Part 1: Introduction
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Ch 1: The Role of Business Research
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: ESPN Hits a Home Run by Leveraging the Power of Its Business Research
- Introduction
- The Nature of Business Research
- Managerial Value of Business Research
- When is Business Research Needed?
- Business Research in the Twenty-First Century
- Overview
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 2: Information Systems and Knowledge Management
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Delivery, Data, and UPS
- Introduction
- Information, Data, and Intelligence
- The Characteristics of Valuable Information
- Knowledge Management
- Global Information Systems
- Decision Support Systems
- The Internet and Research
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 3: Theory Building
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Theory and Practice
- Introduction
- Research Concepts, Constructs, Propositions, Variables, and Hypotheses
- Understanding Theory
- The Scientific Method
- Practical Value of Theories
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 4: The Business Research Process: An Overview
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Getting (and Keeping) Up to Speed: Hoover’s Helps HP
- Introduction
- Decision Making
- Types of Business Research
- Stages in the Research Process
- The Research Program Strategy
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 5: The Human Side of Business Research: Organizational and Ethical Issues
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: I Can’t Share This Report!
- Introduction
- Organizational Structure of Business Research
- Research Suppliers and Contractors
- Ethical Issues in Business Research
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
Part 2: Beginning Stages of the Research Process
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Ch 6: Problem Definition: The Foundation of Business Research
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Deland Trucking Has a “Recruitment” Problem
- Introduction
- The Problem-Definition Process
- Clarity in Research Questions and Hypotheses
- How Much Time Should Be Spent on Problem Definition?
- The Research Proposal
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 7: Qualitative Research Tools
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: What’s in the Van?
- Introduction
- What is Qualitative Research?
- Qualitative “versus” Quantitative Research
- Orientations to Qualitative Research
- Common Techniques Used in Qualitative Research
- Exploratory Research in Science and in Practice
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 8: Secondary Data Research in a Digital Age
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Business Facts on a Grand Scale
- Introduction
- Typical Objectives for Secondary Data Research Designs
- Sources of Secondary Data
- Single-Source Data-Integrated Information
- Sources for Global Research
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
Part 3: Research Methods for Collecting Primary Data
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Ch 9: Survey Research: An Overview
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Media Phones—The Next Wave of Communication Technology?
- Introduction
- Using Surveys
- Errors in Survey Research
- Classifying Survey Research Methods
- Total Quality Management and Customer Satisfaction Surveys
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 10: Survey Research: Communicating with Respondents
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Mobile Surveys Catching On, and Catching Respondents “On the Go”!
- Introduction
- Interviews as Interactive Communication
- Personal Interviews
- Telephone Interviews
- Self-Administered Questionnaires
- Self-Administered Questionnaires Using Other Forms of Distribution
- Selecting the Appropriate Survey Research Design
- Pretesting
- Ethical Issues in Survey Research
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 11: Observation Methods
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Mystery Diner at Seasons Restaurant
- Introduction
- Observation in Business Research
- Observation of Human Behavior
- Observation of Physical Objects
- Content Analysis
- Mechanical Observation
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 12: Experimental Research
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Testing Web Protocols for Financial Markets
- Introduction
- Creating an Experiment
- Designing an Experiment to Minimize Experimental Error
- Demand Characteristics
- Establishing Control
- Ethical Issues in Experimentation
- Practical Experimental Design Issues
- Issues of Experimental Validity
- Classification of Experimental Designs
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
Part 4: Measurement Concepts
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Ch 13: Measurement and Scaling Concepts
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Money Matters?
- Introduction
- What Do I Measure?
- Levels of Scale Measurement
- Index Measures
- Three Criteria for Good Measurement
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 14: Attitude Measurement
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Heat and Smoke—What Keeps Them Happy?
- Introduction
- Attitudes as Hypothetical Constructs
- Techniques for Measuring Attitudes
- Attitude Rating Scales
- Measuring Behavioral Intention
- Ranking
- Other Methods of Attitude Measurement
- Selecting a Measurement Scale: Some Practical Decisions
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 15: Questionnaire Design
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: J.D. Power Asks: It’s Interesting, but Do You Really Want It?
- Introduction
- Questionnaire Quality and Design: Basic Considerations
- Wording Questions
- Guidelines for Constructing Questions
- What is the Best Question Sequence?
- What is the Best Layout?
- How Much Pretesting and Revising are Necessary?
- Designing Questionnaires for Global Markets
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
- Appendix 15A: Question Wording and Measurement Scales for Commonly Researched Topics
Part 5: Sampling and Fieldwork
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Ch 16: Sampling Designs and Sampling Procedures
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Changing Pocketbook Problems for Today’s Families
- Introduction
- Sampling Terminology
- Why Sample?
- Practical Sampling Concepts
- Random Sampling and Nonsampling Errors
- Probability versus Nonprobability Sampling
- Nonprobability Sampling
- Probability Sampling
- What is the Appropriate Sample Design?
- Internet Sampling is Unique
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 17: Determination of Sample Size: A Review of Statistical Theory
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Federal Reserve Finds Cards are Replacing Cash
- Introduction
- Making Data Usable
- The Normal Distribution
- Population Distribution, Sample Distribution, and Sampling Distribution
- Central-Limit Theorem
- Estimation of Parameters
- Sample Size
- A Reminder About Statistics
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 18: Fieldwork
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Software for Fieldwork? Ask Askia
- Introduction
- The Nature of Fieldwork
- Who Conducts the Fieldwork?
- In-House Training for Inexperienced Interviewers
- Principles of Good Interviewing
- Fieldwork Management
- Supervision of Fieldworkers
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
Part 6: Data Analysis and Presentation
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Ch 19: Editing and Coding: Transforming Raw Data into Information
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Coding What a Person’s Face “Says”
- Introduction
- Stages of Data Analysis
- Editing
- Coding
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 20: Basic Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Choose Your “Poison”
- Introduction
- The Nature of Descriptive Analysis
- Tabulation
- Cross-Tabulation
- Data Transformation
- Calculating Rank Order
- Tabular and Graphic Methods of Displaying Data
- Computer Programs for Analysis
- Interpretation
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 21: Univariate Statistical Analysis
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Well, Are They Satisfied or Not?
- Introduction
- Hypothesis Testing
- Choosing the Appropriate Statistical Technique
- The t-Distribution
- The Chi-Square Test for Goodness of Fit
- Hypothesis Test of a Proportion
- Additional Applications of Hypothesis Testing
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 22: Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Differences between Two Variables
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Gender Differences and Double Standards in Ethical Perceptions
- Introduction
- What is the Appropriate Test of Difference?
- Cross-Tabulation Tables: The X2 Test for Goodness-of-Fit
- The t-Test for Comparing Two Means
- The Z-Test for Comparing Two Proportions
- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
- Appendix 22A: Manual Calculation of an F-Statistic
- Appendix 22B: ANOVA for Complex Experimental Designs
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Ch 23: Bivariate Statistical Analysis: Measures of Association
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Bringing Your Work to Your Home (and Bringing Your Home to Work)
- Introduction
- The Basics
- Simple Correlation Coefficient
- Regression Analysis
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
- Appendix 23A: Arithmetic Behind OLS
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Ch 24: Multivariate Statistical Analysis
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: Cowabunga Never Goes Out of Style
- Introduction
- Classifying Multivariate Techniques
- Analysis of Dependence
- Analysis of Interdependence
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
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Ch 25: Communicating Research Results: Report Generation, Oral Presentation, and Follow-Up
- Learning Outcomes
- Chapter Vignette: A Business Report Title (and Nothing Else)—Tips to Get Started
- Introduction
- Insights from the Communications Model
- The Report in Context
- Report Format
- Effective Use of Graphic Aids
- The Oral Presentation
- Reports on the Internet or Intranet
- The Research Follow-Up
- Summary
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Questions for Review and Critical Thinking
- Research Activities
Part 7: Comprehensive Cases with Computerized Databases
- Comprehensive Cases
- Case 1: Running the Numbers: Does It Pay?
- Case 2: Attiring Situation
- Case 3: Values and the Automobile Market
- Case 4: TABH, INC., Automotive Consulting
- Case 5: The Atlanta Braves
- Case 6: Knowing the Way
Glossary of Frequently Used Symbols
Glossary
Endnotes
Index