Man 540 Scientific Research Methods - Lecture Notes

MAN 540 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH METHODS

LECTURE NOTES

Course instructor: Teoman Duman, Ph.D.

Course Textbook: Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007). Research Methods for Business Students. 4th Ed. Prentice Hall, New York, USA.

Chapter 1: TheNature of Business and Management Research

• Research is something that people undertake in order to find out things in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge.
• Three modes of research:

• Knowledge creation for academic interests – fundamental, theory building
• The production of practical relevant knowledge
• Knowledge production for common good, for greater (social) concerns.

• The research process – Figure 1.2. shows the research process.
• Types of research study – desciptive, explanatory, predictive research.
• Approaches to business and social research:

• Qualitative research - Quantitative research
• Basic (theoretical) research - Applied research (Figure 1.1.)
• Cross sectional studies - Longitudinal studies

Chapter 2: Formulating and Clarifying the Research Topic

• Attributes of a good research topic – Box 2.2. gives attributes of a good research topic.
• Generating and refining research ideas – Table 2.1. gives techniques for generating and refining research ideas.
• Writing research questions – Table 2.2. gives examples of research ideas and questions.

• Difference between what and why questions

• Writing research objectives – Table 2.3. gives examples of research questions and objectives.
• The importance of theory in writing research questions and objectives

• Theory is a formulation regarding the cause and effect relationships between two or more variables, which may or may not have been tested. Why questions are usually theory questions.
• Exp: A marketing manager may theorize that the introduction of loyalty cards by his/her supermarket will lead to customers being less likely to shop regularly at competitor supermarkets.

• Writing research proposal – Content of the research proposal:

• Title
• Background
• Research questions and objectives
• Method
• Timescale
• Resources – finance, data access and equipment – Figure 2.2. shows a Gantt chart.
• References