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MGT682: Research Methods
Semester: Academic Year
Credits: 15
Core / Approved Core
Module Leader: Dr Emanuela Girei (e.girei@sheffield.ac.uk Room B 042)
Lecturers: Dr Dragos Adascalitei (d.adascalitei@sheffield.ac.uk)
Dr Sarah Brooks (s.brooks@sheffield.ac.uk)
Dr Emanuela Girei (e.girei@sheffield.ac.uk)
Dr Jo Grady (j.k.grady@sheffield.ac.uk)
Ms Leanne Ingram (lingram1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Mrs Rose Shepherd (rose.shepherd@sheffield.ac.uk)
Tutors: Mr Alber Atom (aatom1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Ms Leanne Ingram (lingram1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Ms Evelyn Lanka (elanka1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Mr Tobias Stadler (t.stadler@sheffield.ac.uk)
Ms Ann-Marie Thomas (AHThomas1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Ms Queyu Ren (qren1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Nature of subject and aims
Appreciating research is important for a variety of reasons (not only the MSc dissertation); in particular, evaluating research reports and papers written by others, commissioning research to help inform management decisions, and planning and undertaking ones own research. Important aspects of this are concerned with understanding how knowledge is produced, the assumptions underpinning the research process, and awareness of research limitations. Research design is often based on competing assumptions about the nature of knowledge, and will therefore be conducted with varying methods and degrees of technical expertise. An understanding of the process of knowledge production will enable students to critically evaluate research results whether other peoples or their own and to plan a realistic research project for their dissertation.
The aims of the module are:
- To enable students to design research of a standard required by a dissertation
- To give students an understanding of research methods which will allow them to critically review published research
- To prepare students for writing a proposal for their own dissertation research
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will have a critical understanding of:
- The nature of management research
- The stages involved in the process of research
- Quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection/generation and analysis
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
- Identify different research methods
- Critically evaluate management research
- Conduct a literature review
- Select and justify research objectives suitable for an MSc dissertation
- Choose methods to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data
- Produce a dissertation proposal
Indicative content
What is research, examples of management research; the philosophy of research; selecting a topic, setting objectives; conducting literature reviews; quantitative research validity and reliability, sampling, questionnaire design, methods of analysis; qualitative research evaluation criteria, interview design, focus groups, qualitative data analysis; negotiating organisational access; case studies; secondary data; ethics.
Delivery Method
Lectures
In semester 1, this module will focus on the planning and design aspects of different types of research. Six general lectures of two hours will be given every second week, starting at week 1 until week 11. These lectures will be supplemented with five subject specific tutorials of one hour, in the alternate weeks, which will start in week 3 and take place every second week until week 12 (see below for more details). There will also be an additional two-hour session dedicated specifically to completing the first assignment (research proposal).
In semester 2, this module will concentrate on the execution of different types of research, including aspects of data collection/generation, analysis and interpretation. Five general lectures of two hours will be given every second week, starting at week 20 until week 32. As in semester 1, these lectures will be supplemented with four specialist tutorials of one hour, starting in week 2 1 and taking place every second week until. In week 34, there will also be an additional two-hour session dedicated specifically to completing the second assignment.
At the end of semester 2 a specialised data analytical skills workshop of three hours will also be offered. This will introduce students to the specialist programmes SPSS or NVivo, depending on the specific research design chosen in their dissertation.
Attendance at lectures is compulsory and attendance records will be taken at the beginning of each lecture.
Tutorials
There will be five tutorials Semester 1 and four tutorials in Semester 2. The aim of each tutorial is to enable students to discuss and explore the issues highlighted in the lectures in more details, to provide students with formative feedback about their understanding of the course from peers and tutors.
Tutorials will be subject area specific (according to the MSc programme being studied) and centred around the development of a team research proposal, which will follow the same format and requirements of the assignments.
The tutorial activities will be available via MOLE in advance. It is important that any required reading or other work is done before a tutorial, so that students come prepared to participate. Students will be expected to hand in their written preparatory work to the tutor and it will be used to provide formative feedback. If
You will need to check your personal timetable to find out which group you have been allocated to. Once you have been allocated to a tutorial group you need to remain in that group for the entire module as registers will be taken at all the tutorial sessions.
Attendance at tutorials is compulsory and all tutors will take attendance records. Should you have to miss a tutorial for any reason, please inform the relevant tutor and make sure you fill in an absence form and return it to the Student Experience Office in advance.
Assessment
To pass this module, students will have to submit two written assignments, each counting 50% towards the overall module grade.
- Assignment 1 this will be a 1,500 word research proposal, which will be submitted at the end of Semester 1. This will count 50% towards the overall module grade.
- Assignment 2 this will be a 1,500 word ethics application, which will be due at the end of Semester 2. This will count 50% towards the overall module grade.
Formative feedback will be provide during tutorials, on the basis of students participation and homework.
In order to pass the Research Methods module overall, students must achieve an average mark of at least 50 across the two assignments.
Students can still pass the module with a soft fail in one of the assignments (a mark of at least 40), providing the average grade achieved is at least 50. However, anyone with a mark of less than 40 in Assignment 1 OR Assignment 2, will definitely need to resit the assignment in the summer period.
More details about the exact requirements for both of these assignments will be given in the first lecture of each semester.
Key text book
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2012). Research Methods for Business Students (6th edition). Harlow: Pearson Education. [The 5th edition is also available as an e-book from the University Library and can be used as well]
Other resources:
Research Methods is a subject where you can use a wide range of text books. More specialist references are given in relation to different topics.
Books general
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods ( 3 rd edition). Oxford University Press. (a more in-depth text with lots of good examples)
Saunders, M., & Lewis, P. (2012). Doing research in business & management: An essential guide to planning your project. FT Prentice Hall. (a more basic level, introductory text)
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2008) Management Research (3rd edition). London: Sage. (focussed specifically on management applications)
Collis, J., & Hussey, R. (2014). Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students (4th edition). Palgrave Macmillan. (particularly useful for practical aspects of research)
Kumar, R. (2014). Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners (4th edition). Sage. (particularly good for conceptualisations of research)
Books specific methods
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd edition). London: Sage.
Burns, B. and Burns, R. (2008) Business research methods and statistics using SPSS. London: Sage.
Cassell, C. & Symon, G. (eds.) (2004) Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research. London: Sage Publications.
Online resources
The Research Methods Knowledge Base http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/ (Good overall resource for many aspects of this module)
CARMA (Center for the Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis) http://carma.wayne.edu/ (Excellent collection of online video lectures by world-leading topic experts)
Please note
The Management School will penalise any form of plagiarism and use of unfair means in the assessment process. The School and the University take the use of unfair means very seriously and will impose penalties. These range from a reduction in marks, an award of zero for the work, to expulsion from the University with removal of all credits. Please be advised that as well as requiring students to submit copies of work electronically in Word files to Turnitin, software that can detect most forms of matched text, random checks will be made of these files to check for authenticity and authorship. In addition, students may be asked to undertake an interview to confirm that work submitted is the result of their own endeavours. Such interviews may arise as a result of random checks or in cases where suspicions have been raised by markers.