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Lecture 1:
Introduction & Syllabus
References
References
Main textbook
Ghauri, Pervez and Kjell Gronhaug, Research Methods
in Business Studies, 4th Edition, Prenctice Hall
Supplementary references
Field, Andy, Discovering Statistics using SPSS, 4th
Edition, MobileStudy
Tan, Willie, Practical research methods, 3rd Edition
Mason, E J and W J Bramble, Understanding and
Conducting Research, 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill
(c) LChin AY201415
RE3201
Research Methods in
Business Studies, 4/E
Author
: Ghauri
Publisher : Pearson
ISBN
: 9780273712046
Basis of Assessment
Tutorial Participation (10%)
Individual Project (40%)
2-hour Written Open-book Exam
(50%)
Announcements
Tutorial 1 begins on 4th Week
Questions will be posted on IVLE
Even week groups beginning on 5 Feb
No lecture on 20 January
I will be away to participate in Pacific Rim
Real Estate Conference
Lecture Topics
RESEARCH
What is research? Why do research
Latest...
Latest
Straits Times 6 January 2015
Research
Google' is not a synonym for
'research'.
Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol
Research is the process of going up
alleys to see if they are blind.
Marston Bates
Research consists in seeing what
everyone else has seen, but thinking
what no one else has thought.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
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Meaning
The word research is derived from the French
language and its literal translation is to
investigate thoroughly.
In the broadest sense, research means to find
out something that we dont know. However,
it is not just about asking what? or who?; it
also requires us to ask why?
Objectives
Hence, research may be described as an
active, systematic process of inquiry that is
carried out with the intention of:
Describing
Understanding and explaining
Predicting
Need to analyse
We really cannot take decisions on important
issues unless we investigate more deeply the
relevant info, gathering more info on the
subject matter we are interested in.
Then we analyse all these info to make an
informed judgement about the suitable
solution to our problem or answer to our
question(s).
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Types of Research
Applied Research
In general, applied research is not carried out for its own sake
but in order to solve specific, practical questions or problems.
It tends to be descriptive, rather than exploratory and is often
based upon pure research.
However, the distinction between applied and pure research
may sometimes be unclear; for example, is research into the
genetic codes of plants being carried out simply to advance
knowledge or for possible future commercial exploitation?
It could be argued that the only real difference between these
two categories of research is the length of time between
research and reasonably foreseeable practical applications,
either in the public or private sectors.
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Peace Park
at Nagasaki
Stephen Hawking
is an English theoretical
physicist, cosmologist, author
and Director of Research at the
Centre for Theoretical
Cosmology within the
University of Cambridge
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Theory
Hypothesis
Observations
Accept
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Inductive reasoning
Inductive reasoning works the other way, moving
from specific observations to broader
generalizations and theories.
Informally, we sometimes call this a "bottom up"
approach.
In inductive reasoning, we begin with specific
observations and measures, begin to detect
patterns and regularities, formulate some
tentative hypotheses that we can explore, and
finally end up establishing some general
conclusions or theories.
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Theory
Hypothesis
Pattern
Observations
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Concluding comments
Research questions starts when we want
to know why and/or we wish to find an
answer or solution.
Need to find a topic that one is
interested in, i.e. search for a doable
research topic
References
Ghauri & Gronhaug, Research Methods in
Business Studies, Chapters 1 & 2
Practical Research Methods, Chapter 1