Friday, November 23, 2012

Understanding Research

There are 2 types of research
1. Problem Analysis
        - Employee turn over
2. Knowledge Area
         - HR Management:_ HR appraisal using 360 Degree Method

Deductive reasoning (logic)

Direction of thinking from general assumption to specific application is known as deductive reason where BIT students do in the final year project. Also this has a basic principle of scientific inquiry where researcher observes individual/group population.The name deductive reasoning is used by scientists to “deduce” the causes of natural phenomena (brown , 2012). This is because scientists often cannot directly observe a cause and can only observe its consequences.


Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning is the opposite of deductive reasoning and is not generally accepted in science (Changingminds, 2012). This goes against the principles of the scientific method.


Perfect induction vs. imperfect induction
Perfect induction
Imperfect induction
Observed selected characteristics in all members
Observe small specific number of members in a population

Scientific Method
Darwin is remembered for brilliant science in many ways though the gift in philosophy. He himself made many fundamental changes to the way we approach philosophy, and his work has inspired the work of many philosophers in the last 150 years (Pnas, 1854).
According to Charles Darwin integration of deduction and induction is identified as scientific method. There are some logical steps involve in this process to acquire knowledge.

Steps:-
       1.      Identifying the problem
       2.      Formulating a hypothesis
       3.      Developing a Research Plan
       4.      Collecting and analyzing the data
       5.      Interpreting results and forming conclusions : If the final step is not valid then again return to Step 1!
   (Scientificmethod, 2012)

Hypothesis is a belief, prediction about what you think the data will look like at the end of the study and what that will mean

Theory is a belief, assumption about how things relate to each other by establishing cause effect relationship with goal of explaining and predicting.

Research classifications
      Basic research
      Applied research
      Quantitative research
      Qualitative research
      Experimental research
      Causal-comparative research
      Descriptive research
      Correlationl research
      Historical research

Types of research questions
       ·         Descriptive: Interview subject, observation, measure performance
       ·         Difference: Compare 2 groups
       ·         Relationship: Assess covariation between 2 variables

References

brown (2012) Deductive Reasoning. [online] Available at: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Philosophy/onlinepapers/schechter/DeductiveReasoning.pdf [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012].

Changingminds (2002) Inductive Reasoning. [online] Available at: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/argument/types_reasoning/induction.htm [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012].


Pnas (1854) Darwin and the scientific method. [online] Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/106/suppl.1/10033.full [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012].

Scientificmethod (2012) Lessons on the Scientific Method: Basic Steps of the Scientific Method. [online] Available at: http://scientificmethod.com/bpg06_basicsteps.html [Accessed: 24 Nov 2012].


Monday, November 19, 2012

Literature Review and Fact Finding

A review of the literature is an essential part of the academic research project. The review is related to the selected research area where research needs to describe, summarize, evaluate and clarify the writing (Emeraldinsight,2012)In writing the literature review, purpose is to express reader what knowledge and ideas have been established on a topic, what their strengths and weaknesses are (Emeraldinsight,2012).
According to Aveyard (2010), Literature Review is acomprehensive study conducted to a paticular topic related to selected area of study.

According to Bwgriffin (1996), features of literature overview are
  • Organizes literature
  • Evaluates literature 
  • Identifies patterns and trends in literature
  • Synthesizes literature

An overview of what we know and of what we do not know about a given topic. Not essentially comprehensive, but up-to-date and includes all major work on the topic. Also Literature Review is an intellectual context for the original research a motivation for the original research.

Why write a literature review?  
 It highlights particular arguments and ideas in a field of study while demonstrating the weaknesses, areas needing further study are. The review should therefore also reveal to the reader why the writer’s research is useful, necessary, important, and valid.

What a literature review is not?

  • A “laundry list” of literacy work written on a topic, where each source gets its summary paragraph about merits and weakness of that work.
  • An Annotated Bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents.  The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources that have been used by the researcher.
  • A Book Review of creative works are sometimes called literary reviews.


Types of Literature Reviews in the Social Science

  •         Chapter in a thesis or dissertation
  •         Explicit section in a grant or research proposal
  •         Explicit section in a research report 
  •         Full-length, stand-alone review article
20-11-2012
         Discussed about some examples of problem statement structure and what is expecting from students from the problem statement. 

Fact Finding

This is used when doing system investigation, feasibility study or many other things. The possible methods:
– Questionnaires

– Interviews
– Observation
– Sampling

Questionnaires:
          A set of questions designed to generate the data necessary for accomplishing the objectives of the research. 

Question Content:

 Behavior questions
•Belief questions
•Attribute questions
•Attitude questions


Question Types:
 Close Ended
Open Ended


Interviews:
• Ask question at the right level
• Get interviewee’s confidence
• Make an appointment with a time limit


Observations:
         By looking at organizations process the observation conducting person can do observations to understand the situation to express the expressions.


Sampling: 
        The study in detail of a small number of respondents drawn from a larger population.The results from the sample are used to calculate the results that would have been obtained had a census been taken 


Reference

Emeraldinsight (2012) How to... write a literature review Part: 1. [online] Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/authors/guides/write/literature.htm?  [Accessed: 19 Nov 2012].

Bwgriffin (1996) Literature Review. [online] Available at: http://www.bwgriffin.com/gsu/courses/edur7130/content/literature_review.htm  [Accessed: 19 Nov 2012].


Aveyard, H. (2012) Doing a Literature Review in Health and Social Care: A Practical Guide . 2nd ed. England: McGraw-Hill International, p.1-22.


Monday, November 12, 2012

Introduction to Research

"Research is formalized curiosity."

According to Sekaram (2000), Research is the process of finding solution to a problem after a thorough study and analysis of the situational factors. According to Singh (2006), Research is a process of which a person observes a phenomena again and again and collects the data on the basis of data he draws some conclusion. While comparing these two definitions; the best definition is by Sekaran. Hence the research is a formal, intensive and systematic process of analysis to obtain more solutions to solve a particular problem. 

In management perspective research is a study or analysis of issues involved in some research activity as they make decisions at the organization. 
A researcher can finally come to a decision based on the evidence collected and involves original work  in place of personal opinion. (Ariola, 2006)The Lecturer Mr. Rehan to give an idea to students  about the good / bad decisions did an activity using 3 cars where there is a danger something like a drain. And 1st car crashed as that couldn't see because of dim lights, 2nd car had lights which symbolized the danger and stopped before the danger. 3rd car got all the collect details based on the new technology as it had satellite capability. So based on the activity author understood that external factors and right technology any person can make best decision where this is known as state of nature. If the prediction is near to actual the decision is good. This emphasis Right information leads right decision statement well.  

Nature of Data to be collected

- Primary Data
According to Sekaram (2000), Primary data is collected by researcher through surveys, interviews, observations. Provides most accurate information which is up to date.

Secondary Data
According to Sekaram (2000), Secondary data is the data that has been collected by someone else as primary data for him. Researches reuse these data for there research document productivity as its easier and less expensive to collect. 

Along with the research author finally came to a judgement which elaborates Primary data is the first hand information collected by a researcher. Where as Secondary Data refers to data already collected.

Types of research methodology

1. Pure Research:- This is known as basic or fundamental research that involves systematic or methodological knowledge without any application to increase the understanding of basic principles (Sekaram,2000). This can be used to rise curiosity . 

2. Applied Research:- This involves systematic and methodical results for knowledge with a specific application to solve practical problem (Sekaram,2000)

3. Deductive Research:- Based on the previous research work BIT students conduct this kinds of projects. 

4. Exploratory Research:- This is conducted for a problem that hasn't clearly defined and no body hasn't done this still (Htm.uoguelph, 2012)

Research Process


The step by step procedure of locating information for a research on a particular topic. This has a start and end with many stages in between (Edison,2012). This is the style of presenting of a research project. 
According to Edison (2012), the research includes the steps below.
Step 1: Determining Research Needs
Step 2: Defining a Research Topic
Step 3: Developing a Search Strategy
Step 4: Conducting the Search
Step 5: Evaluating Resources
Step 6: Citing Resources

Also as a summary the idea is as following.
- Where is the problem area?
- Gather Information
- Analyze data
- Determine factors that are associated with problems
- Solve it by taking necessary collective measures

To complete the research means when looking whether what you have done is correct you need to use the backward of the process.

Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Quantitative Research
According to Copernicusconsulting (2007), opinions of other people assist to produce hard facts and statistics regarding a problem by conducting survey, interviews and questionnaires.  As an example this may help a small organization to improve the products and services with the statistics collected and also crating graphs using excel, spss etc. The consistent results make sure that the problem is this and to set a target to achieve that in future to develop the company. The exact value is producing here.

 In relation to Simplypsychology (2008), numerical values collected are useful to make a measurement on a particular issue by calculating the rank for the respondents. These research designs can be descriptive or experimental.

According to both definitions authors opinion is that quantitative research is statistically valid it contains objective hard data with the numerical values and also these values can be interpreted using graphs. 

Qualitative Research

According to Qsrinternational(2012), Qualitative research is facts about the people’s opinions and motivations and feelings which is not in a numerical format. It is difficult and need more accurate information from the responded person.  

Face to face interviews, group discussions are the examples to get deeper information to develop new products (Copernicusconsulting, 2007).This uses unstructured and semi-structured data collection technique and there is few non representative cases as this is more subjective. 

According to both definitions authors opinion is that Qualitative research us useful for individual level examinations like case studies than quantitative research because this is subjective. This has the ability of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what people do and say. 

13-11-2012
Why do people research?
As alzheimer-europe(2012) states, research is designed to solve an existing problem by gathering information and finally making a decision. To conduct research time, effort,cost is needed with useful, meaningful evidence which supports to the problem. Sometimes challenge to find new things with the help of new things and also to improve knowledge. Research is not just for scientists but also to each field individuals.


Why managers should know about research?
Knowledge of research help managers to planning, decision making in the organization as well as to generate viable alternatives for effective decision making. Also to perform well in the business competition, calculate market shares and fulfill the customer needs. 


Importance of Knowing How Research is Done

 While doing a research its best to guarantee that relationship with student and supervisor to build a demand for the research conducted. Also it’s strength till the completion of the project.  Logical flow of research practices students in collecting data using suitable techiniqures and also to prepare questionnaires, interviews. 



15-11-2012 & 16-11-2012

 If a person knows to carry out a research then anytime he/she can get hands on to any area by judging the regular life experience (Kothari ,2004). This make possible for us in making decisions concerning problems facing in practical life in different angels. Also facilitate to make use of life objectively.


A person who is looking for a career in research field the best is to know about the research methodology technique to conduct the new research (Kothari ,2004). The researcher can understand the logic behind the problem.



Reference:-
Copernicusconsulting (2007) Design Research and Ethnography. [online] Available at: http://copernicusconsulting.net/qualitative-versus-quantitative-research/  [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012].

Edison (2012) Lesson 2: What is the Research Process?. [online] Available at: http://www.edison.edu/library/researchskills/Unit1/2ResearchProcess.php  [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012].

Htm.uoguelph(2012) Exploratory Research. [online] Available at: http://www.htm.uoguelph.ca/MJResearch/ResearchProcess/ExploratoryResearch.htm  [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012].

Qsrinternational (2012) What is Qualitative Research?. [online] Available at: http://www.qsrinternational.com/what-is-qualitative-research.aspx  [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012].

Sekaran, U. (2000). Research methods for business: a skill-building approach. New York: Wiley.P.1 - 57.

Simplypsychology (2008) Qualitative Quantitative. [online] Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html  [Accessed: 12 Nov 2012].

Singh, Y. K. (2006). Fundamental of research methodology and statistics. New Delhi: New Age International. . P.2.

Ariola, M. (2006). Principles and Methods of Research. [Online] Malina: Rex Book Store Inc. p.2. Available at: http://books.google.lk/books?id=zRY6xxaeyOwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=decision&f=false  [Accessed: 12th November 2012].

Kothari , C.R. (2004) Research methodology methods & techniques. New Delhi: New Age International Pvt. Ltd, p.10.

Alzheimer-europe (2012) Why do we need research? - Participating in research - Understanding dementia research - Research - Alzheimer Europe. [online] Available at: http://www.alzheimer-europe.org/Research/Understanding-dementia-research/Participating-in-research/Why-do-we-need-research   [Accessed: 13 Nov 2012].

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Time Management

 "Don't wait. The time will never be just right. "

According to Roberts (1998), Time Management is organizing or scheduling the time for a particular purpose to generate effective work with productivity. Good time management involves planned scheduled work, planner like to-do-list which is needed to complete to gain the necessary results at last. Time management has become a key in present busy world which we live.

The lecture started with a simple activity which was given by the Lecturer Mr. Rehan to give an idea to students how to manage the time effectively and efficiently in their work. The task was about Time Rock Problem where students have to say how to fill the jar with Large stones and small stones well as  by pouring water.











In the first picture the large and small stones as well a water bottle is displaying where as in the second picture by the use of the all components the jar must be full.
To this the capacity have to be managed.

The next activity was the Time Management Exercise in LMS of APIIT. The students had to enter the number of hours that is needed to perform each task below and then calculate the otal time taken for a week for the following  activities.


168-85.25 = 82.75
(85.25/168) * 100 = 50.7%=51%

Time management Matrix
According to Mindtools (1994), Important activities have a great outcome which leads achievements of the goals where as urgent activities associate with achievements of some body as its demand attention of the person.

Urgent and Important
In this section procrastination of tasks can be avoided as all the tasks which cannot forecast and have few minutes to complete are falling to this category (Mindtools, 1994).  As an example if you have to face to an emergency situation then you have to think about the Urgent and Important of that and face to that.

Urgent and Not Important
This has the capability to stop the achieving goals as well as avoid completing the tasks
(Mindtools, 1994). Most of the people do these types of interruptions as they need to do their work. To this the best answer is No; try to encourage them to do.

Not Urgent, but Important
In this part can achieve the goals and to complete the work which is important (Mindtools, 1994). In order to do these tasks there is plenty of time and no need to get a stress.

Not Urgent and Not Important
We should try to ignore or keep away from the activities which comes line under here (Mindtools, 1994). They do not consider the outcome which is expecting from a work as they do not have an idea what to do.

Next when author consider the Time Box by Steven Convey for the above exercise its as below.


From the exercise above author understood that how much time we spend for all the activities and how much time is there left for study even we say we are busy. So if we say that the time is not enough to complete the task its not an excuse in future.

According to the Time box activities;
  • In the section Urgent & Important is for Perfectionist
  • In the section Not Urgent & Important is for Time Manager
  • In the section Urgent & Not Important is for Slob ( None of the Activities)
  • In the section Not Urgent & Not Important is for Doer
- A Perfectionist is not fully rational but priorities the work (Sidsavara,2007). As an example work for hard deadlines for projects.  

- Time Manager is reviewing the career path and spend time with family (Sidsavara,2007).

- A slob is every time lazy and not considering work means wasting time own and others (Sidsavara,2007). They are replying to mails or chatting with others.


- A Doer is lost means no idea what to do. So its clearly a time waster (Sidsavara,2007). The people under this group are loss of important key areas of assignments etc. 

Finally, based on the results of the Time Box the author is belonging for the Perfectionist Section. Because most of the activities performing is belonging to that section and also to maximize the time in Productive Zone, by managing the Busy work in Q3 and minimizing the Fruitfulness tasks in Q4 author has achieved the Q1.

09-11-2012
Based on what I learned I am looking in to the area of  "How to WIN the Big Time Wasters?" When researching i came across the article about the ways to improve time management by Josy  1998). Some of the approaches are as following.
  1. Avoid others who waste my time
  2. Find the bad habits where I waste time
  3. Manage Procrastination
  4. Make to-do-lists (In the beginning Must Do's have to be there and Like Do's is coming in the end)
  5. Concentrate on one thing in order to make sure that you complete that task.
  6. Don't let more time in domestic tasks.
07-11-2012 & 08-11-2012
SMART Goals


- Specific:- Well defined clear positive idea of the task with fundamental knowledge (Projectsmart, 2000).

- Measurable:- Use methods to measure the progress towards the attainment of each goal which is setting  (Projectsmart, 2000).

- Achievable:- When you identify the goals that  are most significant and identify which can make them come true  (Projectsmart, 2000).

- Realistic:- The goal must have an objective towards willing and able to work (Projectsmart, 2000).

- Timely:- Grounding the goal with the time frame and use time productively (Projectsmart, 2000).

Came across another article by Jussila (2012), where the two layers life management and personal productivity come across the time time management. Life Management has personal productivity, physical training, social relationships, financial management and eating habits.The personal productivity is more important for achieving different sort of tasks in the life. The personal productivity includes time management, learning, organization, mental control, creativity and decision making. Therefore now you can see that there is a relationship between life management, personal productivity and time management in our lives in order to survive.Time management skills are Managing goals, Managing tasks,Prioritizing,Calendar utilization,Managing procrastination. 

Let's Improve your Time Management Skills! & Prioritize the work!

Reference:-

Jussila, H.(2012) Time Management: Our Definition . time-management-solutions, [blog] 05th April 2012, Available at: http://www.time-management-solutions.com/time-management.html [Accessed: 09th November 2012].


Mindtools (1994) The Urgent/Important Matrix - Using time effectively not just efficiently - Time Management Skills from MindTools.com. [online] Available at: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm  [Accessed: 9 Nov 2012].

Projectsmart (2000) SMART Goals. [online] Available at: http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html  [Accessed: 7 Nov 2012].

ROBERTS, J. (1998). Time management: your questions and answers. Richmond, Trotman.

Sidsavara (2007) Covey’s Time Management Matrix. [online] Available at: http://sidsavara.com/personal-development/nerdy-productivity-coveys-time-management-matrix-illustrated-with-xkcd-comics  [Accessed: 6 Nov 2012].

Monday, November 5, 2012

What is a business?

A business is a profit or non-profit organization that provides goods or services to the people who need them. A profit based organization is designed to make profit including partnerships, corporations where as non profit organization improve the service more than paying dividends (Sba.gov,n.d.)

According to Maitland (1994), a business is an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial activities such as buying, selling, distributing goods or services to earn profits.  

The main of an organization is to maximize the profit and decrease the cost. This means to increase the revenue in Marketing, Sales, Distribution fields and to decrease cost in Accounting, Finance, HR.

Business Process
  • Business process is a set of tasks associated with the company to achieve in the end of the day in future. The business process focus on the delivery of goods or services to customers in order to full fill the requirements.
Down Sizing
  • Get rid of the company resources to reduce the employees in the company (Garber, 2008).
Rightsizing

  • The goal is to maximize the profits or objectives  properly ( Walter, 2011). 
Structure of the FYP was discussed as Macro and Micro and informed us to select one and do the FYP.


Problem Background & Problem Analysis

Discussed to give a brief introduction about the Project, company,employees,virtual environment, clients etc. Once the following information is met, finding the problems in the company in each section such as Marketing, HR, Sales, Finance etc is the next important requirements of the project.

In class we discussed how to write a clear Problem. Write a clear statement about the apparent problem and next revise to see if the statement is complete and grammatically correct. If the candidate has the clear view about the problem discuss with the others.

Look whether there is a logic gap between the problem and the research. And decide what is relevant and not. Define theories for each sub section as well as the definitions to the terms you use throughout the project. In order to prove that this a problem currently facing (having) in the company the evidence is a must where the statistics of the particular organization  related with the issue as well the charts are really important as they are illustrating the view graphically.

Problem Statement


Here is a clear picture of the problem is stating as a stand-alone statement that explicit the aiming to discover or establish (Ceptara,n.d). It is used to authenticate the efforts delivered an outcome that would help to solve the problem statement  (Ceptara,n.d).When the problem is identified the person has to state that forward using the correct vocabulary. 

A good problem statement should have the following questions like;
  • What is the problem?
  • Who has the problem? (client/customer)
  • What is the scope and limitations that can be used to solve the problem?
References:-

MAITLAND, I. (1994). The business environment. Oxford, Made Simple Books.

Sba.gov (n.d.) Nonprofit Organizations | SBA.gov. [online] Available at: http://www.sba.gov/content/nonprofit-organizations   [Accessed: 5 Nov 2012].

GARBER, P. R. (2008). Downsizing. Amherst, Mass, HRD Press.


WELTER, B. (2011). Rightsizing your business breakthrough strategies to create a flexible and profitable business in any economy. Avon, MA, F+W Media Business Now.