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PART 2
RESEARCH ISSUES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
MAJOR RESEARCH ISSUES MINOR RESEARCH ISSUES
THE RESEARCH QUESTION
RESEARCH PROBLEM THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING PROBLEMS SIGNIFICANCE
DESCRIPTION AND STATEMENT
PROBLEM ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
EVALUATION OF A PROBLEM- PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
COMMON MISTAKES IN PROBLEM FORMULATION
ORGANIZATION OF CHAPTER ONE
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IDENTIFICATION OF
RESEARCH ISSUE/QUESTIONS
FOPRMULATION OF
RESEARCH PROBLEMS
REVIEW OF
RELATED
LITERATURE
CLARIFICATION
OF CONCEPTS
IDENTIFICATION
OF VARIABLES
STATEMENT OFHYPOTHESIS
1 23
4
SELECTION OF
RESEARCH
DESIGN
EXPLORATORY
DESCRIPTIVE
CAUSAL
SURVEYS
CASE STUDIES
LABORATORY
EXPERIMENTS
FIELD
EXPERIMENTS
SELECTION OF
DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
PRIMARY
DATA
SECONDARY
DATA
OBSERVATION
DIRECT
COMMUNICATION
PARTICIPANT
NON-PARTICIPANT
QUESTIONNAIRES
INTERVIEWS
PROJECTIVE
5
6
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Research Issue
Research Question
Research Problem
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HOW DO I FIND THE
RESEARCH ISSUE?
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THE RESEARCH ISSUE
How do I find the Research Issue?
1. Experience2. Listening and talking with
professionals and experts in subject
area
3. Literature Review
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LOOKING FOR RESEARCH
ISSUES?
YOU MIGHT FOCUS ON THETRENDS, UNRESOLVED
PROBLEMS OR CONCERNS IN
ANY OF THE FOLLOWINGAREAS.
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TWO LEVELS OF RESEARCH
ISSUES
MACRO LEVEL
Issues in the General Environment
MICRO LEVEL
Issues in the Industry Specific Environment
Issues in the Organizations Specific
Environment
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MACRO LEVEL - GENERAL ENVIRONMENT
1. SOCIOCULTURAL ISSUES -DIMENSION
- Education level, quality
- Lifestyle change, rate of socialchange, family values
- Psychographic customer
behaviour, preferences, attitude andperceptions
- Demographic trends
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2. POLITICAL ISSUES - DIMENSION
- Law & Regulations
Jurisdiction, Legislative, Administrative(Impact, Revision and Constituency)
- Lobbying/Legislative Influence
Jurisdiction, Legislative, Administrative
(Impact, Revision and Constituency)
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3. ECONOMIC ISSUES - DIMENSION
- GNP, GDP Trends- Fiscal Policies Government spending,
decisions
- Monetary Policies Federal Reservesystem
-Labour Unemployment, shifts, labourpool, demand and supply
- Trade Exchange of Goods andServices, tariffs, agreements
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4. TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES - DIMENSION
- Products Production, packaging, distribution,sanitation, safety
- Machinery/Equipment- Cost effectiveness,innovations, automation, industry needs,energy conservation, maintenance, safety
- Computer/Electronics
- Energy Utilities, water usage
- Facilities/Construction - Design and Layout,ergonomics
- Communications
- Transportation/Logistics/DistributionEffective allocation.
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5. ECOLOGICAL ISSUES - DIMENSION
Concerns with maintenance and
Conservation of:
- Land: - solid waste, chemical dumping,
pollution- Sea/Water: - solid waste, chemical
dumping, pollution
- Environment/Air: - solid waste, chemical
dumping, pollution
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MICRO LEVEL
1. INDUSTRY SPECIFIC ENVIRONMENTISSUES
EG. SERVICE INDUSTRY BANKING,HOTEL
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY -
FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRYAGRICULTURAL AND FISHING
MINING
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2. ORGANIZATIONS SPECIFIC
ENVIRONMENT ISSUES
- FINANCE/ACCOUNTING
- MARKETING
- OPERATIONS
- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
- ADMINISTRATION/MANAGEMENT
- RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
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ORGANIZATION LEVEL - INDICATORS
COMMONLY USED FINANCIAL MEASURES -
Total assets
Total assets per employee
Profit as a % of total assets
Return on net assets
Return on total assets
Revenue/total assets
Gross marginNet income
Profit as a % of sales
Profit per employee
Revenue
Revenue from new products
Revenue per employee
Return on equity (ROE)
Return on capital employed (ROCE)
Return on investment (ROI)
Economic value added (EVA)
Market value added (MVA)
Value added per employee
Compound growth rate
Dividends
Market value
Share price
Shareholder mix
Shareholder loyaltyCash flow
Total costs
Credit rating
Debt
Debt to equity
Times interest earned
Days sales in receivables
Accounts receivable turnover
Days in payables
Days in inventory
Inventory turnover ratio
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ORGANIZATION LEVEL - INDICATORS
A SAMPLE OF CUSTOMER MEASURES
Customer satisfaction
Customer loyaltyMarket share
Customer complaints
Complaints resolved on first contact
Return rates
Response time per customer request
Direct price
Price relative to competition
Total cost to customer
Average duration of customer
relationship
Customers lostCustomer retention
Customer acquisition rates
Percentage of revenue from new
customers
Number of customers
Annual sales per customer
Win rate (sales closed/sales contacts)
Customer visits to the companyHours spent with customers
Marketing costs as a percentage of sales
Number of ads placed
Number of proposals made
Brand recognition
Response rate
Number of trade shows attended
Sales volume
Share of target customer spending
Sales per channel
Average customer sizeCustomers per employees
Customer service expense per customers
Customer profitability
Frequency (number of sales transactions)
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ORGANIZATION LEVEL - INDICATORSSUPPLY-CHAIN PROCESS MEASUREMENTS
TIME:
On-time delivery receipts
Order cycle time
Order cycle time variability
Response time
Forecasting/Planning cycle time
Planning cycle time variability
QUALITY:Overall customer satisfaction
Processing accuracy
Perfect order fulfillment
- On-time delivery
- Complete order
- Accurate product selection
- Damage-free
- Accurate invoice
Forecast accuracy
Planning accuracy
Schedule adherence
COST:
Finished goods inventory turns
Days sales outstanding
Cost to serve
Cash to cash cycle time
Total delivered costs
- Cost of goods
- Transportation costs
- Inventory carrying costs- Material handling costs
- All other costs
- Information systems
- Administrative
Cost of excess capacity
Cost of capacity shortfall
OTHER/SUPPORTING
Approval exceptions to standard
- Minimum order quantity
- Change order timing
Availability of information
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ORGANIZATION LEVEL - INDICATORS
INTERNAL PROCESS MEASURES
Average cost per transaction
On-time delivery
Average lead time
Inventory turnover
Environmental emissions
R&D expense
Community involvement
Patents pending
Average age of patents
Ratio of new products to total
offerings
Stockouts
Labour utilization rates
Response time to customer
requests
Defect percentage
Rework
Customer database availability
Breakeven time
Cycle time improvement
Continuous improvement
Warranty claims
Lead user identification
Products/services in the pipeline
Internal rate of return on new
projects
Waste reduction
Space utilization
Frequency of returned purchases
Downtime
Planning accuracy
Time to market of new
products/services
New products introduced
Number of positive media stories
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ORGANIZATION LEVEL - INDICATORS
EMPLOYEE LEARNING AND GROWTH MEASURES
Employee participation in professional or
trade associations
Training investment per customer
Average years of service
Percentage of employees with advanced
degrees
Number of cross-trained employees
Absenteeism
Turnover rate
Employee suggestions
Employee satisfaction
Participation in stock ownership plans
Lost time accidents
Value added per employee
Motivation index
Outstanding number of applications for
employment
Empowerment index (number of
managers)
Quality of work environment
Internal communication rating
Employee productivity
Health promotions
Training hours
Competency coverage ratio
Personal goal achievementTimely completion of performance
appraisals
Leadership development
Communication planning
Reportable accidents
Percentage of employees with
computers
Strategic information ratio
Cross-functional assignments
Knowledge management
Ethics violationsDiversity rates
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL ISSUES
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ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL ISSUES:
1. STRATEGIC LEVEL
Long-term plans and policies that determine orchange the character of an organization
a. Policy Research
Analysis of overall organizations situationwith a view of formulating major policy
proposals and establishing their priorities.
Measures: Critical elements of economic,sociocultural political, technological and ecological
changes having potential impact on the organization.
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b. Evaluation Research
Formal, objective Measurement
on the extent to which given
action, activity or program has
achieved its objectives.
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2. MANAGERIAL LEVEL
Those actions associated with ongoing
management of the organization whichare carried on within the limits of theobjectives and policies defined at thestrategic level.
a. Managerial Research
Research related to a specific problem of
limited scope in which management hasthe need of additional information onwhich to base a decision.
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b. Action Research
Continuous gathering and analysis
of research data and relying of the
findings into the organization for
the purpose of improving the
organizations functions.
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c. Technical Research
Specific transactions involved in carrying out the
tasks required to achieve a variety of objectivesdefined at the managerial level.
d. Operational ResearchA range of quantitative/analytical techniques
designed to formulate and test decision rules
which will permit management to optimize therelations between inputs and outputs of a given
operational procedure.
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WHAT IS THE RESEARCH
QUESTION?
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THE RESEARCH QUESTION
- Narrows the research issue
- Identifies the concern addressed by the
research project
- Should relate to aspects of the industry
that you are strongly concerned with.
- End result should contribute to the
industry.
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- Question may be in the form of a hypotheses
that certain relationships exist among variables,or it may be of an exploratory nature,
essentially asking What is the relationship
among variables.
- It may begin in a closely formulated form, but
must eventually be stated such that a testablehypothesis or model is generated.
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WHAT IS THE RESEARCH
PROBLEM?
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THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
- Rewording of the research question into a
statement form.
- It is a statement concerning the relationships
existing between Variables (sets of events),
and research is conducted to find answers to
the research questions.
- Helps to identify key words and phrases to
assist in the literature review.
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The first question that is always asked is
How Do I find a Research Problem
There are no set rules for locating a research
problem, but the 3 major sources are:
1. Deduction from theory
2. Experience3. Related Literature
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FORMULATION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
The formulation of a research problem isoften far more essential than its solution.
To raise new questions, new possibilities,
or to regard old problems from a newangle, requires creative imagination and
marks rela advances in knowledge.
Einstein and Infeld (1938)
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Carrying out a research
investigation requires carefulplanning. Central to a research
investigation is a clear-cut
statement of the research problem.
A question well-stated is a question
half-answered
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CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING A RESEARCH
PROBLEMS SIGNIFICANCE
1. The problem should be one whose solutionwill make a contribution to the body oforganized knowledge in the field of interest.
2. The problem should be one that will lead tonew problems and to further research
3. The problem must be one that isresearchable
4. The problem must be suitable for theparticular researcher
5. Select a problem that is specific, simple and
clear.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE STATEMENT OF THE
RESEARCH PROBLEM
1. State of basic difficulty or problem situation -
significance and importance of the problem area.
2. Careful analysis of known and suspected facts, andexplanation of existing information and knowledge
that may have some bearing on problem.
3. Soundness of the logic underlying selection ofvariables or factors to be studied and expression of
their relationship to the problem area.
4. Systematic and orderly presentation of theinterrelationships of relevant facts and conceptsunderlying the problem.
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5. Clear identification of the problem statement through useof appropriate heading or paragraph caption.
6. Succinct, precise, and unambiguous statement of theresearch problem (including the delineation ofindependent, dependent, and other variables), of themajor questions to be resolved, or of the objectives to be
investigated.
7. Distinction (if any) between the problems or questionsthat are either factually oriented or value oriented.
Sufficient delimitation of the problem area - narrowing ofthe scope without becoming concerned with a trivialproblem.
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PROBLEM ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Select a problem that engages your attention andbegs for a solution
2. Accumulate the facts that might be related to theproblem.
3. Settle by observation whether the facts are relevant
4. Trace any relationships between facts that mightreveal the key to the difficulty.
5. Propose various explanations (hypotheses) for the
cause of the difficulty.
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6. Ascertain through observation and analysis
whether they are relevant to the problem.
7. Trace the relationships between explanations
that may give an insight into the problem
solution.
8. Trace the relationships between facts and
explanations.
9. Questions assumptions underlying the analysis
of the problem.
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EVALUATION OF A PROBLEM
PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. Is the problem in line with my goal expectations and the expectations ofothers.
2. Am I genuinely interested in this problem, but free from strong biases?
3. Do I posses or can I acquire the necessary skills, abilities, and
background knowledge to study this problem?4. Do I have access to the tools, equipment, laboratories, and subjects
necessary to conduct the investigation?
5. Do I have the time and money to complete it?
6. Can I obtain the adequate data?
7. Does the problem meet the scope, significance, and topicalrequirements of the institution or periodical to which I will submit myreport?
8. Can I obtain administrative support, guidance, and cooperation for theconduct of the study?
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SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
1. Will the solution of this problem advance knowledge in the field
appreciably?2. Will the findings be of practical value to educators, parents, social
workers or others?
3. What will be the breadth of the application of the findings in terms of
range of individuals, years of applicability, and areas of coverage?
4. Will the investigation duplicate the work that has been or is being doneadequately by someone else?
5. If this topic has been covered, does it need to be extended beyond its
present limits?
6. Is the topic sufficiently delimited to permit an exhaustive treatment yet
sufficiently significant to warrant investigating it?
7. Will the conclusions of the study be of doubtful value because the tools
and techniques available to conduct the inquiry are not adequately
refined and sufficiently reliable?
8. Will the study lead to the development of other investigations?
SOME COMMON MISTAKES IN PROBLEM
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SOME COMMON MISTAKES IN PROBLEM
FORMULATION
1. Collecting data without a well-defined plan or purpose,
hoping to make some sense out of it afterward.
2. Taking a batch of data that already exists and attemptingto fit meaningful research questions to it.
3. Defining objectives in such general or ambiguous terms thatyour interpretations and conclusions will be arbitrary andinvalid.
4. Undertaking a research project without reviewing theexisting literature on the subject.
5. Ad hoc research, unique to a given situation, permitting nogeneralization beyond the situation itself and making no
contribution to the general body of research.
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6. Failure to base research on a sound theoretical orconceptual framework, which would tie together thedivergent masses of research into a systematic and
comparative scheme, providing feedback and evaluation fortheory.
7. Failure to make explicit and clear the underlyingassumptions within your research so that it can be
evaluated in terms of these foundations.
8. Failure to recognize the limitations in your approach,implied or explicit, that place restrictions on the conclusions
and how they apply to other situations.
9. Failure to anticipate alternative rival hypotheses that wouldalso account for a given set of findings and which challengethe interpretations and conclusions reached by theinvestigator.
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CHAPTER ONE
THE PROBLEM
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IMPORTANCE OF CHAPTER ONE
- Determines how the rest of the research
project will be written and presented.
- Similar to the frame of a building:
It determines the size and shape of each
room (Similarly, the research objectives,
research questions, research problems,
and the hypotheses determine the sizeand shape of the research project).
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COMPONENTS OF CHAPTER ONE
TITLE PAGE
1.0 INTRODUCTION RESEARCH ISSUES:
background of the problem trends related to theissues, unresolved issues, social concerns.
1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY:
Goal oriented: emphasizing practical outcome.
1.2 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY:
Contributions of the study, suggestions on improvingthe given situation/issues
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
Delineation of the issues into several questions,questions to be answered or objectives to beinvestigated.
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1.4 RESEARCH PROBLEMS:
Statement of the problem situations, basic difficulty/area of concern orfelt needs, delineation of the research questions.
1.5 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES:Explication of relationships among variables or comparisons to beconsidered, direction of relationships.
1.6 THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING:
Background/foundations of the study/academic discipline(s) upon whichthe study/enquiry is built.
1.7 STUDY FRAMEWORK:
Rationale and theoretical framework, conceptual or substantiveassumptions indicating relationships among variables, definition of
terms, variables Operationalization.
1.8 SUMMARY:
Outline of the remainder of the research proposal.
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ASSIGNMENT 1:
1. IDENTIFICATION OF THERESEARCH TITLE
2. IDENTIFICATION OF THERESEARCH ISSUE
3. IDENTIFICATION OF THERESEARCH QUESTIONS
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