Types Of Management Research
There are several types of management research that are conducted both by students and business people. The type of research carried out for a particular project will depend on the type of study, the purpose for the study, and the level of study. Below are the most popular types of management research for institutions and businesses:
1. Scientific or Conventional research
This is an organized and systematic process of research design. In this kind of research, facts are established by logical consideration rather than beliefs, and they are more utilized in management research. It is one of the most popular types of management research used in several institutions both by students and teachers.
2. Developmental research
A developmental research is conducted mainly to predict the future. This is where facts are known by gathering variables and finding out their interrelated factors, sequences, directions, their rates of change, and other measurable variables. The three main variations of these types of management research are trend study, cross-sectional growth, and longitudinal growth study.
3. Case study research
These types of management research are very popular among research institutions. Here, the researcher takes a deep and thorough examination of a company, a group of people, or a single individual.
In these types of management research, the researcher looks for variables that are related to the item under study and examines them to draw conclusions from the understudied variables.
4. Field survey research
These types of management research are usually performed to find out interactions and relations among the studied variables. In this study, the independent variables cannot be manipulated to draw conclusions. Rather, the researcher makes use of the dependent variables collected from the understudied subject (s) and draw conclusions based on the result obtained from these subjects (s).Here, hypothesis is usually tested to find correlation between the variables taken from the field study and the independent variables.
5. Action research
This is one of the most popular types of management research. This kind of research is focused on finding new approaches to decision making processes or acquiring new skills to solve a problem. It takes a more practical approach and is directly linked to the main concerned problem. It can also be called applied research and has been helpful in solving a lot of management problems in business organizations.
6. Evaluation research
It is a research that is undertaken to evaluate the extent of implementation of a project in order to find out the level of recorded success. These types of management research are usually carried out to ascertain whether objectives are well followed. Evaluation research and action research are very vital in management control and execution.
7. Descriptive research
This is carried out in order to describe the features of a group or an individual. In this type of research, a comprehensive collection of facts on the subject is made and conclusions are drawn from the findings of the study. It is one of the most common management research methods and is most prevalent in the analysis of job activities, socio-economic surveys, and the study of employees in an organization.
There are equally other types of management research, including assessment research, true experimental research, ex-post factor research, and historical research.