Doing Research in the Business World Doing Research in the Business World David E Gray SAGE Publications Ltd Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B 1/I Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road New Delhi 110 044 SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd Church Street #10-04 Samsung Hub Singapore 049483 © David E Gray 2017 First published 2017 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers All material on the accompanying website can be printed off and photocopied by the purchaser/user of the book The web material itself may not be reproduced in its entirety for use by others without prior written permission from SAGE The web material may not be distributed or sold separately from the book without the prior written permission of SAGE Should anyone wish to use the materials from the website for conference purposes, they would require separate permission from us All material is © David Gray, 2017 This book may contain links to both internal and external websites All links included were active at the time the book was published SAGE does not operate these external websites and does not necessarily endorse the views expressed within them SAGE cannot take responsibility for the changing content or nature of linked sites, as these sites are outside of our control and subject to change without our knowledge If you find an inactive link to an external website, please try to locate that website by using a search engine SAGE will endeavour to update inactive or broken links when possible Library of Congress Control Number: 2016935137 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-4739-1567-1 ISBN 978-1-4739-1568-8 (pbk) ISBN 978-1-4739-3843-4 (pbk & interactive ebk) (IEB) Editor: Jai Seaman Development editor: Gemma Shields Editorial assistant: Alysha Owen Production editor: Tom Bedford Copyeditor: Jill Birch Proofreader: Elaine Leek Indexer: David Rudeforth Marketing manager: Alison Borg Cover design: Shaun Mercier Typeset by: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India Printed in the UK Contents About the Author Acknowledgements Publisher’s Acknowledgements How to Use the Companion Website Introduction Part A: Principles and Planning for Research Theoretical Perspectives and Research Methodologies in Business Selecting and Planning Business Research Proposals and Projects Business Research Ethics Searching, Critically Reviewing and Using the Literature in Business Part B: Research Methodology Business Research Design: Quantitative Methods Business Research Design: Qualitative Methods Business Research Design: Mixed Methods Sampling Strategies in Business 10 Designing Descriptive and Analytical Surveys for Business 11 Designing Case Studies for Business 12 Designing Evaluations in Business 13 Action Research and Change in Business Part C: Data Collection Methods 14 Questionnaires 15 Interviewing 16 Non-participant Observation 17 Ethnography and Participant Observation 18 Focus Groups 19 Unobtrusive Measures 20 Visual Methods 21 Secondary Data Analysis Part D: Analysis and Report Writing 22 Getting Started with SPSS 23 Analysing and Presenting Quantitative Data 24 Getting Started with NVivo 25 Analysing and Presenting Qualitative Data 26 Writing up the Research in a Business Report 27 Preparing for Business Presentations and for Vivas Glossary References Index About the Author David Gray is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at the University of Greenwich His research interests, and publication record, include research methods, management learning (particularly coaching and mentoring), professional identity, action learning, reflective learning, management learning in SMEs and the factors that contribute to SME success He has published books (Doing Research in the Real World (2014), 3rd edition) and articles on research methods, organizational learning, and coaching and mentoring David has led a number of EU-funded research programmes including one examining the impact of coaching on the resilience of unemployed managers in their job-searching behaviours and another on how action learning can sustain unemployed managers in starting their own business He has recently completed a global survey into the professional identity of coaches When not leading research projects he tries to play golf Acknowledgements I would like to thank the team at Sage for suggesting that I write this book and particularly Jai Seaman, Gemma Shields and Tom Bedford for their support, encouragement and guidance during the writing and production process Thanks also go to the anonymous reviewers who evaluated many of the chapters and who gave me detailed and constructive feedback David E Gray Business School University of Greenwich November 2016 reliability 193–194, 711–712 research diaries 189 research questions 179–180 rigour 191–195, 688 role of researcher 184–185 sampling strategies 183–184, 193 secondary data analysis 693–694 trustworthiness 195 types of data 181, 182–3 types of literature 185–186 units of analysis 181 validity 191–193, 710–11 Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 315 quantitative research: categorizing data 608–612 categorical and quantifiable data 609 cleaning data 612 criticisms 170–171 data layout 612–614 case study: survey instrument to data matrix 613–614 matrices 613–14 degradation of data 615 descriptive statistics: analysis 620–623 presentation of data 615–620 frequency tables 611 hypothesis testing 623–651 interval data 610, 611 measurement scales 609 missing data 614–615 non-response 614 nominal data 610 ordinal data 610, 611 ratio data 612 see also experimental research questionnaires 8, 62, 63, 253–256, 362–393 in action research 348 advantages and drawbacks 363 compared with interviews 397–398 constructs measured, methods, instruments and scales 380 delivery and collection questionnaires 254, 255, 390 for evaluations 319–320 instructions 377–378 interviewer-administered 257–8, 391 layout 376, 377 objectivity 364 online questionnaires 255–256, 296, 383–385 email 384, 390 responses 256, 266, 614 sampling error 255 Web-based 384–385 piloting 364, 385–387 case study 387 postal questionnaires 253, 254, 255, 389–390 questions: classification questions 367–368 closed 372–374 category questions 372 list questions 372 ranking questions 373 difficult/embarrassing questions 370 drafting content 369–370 filter questions 370 open 371, 374 Q-sort methodology 366 case study: applying Q-sort methodology 366–367 with response categories 376 sequencing 375 skip questions 378 spacing 379 writing: what to avoid 364–365 wording 365 reliability 388–389 response rate 376, 614, 615 non-response 615 scales 379–383 case study: validated scales 381–383 scale questions 373–374 telephone 258–259, 391 types 254 uses 362 validity 388 see also surveys questions: focus groups 493–495 open questions 257, 493 for questionnaires 62, 257 telephone surveys 62 see also research questions Rafaeli, A and Pratt, M 538, 539 randomization 147, 248 Ray, J.L and Smith, A.D 550–551 realism 27 Reason, P 397 Reay, D.G 324 recording: audio 411, 524, 711–712 video 711–712 reference books 563 Reference Manager 63 referencing 63, 123 in academic articles 734 Harvard system 123, 124, 125 reflective reporting 294 reflexivity 172, 191–192, 472, 505, 694–695 dangers of 695 epistemological 694 personal 694 relativism 21 reliability 162–163 case study research 288–289 equivalence 162 in qualitative research 193–194, 711–712 triangulation 37, 193–194 repertory grids 321–322 report writing 146, 718–742 for academic journals 729–774 audiences 720 business/technical report writing: acknowledgements 727 business/technical reports: appendices 727 conclusions 727 discussion and analysis 726 findings 725–726 pyramid of evidence model 726 recommendations 727 references 727 sections 725 copyright 736 ethics: plagiarism 735 unethical reporting 734 feedback 723 heading hierarchy 724 intellectual property 736 legal issues 735–736 and literature review 721 objectivity 718 planning 719–721 evaluation 719 purpose 719–720 review 739–740 starting 722–723 supervisors 723 theses and dissertations 727–729 time 718, 721–722 training reports 769 work placement reports 768–769 writing styles 736–739 representationalist epistemology 21 research design: definition 138 see also experimental research research journals/diaries 182, 187, 189, 347–348, 694, 722 research process 4–5, 6–7 elements 35–6 research proposals 53–65, 68 aims 55 case study 64–65 ethics: getting approval 85, 86, 87 introduction 55 justification 56 limitations 64 literature review 6, 55, 56–58 use of literature 57–58 locating a suitable institution 55 methodology 60–63 objectives 56 references 63 research questions 7, 58–60 structure 54 work schedule 63 working title 55 research questions 7, 58–60, 105, 140–143 case study: formulating the question 143 categories 141–142 and dilemmas 140–141 formulating 143 and hypotheses 59, 60, 140, 144 orientation 180 and problems 140 qualitative research 179–180 for surveys 249, 250 types 60 research skills 10–12 research strategies, criteria for 275 research topics researchers: in ethnographic reports 479 personal values 343 power of 471 relationship with participants 201–202, 472, 473 in action research 475 equality 171 focus groups moderators 486–487 intimacy 473 reciprocity 472 role in qualitative research 184–185 theoretical sensitivity 185 ResearchGate 113 results section in articles 733 rigour 191–195 authenticity 194 confirmability 194 credibility 194 dependability 194 reliability 194–195 transferability 194 triangulation 194 trustworthiness 195 validity 191–193 Ritchie, B et al 573–574 Rossman, E.B and Wilson 203 Rugg, G and Petre, M 761 safety for researchers 95–96 Sample Web Questionnaires 385 sampling 62, 155–158, 218–240 error 255–256, 263–264 generalizing 158 hard to reach populations 235–236 case study: under represented groups 236 mixed methods 232–235 non-probability sampling 62, 224–32 convenience sampling 231, 232 purposive sampling 225–231 confirming or disconfirming case sampling 230 criterion sampling 229 critical case sampling 229 extreme or deviant case sampling 226, 232 homogeneous sampling 227 intensity sampling 226–227 maximum variation sampling 227 multiple purposive sampling 231 opportunistic sampling 230 random purposeful sampling 228 sampling politically important cases 229 snowball sampling 231, 232, 235 stratified purposeful sampling 227–228 theoretical sampling 230, 232 typical case sampling 226 quota sampling 225 population, sampling frame and sample 156 and populations 155, 218, 219, 245 probability sampling 62, 155, 183, 219–224 cluster sampling 183, 222–223 multi-stage sampling 224 simple random sampling 183, 219–220 stratified random sampling 221–222, 232 systematic sampling 220–221 for qualitative research 183–184, 218–219 representative sampling 155, 261 sample size 64, 156, 184, 221, 237–239 levels of confidence 237 standard deviation 237 table for calculating sample size 238 sampling frames 155 theoretical sampling 230, 689, 704 time sampling 446 Saunders, M.N.K et al 48, 253, 254 scales 373–374, 379–383 Scheibelhofer, E 401 Schembri, S 537 Scherer, M.J and Lane, J.P 234 Schindler, R.M 507–508 Schumann, H and Presser, S 365 Schutz, Alfred 175 science 23–24, 26 scientific realism 27 secondary data 556–584, 693–694 advantages 557 case study: combined secondary data and primary data 565–566 checklist for use of documents 693 company websites/social media 575–581 data analysis 567–569 approaches 567 definitions 556 disadvantages 557–558 ethics 581–582 event studies 573–574 case study: disaster event in tourism 573–574 meta-analysis 572–573 case study: economic impact of smoking bans 572–573 mixed methodologies 574–575 qualitative data: case study: reusing 568–569 evaluating data 570 selecting data 569 sources of secondary data 558–566 systems approach 571 Sekaran, U and Bougie, R 224 selection of research topics 42–52, 68 academic requirements 44 access 44–45 capabilities and experience 46–47 and career goals 48 case study 52 and ethics 52 generating ideas 48–50 symmetry of outcomes 48 time available 46 unsuitable topics 51–52 value of research 47 self-assessment 765–766 Skype interviews 418–419, 420 social class 28–29 social media 45 social order 175 Social Research Association 81 Software: for monitoring email 519 for qualitative research (CAQDAS) 711, 712–713 for references 63 see also Internet; NVivo; SPSS sponsorship 45–46, 338 SPSS 9, 590–604 Analyze 591 Data Editor 591 Data View 591 Decimals 597 Edit 591 entering data 599 exporting into MS Word 603 File 591 getting help 603 interface 590–594 Analyze menu in Data View 594 Data Editor window in Data View 591 Edit menu in Data View 592 File menu in Data View 592 Graphs menu in Data View 594 View menu in Data View 593 missing data 598, 601 modifying data 599 recoding or transforming data 602 variables: Label 598 Name 596 Type 596, 597 Values 598 Variable 591 Variable View window 595 View 591 Width 596, 597 Windows interfaces 599–601 Chart Editor window 601 Data Editor window 600 Pivot Table Editor window 601 Syntax Editor window 601 Viewer window 600 stability in test scores 162 Stake, R.E 282 Stanford prison experiment 83, 84 statistical generalization 278 Stewart, D.W et al 487, 488, 489, 492, 493, 494 Stiles, D.R 547 storage of data 187 Strategic Management Journal 380 Strauss, A.L and Corbin, J 185, 194, 699, 702, 705, 706, 707 Stringer, E.T 339, 342, 344 subject error 162 subjectivism 35 supervisors 56 support networks 45, 46 SurveyMonkey 384 surveys 32–33, 61, 62, 244–269, 275 analytical 244, 248 audience 261 benchmark data 250–251 budget 251 coding 253 descriptive 244, 245–247 case study: improving workplace surveys 246–247 design and planning 249–252, 250, 259–260 error: bias 263 coverage 263–264 invalidity 268 missing data 264–265 sampling error 263–264 total survey error (TSE) 263 variance 263 ethics 268 evaluating training programmes 307, 319–320 focus groups 258 frame of reference of research 250 gaining consent 79, 87 government surveys 564–565 instrument design 251 introductory section 79 online 255–257 case study: email discussion 256 opinions of employees 319–21, 320 personal data 83 persuading potential participants 80 piloting 251, 260 process in stages 249–253, 250 questionnaires see questionnaires research questions 249, 250 response rates 252–253, 258, 259, 265–267, 614 hierarchy of effects model 266, 267 incentives 266 item non-response 267, 614 sampling frame 251, 252 sensitive subjects 263 sources of participants 251 staff opinion surveys 259–263 aims and objective 260 analysis 261–262 audience 261 implementing results 262–263 planning 259–260 publicity 261 reporting results 262, 296 research tools 261 scope 260 timing 261 standardization 244 uses 245 see also interviews; questionnaires SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) 50 symbolic interactionism 25–26, 458 Tashakkori, A and Creswell, J.W 205 team work 286, 287 technical problems 51–52 technical reports 561 Teddlie, C and Yu, F 224–225, 233 telephone interviews 417–418 record and playback 419 response/non-response 418 terms (identifiers) 105 Tesch, R 27 Thailand 464 thematic analysis 697–698 thematic map 698 theoretical sampling 230, 689, 704 theoretical saturation 239 theoretical sensitivity 707–708 theories 5–6 proof 23 theses and dissertations 727–729 literature review 728, 729 sections 728–729 thick descriptions 31 Thompson: Family Life and Work Experience 568 timeframes in research process 35, 36 Titmuss, R 27 Total Quality Management (TQM) 309, 310 training reports 769 transcribing 411, 690, 691, 711 triangulation 37, 193–194, 205–207, 287 in observation studies 447 Trost, J.E 227 trustworthiness 195 Turk, C and Kirkman, J 719–720, 726, 727 Twitter 575, 577 unobtrusive measures 9, 275, 276, 514 controlled accretion measures 516 controlled erosion measures 516–517 documents 517 natural accretion measures 515 case study: cold coffee 515 natural erosion measures 516 validity 147, 159–162, 184, 191–193, 286–288 construct validity 161, 286 content validity 161–162 criterion validity 161 external validity 160–161, 287–288, 402 face validity 159, 160 and generalizability 192–193 internal validity 147, 160, 191–192, 287 predictive validity 162 in qualitative research 191–193, 710–11 research instrument and operationally defined subject areas 160 statistical validity 162 techniques for demonstrating 710 value of the project 47 variables 6, 144–146 dependent/independent variables 30, 145–6 distribution 627 operational definitions 144 Vaucher, S et al 579 Vazquez-Montilla, E et al 414 video 348, 524, 531 Vigderhous, G 417, 418 Vince, R and Warren, S 550 visual research 187, 530–553 advantages 541 art theory 538 autobiographical research 542 cartoons 546 content analysis 532–534 case study: female and male portrayals at work 532–534 critical analysis 539 case study: Calvin Klein and gender Identity 540 drawings 546, 547 case study: to elicit data on an organization’s personality 547 dress codes 538–539 film theory 538 informed consent 548–549, 550 intrusiveness 549 maps 548 and ‘myth of transparency’ 532 in NVivo 680–681 and realism 541, 542 semiotics 539 video 546 visual elicitation collaborative approaches 536–537 case study: brand experience of Harley-Davison 537 participant-created visual data 536 pre-existing data 534–535 researcher-created visual data 535 vivas 757–763 case study: surviving the viva 763 formats 757 handling objections to arguments 762 mastery of own work 760 mock vivas 760 possible outcomes 757–758 questions posed 761 referencing articles 760 referencing the examiner 760–761 selecting an examiner 759 transferring from MPhil to PhD 758 Walsh, Sam 576 Whitaker’s Almanac 563 White, J.H 65, 66, 67 Whittemore, R et al 710 Whyte, W.F 339 Street Corner Society 458 Wikipedia 112 Willis, P and Trondman, M 456 work placements 766 reports 768–769 World Bank 337 writing styles 736–739 nominalization 739 sentence construction 737, 738 unbiased language 737, 738 vocabulary 738, 739 wordiness 737 Yin, R.K 205, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280, 283, 285, 286, 287, 288–289 Zimbardo, Philip 83, 84 Zimmerman, R et al 499–500 Table of Contents Half Title Publisher Note Title Page Copyright Page Contents About the Author Acknowledgements Publisher’s Acknowledgements How to Use the Companion Website Introduction Part A Principles And Planning For Research Theoretical Perspectives And Research Methodologies In Business Selecting And Planning Business Research Proposals And Projects Business Research Ethics Searching, Critically Reviewing And Using The Literature In Business Part B Research Methodology Business Research Design: Quantitative Methods Business Research Design: Qualitative Methods Business Research Design: Mixed Methods Sampling Strategies In Business 10 Designing Descriptive And Analytical Surveys For Business 11 Designing Case Studies For Business 12 Designing Evaluations In Business 13 Action Research And Change In Business Part C Data Collection Methods 14 Questionnaires 15 Interviewing 10 11 12 14 31 32 64 102 139 180 182 223 261 282 317 356 395 437 467 469 511 16 Non-Participant Observation 17 Ethnography And Participant Observation 18 Focus Groups 19 Unobtrusive Measures 20 Visual Methods 21 Secondary Data Analysis Part D Analysis And Report Writing 22 Getting Started With Spss 23 Analysing And Presenting Quantitative Data 24 Getting Started With Nvivo 25 Analysing And Presenting Qualitative Data 26 Writing Up The Research In A Business Report 27 Preparing For Business Presentations And For Vivas Glossary References Index 552 583 617 654 674 705 743 745 767 827 865 903 936 970 989 1045 ... applied research Using Research in the Business World Business Research Introduction Business research brings with it many challenges, with the last 20 years seeing significant upheavals in the business. .. Projects Business Research Ethics Searching, Critically Reviewing and Using the Literature in Business Part B: Research Methodology Business Research Design: Quantitative Methods Business Research. . .Doing Research in the Business World Doing Research in the Business World David E Gray SAGE Publications Ltd Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller