ic hypothesis. It constantly adds to the vast body of existing explicit information and helps users by enlarging their knowledge or by answering their queries, doubts and concerns (Denscombe, 2002, p 24).
With respect to the issue of After Sales Service, the subject is comparatively new and can be tackled in different ways. Whilst the researcher will have to specifically engage in exploratory and descriptive activities, he could also take up issues like the impact of After Sales Service on customer satisfaction and customer retention.
3. Management of Research Project
The management of a research project is a complex and detailed task and needs to be carefully planned and conducted for the achievement of successful outcomes.
Research projects entail the conduct of a number of tasks, some of which are sequential while others often simultaneously. Such projects first and foremost entail the development of a suitable research topic (Hackley, 2003, p 52). This is followed by the obtaining of available information on the topic through the conduct of a review of existing literature on the subject. The review of literature is thereafter followed by an analysis of existing research methods, the finalisation of the research method to be chosen for a specific research project, information search, collection and collation of data, analysis and validation of obtained information and generation of results, conclusions and recommendations for further research (Hackley, 2003, p 52). Each of these tasks is furthermore complex and often needs thought and analysis for achievement of best results. The conduct of research projects frequently needs acquisition and analysis of complex quantitative data with the use of sophisticated statistical and analytical tools (Hackley, 2003, p 52).
With researchers always operating within specific time frames, it is important for them to manage time and resources for timely and successful completion of such projects. Again with research activities likely to be sequential as well as simultaneous, it is often helpful to use simple project management tools like Gantt Charts or MS project to ensure appropriate monitoring of different functions and timely completion of various tasks (Gorard & Taylor, 2004, p 63). It is advisable, whilst preparing such charts, to build in certain buffers that can later be used for crashing some parts of project activities in case of time and activity overruns (Gorard & Taylor, 2004, p 63).
The researcher will have to carefully chart out the total activities required for the project and prepare a simple excel based Gantt chart for monitoring the various processes involved in conducting the complete research process. Care should be taken to ensure availability of all required resources and optimise time management. Research projects are often hampered after their commencement by various operational problems like unavailability of required data or difficulties in obtaining interviews with primary respondents. It is better to provide for some extra time for activities that could involve external agencies and thus be prolonged. The researcher should compensate for these possible delays by setting stiff targets for essentially in house operations that involve the efforts only of the researcher.
Care should also be taken to ensure that the project is scheduled for completion well before its final delivery date. The building in of various time buffers for different activities will help in t
