Understanding Business Research

BART L. WEATHINGTON, PHD, is UC Foundation Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he is also Coordinator of the Industrial-Organizational Psychology graduate program. Dr. Weathington is coauthor of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (Wiley). CHRISTOPHER J. L. CUNNINGHAM, PHD, is UC Foundation Associate Professor of Industrial- Organizational and Occupational Health Psychology at the University of Tennessee of Chattanooga, where he is also Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine in the College of Medicine. Dr. Cunningham is coauthor of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (Wiley). DAVID J. PITTENGER, PHD, is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Marshall University. Dr. Pittenger is coauthor of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (Wiley).

• Preface xiiiPart I: Overview of the Research Process 11 Research and Business 3Introduction 4Why is Understanding Research Methods so Important? 4The Role of Science in Business and Everyday Life 4The Scientific Method 5Brief History of the Science of Behavior in the Workplace 6Bacon’s Legacy 10Other Important Historical Figures 10Assumptions of Science 12Requirements for Scientific Research 13Chapter Summary 18Chapter Glossary for Review 20References 212 Ethics and Research 23Introduction 23What is Ethics? 24Approaches to Ethical Analysis 26Making Ethical Decisions 29Ethical Business Research 30Components of an Ethical Research Plan 32Research in Action: Ethical Dilemmas 37Chapter Glossary for Review 40References 403 The Foundations of Research 41Introduction 41The Hypothesis in Research 42Types of Hypotheses 46Measurement 52Reliability of Measurement 57Validity of Measurement 59Populations and Samples 61Research in Action: Credit or Cash? 65Chapter Summary 68Chapter Glossary for Review 69References 714 An Overview of Empirical Methods 73Introduction 74Internal, Statistical, and External Validity 74Survey of Empirical Methods 83Intact Groups Designs and Quasi-Experimental Studies 87Surveys 90Correlational Studies 90Interviews and Case Studies 92Meta-Analysis 93Computers and Statistics 94Research in Action: Price Matters 95Chapter Summary 99Chapter Glossary for Review 101References 103Part II: Nuts and Bolts of Research 1055 Writing the Research Report 107Introduction 107What Do Readers Appreciate in Good Writing? 109Elements of Style 109Special Grammatical Issues 113Academic Integrity 117Parts of the Research Report 122Chapter Summary 135References 1366 Reviewing the Literature and Forming Hypotheses 137Introduction 138Bibliographic Research 138The Internet as a Source 141Developing a Search Strategy 143Searching the Literature: The Library 144Research in Action: Does Listening to Mozart Make You Smarter? 148Statistical Inference and Testing Hypotheses 150Chapter Summary 154Chapter Glossary for Review 155References 1567 Sampling: The First Steps in Research 157Introduction 158The Nature of Samples 159Probability Sampling 160Sampling Methods 162Nonprobability Sampling 165Central Limit Theorem 167Applications of the Central Limit Theorem 170Sources of Bias and Error: A Reprise 176Research in Action: Sampling Matters 178Chapter Summary 180Chapter Glossary for Review 181References 1828 Creating and Using Assessments, Surveys, and Objective Measures 183Introduction 184Purpose of Measurement 184Caveat Assessor 184Creating a Measurement Scale and Developing a Data-Collection Strategy 186Interviews, Questionnaires, and Attitude Surveys 187Question Response Formats 190Writing Good Survey Items 194Determining the Sample Size for a Survey 199Naturalistic Observation 201Research in Action: Analysis of Assaults 207Chapter Summary 212Chapter Glossary for Review 212References 2159 A Model for Research Design 215Introduction 216A Model for Research Design 216What is the Independent Variable? 221What is the Dependent Variable? 223Are There Confounding Variables? 224What are the Research Hypotheses? 227Mathematical Hypotheses 228Evaluating Hypotheses 229Evaluating Hypotheses: Practical Matters 232Research in Action: Sex Differences and Shopping Behavior 236Research in Action: Changing Attitudes by Writing Essays 236Chapter Summary 237Chapter Glossary for Review 239References 240Part III: Common Research Designs 24310 Correlational Research 245Introduction 246Conceptual Review of Correlation 246Pearson’s r 248Interpreting the Correlation Coefficient 248Factors that Corrupt a Correlation Coefficient 250Sample Size and the Correlation Coefficient 253Applications of the Correlation Coefficient 255Regression Analysis 259Introduction to Mediation and Moderation 261Regression to the Mean 262Research in Action: Education and Income 264Chapter Summary 268Chapter Glossary for Review 269References 27011 Between-Subjects Designs 271Introduction 271Student’s t-Ratio for Independent Groups 272Review of Hypothesis Testing 274Testing Statistical Hypotheses 276Common Errors in the Interpretation of p 282The Power of a Test 284Estimating the Sample Size 289Statistics Behind The Research 291Chapter Summary 295Chapter Glossary for Review 296References 29612 Single-Variable Between-Subjects Research 297Introduction 298Independent Variable 298Cause and Effect 301Gaining Control Over the Variables 301The General Linear Model 303Components of Variance 306The F-Ratio 307H0 and H1 310F-Ratio Sampling Distribution 310Summarizing and Interpreting ANOVA Results 312Effect Size and Power 313Multiple Comparisons of the Means 315Research in Action 318Chapter Summary 320Chapter Glossary for Review 321References 32213 Between-Subjects Factorial Designs 325Introduction 326The Logic of the Two-Variable Design 326Advantages of the Two-Variable Design 327Factorial Designs: Variables, Levels, and Cells 331Examples of Factorial Designs 332Main Effects and Interaction 334Designing a Factorial Study 342Identifying Samples and Estimating Sample Size 344Interpreting the Interaction: Advanced Considerations 346Chapter Summary 348Chapter Glossary for Review 348References 34914 Correlated-Groups Designs 351Introduction 351Logic of the Correlated-Groups Research Design 352Repeated-Measures Design 353Longitudinal Designs 362Matched-Groups Design 365Mixed-Model Design 367Research in Action 368Chapter Summary 370Chapter Glossary for Review 370References 371Part IV: Special Research Designs 37315 Research with Categorical Data 375Introduction 375Goodness-of-Fit Test 377χ2 Test of Independence 381χ2 Test of Homogeneity 384Further Analysis of the χ2 385McNemar Test 388Research in Action: Gambling and Productivity 391Chapter Summary 393Chapter Glossary for Review 394References 39416 Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research 397Introduction 398Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research 398Theory and Perspectives Guiding Qualitative Research 399Mixing Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Combined 400Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Data Collection and Analysis 402Benefits and Challenges of Mixed-Methods Research 408Sources of Published Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research 411Research in Action: Gender- and Job-Based Differences in Work Stress 412Chapter Summary 414Chapter Glossary for Review 415References 415Appendix A: Statistics Behind the Research, or, ‘‘What Was I Supposed to Remember from My Statistics Class Anyway?’’ 417Appendix B: Statistical Tables 435Index 485