Exploratory research

<h2 id="applied-research">Applied research</h2>
<a href="/facts/Applied_research/13h5uYCH">Applied research</a> in administration is often exploratory because there is need for flexibility in approaching the problem. In addition there are often data limitations and a need to make a decision within a short time period. Qualitative research methods such as case study or <a href="/facts/Field_research/HctlVRR8">field research</a> are often used in exploratory research.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>
There are three types of objectives in a marketing research project:

<ul><li>Exploratory research or formulative research</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Descriptive_research/hXzGGxdp">Descriptive research</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Causal_research/1xFoBC9Q">Causal research</a> (also referred to as <a href="/facts/Explanatory_research/1xFoBC9Q">explanatory research</a>)<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a></li></ul>
Exploratory research or formulative research: The objective of exploratory research is to gather preliminary information that will help define problems and suggest hypotheses.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a>
Descriptive research: The objective of descriptive research is to describe the characteristics of various aspects, such as the market potential for a product or the demographics and attitudes of consumers who buy the product.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a>
Causal research: The objective of causal research is to test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships.
If the objective is to determine which variable might be causing a certain behavior, i.e. whether there is a cause and effect relationship between variables, causal research must be undertaken. In order to determine causality, it is important to hold the variable that is assumed to cause the change in the other variable(s) constant and then measure the changes in the other variable(s). This type of research is very complex and the researcher can never be completely certain that there are not other factors influencing the causal relationship, especially when dealing with people's attitudes and motivations. There are often much deeper psychological considerations, that even the respondent may not be aware of this is not true.
There are two research methods for exploring the cause and effect relationship between variables:

<ol><li>Experimentation, and</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Simulation/Q4QJV1oI">Simulation</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a></li></ol>

<h2 id="bibliography">Bibliography</h2>
<ul><li>Russell K. Schutt, Investigating the Social World, 5th ed, <a href="/facts/Pine_Forge_Press/myamBVEB">Pine Forge Press</a>.</li>
<li>Robert A. Stebbins, Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001.</li>
<li>Exploratory Research: 3 Reasons to Conduct More of It. (2019, September 16). Retrieved from https://www.gutcheckit.com/blog/3-reasons-conduct-exploratory-research/</li>
<li>Zahl, H. A., & Reilley, E. M. (1958). Exploratory Research. American Institute of Physics, 11(8). <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1063%2F1.3062684">10.1063/1.3062684</a></li>
<li>Gellar, L., Druker, S., Osganian, S. K., Gapinski, M. A., LaPelle, N., & Pbert, L. (2012). Exploratory Research to Design a School Nurse-Delivered Intervention to Treat Adolescent Overweight and Obesity. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 44(1), 46–54. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2011.02.00</li>
<li>Casula, M., Rangarajan, N. & Shields, P. The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Qual Quant (2020). <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9">https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9</a> Open access!</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Stebbins, R. (2001). Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE (ISBN 0-7619-2398-5)p. 3
 <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Stebbins, R. (2001). Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE (ISBN 0-7619-2398-5) <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Glaser, B.G., Strauss, A.L.: The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research.
Aldine, Chicago (1967) <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Casula, M., Rangarajan, N. & Shields, P. The potential of working hypotheses for deductive exploratory research. Qual Quant (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-020-01072-9</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Business Research Methods , Saroj Kumar & Supraiya Singh <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Russell K. Schutt, "Investigating the Social World," 5th ed. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">< Babbie, Earl. 2007. The Practice of Social Research. 11th edition. Belmont CA: Thompson - Wadsworth. pp. 87-89. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Shields Patricia, Tajalli Hassan (2006). "Intermediate Theory: The Missing Link in Successful Student Scholarship". Journal of Public Affairs Education. 12 (3): 313–334. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.576.6985. doi:10.1080/15236803.2006.12001438. S2CID 141201197. <a href="http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/39/" target="_blank">http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/39/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">J. Scott Armstrong (1970). "How to Avoid Exploratory Research". Journal of Advertising Research. 10: 27–30. <a href="http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=marketing_papers" target="_blank">http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=marketing_papers</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Shields Patricia, Tajalli Hassan (2006). "Intermediate Theory: The Missing Link in Successful Student Scholarship". Journal of Public Affairs Education. 12 (3): 313–334. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.576.6985. doi:10.1080/15236803.2006.12001438. S2CID 141201197. <a href="http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/39/" target="_blank">http://ecommons.txstate.edu/polsfacp/39/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Shields, Patricia and Rangarjan, N. 2013. A Playbook for Research Methods: Integrating Conceptual Frameworks and Project Management. [1][permanent dead link]. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. See Chapter four for an extensive discussion of descriptive research. <a href="/wiki/Patricia_M._Shields" target="_blank">/wiki/Patricia_M._Shields</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Brains, C., Willnat, L,, Manheim, J., Rich, R. 2011. Empirical Political Analysis 8th edition. Boston, MA: Longman. p.76. <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2006), Principles of marketing, p. 122. <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong (2006), Principles of marketing, p. 122. <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Nandan.[where?] <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(geographic_names)" target="_blank">/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(geographic_names)</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Exploratory research open-in-new

Exploratory research