Pre-assignment for session #5

Readings

Singleton, R., & Straits, B. C. (2018). Approaches to social research (Sixth edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Chapter 4: Elements of Research Design

Allison, P. D. (1999). Multiple Regression : A Primer. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications, Inc. Chapters 1-2 (The book is available as an ebook at the library)

Deephouse, D. L. (1999). To be different, or to be the same? It’s a question (and theory) of strategic balance. Strategic Management Journal, 20(2), 147–166. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199902)20:2<147::AID-SMJ11>3.0.CO;2-Q

Video materials

Watch the videos in the following YouTube playlist. (About one hour of video material)

Instructions

Read Singleton and Straits (2018) chapter on research design with thought and skim through the other materials. Then watch the video material. Write down any questions or thoughts that might arise from the materials and be prepared to discuss these in the seminar.

After you have done studying the materials, answer the questions. When answering the questions, ignore Model 3 in Table 2 and all other results about non-linear effects.

Questions

Part 1: Deephouse makes a causal proposition “Less strategic similarity increases performance” and performs a quantitative study to assess whether the claim is justified. Explain how the three conditions for causality, as discussed by Singleton and Straits (2018), are taken into consideration in the study. Do you think that a causal claim is justified in this case? Considering the evidence presented in Table 1 and Table 2.

Part 2: Consider the evidence presented in Deephouse’s Table 2 reproduced below. Why are there two models in the table? Consider the regression coefficient marked with a red box: Table 1 presents a corresponding correlation. What is the value of this correlation and why do you think it is different from the regression coefficient? Interpret the regression coefficient: is the effect of strategic deviation on relative ROA large or small? Chapter 2 from Allison (1999) explains the interpretation of regression tables like this with multiple examples.

Deephouse 1999 Table 2

Please answer the questions in English. Your answer should be about 2 pages.