Preliminary Research: Preliminary research is necessary to understand the problems environment. It involves.
1. Discovering and crystallizing the problem.
2. Describing the relevant situation or environment.
Preliminary research can correct the management perceptions of problem and guide the subsequent research. Here the corresponding symptoms of the problem are thoroughly probed by the researcher and the decision maker to understand the cause.
A preliminary research is conducted b collecting limited secondary data and talking informally with knowledgeable people in the field. This background information enables the researcher to recognize a problem worth pursuing. Hypotheses are then established the acceptance or rejection of which would enable the state objectives to be accomplished.