A note on exploratory research: for MBA and Housing Studies students (information from perplexity.ai)
My question 1: "What is exploratory research all about with reference to MBA and Housing Studies dissertation projects?"
The reply: "Exploratory research, in the context of MBA and Housing Studies dissertation projects, is a preliminary and flexible investigative approach used to gain insights into a research problem that is not clearly defined or lacks existing knowledge. It aims to explore the underlying issues, generate new ideas, and identify variables that may require further in-depth study. This research is often qualitative, employing methods like interviews, focus groups, case studies, and observations to gather rich, descriptive data about participants’ perspectives, experiences, and contextual factors.
In MBA dissertations, exploratory research helps formulate hypotheses and frameworks for subsequent detailed research by analyzing new or underexplored areas in business and management. In Housing Studies, exploratory research might investigate complex social, economic, and legal aspects of housing issues, such as property acquisition in urban redevelopment, housing quality impacts on health, or resident experiences, often using qualitative case studies, stakeholder interviews, and policy reviews.
Key features of exploratory research include:
Flexibility and adaptability to emerging insights during the study
Use of qualitative methods to achieve in-depth understanding
Focus on context to interpret social, cultural, and environmental factors
Generating new ideas and hypotheses rather than testing pre-existing ones
Often a foundation for future, more conclusive research efforts
Iterative process involving repeated data collection and analysis
For example, in Housing Studies dissertation projects, exploratory research can be used to understand complicated acquisition strategies and social equity in urban redevelopment or to explore the health and wellbeing impacts of different housing conditions through qualitative surveys and interviews with affected residents.
Overall, exploratory research is well-suited for MBA and Housing Studies dissertations where topics are emergent, complex, or lack prior comprehensive study, enabling students to uncover meaningful patterns and inform further research directions effectively.
My question 2: "Please clarify the topic a bit more with regard to the following research themes:
The reply: "To clarify exploratory research topics with respect to your two specified research themes:
MBA-related theme: "To study how Hong Kong shopping malls can stimulate more mall shoppers' consumption under a weak economy in 2025."
This research would explore the decline and challenges facing Hong Kong shopping malls amidst economic weakness, declining retail sales, and changing consumer shopping behaviors in 2025.
The study would explore strategies malls could adopt to stimulate shopper consumption, considering trends such as increased cross-border shopping to Shenzhen, rise of e-commerce, and changing consumer preferences for experiential retail.
Exploratory research methods such as interviews and surveys with mall shoppers, mall managers, and retailers can help identify key drivers and barriers to consumption in this context.
Areas to explore include the impact of experiential retail (zoos, art spaces, sports arenas), tenant mix diversity, digital engagement strategies (e.g. AI, live streaming), flexible leasing for innovative retail concepts, and collaborations to create lifestyle destinations.
This would generate insights into practical ways shopping malls can respond to weak economic conditions and shifting consumer trends to increase shopper spending in 2025.
Housing Studies-related theme: "To study how to improve Gen Z's living experience in co-living apartments in Hong Kong in 2025."
This exploratory research would investigate the specific needs, preferences, and challenges faced by Gen Z residents in co-living apartment settings in Hong Kong.
It would explore aspects such as social interaction, privacy, amenities, affordability, and technology integration that shape Gen Z's living experience.
Qualitative methods like focus groups, interviews, and case studies would be ideal to deeply understand Gen Z's lifestyle, values, and expectations for co-living.
The study could explore how co-living models can innovate or adapt to better serve this demographic, including flexible lease terms, communal spaces design, community-building activities, and smart home features.
The goal would be to identify actionable improvements to co-living environments that enhance satisfaction, retention, and overall living quality for Gen Z in a densely populated urban context like Hong Kong.
Both topics center on timely, complex issues in Hong Kong's post-pandemic evolving economic and social landscape. Exploratory research allows in-depth, open-ended investigation to reveal insights and frame future detailed studies or practical interventions.
These approaches enable uncovering new insights and potential solutions under uncertain conditions in 2025 Hong Kong."
My question 3: "What are the originality, academic and practical values of exploratory research with reference to the two examples provided (one MBA-related and one Housing Studies-related)?"
The reply: "The originality, academic value, and practical value of exploratory research, with respect to the MBA-related theme (stimulating mall shoppers' consumption under a weak economy in Hong Kong in 2025) and the Housing Studies-related theme (improving Gen Z's co-living experience in Hong Kong in 2025), can be explained as follows:
Originality
Exploratory research is original because it tackles new, underexplored, or complex problems without preconceived hypotheses. For the MBA topic, it addresses the fresh challenge of revitalizing mall consumption amid ongoing economic weakness and evolving consumer behaviors in 2025, a context not fully understood yet.
For Housing Studies, originality stems from investigating Gen Z's relatively new lifestyle choices and expectations for co-living spaces in a unique Hong Kong environment. This demographic's lived experience and preferences are not yet comprehensively studied.
By exploring these issues openly and flexibly, the research uncovers new questions, patterns, and variables that have not been previously documented, contributing novel insights.
Academic Value
This research fills knowledge gaps by identifying research questions and hypotheses to be tested in later studies. In the MBA case, it helps redefine theory around consumer behavior under economic stress and retail innovation.
In Housing Studies, it advances understanding of urban living solutions for a changing generation, refining sociological and environmental theories on communal living.
Exploratory research builds and extends theoretical frameworks by connecting emergent data with established academic concepts. It clarifies ambiguous or complex topics, thereby providing a foundation for rigorous quantitative or qualitative studies in the future.
It promotes academic critical thinking and methodological creativity, encouraging inquiry beyond classical or rigid approaches.
Practical Value
For the MBA theme, exploratory research informs mall managers, retailers, and policymakers about actionable strategies such as experiential retail, digital engagement, and tenant innovation that could realistically stimulate consumer spending in a challenging retail climate.
For Housing Studies, it delivers insights on tailoring co-living environments to Gen Z’s needs regarding privacy, social interaction, and technology, thus enabling developers and housing authorities to improve resident satisfaction and retention in highly dense urban housing.
The adaptive and qualitative approach allows stakeholders to test assumptions early, save resources, and innovate solutions that are contextually appropriate and user-centered.
Findings can impact real-world business and housing practices by highlighting feasible interventions and uncovering latent issues before more costly implementation.
In summary, exploratory research offers original, theory-building academic contributions while delivering practical, context-sensitive insights for addressing novel and complex challenges in both business and housing fields, particularly relevant in dynamic and uncertain environments like Hong Kong in 2025."
My question 4: "Are there limitations of the exploratory research in this case, as being "exploratory" does not seem to suggest any "sophisticated" evaluative efforts to gain concrete actionable knowledge involved for this type of dissertation projects?"
The reply: "Yes, exploratory research does have limitations, especially in the context of MBA and Housing Studies dissertation projects where precise, concrete actionable knowledge is often desired. Some key limitations include:
Inconclusiveness: Exploratory research is primarily aimed at uncovering insights, generating ideas, and formulating questions rather than testing hypotheses or providing definitive answers. Therefore, the findings are often preliminary and inconclusive.
Lack of Sophistication in Evaluation: The qualitative and flexible nature limits the use of rigorous, sophisticated evaluative methods common in explanatory or confirmatory research. This can mean less precision or robustness in results.
Small Sample Size and Generalizability: Typically involving smaller, non-representative samples, exploratory studies often cannot generalize findings to a larger population with high confidence.
Subjectivity and Bias: Since data interpretation is often qualitative and judgment-based, there is a higher risk of researcher bias and subjective judgments affecting the results.
Limited Use for Actionable Knowledge: While exploratory research provides rich context and new perspectives, it may lack the concrete, statistically validated evidence often required for policy or management decisions in MBA or housing contexts.
Dependence on Available Data and Resources: Constraints like limited access to reliable data, time restrictions, or resource limitations can restrict the depth or breadth of the study.
For example, in the MBA research on stimulating mall shoppers' consumption, exploratory research may highlight potential strategies but cannot confirm which will be most effective without follow-up quantitative research. Similarly, in Housing Studies on Gen Z co-living experience, exploratory research can identify needs and preferences but may not produce concrete guidelines for developers without further empirical validation.
Thus, while exploratory research is valuable for opening new avenues and understanding complex problems, it should ideally be supplemented by subsequent more structured and evaluative research efforts to produce actionable and generalizable knowledge."
My question 5: "Would it be a good idea to include some minor solutions evaluation study in an exploratory research to enhance the actionable value of the exploratory research-type of dissertation projects?"
The reply: "Including some minor solutions evaluation within an exploratory research dissertation can indeed be a good idea to enhance its actionable value. While exploratory research primarily focuses on generating new insights, defining problems, and formulating hypotheses, integrating a small-scale evaluation of potential solutions can provide several benefits:
Increase Practical Relevance: Testing or evaluating a few plausible ideas or solutions within the exploratory phase helps bridge the gap between understanding the problem and offering actionable recommendations, making the research more useful to practitioners.
Sharper Focus: Solution evaluation can help narrow down which of the many newly uncovered insights or hypotheses have higher potential impact, guiding the direction of future research or interventions.
Demonstrate Feasibility: Minor evaluations (e.g., pilot tests, expert reviews, or small-scale feedback sessions) allow an early check on whether proposed solutions are realistic and likely effective, adding credibility to the research.
Complementary to Exploration: Integrating evaluative efforts can be done without compromising the flexibility and openness of exploratory research by defining clear but limited criteria for evaluation alongside exploration.
Support Decision-Making: Providing evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of possible solutions enriches recommendations, helping stakeholders make informed choices.
This approach aligns with emerging best practices where AI tools and qualitative techniques support prioritizing insights and preliminary evaluation within exploratory studies, creating a more structured path from discovery to practical implementation. For MBA and Housing Studies dissertations, this could mean including mini case studies, expert interviews on feasibility, or simple surveys testing initial reactions to proposed mall strategies or co-living improvements.
In summary, combining exploratory research with some degree of solution evaluation enhances the actionable value without losing the original exploratory intent, fostering richer, more impactful dissertation outcomes."
A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.
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