Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts: Part 1
RES/351
November 11th, 2014
Emilio Serrano
The University of Phoenix
Understanding Business Research Terms and Concepts: Part 1 The methodology used in a business study depends on the type of business research being conducted. Business researchers utilize numerous approaches to obtain information and decipher data. Two popular approaches used in business research are the qualitative research approach and the quantitative research approach. Both of these approaches to business research can be beneficial or may cause inconclusive results because of unforeseen variables.
Qualitative Approach The qualitative approach or interpretive research approach main purpose is to build a theory or gain an understanding of the issue that is researched (Cooper, 2014). Using the qualitative approach can require the researcher to have debt involved with the research process typically as a participant in the study (Cooper, 2014). The qualitative approach draws data are many sources such as; people, organizations and institutions, settings or environment, published text, objects, and events (Cooper, 2014). This approach has a small sample size (Cooper, 2014). This methodology has less planning; therefore, the results may vary (Cooper, 2014). Research studies using this method are not always consistent and may be modified during the study (Cooper, 2014). An advantage to the qualitative approach is the small sample sizes because of the small sizes; the time for data analysis can also be shortened (Cooper, 2014).
According to Vaivio (2008) “By qualitative research, we suggest broadly the entire interpretive research tradition in accounting, especially case-based research that relies on rich empirical material collected from a single target organization or a handful of case-organizations. Qualitative research strives towards theoretically valuable interpretations. It uses multiple sources of evidence, such as interviews, documents and other texts as well as forms of participant observation within the research site”.
Quantitative Approach
Quantitative research approach is used to describe, explain, and predict the events or outcome of a study (Cooper, 2014). Quantitative research answers the research questions such as; to how much, how often, how many, when, and who (Cooper, 2014). Quantitative research has several strengths and weaknesses. Most popular form of quantitative research is the use of a survey (Cooper, 2014). This form of research is typically cheaper or less costly (Cooper, 2014). The quantitative approach has a lack of contact between the participants and the researcher; this allows less biased results (Cooper, 2014). A downside to the quantitative approach is the large sample size (Cooper, 2014). The large sample size lengthens the time of data collection (Cooper, 2014).
The study, Analog to digital workflow improvement: A quantitative study by Catherine Wideman and Jacqueline Gallet shows the utilization of the quantitative approach to measure the productivity of two different radiology machines (Catherine, 2006). The study used the quantitative research approach to produce statistical results of the workflow and productivity of the machines (Catherine, 2006). The study revealed which
