BUSI4E615: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

• None.

• As specified in the Special Regulations.

• None

• To provide a comprehensive and critical review of research methods and techniques in business and management.
• To consolodate and extend the advanced statistical and analytical skills acquired during previous modules in the DBA programme.
• To equip the student with the conceptual and practical skills needed to successfully complete the thesis phase of the programme, and to provide a firm foundation for advanced qualitative and qualitative training during that stage.

• Business research strategies
• Principles of research design
• Quantitative methods: Nature of quantitative research; Samples and sampling; Survey design; Structured observation; Content analysis; Secondary data and data sources; Statistical analysis.
• Qualitative methods: Nature of qualitative research; Ethnography and participant observation; Focus groups and interview techniques; Documentary anaysis; Langauge in qualitative research; Working with qualitative data.
• Mixed-methods research strategies;
• Understanding and communicating research outputs.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students should have: a critical awareness and understanding of the nature and range of empirical techniques avaliable to practitioner-researchers in business and management;
• a critical appreciation of the distinctions between quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry, together with the challenges inherit in selecting those techniques appropriate to the current research objectives;
• further enhanced their acquisition of the advanced skills needed to plan, implement, report, and manage a comprehensive programme of research during the theis stage of the DBA.

Subject-specific Skills:

Key Skills:

• The learning outcomes will be met through a combination of lectures; guided reading; individual exercises and the group discussion of case studies, reinforced by IT-based practical classes in the use of both quantitative and qualitative software packages (e.g. SPSS, NVivo)
• The assessment of the module, by practical project, is designed to: Test the acquisition and articulation of knowledge and research skills. Test conceptual understanding and skills of application and interpretation within the business context.

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