BBA RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2
BUSINESS RESEARCH DEFINED
The task of business research is to generate accurate information for use in decision making as we say above, the emphasis of business research is on shifting decision makers from intuitive information gathering to systematic and objective investigation. Business research is defined as the systematic and objective process of gathering, recording, and analyzing data for aid in making business decisions.
This definition suggests, first, that research information is neither intuitive nor haphazardly gathered. Literally, research (re-search) means to “search again”. It connotes patient study and scientific investigation wherein the researcher takes another, more careful look at data to discover all that can be known about the subject of study.
Second, if the information generated or data collected and analyzed are to be accurate, the business researcher must be objective. The need for objectivity was cleverly stated by the nineteenth-century American humorist Artemus Ward, who said, “It ain’t the things we don’t know that gets us in trouble. It’s the things we know that ain’t so”. Thus the role of the researcher is to be detached and impersonal, rather than biased in an attempt to prove preconceived ideas. If bias enters the research process, the value of the data is considerably reduced. A developer who owned a large area of land on which he wished to build a high-prestige shopping center wanted a research report to demonstrate to prospective retailers that there was a large market potential for such a center. Because he conducted his survey exclusively in an elite neighbourhood, not surprisingly his findings showed that a large percentage of respondents wanted a “high-prestige” shopping center. Results of this kind are misleading, of course, and should be disregarded. If the user of such findings discovers how they were obtained, the developer loses credibility. If the user is ignorant of the bias in the design and unaware that the researchers were not impartial, his decision may have consequences more adverse than if he had made it strictly on intuition. The importance of objectivity cannot be overemphasized. Without objectivity, research is valueless.
Third, the above definition of business research points out that its objective is to facilitate the managerial decision process for all aspects of business: finance, marketing, personnel, The definition is not problemsolving and decision-making activities, business research generates and provides the necessary information upon which to base decisions. By reducing the uncertainty of decisions, it reduces the risk of making wrong decisions. However, research should be an aid to managerial judgement, not a substitute for it. There is more to management than research. Applying research remains a managerial art.