one cannot act on the information contained in the previously
published research findings, as one surveys the literature. There are a couple of reasons for
this. One is that different studies might have identified different variables, some of which
may not be relevant to the situation on hand .
Hypothesizing
is the next logical step after theory formulation. From the theorized network of
associations among the variables, certain testable hypotheses or educated
conjectures can be generated. For instance, at this point, one might
hypothesize that if a sufficient number of items are stocked on shelves,
customer dissatisfaction will be considerably reduced .
Obstacle
when these hypotheses were not substantiated, a new hypothesis was
generated based on observed data.
The mere fact that people were chosen for the study gave them a feeling of
importance that increased their productivity whether or not lighting, heating,
or other effects were improved ,
Deduction
Deduction is the process of arriving at conclusions by interpreting
the meaning of the results of the data analysis. For instance, if it
was found from the data analysis that increasing the stocks was
positively correlated to (increased) customer satisfaction.
if customer satisfaction is to be increased, the shelves have to be better

stocked. Another inference from this data analysis is that stocking of shelves
accounts for (or explains) 25% of the variance in customer satisfaction .
In summary, there are seven steps involved in identifying and resolving a

problematic issue.

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SOME OBSTACLES TO CONDUCTING

if customer satisfaction is to be increased, the shelves have to be better

In summary, there are seven steps involved in identifying and resolving a

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