UNDERSTANDING OF RESEARCH METHODS Research has been part of management studies for a long time. But the way it is practised today with scientific rigour can be attributed to the paradigm shift driven by business schools in the USA in the last century that were heavily influenced by the automotive industry. Paradigm development: A paradigm is a collection of beliefs held by a large group of people. The adherents follow a school of thought which explains what they hold to be true. A phenomenon that has to be explained is an explanandum, and the statements used to describe it are known as explanans. But the consensus does not imply that all those with intellectual pursuits have to conform to the dominant paradigms of the time. There can be questions that challenge the commonly held notions and may even lead to the collapse of the paradigm. An illustration can be the human understanding of the geometry of the earth. In the medieval age, the paradigm dictated that the earth is flat. Even the clergy and theologists decreed that the earth is indeed flat. Anyone who disagreed was charged with heresy and excommunicated or, worse yet, was eliminated. Despite the challenge, the dissenters continued, gaining followers over time. More evidence was gathered and backed by rational thought. Slowly, the paradigm that said the earth is flat was overthrown. Thomas Kuhn says that paradigms follow a cycle, as illustrated above. A dominant paradigm enters into a stage of decline as a growing number of scholars challenge its validity. Then there is a revolutionary thought that takes over. It then goes through its own incubation phase, development, maturity, and ultimately decline. This is a very long-drawn process, which may last for centuries. The philosophy of management science as a paradigm combines art and science. It is not a hard science that a humanities field cannot be. Neither is it completely devoid of factual truths leading to imaginary thinking that lacks clarity and leads to no conclusions. Theory and its development: A theory is a statement that seeks to explain an observed phenomenon. For a theory to be usable, it must have a practical, actionable aspect. It must also not be a vague and vastly generalising concept. A general complaint of scholars is that management science has yet to be able to develop theories of its own of late. There is a debate among academicians about whether management is a science of its own or just a patchwork of different fields of study. Following is a brief on the constituents of a theory. Variables: A Variable is any aspect of a phenomenon that can be measured. A variable can be categorised as direct or latent variable. Direct variables are those variables that can be measured from observation. In the context of research, the sources of these measurements can be primary or secondary. Latent variables are those variables that are not directly measured but have to be deduced from available data. Methods of research: Qualitative and Quantitative The quantitative method uses objective, number-based facts to generate a hypothesis and make conclusions. Qualitative research is based on the standards the researcher subscribes to, measures people’s responses and creates indices. The method employed and measuring tool is therefore essential to this method. Reliability: A concept related to the consistency of the results. The instrument is reliable if the study can be replicated with the same methodology to obtain comparable results. Validity: It determines whether the research has addressed the intended problem, i.e., achieved its objective. Reliability is related to good quality of research; in the case of the qualitative method, it has to generate understanding. Some scholars argue whether reliability is relevant for qualitative methods. Validity is not very well defined for qualitative research. Researcher use ad-hoc concepts that are based on the methods employed. Some scholars use triangulation to validate the analysis. Scale development: Researchers also need to publicise the obstacles encountered during data collection. This is scale development. Reliability and validity are relevant when data is based on questionnaires. Model development: Models provide a context and lead to an understanding of a phenomenon. Theories also give a meaningful direction to data. Hypothesis development is the difference between the two.