Respond to statements on following: In what ways might business research be different from what is usually thought of as scientific research
1. To me, the primary difference between business and scientific research is that the former happens in an everyday setting, while the latter is done in a more controlled and sterile environment. Specifically, scientists are better able to utilize "control groups," which are groups of subjects who are similar to the group being studied, but for whom the studied change is not made, or a neutral change is made (e.g., a placebo is administered). This kind of control can be challenging to achieve in business research, but it is vital. Instead, business research is accomplished analyzing financial information, studying customer and employee feedback, or reviewing company practices and data. All things which happen in a less controlled environment.
Secondly, I believe there is a big difference in the motive for accumulating the data. Cooper and Schindler (2014) describe that business research is used increasingly by organizational managers who want to know what strategies and tactics capture the highest return. Managers have realized they need a better understanding of employees, stockholders, constituents, and customer behavior in order to influence the desired metrics. This may be different from scientific research which is often used to better society as a whole via finding cures for sicknesses or solving problems which prevent advancement.
2. Business research as we use it in this text is a systematic inquiry that provides information to guide managerial decisions". Business research is used to maximize performance. When it comes to business research a company will obtain data and analyze it in order to better manage the company. Business research can include financial data, consumer feedback, product research and competitive analysis. Business research as well as scientific research both follow the scientific method. "When conducting business research, the scientific method provides a model for those designing the study to gather data and form theories and conclusions that will stand up to scrutiny. Scientific research is the systematic investigation of scientific theories and hypotheses. Business research and scientific research are actually similar in the way that they gather data and then a theory is formed. The theory is then evaluated and once that is done the theory is either valid or not and if it is not it can be revised with the new data collected.
I wonder if, in both cases, the piece that is missing in our ever faster moving world is that of reflection. We have, as I keep saying, more data than ever. But do we take time to reflect on it, both in groups and individually? And then, having..