Research Methods for Business Management

(MOD001105) Module Leader: Dr Noah Karley

Email: Noah.Karley@anglia.ac.uk

Room LAB322 Ext. 5739

Teaching Objectives

At the end of this lecture/seminar you will be familiar with:

Modules nature, aim and structure.

Modules intended learning outcomes.

Modules outline delivery.

Nature of research.

Business research and knowledge creation.

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Introduction

Research Methods for Business and Management is designed to help students to undertake their research project.

It provides a clear guide on how to undertake research as well as highlighting the realities of undertaking research, including the more common pitfalls.

The module provides students a guide to the research process and with the necessary knowledge and skills to undertake a piece of research from thinking of a research topic to writing their project report.

As such, students will find it useful as a manual or handbook on how to tackle their research project.

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Introduction

At the end of the course students will have been introduced to and explored a range of approaches, strategies, techniques and procedures with which they could tackle their research project.

Students will know that there is no one best way for undertaking all research. Rather they will be aware of the choice they will have to make and how this choice will impact upon what they can find out.

Students will be able to make an informed choice about the approaches, strategies, techniques and procedures that are most suitable to their own research project and be able to justify this choice.

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Introduction

Modules title includes the term methods to refer to techniques and procedures used to obtain and analyse data. This, includes questionnaires, observation and interviews as well as both quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (non-statistical) analysis.

In contrast, the term methodology refers to the theory of how research should be undertaken.

It is important that students have some understanding of this so that they can make an informed choice about their research. For this reason, in this module we will also discuss a range of philosophical assumptions upon which research can be based and the implications of these for the method or methods adopted. 5

Nature of Research

Research has a number of characteristics: Data are collected systematically. Data are interpreted systematically. There is a clear purpose: to find things out. We can define research as something that people

undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge.

Systematic suggests that research is based on

logical relationships and not just beliefs. To find out things suggests there are a multiplicity

of possible purposes for your research. 6

Business and Management Research

We can define business and management research as undertaking systematic research to find out things about business and management.

Four things combine to make business and

management a distinctive focus for research: The way in which managers (and researchers) draw

on knowledge developed by other disciplines.

The fact that managers tend to be powerful and busy people. Therefore, they are unlikely to allow research access unless they can see personal or commercial advantages.

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Business and Management Research

The fact that managers are educated. Many now have undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and, as such, tend often to be as well educated as those conducting research about them.

The requirement for the research to have some practical consequence. This means it either needs to contain the potential for taking some form of action or needs to take account of the practical consequences of the findings.

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Knowledge Creation

In the past decade debate about the nature of management research has focused on how it can meet the double hurdle of being both theoretically and methodologically rigorous, while at the same time embracing the world of practice and being of practical relevance.

Approach I. Knowledge creation emphasises research in which the questions are set and solved by academic interests, emphasising a fundamental rather than applied nature, where there is little if any focus on utilisation of the research by practitioners.

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Knowledge Creation

Approach II. Research offers a way of bringing the supply side of knowledge represented by universities together with the demand side represented by businesses and overcoming the double hurdle.

Approach III. Knowledge production focuses on an appreciation of the human condition as it is and as it might become, its purpose being to assure survival and promote the common good at various levels of social aggregation.

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Knowledge Creation: Pure Research

Basic , fundamental or pure research.

Research that is undertaken purely to understand the processes of business and management and their outcomes.

Such research is undertaken largely in universities and largely as the result of an academic agenda.

Its key consumer is the academic community, with relatively little attention being given to its practical applications.

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Knowledge Creation: Applied Research

Applied research.

Research that is of direct and immediate relevance to managers, addresses issues that they see as important, and is presented in ways that they understand and can act on.

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Aim of the Module

This module provides course participants with the appropriate knowledge, skills and abilities they will need to effectively carry out a piece of small scale business/management research.

A particular emphasis will be placed upon developing individuals towards their Masters dissertation/project.

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Aim of the Module

A focus is given to the specific issues faced by managers and researchers when carrying out research in an organisational setting. These will include the philosophical aspects of enquiry in social settings, operating in political contexts, negotiating access to key individuals and data, and meeting the research outcomes expected by multiple organisational stakeholders.

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Aim of the Module

Consequently, this module will focus on providing individuals with the necessary skills to meet these challenges and therefore effectively plan, carry out and report upon their Masters level dissertation/project.

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Intended Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding.

Demonstrate a critical awareness of different research designs and respective methodologies relevant to academic and practitioner researchers working within an international context.

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Intended Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and understanding.

Explain their chosen research question/hypothesis and research objectives, and all the relevant elements contributing to a research proposal suitable to researching a contemporary international business topic.

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Intended Learning Outcomes

Intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skills.

Critically evaluate the literature relevant to your research aims in order to develop a conceptual framework or critical stance.

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Intended Learning Outcomes

Intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skills.

Act as an independent self-learner demonstrate the skills necessary to plan, organise, undertake and present an international business project.

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Outline Delivery

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Lecture 1

Module overview, nature of management research

Lecture 2

Formulating and clarifying the research topic

Lecture 3

Critically reviewing academic literature and academic writing

Lecture 4

Research philosophies and approaches

Outline Delivery

Lecture 5

Negotiating access and research ethics

Lecture 6

Collecting data through observation and interviews

Lecture 7

Collecting data through questionnaires

Lecture 8

Selecting samples 21

Outline Delivery

Lecture 9

Analysing quantitative and qualitative data

Lecture 10

Using secondary data

Lecture 11

Writing and presenting your project report

Lecture 12

Assignment review 22

Lecture 2: Research Topic

Lecture 2 will assists you in the generation of ideas, which will help you to choose a suitable research topic, and offers advice on what makes a good research topic.

After your idea has been generated and refined, we will discuss how to turn this idea into a clear research question(s) and objectives.

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Lecture 3: Literature Review

Lecture 3 evaluates what a critical review needs to include and the range of primary, secondary and tertiary literature sources available.

We will explain purpose of reviewing the literature, how to discuss a range of search strategies, and how to plan and undertake your search and to write your review.

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Lecture 4: Approaches

Lecture 4 addresses the issue of understanding different research philosophies, including positivism, realism, interpretivism and pragmatism. Within this the functionalist, interpretive, radical humanist and radical structuralist paradigms are discussed.

Lecture 4 will challenge you to think about your own values and how you view the world and the impact this will have on the way you undertake your research.

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Lecture 5: Ethics

In Lecture 5 we will explore issues related to gaining access and to research ethics.

We will discuss how to gain access both to organisations and to individuals using both traditional and Internet-mediated strategies.

In addition, potential ethical issues will be discussed in relation to each stage of the research process and different data collection methods.

Issues of data protection will be introduced.

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Lecture 6: Observations and Interviews

Lectures 6 is concerned with collecting primary data through observation. Practical advices are offered, and particular attention is given to ensuring that the data you obtain are both valid and reliable.

In addition, we will discuss how to collect primary data, through interviews. The appropriateness of using these interviews in relation to research strategy is discussed. Particular attention is given to ensuring that the data collected are both reliable and valid.

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Lecture 7: Questionnaires

Lecture 7 deals with self-administered and interviewer-administered questionnaires, and explores their advantages and disadvantages.

Practical advice is offered on the process of designing, piloting and administering data through questionnaires. Particular attention is again given to ensuring that the data collected are both reliable and valid.

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Lecture 8: Selecting Samples

In Lecture 8 we will introduce the two basic approaches to sampling: probabilistic and non-probabilistic. If the purpose of your research is to draw conclusions or make predictions affecting the population as a whole, then you must a use probabilistic sampling approach.

If we are only interested in seeing how a small group, perhaps even a representative group, is doing for purposes of illustration or explanation, then we can use a non-probabilistic sampling approach.

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Lecture 9: Analysing Quantitative Data

Lecture 9 illustrates the main issues that we need to consider when preparing data for quantitative analysis and when analysing these data by computer. Methods will be given on how to offer analysis of these data using computer-based analysis software.

The most appropriate diagrams to explore and illustrate data are discussed and suggestions are made about the most appropriate statistics to use to describe data, to explore relation- ships and to examine trends.

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Lecture 10: Secondary Data

In Lecture 10 we will discuss the use of secondary data. These statistics can be useful to researchers because they are an easily obtainable and comprehensive source of information that usually covers long periods of time.

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Lecture 11

Lecture 11 deals with the structure, content and style of the final project report.

Lecture 12

Lecture 12 offers a review and assignment advices.

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References

Gay, L. R. Mills, G. E. and Airasian. P. W. (2008). Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Saunders, M. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012). Research Methods for Business Students. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

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