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Introduction To Business Research Discussion Questions

Terms in Review

Q1. What is business research? Why should there be any question about the definition of research?

Q2. What is the difference between applied research and basic or pure research? Use a decision about how a salesperson is to be paid, by commission or salary, and describe the question that would guide applied research versus the question that would guide pure research.

Q3. Distinguish between an explanatory and predictive research study.

Q4. Distinguish between a reporting study and a descriptive study.

Making Research Decisions

Q5. A sales force manager needs to have information in order to decide whether to create a custom motivation program or purchase one offered by a consulting fi rm. What are the dilemmas the manager faces in selecting either of these alternatives?

Q6. Toyota had a major problem with unexplained acceleration in several of its top models in 2010. It closed down production and stopped sales of multiple models. What types of research might Toyota have conducted to make these decisions?

Q7. You have received a business research report done by a consultant for your fi rm, a life insurance company. The
study is a survey of customer satisfaction based on a sample of 600. You are asked to comment on its quality. What will you look for?

Q8. As area sales manager for a company manufacturing and marketing outboard engines, you have been assigned the responsibility of conducting a research study to estimate the sales potential of your products in the domestic (U.S. or Canadian) market. Discuss key issues and concerns arising from the fact that you, the manager, are also the researcher.

Bringing Research to Life

Q9. What evidence is presented in the Bringing Research to Life vignette of efforts to understand the management dilemma?

From Concept to Practice

Q10. Apply the principles in Exhibit 1-4 to the research scenario in question 8.

From the Headlines

Q11. Kathy Lee Berggren, a professor of oral communication at Cornell University, indicates “a lot of my students really [only] scratch the surface with the type of research they’re doing.” According to Andy Guess, at Inside Higher
Ed, “Just because students walk in the door as ‘digital natives’, doesn’t mean they’re equipped to handle the heavy lifting of digital databases and proprietary search engines that comprise the bulk of modern, online research techniques.” Students erroneously think a Google search is research.

As you read through the reasons that should stimulate your interest in studying research methods or evaluate the nine factors that guarantee good research, what actions do you propose to narrow the gap between students’ research competence and what’s required of a modern college graduate about to become a manager?