Order 1246661: Business Research Methods
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w1-Introductiontomoduleandthenatureofresearch.pptxBA5004 Business Research Methods: W1 introduction to module
Dr Jo Cartwright
Outline for today
Introduction to the module
Aims and learning outcomes
Assessments and deadlines
Content, lecturer and rooming
The research process
Choosing a research topic
Teaching staff
Module leader and quantitative research methods:
Dr Yaz Djebbour ([email protected] )
Qualitative research methods:
Dr Jo Cartwright ([email protected] )
Other lecturers
Riette Van Wijnen ([email protected])
Martin Topple ([email protected])
Introduction to module
This module introduces students to the essential methodologies, approaches and tools for business research.
The module takes over from the skills picked up at level 4 in particular, the quantitative and qualitative skills taught and assessed in various modules.
It explores some of the philosophies and theoretical perspectives underpinning the many different ways of conducting research as well as providing practical examples and guidance on how research should be planned and implemented. This module also provides a grounding to the final year dissertation for the Business and Management and related courses.
Introduction to the module
The module enables students to gain lifelong and employability skills such as planning, searching, reading, gathering and analysing data, writing and referencing. It provides students with technological tools to achieve the necessary results efficiently.
The module helps students to reflect on how research has enabled global organisations with their integrated and interdependent challenges to adapt to the uncertain world.
The module introduces students to the key and current business concepts and their operationalisation through a simple review of the literature. In doing so, it enables students to deal with conflicting issues of ethics and equality.
The key skills taught and assess on the module will include advanced use of Excel and/or SPSS, data analysis (Statistical and Thematic) and reporting.
Module aims
The module aims to provide the opportunity for students to synthesise, integrate and develop their learning from related modules through an in-depth exploration of a current issue in business and management and the development of a substantiated research proposal into that issue.
It develops students’ critical awareness of issues and controversies in the field of business and management linked to possible approaches of further academic research into that field.
It develops their skills of identifying, formulating and analysing problems and issues, develops their familiarity with a range of data and resources and provides an opportunity to engage with the practical concerns of researching a chosen field.
Above all, its aim is to develop student skills in independent study, and in formulating and presenting their own ideas and conclusions in a coherent and persuasive style.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
Apply a qualitative methodology based on a published literature [LO1]
Formulate research questions and use an appropriate qualitative analysis [LO2]
Apply a quantitative methodology based on a published literature [LO3]
Formulate research questions and use an appropriate quantitative analysis [LO4]
Assessment details
| Description of Assessment | % weighting | Week Due | Learning Outcome/s | |
| Coursework | A literature review of a current business concept | 20% | 6 | LO1 |
| Coursework | A thematic analysis of a business concept | 30% | 14 | LO2 |
| Coursework | A quantitative data analysis of a current business concept. | 50% | 28 | LO3 |
Assessments for the qualitative research
Annotated literature map on a research topic of your choice [LO1]
A qualitative interview which is transcribed and analysed using one of the techniques taught on the course. [LO2]
Assessment 1
You are being asked to produce a (a) diagram or picture of the literature based on a research problem you are interested in and (b) an annotation/written analysis of what you produce.
For the map, you may choose a visual format and suggestions may be a Venn diagram, mind-map or time chart. You might take particular ideas or concepts as units of analysis and map different aspects, or map the different authors or their contributions around these.
There should then be some accompanying annotation/written analysis which provides an explanation of the map in relation to your chosen research topic/problem. This means that you will need to explain your research topic/problem initially in order for the reader to make sense of your diagram and analysis. You should then identify what you will treat more fully in the literature review chapter, and what you will treat more briefly. – approx. 1,500 words.
Assessment 2
The assignment requires you to conduct a qualitative interview, to analyse the data from this interview, and to write a report based on this.
Stage 1 - you are required to conduct a brief qualitative interview with an individual on a topic of interest related to your course. The interview should last about twenty minutes and should be audio recorded.
Stage 2 - you are required to produce a transcript of the interview. This must be included in the appendix of the assignment. It is expected that the record will be approximately 4 pages long
Stage 3 - you will conduct an analysis of your interview data using any recognised form of qualitative data analysis technique, e.g., template analysis or content analysis.
Assessment 2 – cont...
The assignment format
The assignment should be produced in a discursive (essay) format and address the following questions:
Write an account of the data collection and analysis process. This should be approximately 1,500 words long and should include:
A short introduction that covers the topic of the interview and an overview of the interview schedule. Here you should say what influenced your choice of interview questions.
The rationale for your choice of interview (semi-structured/structured etc) and your analytic strategy (e.g. the reasons and justifications for why you chose thematic analysis or content analysis).
How you conducted the data analysis. You need to make your description of the analysis process as clear and as transparent as possible, so if you are using template analysis you should include information on, for example, how you constructed the template, how you performed the coding process, the final template and why this changed from the initial template.
The findings of your analysis.
Write a 500 word reflective account of your experience conducting qualitative research (interviewing and analysis).
Qual. Assessment deadlines
Assessment one: Monday of week 6
Date: 5th November 2018 by 3pm
Assessment two: Monday of week 14
Date: 21st January 2018 by 3pm
Programme structure (Qualitative research)
Introduction to the module and the nature of research
Research philosophies - the interpretivist and other paradigms
Purpose and method of literature review in qualitative research
Research design and sampling
Validity and reliability in qualitative research.
Fast forward festival
Doing qualitative interviews
Ethical research practice
Qualitative data analysis techniques
NVivo workshop
Reporting and report structure
Drop in session (A2)
Programme structure
Most weeks will involve a formal lecture with some workshop related content
Each week will build on the other and the aim is to give you an insight into the research process, as well as practical experience putting your new research skills into practice through the assessments
IF YOU DO NOT PREPARE BEFORE THE WORKSHOP THEN IT WILL NOT WORK!!
It will be necessary to identify a topic of interest in which to conduct a literature review analysis, base a qualitative interview on as well as analyse using the techniques taught in class.
It is therefore important you start considering a topic of interest - this could change across the module but it might be easier to stick with the same one (i.e. developing a set of interview questions for A2 will be much simpler if you have already conducted the literature analysis for it in A1).
Recommended texts: qualitative research
Bryman, A and Bell, E (2015) Business Research Methods, Oxford: Oxford University (earlier editions are also good)
Cassell, C.M. and Symon, G. (2004) Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research, London: Sage Publications (available as e-book)
Symon, G. and Cassell, C. eds., 2012. Qualitative organizational research: core methods and current challenges. Sage Publications (available as e-book)
Saunders, M., Thornhill, A. and Lewis, P. (2015) Research Methods for Business (available as e-book but earlier editions also good)
Symon, G and Cassell, C (2012) Qualitative Organisational Research, London: Sage.
See Reading list on WebLearn
Any questions?
What is business research?
Wilson, in his book “Essentials of Business Research (2014)” defined business research as follows:
It is the systematic and objective process of collecting, recording, analysing and interpreting data for aid in solving managerial problems.
Robert and Richard Burns in their book “Business Research Methods (2008)” defined business research as:
The objective and systematic process of obtaining, recording, analysing and interpreting data to discover new information or relationships or expend existing knowledge to remove uncertainty for business decision making.
Most authors classify business research in two ways.
Basic research
Applied research
It is academic research on topics relating to questions relevant to business and management
Basic research
This type of research aims to extend the frontiers of knowledge. Business research includes studies that draws on the social sciences and economics for conceptual and theoretical inspiration.
It may be motivated by developments and changes in organisations and societies – such as the concern for rising levels of executive pay or issues of resourcing (in certain sectors) in the context of Brexit.
Basic research may lack practical application in the short term.
Applied research
This type of research focuses on solving a particular business problem. This could be as simple as “searching the reasons for the drop in sales for the traditional pies” or “whether there is any association between the in-store music and customers’ satisfaction”.
Most business research tends to fall into the applied category.
Applied research may lack generalisation or replicability.
Basic and applied research
Why do business research?
Academics conduct research because in the course of reading the literature on a topic or reflecting on what is going on in organisations, questions occur to them
They may notice a gap in the literature or an inconsistency between a number of studies or an unresolved issue in the literature
Another rationale is societal development that provides for the development of another research question e.g. Brexit
There is no single reason why people do business research but at its core it is done because there is an aspect which is believed to be inadequately understood
The process of business research
Choosing the topic (we will come back to it later)
Literature review
Concepts and theories
Research questions
Sampling
Data collection
Data analysis
Writing up
Importance of the literature & context
Business research and the associated methods do not exist in a vacuum. The following form part of the context in which business research takes place:
The topics of business research are profoundly influenced by the available theoretical positions
If a researcher was interested in how retail managers recruit people on the basis of the way they look, they would need to consider the literature on aesthetic labour (or Nepotism)
This means that someone planning to conduct research must be familiar with the literature on the area of interest
You must be familiar about what is already known and build on it
Business research operates within a wider environmental context (social, political, economic and technological) which must be reflected in the analysis
Literature review
Existing literature represents an important element in all research. We must determine:
What is already known about the topic
What theories/concepts have been applied to it
What research methods have been applied in studying it
What controversies exist about the topic and how it is studied
What clashes of evidence there are
Who the key contributors are
Linking your research questions, findings, and discussion to existing literature is a useful way of demonstrating credibility of your research and contribution to knowledge
Must show how your research fits with current debates and its significance in relation to this
Concepts and theories
Concepts are the way we make sense of the social world
They are the labels we give to aspects of the social world that seem to have significant common features
Concepts such as Taylorism, McDonalisation, the employment relationship, engagement, alienation are all part of the theory that generations of social scientists have constructed
These help us organise and signal our research interests
One reason why familiarity with the research is so important is to alert us to important concepts already in use
This allows us to analyse how useful or limited those concepts are in relation to our research
What are research questions?
Seven broad types using the example of equality and diversity:
Predicting an outcome (e.g. is a more inclusive work environment associated with investment in line manager training)
Explaining causes and consequences of a phenomenon (e.g. is a high incidence of discrimination affected by the lack of line manager training or a consequence of a male dominated corporate culture and long working hours?)
Evaluating a phenomenon (e.g. does investing in inclusivity training exhibit the benefits that it is claimed to have)
Describing a phenomenon (e.g. what is an inclusive work environment and what does this look like in practice)
Developing good practice (e.g. how can we improve inclusivity in the workplace)
Empowerment (e.g. how can we enhance the lives of those we research)
Comparison (e.g. do public and private sector organisations differ in terms of inclusivity)
Research questions
Research questions are important in the research process because they force you to consider the most basic of issues
WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW?
Most people begin research with a general idea of what they are interested in
Research questions require you to be much more specific about what you want to find out
Having no research question or a loosely/poorly articulated one will lead to poor research
A well designed survey or skilled interviewer cannot overcome the limitations of a poorly articulated research question
Research questions
Well articulated research questions are crucial to guide:
Your literature search
The methods you employ
Decisions about what data to collect
How to analyse the data
How to write up the data
Stop you going on tangents
Provide your readers with a clear sense of what your research is about
Sampling
The principle of sampling is based on the construction of a sample that is representative (and can therefore act as a microcosm of) a wider population
Representative of what population? Wider population? Of the sector or organisation you are focusing on?
Sampling
In business research, we are rarely in a position that we can interview, observe or survey all the individuals who are appropriate for our sample
Time and cost constraints mean we cannot include all the individuals we would like in our sample
So instead the aim is to sample a population that is as representative of the wider population as possible
Data collection
Data collection is the key point of any research project
Some methods require a structured approach that the researcher establishes in advance e.g. a questionnaire which asks individuals specific research questions
Others require a more unstructured approach, using methods that emphasise an open ended view to allow for new ideas to emerge from the data
Data analysis
This might mean the statistical interpretation of data for structured data collection methods (e.g. questionnaire results)
It may also be in the managing of raw data i.e. audio recording, transcribing and coding interview data
This means writing up an interview and breaking down each component and giving it labels related to the relevant concepts/theories
This stage is fundamentally about data reduction i.e. reducing the large amount of information in order to make sense of it
For qualitative data this is about grouping text material into useful categories such as themes, or in the case of survey data by producing averages and tables
Writing up
All research projects will include:
An introduction
Setting out the research and its significance; the research questions may be outlined
Literature review
What is already known about the research is examined critically
Research methods
Sampling, methods of data collection and analysis are presented and justified
Findings
The research findings are presented
Discussion
The findings are discussed in relation to the literature and research questions
Conclusion
The significance of the research is reinforced
Exercise
Have you ever been asked to take part in someone else’s research (e.g. market research or government survey or employee satisfaction survey at work).
If you agreed to assist, why did you so?
If you refused to take part, why was this?
If you took part what satisfaction did you derive from this?
Did anything about the encounter annoy or dissatisfy you?
Were you informed about your rights and/or any ethical issues before you took part?
What suggestions for improvement would you make to the researcher?
Exercise
Handout - identifying your research topic
Choose a topic for your research
Modify, adapt or refine your topic until you are able to sum it up in one sentence
Present your sentence to the rest of your group so that you can receive peer and tutor feedback
You should also be prepared to offer feedback on the sentences of your fellow students
Modify and refine your one sentence summary, if required, after having received feedback
Next week – philosophy and RM
Read chapter 2 in Bryman and Bell 2015
Bring a copy of this article and read/make notes. Be prepared to be asked questions on it: Bryman, A., 1984. The debate about quantitative and qualitative research: a question of method or epistemology?. British journal of Sociology, pp.75-92.
