Bachelor
2021/2022
Research Seminar "Business Research Methods"
Type:
Compulsory course (International Business and Management Studies)
Area of studies:
Management
Delivered by:
Department of Management
When:
3 year, 2-4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
Contact hours:
50
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Research skill is one of the essential skills to develop critical thinking that any manager should possess. Moreover, a manager is expected to demonstrate this skill in a variety of situations where the level of uncertainty, as well as the cost of a managerial decision, is high. Both strategic and tactical levels of managerial decisions can be addressed with the use of research skills. By focusing on the overall understanding of the research process and on developing research skills, this course prepares the students for their start across a range of different professional contexts – as a manager in any management-related fields, management consultants, and researcher. The course is structured around four modules. They are the foundations of the research, research implementation, introduction to the qualitative and quantitative research design, reporting and communication of the research results. Specifically, these four modules cover the main stages of the research process, including the formulation and justification of a research question, analysis of the previous literature on the research topic and its summary, development of an appropriate research methodology, data collection, description of the results and their presentation.
Learning Objectives
- This course aims to form the overall understanding of the research process and to develop research skills and research competencies.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- to develop a research design inclining all required stages as 1) selection and justification of data collection methods; 2) development of forms/code for data collection; 3) selection and justification of data analysis methods; 4) justification of sampling approach. All this should be consistent with the research question and justified by the previous studies carried out in the same research filed
- to develop research skills and competencies by analyzing and evaluating both existing studies and studies in progress and by elaborating their own study
- to differentiate the main terms related to the research process (research gap, research question, research philosophy, inductive/deduction, research design, research methods, etc.)
- to formulate a justified (by literature) research question that is also meaningful for managerial practice
- to know the main stages of the research process
Course Contents
- Implementation of the research: theoretical background
- Reporting and communication findings.
- Implementation of the research: introduction to quantitative and qualitative methodologies
- The conception of the research.
Assessment Elements
- In-class activitiesIn-class assignments are an important part of the formative assessment. They help students trace their learning progress and allow the instructor to identify and remediate the knowledge gaps. As a rule, in-class assignments are designed either to enhance students’ understanding of specific terms and concepts or develop their research competencies and skills.
- Homework 1Homework 1 includes group assignments given to complete at home, two will be evaluated by the instructors. Homework is graded in accordance with the criteria provided below. Additional details, deadlines, and evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor. This assignment is due in Module 2.
- Homework 2Homework 2 includes group assignments given to complete at home, two will be evaluated by the instructors. Homework is graded in accordance with the criteria provided below. Additional details, deadlines, and evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor. This assignment is due in Module 3.
- Group peer-reviewThe students write 1) an introduction of their paper that introduces the topic, research motivation, and the posed research questions; 2) and write a literature review that can be ended with hypotheses/propositions. The text will be peer-reviewed by the other groups of students.
- An extended abstractThe students write an extended abstract that should introduce the topic, research questions, and/or hypotheses/propositions, provide literature analysis, describe methodology (including the sample, methods (will be) utilized, statistical analyses (will be) carried out), the results of the work (or expected results), and the potential contribution of this study and managerial implications. The extended abstract will be reviewed by the master students of the other managerial program.
- Final presentationThe final presentation implies the usage of key structural elements of the term paper that were covered during the course. For this presentation, students are required to use multimedia tools – e.g., PowerPoint slides. Students are not allowed to read text from notecards or from the computer. The timing of the final presentation is no more than 10 minutes. All students of the team are required to be present during the presentation. The students are expected to answer the instructors’ follow-up questions. Additional details, deadlines, and evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor.
- ExamThis is a multiple-choice, yes/no, and fill-in-the-blanks type of exam given in an electronic format during the finals week. The exam consists of 30 questions and lasts 30 minutes. The exam includes key concepts covered from the beginning of the course. Students take this exam individually. Only the final grade is rounded up by means of simple arithmetic rounding.
Interim Assessment
- 2021/2022 4th module0.2 * Exam + 0.1 * In-class activities + 0.1 * Group peer-review + 0.2 * Final presentation + 0.15 * Homework 1 + 0.1 * An extended abstract + 0.15 * Homework 2
