Developed by Authenticity Consulting, LLC
Basic Business Research Methods
Organizations use research, especially in market research activities. Market research is used to identify potential markets, the needs and wants of each, how those needs and wants can be met, how products and services could be packaged to be most accessible to customers and clients, the best pricing for those products and services, who the competitors are and how best to complete against each, potential collaborators and how to collaborate with each -- and many other applications of research. Organizations can conduct this research without having to have advanced skills. This topic aims to explain the most important practices in research that provide the most useful results.
Sections of This Topic Include
Planning
Your Research
Selecting
Which Business Method to Use
How
to Select From Among Public Data Collection Tools
Method:
Appreciative Inquiry
Method:
Case Study Design
Method:
Focus Groups
Method:
Interview Design
Method:
Listening
Method:
Questioning (face to face)
Method:
Questionnaires
Method:
Surveys
Analyzing,
Interpreting and Reporting Results
General Information and Resources
Ethics and Conducting Research
Also see
Related Library Topics
Also See the Library's Blogs Related to Business Research Methods
In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog's page to see various posts. Also see the section "Recent Blog Posts" in the sidebar of the blog or click on "next" near the bottom of a post in the blog.
Library's
Business Planning Blog
Library's Building a Business Blog
Library's
Strategic Planning Blog
General Information and Resources
complete
online research methods text
Data Rules !!!
How to Conduct Field Research
Ethics and Conducting Research
sample
consent form (or sample release-of-information form)
Ethics
(guidelines to ensure ethical behavior)
Social
Science Standards and Ethics
Also see
Business
Ethics
For the Category of Business Research:
To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may
want to review some related topics, available from the link below.
Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.
Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been
selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.
Related Library Topics
Recommended Books - Business Research
General Business Research
The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just click on the image of the book. Also, a convenient search window is included below the rows of boxes.
Market Research
Nonprofit-Specific
-
Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation
- by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Well-developed nonprofit programs are based on research to verify unmet community needs, how those needs can be met through programs, how clients can best access the programs, what clients and others are willing to pay for the programs, and potential competitors and collaborators. Funders expect to see this level of research from nonprofits applying for funding. This book provides step-by-step guidelines for conducting relevant -- and especially realistic and flexible -- market research. Includes many online forms that can be downloaded.
