Writing & Speaking

for BusinessBy William H. Baker

Chapter Eight

Two Main Types of Research

Research

Primary Research

Consists of gathering and analyzing original data

Secondary Research

Consists of reviewing published information

Conducting Secondary Research

Specialized Databases(Example: EBSCO)

Internet Search Engines(Examples: Google, Yahoo)

Search techniques

Words (single words or combination of single words)• Single word: finance• Several words: finance trends problems

Phrase (grouped words require quotation marks)• Words grouped as specific phrase: “financial trends”

Boolean Operators

• “Or” is more general and results in more hits.

• “And” is more specific and results in fewer hits.

• “Not” is more restrictive and results in fewer hits.

Boolean Operator Examples

basketball AND high school OR college

High School College

High School College

=

basketball AND high school AND college

Search will include all sources that have EITHER high school OR college basketball

=Search will include sources that have BOTH high school AND college basketball (only the dark overlapping segment)

HS&

College

Documenting

You are required by law to DOCUMENT!

Documentation is important for three reasons:•Give credit to original author•Tell people how to find the source•Comply with copyright law

Plagiarism

• Use someone else’s text verbatim• Paraphrase someone else’s work• Blend someone else’s facts or ideas

with your own

You must document your information sources in all of these cases:

Documentation Styles

APA Style

Chicago Style

MLA Style

Conducting Primary Research

1. Define your goals and objectives

2. Identify the best research method

3. Identify the study population

4. Determine if sampling is required

5. Develop a data- gathering instrument

Survey Method

Be sensitive to appearance and body language

7. Gather the data8. Examine each response to ensure validity

6. Pilot test your instrument

9. Use the correct analysis procedure

Define the Problem

Define the Problem

1. What should or could be

2. What is

The difference between 1 and 2 is “the problem”

Analyze Cause-and-Effect Chain

Question: What caused symptom “E”?Answer: “D”Question: What caused symptom “D”?Answer: “C”Question: What caused symptom “C”?Answer: “B”Question: What caused symptom “B”?Answer: “A”Therefore: Solve “A”

Frame the Problem

What?So what?

Now what?

Problem Solving

Develop creative ways to solve the problem

Brainstorm for ideas

• Group Brainstorming

• Three-column Brainstorming

Types of Thinking

Decision Making

Evaluate the Alternatives

Organize and refine the list

Establish evaluation criteria

Weight the criteria

Select the best ideas from list

Use Decision Tables

Criteria WeightAlternatives

Smith Warenski Lee

U.S. CitizenTechnical knowledgeExperienceLeadershipEducation

X10975

Yes8963

Yes7764

Yes6645

TotalTotal 3131 2626 2424 2121

Proposals

Two Proposal Categories

UnsolicitedProblem discussion

Proposal with detailsBenefitsTimeline

CostsConclusions

SolicitedGeneral proposal idea

Problem discussionDetails of proposal

BenefitsTimeline

CostsConclusion

Force-field Analysis

List the driving forces on the left and the restraining forces on the right.

Then develop a plan to:•Strengthen the positive forces•Minimize or eliminate the negative forces