1. Presented By - K. Poojitha
Research Scholar
Department of Studies
in Commerce
VSK University,
Ballari
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2. Research
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3. Types of Research
1. Fundamental/ Pure/ Basic Research
2. Applied/ Decisional/ Formal
Research
3. Action Research
4. Exploratory Research
5. Descriptive Research
6. Causal/ Explanatory Research
7. Conceptual Research
8. Empirical Research
9. Ethnographic Research
10.Cross-sectional Research
11. Longitudinal Research
12. Ex-Post Facto Research
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13. Participatory Research
14. Inductive Research
15. Deductive Research
16. Evaluation study
17. Diagnostic Research
18. Analytical Research
19. Experimental Research
20. Quasi-experimental
Research
21. Historical Research
22.Case Study
23. Survey Method
24. Quantitative Research
25. Qualitative Research

4. 1.Fundamental/Pure/Basic Research
 It is undertaken for the sake of knowledge and aims at the
achievement of knowledge and truth by adding it to existing one.
 Mainly concerned with generalizations and with the formulation of a
theory.
 This research helps in developing theories by discovering broad
generalization and principles.
 It explains the phenomena as they are and not as they should be.
Here are a few examples of questions asked in pure research:
 How did the universe begin?
 What is the relevance of the dividend theories in the capital
market?
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5. 2. Applied/ Decisional/ Formal Research
 Aims at finding a solution for a problem faced by a society or
an industrial/business organization.
 Solves the practical problems of the modern world rather than
to acquire knowledge.
 Carried out by experts.
 Examples: Marketing research, environment, pharmaceutical
etc.
 Answers to the question why? Why a product is not getting
customers?
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6. 3. Action Research
 Part of applied Research
 Finding immediate solution to a problem that the society is
actually experiencing.
 Action research is very popular in the field of education
because there is always room for improvement when it comes
to teaching and educating others.
 Goal is to solve problem of local concern.
 Carried out by practitioners.
 Diagnose immediate problems or weaknesses and help
develop practical solutions to address them quickly and
efficiently.
 Also called Cycle of Action or Cycle of Enquiry since it typically
follows pre-determined process that is repeated over time.
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7. Plan
Act
Observe
Reflect
Stephen Kemmis has developed a
simple model of the cyclical nature
of the typical action research
process and each cycle has four
steps
Plan, Act, Observe, Reflect (and
then plan etc)
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8. Action research may be Individual, Collaborative and System wide
research
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9. 4. Descriptive Research
 Includes survey and fact finding enquiries of different kinds.
 It describes the state of affairs as it exists at present
 It aims to accurately and systematically describe a population,
situation or phenomenon.
 It can answer What, When, Where and How questions, but not
Why questions.
 It can use variety of quantitative and qualitative methods to
investigate one or more variables.
 Descriptive research gathers data just be observing and
measuring without controlling any variables.
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10. Descriptive research method is divided into three types I,e
Observation method, Case study method and Survey method.
Examples:
 Market studies – What describes size of the market, buying
power of consumers?
 Market share studies – Which determines proportion of total
sales received by a company and its competitors?
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11. 5. Exploratory Research
 It is a preliminary study of an unfamiliar problem about which
researcher has little or no knowledge.
 It is conducted for a problem that has not been studied more
clearly.
 Intends merely to explore the research questions and doesn’t
intend to offer final and conclusive solutions to existing
problems.
 Purpose is to define terms, gain background information, to
clarify the problem, develop hypothesis and to develop problems
to be answered.
 Example: Study of role of social networking sites as an effective
marketing communication channel.
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12. 6. Causal/ Explanatory Research
 Objective of this research is to test hypothesis about cause and
effect relationships.
 To determine which variable might be causing a certain
behavior I,e whether there is a cause and effect relationship
between variables, causal research is undertaken.
 In order to determine causality, it is important to hold the
variable that is assumed to cause the change in the other
variable(s) constant and then measure the changes in the other
variable(s).
 This type of research is very complex and the researcher can
never be completely certain that there are not other factors
influencing the causal relationship, especially when dealing with
people’s attitudes and motivations.
 Example: Assess the impact of FDI on levels of economic
growth. 12

13. 13
Problem is defined Problem is described
Cause is studied.

14. 7. Conceptual Research
 Conceptual research is related to some abstract ideas or
theory.
 It is generally used by philosophers and thinkers to develop
new concepts or to reinterpret the existing concepts.
 The most famous example of a conceptual research is Sir
Issac Newton. He observed his surroundings to conceptualize
and develop theories about gravitation and motion.
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15. 8. Empirical Research
 It relies on experience or observation alone.
 Empirical research is defined as any research where conclusions of the
study is strictly drawn from concretely empirical evidence, and therefore
“verifiable” evidence.
 This empirical evidence can be gathered using quantitative market
research and qualitative market research methods.
 For example: A research is being conducted to find out if listening to happy
music while working may promote creativity? An experiment is conducted by
using a music website survey on a set of audience who are exposed to
happy music and another set who are not listening to music at all, and the
subjects are then observed. The results derived from such a research will
give empirical evidence if it does promote creativity or not.
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16. Conceptual vs Empirical Research
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17. 9. Ethnographic Research
 It is a type of qualitative research that involves immersing
yourself in a particular community or organization to observe
their behavior and interactions up close.
 The term “Ethnography’’ also refers to the written report of the
research that the ethnographer produces afterwards.
 Ethnography is a flexible research method that allows you to
gain a deep understanding of a group’s shared culture,
conventions and social dynamics. However, it involves some
practical and ethical challenges.
 Ethnographic research originated in the field of anthropology,
and it often involved an anthropologist living with an isolated
tribal community for an extended period of time in order to
understand their culture.
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18. 10. Cross-Sectional Research
 It is a type of research in which data is collected from many
different individuals at a single point of time.
 In cross-sectional research, variables are observed without
influencing them.
 It is conducted with different samples at same pint of time.
 Researchers in economics, psychology, medicine and other
social sciences make use of cross-sectional studies in their
work.
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19. 11. Longitudinal Research
 In longitudinal research, data is collected repeatedly from the
same subjects over time, often focusing on a smaller group of
individuals that are connected by a common trait.
 Conducted with same sample over the years
 For example: A research to find out benefits of exercise. The
target is asked to exercise everyday for a particular period of
time and the results show higher endurance, stamina, and
muscle growth. This supports the fact that exercise benefits an
individual body.
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20. Cross-Sectional vs Longitudinal Research
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21. 12. Ex-post Facto Research
 Also known as “after the fact” research.
 Groups with qualities that already exist are compared on some
dependent variable.
 Ex-post facto design is considered quasi-experimental because
the subjects are not randomly assigned – they are grouped
based on a particular characteristic or trait.
 It is based on scientific and analytical examination of dependent
and independent variables.
 For example, a researcher is interested in how weight
influences self-esteem levels in adults. So the participants
would be separated into different groups (under weight, normal
weight, over weight) and their self esteem levels measured.
This is an ex-post facto design because a pre-existing
characteristic (weight) was used to form the groups.
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22. 13. Participatory Research
 It comprises a range of methodological approaches and
techniques, all with the objective of handing power from the
researcher to research participants, who are often community
members or community-based organizations.
 In this research, participants have control over the research
agenda, the process and actions. Most importantly, people
themselves are the ones who analyze and reflect on the
information generated, in order to obtain the findings and
conclusions of the research process.
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23. 14. Inductive Research
 Inductive research aims at developing a theory (specific to
general)
 It moves from specific observations to broad generalizations.
 A researcher begins by collecting the data that is relevant to
his/her topic of interest.
 Then the researcher will take a time out from data collection
and steps back to get a bird’s eye view of their data.
 At this stage, the researcher looks for patterns in the data
working to develop a theory that could explain those patterns.
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Gather data
(Specific level
of focus)
Look for
Pattern
(Analysis)
Develop
theory
(general level
of focus)

24. 15. Deductive Research
 Deductive research aims at testing an existing
theory.
 It moves from broad generalization to specific
observation (general to specific).
 The researcher studies what others have done,
read existing theories and tests hypothesis that
emerge from those theories.
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Theorize/
Hypothesize
(General level
of focus)
Analyze data
(Analysis)
Hypothesis
supported or
not (specific
level of focus)

25. Inductive vs Deductive Research
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26. 16. Evaluation Study
 It is a type of applied research.
 It is made for assessing and taking stock of effectiveness of
social or economic programs.
 For example, Family planning scheme, irrigation project.
 “The systematic assessment of the operation and/or outcomes of
a program or policy, compared to a set of implicit or explicit
standards, as a means of contributing to the improvement of the
program or policy”.
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27. 17. Diagnostic Research
 It is directed towards discovering what is
happening? Why is it happening? And what can be
done about it?
 It aims at identifying causes of problems and
possible solutions for it.
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28. 18. Analytical Research
 Analytical research is a specific type of research that
involves critical thinking skills and the evaluation of facts and
information relative to the research being conducted
 Example : Examining the fluctuations of U. S. international
trade balance during 1974-1995 is an example of
descriptive research; while explaining why and how U.S.
trade balance move in a particular way over time is
an example of analytical research.
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29. 19. Experimental Research
 To investigate cause/ effect relationship and to study the
relationship between one variable and other.
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30. Experimental research continued
 Manipulate Independent Variable, effect of changing independent
variable on dependent variable, Control of extraneous variable.
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31. 20. Historical Research
 Examines past events.
 Systematic collection and evaluation of data to describe,
explain and there by understand actions or events that
occurred sometime in the past.
 Qualitative in nature.
 Example : Evolution of marketing, Evolution of Management.
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32. 21. Quasi-experimental Research
 It involves using intact groups in an experiment, rather than
assigning individuals at random to research conditions.
 The researcher does not have control over the experiment
because it occurs in a natural setting.
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33. 22. Case Study
 A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as
a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon.
Case studies are commonly used in social, educational,
clinical, and business research.
 Case studies are good for describing, comparing, evaluating
and understanding different aspects of a research problem.
 Example: Sony – Leading the digital revolution through
innovation, Nike – Nike sustainability and labour practices.
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34. 23. Survey Method
 Survey method is a type of research in which researcher is
able to investigate research problem properly through survey
by gathering quantitative information.
 Steps of Survey
Selection of problems
Pilot Study
Objective of the study
Sampling
Methods of data collection
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35. 24. Quantitative Research
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 Quantitative Research is applicable to phenomena that are
measurable so that they can be expressed in terms of quantity.
 It is the systematic investigation of the observable event via
statistical, mathematical or computational technique.
 It is a research which can be represented or described according to
some numerical system.
 Experimental and descriptive research is the major classification of
this research.
 Its aim is to classify, count features construct statistical models in an
attempt to explain what has happened.
 Data in this type of research is in the form of numbers or statistics.
 Researcher use tools such as questionnaire or equipment to collect
numerical data.
 Sample size is small.
 It is used to develop hypothesis.

36. 25. Qualitative Research
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 Qualitative research is concerned with qualitative phenomenon.
 Research designed to find out how people feel or what they think about a
particular subject is a qualitative research. Qualitative research is especially
important in the behavioral sciences where aim is to discover underlying motives
of human behavior.
 This type of research is found common in social sciences where researchers
intend to study social and cultural phenomenon.
 Unlike Qualitative research no numerical measures are incorporated in qualitative
research, it uses in-depth analysis approach by taking case studies or events to
study the situation.
 It is not involved in investigating and developing hypothesis.
 Common perception of this research is emphasis on discovery rather than proof.
 Action research and Historic research are the major examples.
 This research is the in-depth understanding of social phenomenon within their
natural setup.
 Methods of data collection includes observation, interview.
 Sample size is large to allow generalization

37. Quantitative vs Qualitative Research
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38. Thank You
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