Research methods have been around for centuries. Technological developments are essential for the competitiveness of organization or business. Throw technology Innovation and development (potential) customer can search for information. Also they can compare products and prices and because of that they become more demanding. Furthermore universal access to the Internet has lead to increased competition, and that means for companies in order to keep them competitive they need to adapt to the expectations of today’s consumers.
Therefore they conduct research to attract new customers and maintain there already existing customer by improving service. There are many different methods to gather relevant information and to combine it into readable data, for example by conducting interviews however to conduct a good research it has to be planned also it can be time consuming. In addition to that in this essay we are exploring the advantage and disadvantage of a survey research in the human resource management area. We will give a brief explanation of research methods and surveys research along with the advantage and disadvantage of a survey research.
Also exploring the survey methods that are been used in sales and marketing management area and supporting it up with examples. Research methods is been used to explore, discover and to develop new methods or knowledge to find answers. To get the answer that we are looking for we need to understand the situation of the problem. In some cases we make observation in order to getting a clearer picture. By getting a clear understanding of the problem area, we can than decide which research design we can use to collect the data that we need, the next step will be making a plan to analyse that information.
After the process in data collecting and data analysing which lead us to our interpretation we than can draw our conclusion. In fact some topics are in a research cycle, which means that with some topic we start where we left off. Furthermore there are different ways to collect the data for your research by collecting primary and or secondary research. Primary research is collecting data that does not yet exist, relevant to the research question. In this case you have the control of the methods that you are planning to use along with the accuracy and the reliability of data collection and analysing.
It can provide you with reasons and answers like behaviour, decision and problem faced factors. The disadvantage is that it is time consuming and it cost a lot of money and energy to collect . Also for primary data collecting you are depending on the participant. Besides primary data we also have secondary data. Secondary data is collection of existing data, it is less time consuming and it saves money. Another advantage is that it can provide comparison instruments and suitable methods. The disadvantage is that is often not complete, accurate or reliable.
Sometimes it contains different objectives and may not fit with the research study. In addition to that Churchill said; ”begin with secondary data and only when it is exhausted proceed with primary data. Sometimes secondary data provides enough information to answer the research question. In this case it is not necessary to collect primary data’. ( Ghauri,p and Gronhaug, k (2002. ). research methods in business studies . Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. P78 ) ‘ However if the researcher decided to collect primary data he need to decided which data collecting methods he wants to use.
Today’s organizations rely on market research which often is conduct in a survey form in spite of case study, to gather the information that they need for their business. However a case study is used as an effective training tool. With a case study research they often select limited individuals to participate in the study in order to examine one case. It sketch a situation or issues and it is suitable because they can examine the case or situation in a specific context. However case study research is often used to answer questions like how or why.
When they conduct a case study research they look intensely at an individual or the limited participant, after that they then draw conclusion about those participant or group and only in that specific context. It is a detailed intensive study with often long examination. Furthermore survey involves many different individual and is quick. Surveys can be divided into two broad categories questionnaire and interview. Surveys can help to understand customer’s preferences, behaviour, their point of view and identifying market opportunities. There are many methods which can use to collect survey data.
For instance a survey is a data collecting method which consists of questionnaires or interview techniques. A survey contains administering questions and it is used to collect information out of (sample) of individuals’ opinions or other information which can be useful depending on its purpose. In addition If the questions is been administered by the researcher, the survey is called an interview or a researcher administered survey. But when the questions are been administered by the respondent, the survey is known as a questionnaire or a self-administered survey.
Surveys are been used to analyze: The non-observable behaviours (e. g. , past behaviour, intentions for the future), understanding the causes of behaviour, cognition and background variables, attitudes, opinions, needs, or simply to gain knowledge. However there are different ways to collect and models to administrate a survey. For instance by telephone, e-Mail, online surveys and personal survey (interview),. The advantage and disadvantage of these survey methods are illustrated in a scheme on the next page.
