Cognitive scientists discovered that a good discussion should not have more than 5 basic ideas. Thus, when young researchers ask me what are the secrets of a successful research project, in business, in publishing valuable papers, or preparing a Ph.D. Thesis, my answer is: The 5 Rs ! They are the following: Read, Reflect, Research model, Research results, and Results interpretation.
Read. Read is the first and the necessary stage of any research project. Read as much as possible, first in any intuitive way and secondly, in a systematic way. Reading helps you in understanding the basic concepts, ideas, theories, and research methods to be used. Read basic books on that topic and many, many papers published in top journals in your area of interest. When reading, take notes. Take notes of main ideas and theories, and don’t forget to mention all necessary information for identifying that work: title of the book or chapter, authors, publishing company, publishing city, pages from where you may consider some citations. For a paper, add the title of the journal, volume number, issue number, pages, and DOI. All of this information is important in your documentation.
Reflect. Reflection is a powerful intellectual task that many people ignore or treat it superficially. Reflection means to formulate questions, to explore some answers from the literature, to make connections between concepts and ideas, between what is known and what is unknown. Reflection is based on a philosophical attitude of questioning everything and of finding arguments for your own stand. The result of your reflection should be a solid understanding of the basic concepts, ideas, theories and research methods. Reflection should be enriched by intuition. Based on your reflection you should be able to identify the research gap you find between what is done and what can be done, and to formulate the Research Questions (RQ) for your research project.
Research model. Any research is based on an explicit or implicit research model. Make your model an explicit one. The model contains independent variables and dependent variables. Also, the model may contain moderating and mediating variables. You should be able to structure them into a network of influencing factors and to formulate some working hypotheses. From a practical point of view, designing a research model is a rather difficult task because real processes are complex and nonlinear ones, and a model represents only an approximation of that reality. Thus, the question is how can you transform that complex and nonlinear reality into a simple and linear research model? How many variables or constructs to include, such that you can get a good representation of reality but not too many, in order to manage the analysis process? Tough questions!
Research data. In any research there are qualitative and quantitative data. Be sure you understand the difference between them. Research data are obtained through your investigation based on your research model. Each type of data can be analyzed with adequate methods. Be sure you understand these methods and use them correctly. Otherwise, your results will remain meaningless. The best advice is to use in your investigation several analysis methods and to integrate them into a complex analysis. In academic terms that is called a triangulation process.
Research results. Results are what you get out of your analyses. Be sure that you understand them and explain them to your potential readers or reviewers. Many researchers prefer to offer a descriptive set of results because it is much easier. Yes, it is easier but it is not enough. You have to come back to reflection and to interpret your results from different angles. Also, you should interpret your results against any similar results published by other researchers. Any mechanical presentation of results diminishes the value of your research. If there are some contradictions between your results and other authors’ result try to explain them. It is also very important to analyze the degree of generalization of your results, and their theoretical and practical implications.
About the author:
Professor Emeritus Constantin Brătianu, President of the International Association for Knowledge Management (IAKM), professor of Strategic Management and Knowledge Management at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) and at the UNESCO Department for Business Administration, Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE), Romania. He is the founding Director of the Research Center for Intellectual Capital, and the founding co-editor of the international journals: Management & Marketing, and Management Dynamics in the Knowledge Economy. He has been Visiting Professor at: University of Applied Sciences, Steyr, Austria; Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas, USA; Tokyo University of Science and Technology, Kobe University, and Osaka University, Japan. More on his academic profile: Publons / Research Gate / Google Scholar.
Suggested readings
- Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2007). Business research methods. 2nd Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Maxwell, J.A. (2013). Qualitative research design. An interactive approach. Los Angeles: SAGE
- Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2007). Research methods for business students. 4th Edition. London: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.
