ResearchMethodology_Research Presentations

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Course Instructor: Dr. Aurangzeb Z. Khan 1

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

(Business Research Methods)




Editing and Coding Data

Editing is the process of checking data for errors such asomissions, illegibility and inconsistency, and correctingdata where and when the need arises

Example 1: A questionnaire meant to be answered byadults over the age of 30 years has also been answeredby some persons under the age of 30 years

Example 2: A respondent gives her birthday as 1865 or claims to have a car insurance but says she doesn‘t owna car




Field Editing and In-House Editing

Field Editing is a prelimary form of data editingwhich is undertaken by the field supervisor onthe day of the interview with a view to findingomissions, checking the legibility of handwriting,and clarifying responses by respondents that arelogically or conceptually inconsistent

In-House Editing is a form of data editing whichis more rigorous than field editing in nature, andwhich is performed by a centralized office staff




Data Consistency and Completeness

The data obtained from a questionnaire must be logicallyconsistent, especially when questions are related

Sometimes inconsistency of data may not be readilyapparent. In this case, the data editor must judge what

action to take (example: Salary of the CEO of a bigcorporation is given as USD 25,000 per annum)

Circumstances permitting, the data editor may have toinsert data if answers to questions have been omitted by

the respondent, but which can be answered on the basisof the other data obtained (example: respondent doesnot answer a question asking if his organization has awebsite, but somewhere later answers that theorganization has three websites)




Non-Responses and Out-Of-Order

Answers Often, questions are left unanswered by

respondents (Item Non-Response). In suchcases, where data must be inserted, the dataeditor has some options such as using a „plugvalue“ according to some prespecified rule

Sometimes respondents give answers to (open-ended) questions in other questions. In suchcases, data has to be shifted around thequestions




Some Observations on Editing

Editing of data should, deally, be done wih a colouredpencil and the original data must not be erased in case itis required for future reference

Data editing should be conducted systematically on the

basis of procedures made by professionals

Data editing should be included in the pretest phase of aquestionnaire, in order to improve the quality of aquestionnaire

Data editing has drawbacks, such as, the editor does notpossess the required level of intelligence, experienceand objectivity


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Data Coding

Data Coding follows data editing and is themeans by which data can be converted into aformat that enables its processing and analysisby the computer

Data Coding incorporates a number of technicalsteps and can be a tedious proceess

For details of data coding process, refer to your text book pp. 457 ff.




Research Report, Presentation,

Follow-Up The research report is the crucial means for communicating the

whole project to those individuals or entities who or whichcommissioned the research

A research report may be in writing, verbal, or a combination of both

It is essential that great effort is put into writing a good researchreport because it is often the only part of the research cycle that endusers get to see!

A great research based on a well-conceived approach will go towaste if the research report leaves a bad impression on the endusers of that research




Communicating the Research

ReportThe business researcher should carefullyconsider how he or she is going to communicatethe information to the end user

The business researcher should take pains toensure that he/she and the research end-user are at the same communicational level, i.e., that

the terminology used in the report isunderstandable and that the end-user ispresented with all the information neded to makean informed decision




Research Report Templates

There is no universally applied template

for writing a research report, rather, there

is a general consensus on what

constitutes a good research report

Many organizations have designed their

own in-house formats for reports and

specified what aspects must be included




Research Report Design Template

Research Report

PrefatoryParts

MainBody

AppendedParts




Research Report Components (1)

PREFATORY PARTS

Title Page

Letter of

Transmittal

Letter of Authorization

Table of

Contents

Objectives

Results

Conclusions

Recommendations

Summary






Research Report Components (3)

APPENDED PARTS

Data CollectionForms

Detailed

Calculations

General Tables

Bibliography




Graphic Aids in Research Reports

In research reports, several types of graphicalcomponents may be used, including, for example: tables,charts and graphs in their diverse manifestations,diagrams, maps, photographic or computer-generatedimages, sketches etc.

Graphical components are a useful supplement to – butnot a substitute for – written text because they canconvey a lot of information and are visually appealing,particularly if they are in colour

Software programmes like MS Excel make the task of creating graphics from raw data easy and quick

See text book examples, pp. 506 ff.






Oral Presentations (2) The researcher should try to maintain good

communication with the listeners by avoiding excessive

technical jargon if and when dealing with persons from

other disciplines

The researcher should avoid simply reading out text,

maintain eye contact with his or her listeners, and

gesture occasionaly

Multimedia aids can be considered as can posters or

handouts




Research Follow-Up Work

After the research has been completed, andinformation submitted to the manager or decision-makers concerned, follow-up work maybe necessary

Follow-up includes recontacting the managers or decision-makers concerned and asking them if

the research has met their informationalrequirements, or whether additional input is or may be needed

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