Topic outline
MBA 8109 Research Methods by Dr. Elizabeth Muthuma and Dr. Christopher Ouma
Core Text: Research Methods for Business Students
Reading Materials: Guide to Research for MBA Dissertations
Basic elements of scientific research
- Explain concepts and operational definitions in research (variables, hypotheses, theory, models)
Choosing research topics and formulating research problems
- Distinguish between a research topic and a research problem Develop research objectives and questions
Review of literature
- Evaluate literature sources Prepare an annotated bibliography
- Develop a theoretical or conceptual framework
Ethical issues in research
- Discuss the importance of research ethics and the need to act ethically
- Anticipate ethical issues in your research
Research designs
- Explain differences between quantitative, qualitative and multiple method research designs
Measurement
- Explain how variables are measured (operationalization)
- Distinguish types of measurement scales
- Design a measurement instrument (questionnaire)
Population and sampling
- Define the study population
- Explain the nature of sampling and steps in sampling design
- Probability & non-probability sampling
Qualitative methods
- Discuss the use of observation, interviews and focus groups (FGDs) to answer research questions
- Design an interview/ FGD guide
Analysis of qualitative data
- Discuss the main issues to consider in qualitative data analysis (QDA)
- Apply appropriate techniques to undertake QDA
Analysis of quantitative data (primary data)
- Explain the use of descriptive and inferential statistics to interpret primary data
- Discuss how to explore relationships in the data
Presentation of research findings
- Differentiate between a research and a consultancy report
- Discuss the formal content, structure, format and style of the research report