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26 SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION

would doubtless increase the generalizability of the results, would also increase
the costs of research. Most applied research is generally confined to research
within the particular organization where the problem arises, and the results, at
best, are generalizable only to other identical situations and settings. Though
such limited applicability does not necessarily decrease its scientific value (sub-
ject to proper research), its generalizability is restricted.

Parsimony
Simplicity in explaining the phenomena or problems that occur, and in generat-
ing solutions for the problems, is always preferred to complex research frame-
works that consider an unmanageable number of factors. For instance, if two or
three specific variables in the work situation are identified, which when changed
would raise the organizational commitment of the employees by 45%, that would
be more useful and valuable to the manager than if it were recommended that
he should change 10 different variables to increase organizational commitment
by 48%. Such an unmanageable number of variables might well be totally
beyond the manager’s control to change. Therefore, the achievement of a mean-
ingful and parsimonious, rather than an elaborate and cumbersome, model for
problem solution becomes a critical issue in research.
Economy in research models is achieved when we can build into our research
framework a lesser number of variables that would explain the variance far more
efficiently than a complex set of variables that would only marginally add to the
variance explained. Parsimony can be introduced with a good understanding of
the problem and the important factors that influence it. Such a good conceptual
theoretical model can be realized through unstructured and structured interviews
with the concerned people, and a thorough literature review of the previous
research work in the particular problem area.
In sum, scientific research encompasses the eight criteria just discussed. These
are discussed in more detail later in this book. At this point, a question that might
be asked is why a scientific approach is necessary for investigations when sys-
tematic research by simply collecting and analyzing data would produce results
that can be applied to solve the problem. The reason for following a scientific
method is that the results will be less prone to errors and more confidence can
be placed in the findings because of the greater rigor in application of the design
details. This also increases the replicability and generalizability of the findings.

SOME OBSTACLES TO CONDUCTING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
IN THE MANAGEMENT AREA

In the management and behavioral areas, it is not always possible to conduct
investigations that are 100% scientific, in the sense that, unlike in the physical sci-
ences, the results obtained will not be exact and error-free. This is primarily
because of difficulties likely to be encountered in the measurement and collection
of data in the subjective areas of feelings, emotions, attitudes, and perceptions.