Centre for Financial & Management Studies (CeFiMS) - University of London

Individual Professional Courses – IPC    

Research Methods [C253]

Introduction

Research plays an essential role in business and in public policy and management. Increasingly, organisations undertake small-scale research projects, to find out about matters relating to the concerns of their organisation or to critically evaluate existing policies. Both commercial firms and government institutions rely upon research to inform their decisions, to test the effectiveness of existing policies, to predict the effects of intended future policies, to understand management processes and decisions and to gain insights into public preferences and opinions about public services.

Whether you are studying this course in order to carry out research in your professional role, to commission and project-manage research conducted by others or to complete a dissertation for your MSc qualification, your ability to appropriately and rigorously design, execute report, and evaluate research is essential.

The range of research issues and research methods available for researchers to use is vast – too vast to be covered in one introductory course. Therefore, this course concentrates on helping you develop a rigorous understanding of the key principles and practice of research that are needed to get a research project up and running.

Aims & Objectives

When you have completed this course, you should feel confident of your ability to conduct an effective research project – for an MSc dissertation, for your professional work or for personal interest. In particular, you will be able to:

• evaluate the relevance and application of the research methods introduced to answer different types of research question

• define and discuss the basic epistemological and ontological concepts related to intellectual enquiry

• analyse and critique the research of others

• choose an appropriate method for investigating your own research question

• carry out an effective and ethical research project – from the proposal initiation stage, through the literature search, data collection and analysis to the final writing-up and presentation of results

• analyse and present qualitative or quantitative data

• evaluate the validity of your own and others’ research

• write up research effectively

Resources

Students receive a looseleaf binder containing eight ‘course units’; these texts are carefully structured to provide the main teaching and are equivalent to traditional course lectures, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the further assigned readings. Two assignments (to be marked by your CeFiMS tutors), and a specimen examination paper are also included within the student pack, along with the following:

Textbooks

John Gill and Phil Johnson (2002) Research Methods for Managers
Kenneth Berk and Patrick Carey (2004) Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel
Kathleen McMillan and Jonathan Weyers (2007) How to Write Dissertations and Project Reports

Course Reader

This is a collection of journal articles and book extracts that are of particular relevance and interest to the topics covered in the course. The unit text provides guidance on how to use the course reader and, again, please use the materials in the course reader as resources to which you can refer whenever you need to.

Case Studies

The research papers are provided, in a separate ‘Casebook’, as examples of the various research techniques taught in the course, and you will be directed to look at them when relevant in the unit text.

Course Timetable

This shows the linkage between the various components of the course and indicates the schedule for reading the texts, submitting assignments, etc.

Course Content

Unit 1: The Nature of Research

• 1.1 What is Research – Pure and Practical?

• 1.2 The Relationship between Theory, Research and Data

• 1.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods in Social Research

• 1.4 Objectivity and Reflexivity

Unit 2: Planning and Designing Research

• 2.1 Planning and Managing Time and Resources

• 2.2 Formulating and Focusing the Research Topic

• 2.3 Choosing a Research Strategy and Design

• 2.4 Ethical Considerations and Issues of Access

Unit 3: Reviewing the Literature and Making Methodological Choices

• 3.1 Introduction

• 3.2 The Purpose of Searching and Reviewing Literature

• 3.3 Planning Your Search of the Literature

• 3.4 Recording the Literature

• 3.5 Writing a Critical Review

• 3.6 Some Common Faults in Literature Reviews

Unit 4: Data

• 4.1 What is Measurement?

• 4.2 Measurement Issues

• 4.3 Data Classification and Why it Matters

• 4.4 Describing Data

• 4.5 Variance and Standard Deviation

• 4.6 Sampling and Selection

Unit 5A: Interviews, Focus Groups and Surveys

• 5A.1 Introduction to the Interview

• 5A.2 Types of Research Interviews

• 5A.3 Administration of Interviews

• 5A.4 When to Use Interviews

• 5A.5 Designing Research Interviews

• 5A.6 Conducting Interviews

• 5A.7 Recording and Transcribing Interviews

• 5A.8 How Do We Know the Informant is Telling the Truth?

• 5A.9 Analysing Interview Data

• 5A.10 What is a Questionnaire?

• 5A.11 Types and Administration of Questionnaires

• 5A.12 Constructing Questionnaires

• 5A.13 Coding Questions

• 5A.14 Pilot-Testing Questionnaires

• 5A.15 Ethics in Questionnaire Research

• 5A.16 Data Analysis

• 5A.17 Conclusion

Unit 5B: Introduction to Data Analysis I

• 5B.1 Introduction to Data Analysis

• 5B.2 Probability Distributions

• 5B.3 Hypothesis Testing

• 5B.4 Concluding Remarks

Unit 6A: Fieldwork and Observation

• 6A.1 What is Ethnography? An Overview

• 6A.2 The Emergent Nature of Research Design, Data Collection and Analysis Research Methods

• 6A.3 Identifying the Research Topic and Conducting Fieldwork

• 6A.4 Roles and Relationships in Field Observation

• 6A.5 Note-Taking and Types of Research Notes

• 6A.6 Analysing Data and Writing Ethnographic Accounts

• 6A.7 An Overview of Action Research

• 6A.8 What is Participatory Action Research?

• 6A.9 Conducting Participatory Evaluation

• 6A.10 Data Analysis in Dissemination of Results in PAR and Participatory Evaluation

Unit 6B: Introduction to Data Analysis II

• 6B.1 Non-Parametric Analysis

• 6B.2 Simple Tests for Categorical Data

• 6B.3 Multivariable Analysis – Correlation

• 6B.4 Multivariable Analysis – Simple Linear Regression

• 6B.5 Concluding Remarks

Unit 7: Validity and Reliability

• 7.1 Introduction

• 7.2 Threats to Internal Validity

• 7.3 Threats to External Validity

• 7.4 Threats to Validity in Qualitative Research

• 7.5 Triangulation as a Solution to Validity Threats

• 7.6 Examples

• 7.8 Concluding Remarks

Unit 8: Writing and Presenting Research

• 8.1 Writing Research Proposals

• 8.2 Writing Research Reports

• 8.3 Ethics in Reporting Research

• 8.4 Evaluating Your Research Report

Tuition & Assessment

There will be two assignments (30%) and a written examination (70%)

For students intending to proceed to a dissertation the second assignment will consist of an elaboration of a research topic and research methodology for that dissertation.