Week 5

1. MGM4105 Business Research Method Week 5 • Research Problem • Objectives • Significance of Study

2. Problem Formulation in Research Alice: “WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHICH WAY I OUGHT TO GO FROM HERE?” Cheshire Cat: “THAT DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU WANT TO GO” Lewis Carroll PL

3. The Problem Definition Process • First step in ensuring research is relevant • If not done correctly, remainder of research process will be useless • “Garbage in, garbage out” • Must begin with a clear understanding of the reason for undertaking research – focus on a decision – no decision no research

4. The Problem Definition Process… • Should not proceed with research until problem defined • Identification of research problem opens up new questions and possibilities. • It is an opportunity to test new ideas or re-interpret old problems from a fresh perspectives.

5. From Interesting Idea to Research Questions • Assume that you have identified a general area of research • resolving a problem, explaining a phenomenon, or testing some theory in your field. • E.g. Cultivating innovative culture • To know whether or not the topic is important (significant) • you must also be familiar with the literature in the area.

6. Example 1 Management Subject General topic Progressively more specific topics Organizational Behavior Innovative Behavior Values’ influence on innovative behavior

7. Problem Identification “The formulation of the problem is often more essential than its solution.” Albert Einstein

8. How Do We Identify A Research Problem? THREE important sources: Experience and observation Deductions from theory Literature review

9. a) Experience and Observations • Abnormal conditions or behavior • Complaints, protests, etc. • Deviation from plans/targets • Communication with leaders, employees, customers, etc. • Research findings and reports • New trends and policies

10. E.g. Observations • RM500 Mil Commercialization Innovation Fund To Assist SMEs • KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 (Bernama) — The government will establish a RM500 million syariah-compliant Commercialization Innovation Fund with an attractive profit margin, to enable small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to commercialize research products. • Prime Minister Datuk Seri NajibTunRazak when tabling the 2012 Budget today, announced 2012 as National Innovation Movement Year, whereby to realize this aspiration, the government has planned several strategic initiatives with an allocation of RM100 million. • Among the initiatives will be programmes to instill and develop innovation in schools and public higher learning institutions, as well as in the rural areas. These will be carried out by government agencies in collaboration with NGOs.

11. b) Deductions From Theory • Questioning the general principles • Questioning the assumptions • Translating into hypotheses (declarative) • From hypotheses to problem statements or questions (interrogative)

12. b) e.g. Deductions From Theory There are some findings that support an extension of the similarity-attraction hypothesis to inter-group relationships. First, researchers found perceived out-group similarity results in a greater willingness to associate with the out-group ........ Second, similarity-attraction formed the basis of Belief Congruence Theory that ...... Third, national cultural distance between a home and a host culture was found to influence attraction...... While these findings support the application of the similarity-attraction hypothesis in a wide range of context, there is still a question as to whether this hypothesis explains tourists’ intercultural decisions. The present study intends to close this gap in the literature.

13. c) Literature Review • The problem is perceived by the scientific community as relevant and significant • The need to replicate the problems and confirm previous findings • Questions applicable to other situations (countries) • Identifying important variables (dependent and independent variables) • Improving previous problems with greater precision and clarity (refining)

14. c) e.g. From Literature Review Prime Minister of Malaysia recently announced 2012 as National Innovation Movement Year (Bernama, 2011), aims to promote innovative culture among Malaysians. Innovation is defined as the intentional generation, application or adoption of new ideas, processes, products or procedures to benefit an individual or group (West and Farr, 1990). Innovativeness has been found to relate positively to personal values that emphasize self-direction (i.e., independent thought, creativity and personally chosen goals) and stimulation (i.e., novelty, excitement and challenge) basing on Western country data , suggesting personal values as important determinants of a person’s engagement in innovative behavior. However, no known similar research has been conducted in Malaysia to identify value types related to innovative behaviors among Malaysians. Thus, a separate research is warranted to close the gaps in the literature

15. c) e.g. From Literature Review For many years customer satisfaction has been a major goal of business organizations, since it has been proven to affect customer retention and companies’ market share (Hansemark and Albinsson, 2004), especially in markets that are highly competitive and saturated, like financial services (Rust and Zahorik, 1993 and Trubik and Smith, 2000). However, no known research has been done in Malaysia to explore the relationship between customer satisfaction and revisit intention in banking industry. Thus, this study attempts to close the gap in the literature to assess applicability of such relationships in Malaysia banking industry context.

16. 1. Developing an effective research question • Three questions must be answered • What is the research topic • General area (innovative behavior) • What is the research question • Specific focus of the research • One-sentence question (how do personal value types affect unemployment rates?) • What is the research hypothesis • Proposed answer to your question (Individuals emphasizing stimulation and self-direction value types are more likely to engage in innovative behavior )

17. 1. Developing an effective research question – How to begin • Choose a general topic • Start reading the literature • What has been done • What questions remain • Are there contradictions in the literature • Problem statement: gaps in the literature your study intends to address (e.g. However, no known similar research has been conducted in Malaysia to identify value types related to innovative behaviors among Malaysians. • Research Question: problem statement in Question form (e.g. What are the personal value types that motivate innovative behaviors among Malaysians?)

18. 1. Developing an effective research question - How to find the gaps in the literature • Introduction to articles • Every article will identify the research question and how it differs from other research in the introduction section • Conclusion of articles • Every article will list its weaknesses and areas for further study in the conclusion section

19. Problem Statement • Adds clarity to the problem & also focuses on what issues that have to be resolved • An internally consistent logical argument having structure, sequence and rationale • A problem statement necessarily leads into at least one central research question or objective from which numerous research questions and/or hypotheses could be generated.

20. Characteristics of A Good Problem Statement • Clarify exactly what is to be solved • Limit the scope of the study to a specific question • One that is researchable

21. Problem Statement • You need to be able to clearly answer the question: • What is the problem”? • Why is this problem worth my attention • The problem statement limits scope by focusing on some variables and not others. • It provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate why these variables are important

22. Example 1 Topic: Predictors of Salesperson’s Trust General Research Questions What are the predictors of salesperson’s trust in Malaysia Insurance context? Specific Research Questions • Is empathy a predictor of trust? • Is listening ability a predictor of trust? • Is transformational leadership quality a predictor of trust? List of Hypotheses • There is a positive relationship between empathy and trust • There is a positive relationship between listening ability and trust • There is a positive relationship between leadership quality and trust

23. Example 2 Topic: Customer satisfaction dimensions of a bank in Malaysia General Research Questions Are there differences in customer satisfaction across groups? Specific Research Questions • Is there a satisfaction difference between male and female customers? • Is there a satisfaction difference across ethnic groups? • Are more educated customers experiencing lesser level of satisfaction? List of Hypotheses • There is significant satisfaction differences between male and female customers • There is significant satisfaction differences across three ethnic groups • There is a negative relationship between education and satisfaction

24. Research Objectives • Precise statements of what the research project will attempt to achieve • Specific statements of information required to address/answer research problem • Should be limited to a manageable number(2-3) • If too many, the study is too large to complete within a given time

25. Writing a research objective • The general objective of this study is to examine ….. • More specific, this study tends to • identify / determine / verify /……. • define / construct / develop / compose…… • investigate / analyze / examine / test …… • estimate / regress / derive / formulate / model…… • measure / compare / rank…… Keywords for objective

26. Research Hypothesis • A suggested solution to a problem, an intellectual guess • Unproven statement of a research problem in a testable format • More specific, & declarative and closer to the ground than problem statements • A research tool to relate theory to observation and observation to theory • It states relationships among variables which are operationally defined and observable

27. A Testable Hypothesis • There exists an acceptable technique and necessary instruments to conduct the test • require quantitative data • test statistically based on empirical data collected through the research process • The explanation is plausible given the existing body of knowledge

28. Usefulness of Hypotheses • Provide direction, propose explanations and extend knowledge • Allow relational statements to be tested • Guide collection and interpretation of data • Provide framework for organizing and reporting the conclusions of the study

29. What a good hypothesis means • Must have explanatory power, an ability to explain relationships • Must state expected relationships between variables • Must be testable, relating variables that are measurable • Consistent with the existing body of knowledge, not contradicting established theories and laws of nature • Must be concise and clear • Probabilistic in nature, accept or reject, but never to prove to be true

30. Hypothesis development Research Question 1 Is there a satisfaction difference between male and female customers? • 2.4 The Association between Gender and Customer Satisfaction • Spathis, Petridou and Glaveli (2005) suggested that gender is a significant factor in perceptions of service quality. They revealed that “male clients of Greek banks have a more positive perception of the quality of service than women clients” (Spathis et al, 2005, p. 99). On top of that, gender also shown quality ranking perception differences where men ranked effectiveness and reliability highest while women ranked price highest (Spathis et al, 2005). In a different study investigating potential gender’s effect on perceptions of satisfaction in a public service environment, men were reported to enjoy higher level of service satisfaction compared to women (Dimitriades and Maroudas, 2007). On top of that, they reported almost all service satisfaction items related significantly to gender (Dimitriades and Maroudas, 2007). Based on these, it is likely that gender too will show different satisfaction level in this study. Therefore, the following hypothesis was developed: • H1: There are significant mean differences in various aspect of satisfaction between female and male customers.

31. Hypothesis development Research Question 2 Is there a satisfaction difference across ethnic groups? 2.5 The Association between Ethnic group and Customer Satisfaction • Empirical research found that there were differences in the service expectations for retail banks among ethnic groups (Snow, Bartel and Cullen, 1996). For instance, Lopez, Hart and Rampersed (2007) examined the association between ethnicity and customer satisfaction level in the financial service sector and revealed that respondents from the three largest regional ethnic groups (African-American, Latinos and Non-Latino Caucasians) weighted the importance of several of the ten service quality dimensions quite differently. Thus, it is likely that ethnic groups in Malaysia would also perceive various aspects of satisfaction differently. Hence, H2 was proposed as below. • H2: There are significant mean differences in various aspect of satisfaction across ethnic groups.

32. Hypothesis development Research Question 2 Is there a satisfaction difference across ethnic groups? 2.6 The Relationship between academic qualification and Customer Satisfaction • Mittal and Kamakura (2001) investigated the moderating effect of customer characteristics between customer satisfactions, repurchase intent and repurchase behavior. They found consumers with some college or higher educational level recorded lower satisfaction level than those with only a high school education or less (Mittal and Kamakura, 2001). The finding was further validated by Cloud (2004) who also found a negative relationship between education level and customer satisfaction in a community health centers. Hence, the following hypothesis is developed: • H3: There is a negative relationship between academic qualification and satisfaction level.

33. Significance of Study • Justification & Importance of your Study • Identification of perceived needs and constraints • Set the scene by explaining the current situation & the importance of your study in the context of the target areas / groups • List of target groups / beneficiaries • eg: parents and teachers in education economics, central bankers in monetary policy, and residents and businesses affected by pollution • What is NEW in your study? • How can you close the gap of any lacking in the current literatures? • Who will be benefited and How?

34. E.g. Significance of Study • This study is significant in at least three ways. • First, the study provides empirical evidences on the applicability of customer satisfaction model in Malaysia banking context. This serves as….. •  Second, it gives important suggestions to bank managers on aspects of customer satisfaction dimension the bank might need to improve. This will help ……. • Finally, it brings attention to Training managers types of trainings to provide to banking staff. Consistent training is….