Types of Business Research

Business research is a crucial part of every business enterprise, from startups to established organisations. It provides a detailed analysis of how efficiently business management and marketing strategies are working and the scope for improvement. There are two main types of business research corresponding to quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis. As the name suggests, both the methods are entirely different from each other in terms of drafting the best business strategies across various departments. This blog elaborates upon the prominent types of business research methods on the basis of qualitative and quantitative research.

What is Business Research?

The process of business research is carried out to determine the performance of varied areas in an organisation and finding the best strategies accordingly to maximize the sales and profit of the business. Through different types of business research, enterprises are able to figure out which product/service is generally beneficial for their target audience. In simple words, it is defined as the collection of information by business professionals to boost up the opportunities for the business. It can be performed for discovering various marketing strategies. In general, if people talk about marketing research it means they are focusing on spending money to increase sales, profit and market share. Such exploration is crucial to settle on wise and formal choices. Business research helps the business enterprise to discover more about their target audience from what they purchase and the amount they’re willing to pay. Further, it also provides you with an analytical overview of your competitors. Following this process, the research studies are broken down into strategies and reviewed to understand the aetiology of the market.

Types of Business Research

As mentioned above, business research plays a crucial part in helping the company get a proper review of their target audience as well as what they prefer in terms of the products on offer, competitors, prices, etc. It prepares an insightful analysis of the product and its performance in the market. It can assist you in finding out whether your products are as per the needs of your target audience and use these inputs for your future plans before you commit any error. There are two main types of business research mainly, qualitative and quantitative research methods. In the coming sections, we are going to discuss different methodologies and examples of these two business research methods.

Quantitative Research Methods

The Quantitative research method deals with a numerical process of analysis and is a systematic enquiry method done by statistical, mathematical, computational and algorithm techniques. In a nutshell, it means the collection of data is processed, and then the quantitative analysis is done to acquire informative results. This process is further carried out by various techniques mentioned below.

Survey Research

Survey research is one of the most broadly utilized types of business research techniques to assemble information for leading companies. It involves online surveys, online reviews, polls etc. The vast majority of the significant industries utilize this strategy to assemble information and use it to comprehend the market and settle on suitable business choices. Cross-sectional reviews which are expected to gather information from a varied audience at a given purpose of time are performed to achieve the desired market result. It is a multidisciplinary technique to understand the market of your business.

Benefits of Survey Research

If survey research is applied for the right purposes at the right time, it can be beneficial for a company’s growth. However, it can hijack the number of customers reaching out for a particular product/service. The major advantages of this type of business research are:

• Low investment
• Easy sources for data collection
• Reliable for responses
• Cyber secured
• Accurate result production

Correlational Research

Correlational research is carried out to comprehend the connection between two elements and what vibration does both of them have on each other. Using numerical analysing techniques, correlational exploration empowers the professional to associate more than two factors. Such research can help get trends, connections, patterns, etc. Manipulating the one factor can give you the required result in productivity and analysis. These types of business research are widely used in merchandise industries and business firms to connect their products with customers.

Benefits of Correlational Research

It has multiple benefits, not in the field of business but also social science and medicine. Some of the advantages of correlational research is-

• Versatility of results
• Enhances productivity by providing accurate data
• Provides a good starting position’
• Determines causation experimentally

Causal Comparative Research

Amongst the prominent types of business research, Causal-Comparative technique is dependent on investigation and comparison. It is utilized to conclude the cause impact connection between variables. It is also known as semi exploratory study which includes setting up a free factor and dissecting the results on the reliant variable. In such an analysis, there are zero chances of manipulation. However, concluding such a study is a little complicated as independent and secondary variables will always exist in a group. Hence, it becomes necessary to look after every minute parameter details.

Benefits of Causal Comparative Research

The crucial benefits of Causal comparative research are:

• Allows the study of causal and effect relationship
• Variable can not be manipulated
• Two or more groups are compared

Experimental Research

Experimental research depends on trying to demonstrate a hypothesis. Such an analysis might be valuable in business research as it can let the company know some social qualities of its customers, which can prompt more income. In this technique, an investigation is done on a lot of crowds to watch and later understand their behaviour when concerned with specific parameters. Experimental research permits you to test your thought in a controlled domain before taking it to market. It likewise gives the best technique to test your hypothesis, on account of the accompanying preferences.

Benefits of Experimental Research 

These types of business research are important to test the new ideas and theories before applying them in the market. Some of the benefits are:

• Allows us to have a stronger hold on variables without altering them
• Effective in business analysis
• Accurate results

Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative research is a strategy that has a high significance in business research plans. It includes getting information through open conversational methods of communication. Such analysis empowers the specialist to comprehend what the crowd thinks but also how they will react. In such an investigation, top to bottom data can be assembled from the subjects relying upon their reactions. There are different types of business research strategies for qualitative research, for example, interviews, group discussion, ethnographic observation, content investigation, contextual analysis etc. Below are some major types of qualitative research techniques that are widely used in business management.

Focus Groups

Focus group research is a technique in which 5-6 individuals gather in a room to suggest ideas and remarks on a particular product/service. It is a small gathering conducted to ensure the various aspects of business-related areas. Such a technique empowers a specialist with a bigger example than the meeting or a contextual analysis while exploiting communication. The group might comment on the manufacturing of products, feature updates and another topic of interest related to a particular cause.

Benefits of Focus Groups

• It helps in collecting accurate feedback
• Open access to customer queries and product description
• The best medium to focus on true feelings of the target audience

Ethnographic Research

Ethnography carries out the qualitative analysis for a business through the direct observations of its customers across varied environments. The target of this type of business research is to pick up experiences into how customers associate with things around them. Ethnographic research is a technique incorporating direct observation, the journal studies, video accounts, photography and ancient rarity investigation, for example, gadgets that an individual uses for the day. Observations can be made anywhere from the client’s work environment, their home or while they are out with loved ones. They can last for two or three hours of study, to cases that last more than seven months in these types of business research.

Benefits of Ethnographic Research

• It gives access to understand how users interact with the products in their environment
• Identifies expected problems
• Gives opportunities to test new products

Phenomenological Research

It is one of the types of business research techniques that analyzes the situation and customer reaction. The phenomenological approach means to investigate the encounters of specific phenomena in a network or a gathering of individuals. It is the investigation of a specific phenomenon through meetings of individuals who have encountered it to discover the copies between their meetings. Even though this methodology relies significantly upon interviews, different sources of information combination may likewise be utilized to enhance the discoveries.

Benefits of Phenomenological Research

It is beneficial in understanding the variety of customers according to their reactions. Some of the advantages are:

• Helps in understanding people choice
• Contribute to developing new strategies
• Gathers natural data
• Help in resolving new issues

Interviews

Interviews are a vital part of business research. They are a qualitative type of business research where the questions are open-ended and candidates can share their opinions on a number of products and services. Interviews are like focus groups, surveys and website research where the intent is to gain how a product or service is performing. There are various types of interviews such as email, telephonic, in-person and video-based interviews.

Website Visitor Research

Website Visitor Research is a new form of business research wherein website visitors convey their opinions through a survey available on the website. This is a great way to analyse visitor behaviour as well as get quick feedback on the services and products of the company. This research is used by big and small companies so to understand their customers, their preferences so that they can make business decisions. Website visitor research can be used as reviews and testimonies to guide other clients and get a genuine assessment of the companies’ services.

Business Case Study 

A case study is a type of business research used to analyse complex issues. It involves in-depth analyses and investigation of an issue within a real-life context. Case studies are used in multiple areas like the educational sector, clinical and corporate. Case studies are summaries of real-life business scenarios. These case studies can be on companies an organisation is working with or competing with. Sometimes case studies are fictitious accounts of a business situation or dilemma to assess a candidate’s understanding and how a candidate analyses business issues from a variety of perspectives.

Online Research 

Online Research is another type of business research wherein students and professionals do data collection on a company or business issue issuing online sources. Online research has become a powerful tool in recent years with the increase of internet usage across the globe. Online research helps in market research where one can evaluate the performance of a product and do a comparative analysis with its competitiveness. Online research is a great way to understand the consumer market and different trends in the industry.

Thus, we hope that this blog has helped you explore the diverse types of business research. Want to pursue a degree in business administration abroad? Reach out to our experts at Leverage Edu who can help you choose the best university and course as per your preferences and guide you throughout the admission process to ensure that you get successfully shortlisted. Sign up for a free career counselling session with us today!