1A.

Mention and describe all of the research types available out there
• Empirical vs Conceptual1 = Empirical research can also be called as
experimental type of research. This type of research depends and relies on the
observation or the experience. It is a data-based research, and ended up with
conclusions which are important and able to be verified by the experiment or
observation. In this type of research, there are few necessary steps. First,
gather all the facts needed at first hand. Second, the researcher need to create a
hypothesis or estimate the most probable result. Third, the researcher need to
gather data (facts) to prove or disprove the hypothesis. Lastly, is to create
experimental designs. Empirical research will be called as a success when a
certain variable affects other variables, which it can be considered for the
given hypothesis. Conceptual research is the opposite of the empirical
research, this type of research is related to theories and abstract way of
thinking.
• Fundamental vs Applied =Fundamental research is the type of research that is
based on the formulation of the theory, one of the easiest example of
fundamental theory is pure mathematics. Fundamental research is also just to
answer curiosity using previous research results from previous researches.
Applied research is a research that can be put into an action or can be used to
find a solution to solve a problem. Fundamental research also can be used for
applied research. For example, the fundamental research found that employee
productivity can increases if there are increase in their wages, while applied
research would be, even the wages has been increased, there are no changes in
employee’s productivity, which another solution is necessary to find other
factors to increase employee’s productivity.
• Quantitative vs Qualitative= Quantitative2 research is usually numerical,
measuring data and it is the measurement of amount. Quantitative research
usually is statistical and it is a traditional approach, and also it analyzes, prove,
and access pre-stated theory. Examples of quantitative research are
questionnaires, polls, and surveys. Qualitative research is a research that is not
numerical and usually it is an anthropological and sociological methods. This
research aims to discover motives and desires using depth interviews. The
researcher in this method becomes an inherent part of the study. Example of
qualitative research designed research to find out how people feel or think
about a particular subject.
• Descriptive vs analytical = Descriptive research is a type of research that
provides an accurate image characteristic of a situation. This research meaning
that the researcher can create new meanings, determine the frequency of
shopping or people preferences. Analytical research is a research that
researcher need to use the existing facts or information to analyze and to
answer questions.
• Other types of research =
- Experimental research

1
C.R. Kothari (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (2nd Ed). New Delhi,
India: New age.
2
University of Southern California Libraries. (2019, January30). Organizing Your Social
Sciences Research Paper: Quantitative Methods. Retrieved, February 13, 2019, from
http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/quantitative
 Research that comply to scientific research
design, includes measurements, calculation and
it is in a controlled environment.
- Exploratory research
Research that used to conduct to study a
problem that haven’t been defined yet. This type
of research is just to explore the question, not to
give final conclusion to the problem.

1B. Which ones are the most suitable for business research?
The most suitable for business research is the quantitative and qualitative research.
Both of these researches have different impacts for the business research result. Using the
right type of research method will be more accurate in the result of the research. Firstly, is the
quantitative research (numerical). Quantitative surveys can be one of the example, this will
help the business research easier in getting big amounts of data in a low-cost budget and will
give numerical results for the research. Thus, it will be useful to support the result with a
specific figure. For example, the business research aims to determine the size of the potential
market, a quick survey for 100 consumers for an example. The business then found out that
there are 1000 consumers that are interested in the product/services of the business, the
company can simply multiply it by 10 to analyze the size of the market. Qualitative research
is also suitable for business research, this research is not numerical and aims for knowing the
motives by interviews. Having interviews or case studies in a business research is a
considerable way. Qualitative research is a great way of getting deeper information from the
interviewee. Both of these research methods need to be combined to obtain a better business
research result. For example, the quantitative research indeed giving the numerical values for
the scope and size of the target market, however this type of research will not help in
positioning the brand to the market for the growth. Despite, using the qualitative research, it
can help the business research to create, discuss the idea to position the market.

2A. Elaborate the process of problem definition in a business research

Problem definition 3is a process of developing and defining a decision statement with
some several steps involved into it to make it easier to be researched4. Problem definition is
important for a business to solve the problem completely and not just half solved, to know the
root of the problem and what the best solution should be given. There are 6 steps of problem
definition process:
1. Understand the business situation (decide what is the objective)
2. Identify key problem(s) (understanding the background of the problem)
3. Write the managerial decision statement and corresponding research objectives
4. Determine the unit of analysis
5. Determine the relevant variables
6. Write research questions and/ research hypotheses

3 iii
Uma Sekaran and Roger Bougie (2013). Research Methods for Business: A Skill building
approach (6th Ed).

• Understand the business situation (decide what is the objective)
Understanding and acknowledge what the business need is crucial. Researcher
need to get into conversation with the key decision maker, to make the
researcher understand the situation and to motivate the research effort.
Another important process is to make the researcher has the access with all of
the individuals who have knowledge with the situation, this is critical so that
the researcher will not blindly accept a problem directly. For example, the
researcher is only accepting the problem from the CEO’s side in a company
and not from others. This will cause the researcher not knowing a bigger scale
of the problem, which can lead to giving the wrong or inaccurate solution to
the problem. The appropriate way of doing it is by taking information from
different sides and gather up to create a more innovative and effective decision
statements. There are 4 things that the researcher should do in order to have
the right decision statements: generate lists of ideas, be open-minded with all
of the ideas, develop many alternatives, and develop any potential possible
solutions.

• Identify key problem(s) (understanding the background of the problem)

The researcher need to understand the background of the problem well so that
the result could be effective. The best way of gaining the background/key
problems is by interviewing the key decision makers in the company. After
knowing the key problems, the researcher need to probe to see causes of the
changes in the business. Probing is the process of elaborating the discussion
deeper. After the probing process (repeated so that nothing left out), the
researcher should be checking on the company’s financial statement, reports,
documents, etc.

• Write the managerial decision statement and corresponding research objectives

The third step is to lastly conclude what is the problem faced by the business.
This decision can create and invite a lot of solutions. After having the decision
statements, it should be turned into the research objective so that the
researcher can determine what kind of study needed to address the situation. In
this step, the researcher should be agreed by the decision maker. The decision
maker will agree if the decision statements and research objective can
solve/address the situation, then the researcher can proceed to the next step.

• Determine the unit of analysis

Unit of analysis in a study indicates what, who should collect the data and who
should gather the data. In this step, the researcher will specify whom to collect
the data from, individuals (customers, employees, owners), departments (sales,
finance), etc. A good researcher that will carefully observe the situation, can
discover that a problem can be discover more than one analysis (e.g.
individual and departments).

• Determine the relevant variables

Variable is anything that changes from one situation to another. There are 2
different variable types. First one is the dependent variable and the second one
is the independent variable. Dependent variable (Y), is a variable that is
explained by other variables/ predicted. Independent variable (X) is a variable
that is expected to influence the dependent variable. Typically, each research
 objective has variables to be analyzed. The translation process progresses
through research questions, objective, and hypotheses, it should have been
possible to emphasize the variables that are included in the study.

• Write research questions and/ research hypotheses

The writing of research hypotheses is necessary for the planning and designing
research. Hypotheses also helps researcher for being clear on what the
researcher expected on the end of the study. By the end, hypotheses need to be
evaluated which the researcher should be making sure that the information
collected will be useful for the decision making.

2B. Provide 1 good example

The example of problem definition below is divided into the 6 steps
Case: In a Noodle factory, there is a 20% increase in the expenses of raw material for
the past 9 months, even though the target product is still the same from last year and haven’t
changed yet. The CEO of the company confused and mentioned if it maybe because of the
increase in employees that processes the raw materials.
1. Understand the business situation (decide what is the objective)
Noodle factory experience a 20% increase in the raw materials for the past
9 months, and believe that it mainly happens because there are more new
employees.
2. Identify key problem(s) (understanding the background of the problem)
Symptoms: a. there are more usage of raw materials
b. there is a production failure
Probable problem: a. malfunction of the fryer machine inside the
production room.
3. Write the managerial decision statement and corresponding research
objectives
Managerial decision statement: a. what things can be improve and fix in
the production room.
Research objectives: a. list of factors that would fix and maintain the
frying machine for a long period of time.
4. Determine the unit of analysis
Having a problem in maintaining the fryer machine could be due to less
knowledge of operating the machine or individual employee problem.
5. Determine the relevant variables
Type of employees (duration of working in the company) longer time
period and shorter time period employee.
6. Write research questions and/ research hypotheses
Knowledge of the frying machine depends on each of the employees.
More educational can also affect the employee’s knowledge.

3A. Explain the steps in writing literature review

 Literature review 5is not an annotated bibliography or background information, it an
account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researches and it is
always relevant to the topic that wanted to be research about/thesis. Before moving into the
steps of writing a literature review, there are 3 things to be prepared:
1. Choose literature
Choose and examine literature that has significance contribution to the
topic and find the relevant material
2. Formulate problem
What and which topic is going to be examine and find the component
issues
3. Analyze and interpret
Note the result of the finding and the conclusion of the literature, and
how is t related to the topic or material

After knowing the 3 things that needed to be prepared before writing a literature
review, below are the steps on how to write the literature review (the orders inside the steps
cannot be change):
1. Review APA guidelines
Before starting to write the literature review, reviewing the APA
guidelines is important. This step can help on how to write the proper
APA style of writing which is necessary in writing reports, and also
the general documents guidelines such as title page, body, quotations,
fonts, spacing, margins, etc.
2. Decide a topic
Deciding a topic can be found on books or journals. Find the ideas for
the topic relevant to the problem that is going to be investigate, in
order to set a parameter for the research.
3. Review the literature that will be reviewed
After identifying the books and journals that has been researched,
overviewing the articles are very important to get the precise articles
needed for the research. Start reading from the abstract, introduction,
first few paragraphs, and lastly the conclusion. After overviewing the
articles, grouping the articles into categories will be the next step.
Some examples of categorizing are grouping into groups or sub topics
(most influential theory, important trends in the research, etc.) another
thing from that is to identify the relationship to the studies. This
statement means that the problem that wanted to be research, has a lot
of different theories from different perspectives related to the problem.
Lastly, is to keep in mind that the review need to be focused to the
topic. This step means that the articles need to be directly related to
the topic that wanted to be research about.
4. Summarize the literature review
This step is recommended by Galvan (2006) that making summarize
can help with the overview, organize and summarize the findings.
Examples of the summarizing process are: the key concepts and

5
Helen Morgan-Rallis. (2018, April 19). Guidelines for Writing a literature Review. Retrieved,
February 13, 2019, from
https://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html
 definitions, the research methods, and the summary result of the
research.
5. Organize the paper based on step 3 and 46
This step is to develop the headings or the subheadings. Subheadings
should be precise, descriptive of the theme in question and follow
logical progression. Find what suits or suits better with different types
of headings or even create a new topic heading. After finding the right
heading or sub heading, under each of them, record the main findings
and highlight the reasons for/against an argument if they exist.
6. Write the body of the paper
Follow each plan that created above, making sure that everything
connects and links to each other, and write it in the divided sections by
the themes or subtopics not by reporting individual or theorists.
7. Review and revising
This part will be important by the end of the report. The common
mistake in writing literature review is that the literature review only
focuses on the description and not the analysis. If the paper still not
defined by a central, guiding concept or not critically analyze the
literature selected, then revising to create a new outline is important.
Lastly is checking on the date of the chosen subject, covered all the
important aspects, writing appropriate, checking on the plagiarism,
writing in academic style, spelling or grammatical errors, and
sentences should flow smoothly and logically.

3B. Choose one theory/concept and write the literature review of it

(organizational culture)

Culture is a model of norms7, beliefs, values, and attitudes which will be affecting the
organizational behavior. The definitions and meanings of organizational behavior varies and
exists in many versions. Robbins (1984) stated that “Common perceptions which are held by
the members of an organization; a system of common meaning, while Kilmann et al. (1985)
mentioned that organizational culture as “shared philosophy, ideology, value, assumption,
beliefs, hope, behavior and norms that bound the organization together”, while Berson,
Oreg, and Dyir T. (2005); Deshpande and Webster (1995) stated that organizational behavior
is The pattern of shared values and beliefs that help individuals understand organizational
functioning and thus provide them with norms for behavior in the organization.
This research can be applied in the research of how organizational culture can affect
the organizational efficiency because organizational culture can be a strategic asset for the
organization to increases the adaptability and fit between the organization and environment,
as what mentioned by Kotter and Heskett (1992); Peters, Tom, and Waterman (1982). Since
organizational efficiency means the relationship of input and output. In addition, members

6
University of Guelph. Writing a Literature Review. Retrieved, February 13, 2019, from
https://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/get-assistance/writing/specific-types-papers/writing-
literature-review

7
Esra Aktas, Isik Cicek, Mithat Kiyak. (2011). The Effect of Organizational Culture on
Organization Efficiency: The Moderating Role of Organizational Environment and CEO
values, 1560-1573.
will interpret aspects in their work environment which is from the culture of the organization,
as what mentioned by Martin (1992).

4A. Mention and explain 5 different types of data analysis techniques

Before choosing the right data analysis, understanding of what type of data it is, is
very important whether qualitative or quantitative data. Below are the data analysis
technique/method grouped focus on qualitative/quantitative.8

Quantitative data
Quantitative analysis data relies on the accurately counting and interpret the
data based on the hard facts.

1. Regression Analysis
This type of analysis is best for making forecast, estimations or
predictions for the future and since quantitative deals with
numbers. Regression analysis will measure the relationship
between the dependent and independent variable. Dependent
variable (only can have one) is what to be measure and the
independent (can have more than one) variable is the data that is
going to be use for predicting the dependent variable. The
regression analysis also helps to uncover areas in operations that
can be optimized by relation between trends and highlighting
trends.
2. Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis testing is also known as the “T-Testing”, this method
will help in comparing the data with the assumptions and
hypotheses created for the operations. Hypothesis testing will
compare the two variables to discover the base decision and
correlation on the findings.
3. Monte Carlo Simulation
Monte Carlo simulation is the type of method that will use the
probability to predict the risks and the uncertainty. This method is
famous to calculate the unpredictable variables on a specific factor.
In order to test the scenario or hypothesis, the Monte Carlo
Simulation will be using random numbers to create a variety of
possible outcomes to many situations based on the result. This
simulation is very useful in varieties of fields including
management, engineering, finance, etc. By which testing a lot
varieties of possibilities, it will show on how random variables can
affect plans or projects.
Qualitative data
Qualitative data is more complicated rather than the quantitative data. Qualitative data
requires moving away from statistics to more subjective approaches. However, extracting

8
Sisense. 5 Techniques to take your data to another level. Retrieved, February 13, 2019,
from https://www.sisense.com/blog/5-techniques-take-data-analysis-another-level/


useful data is still possible by using different ranges of data analysis technique depending on
the demands.

1. Narrative analysis
This analysis focuses on understanding the organizational better by
how ideas and stories are communicated throughout the company.
Some of the examples are: how customers observe and perceive an
organization, and others. This is very useful especially for new
marketing strategies or new culture, etc.
2. Content analysis
Content analysis helps to understand the overall themes that
appeared in the qualitative data. This type of analysis will work
well in dealing with data such as feedback, open-ended surveys,
interview data and more. Yet, this can help for the most important
area to focus on improvement. One of the technique example is by
using color coding specific themes and ideas to define textual data
to find the most common threads.

4B. Which one is the most suitable for Business research?

There is no right or wrong or standards on how to do it. The methods/techniques

above should be and always reflect the data collected and type of insights that want to be
extracted. Matching both of the data and analysis can give better results to improve the
organization. There is no right or wrong or standards on how to do it. The regression analysis
is best used for estimating and forecast, examples of the business research that can be done
are to check on how the changes in the interest rate can affect the stock price, observing the
relationship of the education and the salaries of the employees. The hypothesis testing can be
used for comparing before operations, for example is having high wages can increase the
productivity of employees. Before implementing the higher wages, it is best to make sure that
the correlation is true to avoid failure. The Monte Carlo Simulation can be used for Project
Management, by using Monte Carlo it can accurately provide all of the outcome of the whole
project schedule and costs based on the historic results for the company. The narrative
analysis can help the company to know how the employees felt working in the company. This
will bring benefits for the company, because if the employee felt enjoyed working in the
company, productivity can increase. Lastly is the content analysis, which can be used for the
improvement of the company (through social media for example).

5A. Define the function of theoretical framework in a research.

Theoretical framework9 consists of concepts with their definitions, relevant to
scholarly literature and also existing theory that is and will be used in the particular study.
Theories and concepts that are relevant with the topic of the research must be demonstrated
by the theoretical framework also it needs to be related with the broader knowledge. Yet, to

9
University of Southern California Libraries. (2019, January29). Organizing Your Social
Sciences Research Paper: Theoretical Framework. Retrieved, February 13, 2019, from
http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/theoreticalframework

find theoretical framework is not as easy to be find in the literature. Reviewing the course
readings and the related research studies that are relevant to the topic of the research paper.
Some of the functions of theoretical framework are:
1. Theoretical framework can connect the researcher with the
existing knowledge. This is guided by the relevant theory
which the researcher will be given a basis for the hypotheses
and given choices for the methods.
2. Theoretical framework also specifies which key variables
phenomenon of interest and highlights the need to examine and
observe how the key variables might be differ and in what
under circumstances.
3. Allows the readers to evaluate the explicit statement of
theoretical assumptions critically.
4. Expressing the theoretical assumptions of a study will address
the researcher to asking questions such as why and how. It is
simply permits the researcher to transform from simply
describing the phenomenon that has been observed to
generalizing about the phenomenon’s aspects.

5B. Choose 1 theory/concept and write a theoretical framework for it.

Dewar (2003)10 stated and emphasizes the nature of heritage as what is or may be
transmitted from ancestors, from one generation to another, Hewison (1987) mentioned that
heritage is derived from past images of history transmitted into current reality, and similarly.
Timothy and Boyd (2003) also stated that heritage as something that presents some sorts of
inheritance passed down to present and future generations. Hence, by its nature, heritage
comprises both the tangible and intangible. These 3 theories have the similar point of view,
which heritage is something from the old generations and can be passed to the future
generations.

10
Thu Thi Trinh and Chris Ryan (2017). Visitor to Heritage Sites: Motives and Involvement-
A Model and Textual Analysis, Vol 56(l) 67-80