Business Essentials Research Project

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 2
Copyright......Page 3
Contents......Page 4
Introduction......Page 6
Study Guide......Page 8
Chapter 1 : INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH PROJECT......Page 10
1.2 Jankowicz’s list of the attributes of a successful project......Page 11
2.1 Pure and applied research......Page 14
2.3 Empirical investigation......Page 15
2.4 Empirical testing and development of a management model......Page 16
2.5 Management problem solving......Page 17
3.1 Introduction......Page 18
3.2 Recommended process......Page 19
3.6 Critical literature review......Page 20
3.9 Complete the dissertation......Page 21
4.1 Introduction......Page 22
4.3 Personal skills......Page 23
4.4 Management skills......Page 24
6.1 The aim of the unit......Page 25
6.3 Links to other elements of your studies......Page 26
7.2 LO1 – a problem of terminology......Page 27
7.3 LO1 – Understand how to formulate a ‘research specification’......Page 28
7.4 Deductive and inductive research......Page 29
7.5 LO2 – Implement the research project within agreed procedures and to specification......Page 30
7.6 Overview of data analysis......Page 32
7.8 Evaluating your research.......Page 33
7.10 Reassessing your objectives.......Page 34
7.12 The objectives of Unit 8.......Page 35
7.15 Future considerations.......Page 36
8.1 The nature of the assessment criteria......Page 37
8.3 What the assessor will be looking for......Page 38
9.2 How long will it take?......Page 40
9.3 Volume......Page 41
Chapter 2 : RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES, METHODOLOGIES AND ETHICS......Page 44
1.2 Positivism......Page 45
1.3 Phenomenology......Page 46
1.4 Pragmatism......Page 47
2.1 Surveys......Page 48
2.2 Experiments......Page 49
2.3 Case studies......Page 50
2.4 Action research......Page 52
2.6 Cross-sectional studies......Page 54
3.1 Validity......Page 55
3.2 Reliability......Page 56
3.3 Generalisability......Page 57
4.4 Researcher’s reputation......Page 58
5.3 Example of use of power......Page 59
6.2 Informed consent......Page 60
6.3 Potential deception of participants......Page 61
6.4 Confidentiality and anonymity......Page 63
6.5 Privacy and dignity......Page 64
6.6 Integrity of evidence......Page 67
7.2 Arguments for and against......Page 69
Chapter 3 : THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL......Page 72
2.1 The need to organise ideas......Page 73
2.3 The requirements of organisational and academic audiences......Page 74
4.1 Sources of information......Page 76
4.3 Examination of your own strengths, weaknesses and interests......Page 77
4.4 Discussions......Page 78
4.5 Exploratory review of literature......Page 79
5 CREATIVE THINKING TECHNIQUES......Page 81
5.1 Notebooks......Page 83
5.3 Relevance trees......Page 84
5.5 Brainstorming......Page 86
5.6 Other sources of ideas for research projects......Page 87
6.2 Evaluation criteria......Page 88
7.2 The Delphi technique......Page 91
7.3 Preliminary studies......Page 92
8.2 Pitfalls......Page 93
9.2 Why access might be difficult......Page 94
9.3 Power relationships and organisational conflict......Page 96
9.4 Creeping expectations......Page 97
9.5 Strategies to gain access......Page 98
10.1 Introduction......Page 103
10.2 Refining research topics......Page 104
10.3 Identifying research questions, research objectives or hypotheses......Page 105
10.4 Research symmetry......Page 107
10.5 Key words......Page 108
11.2 Contents of the proposal......Page 109
11.6 The resources you expect to utilise......Page 110
11.7 Your proposed timescale......Page 111
Chapter 4 : THE LITERATURE SEARCH......Page 114
1.3 Learning approach......Page 115
2.2 Handling what you find......Page 116
2.3 Analysis, synthesis and accurate communication......Page 117
3.1 Primary sources of literature......Page 119
3.2 Secondary sources of literature......Page 120
4.1 Introduction......Page 121
4.2 Defining search parameters......Page 122
5.1 Available approaches......Page 123
5.2 Tertiary literature sources......Page 124
5.3 Using the Internet......Page 128
6.1 Relevance......Page 130
6.2 Sufficiency......Page 131
7.3 Benefits of bibliographical software......Page 132
7.5 What to record......Page 133
8.1 Introduction......Page 134
8.2 Harvard method of citation......Page 135
8.3 Listing references within the Harvard System......Page 136
Chapter 5 : METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION: PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES......Page 140
1 INTRODUCTION......Page 141
1.1 Types of data......Page 142
2.1 The mixed methods approach......Page 144
3.1 Advantages of secondary data......Page 145
3.2 Disadvantages of secondary data......Page 146
4.1 Documentary secondary data......Page 148
4.2 Survey-based secondary data......Page 149
5 SOURCES OF SECONDARY DATA......Page 150
5.2 Finding secondary data......Page 151
7.2 Types of interview......Page 156
7.3 Role of interviews in data collection......Page 157
7.4 Validity......Page 158
7.6 Interviewer effect......Page 159
7.7 Interview skills......Page 160
8.2 The focus group process......Page 162
8.3 Reliability......Page 163
9.3 Phenomenological paradigm......Page 164
9.4 Role of questionnaires......Page 165
9.6 Criteria for using a questionnaire......Page 166
9.7 Dealing with non-responses......Page 169
9.8 Self-selection bias......Page 170
9.9 Identifying the data to be collected......Page 171
9.11 Types of questions......Page 173
9.12 Avoiding pitfalls in questionnaire wording......Page 176
9.13 Questionnaire appearance......Page 179
9.14 Piloting the questionnaire......Page 180
9.15 Coding the responses......Page 181
9.16 Testing for reliability......Page 182
10.3 Probability sampling......Page 184
10.4 Non-probability sampling......Page 190
Chapter 6 : DATA ANALYSIS......Page 196
1.2 Quantifiable data......Page 197
2.1 Data cleaning......Page 199
2.2 Insertion of data into a data matrix......Page 200
2.3 Data coding......Page 201
2.4 Weighting of cases: differential response rates......Page 206
3.1 Frequency distributions......Page 207
3.2 Bar charts......Page 208
3.3 Histograms......Page 209
3.5 Pie charts......Page 211
3.6 Box plots......Page 212
4.1 Contingency tables......Page 213
4.2 Multiple, percentage component and component bar charts......Page 214
4.3 Multiple line graphs and multiple box plots......Page 217
5.1 Scattergraphs......Page 218
6 STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES......Page 219
6.1 Measures of central tendency......Page 220
6.2 Measures of dispersion......Page 221
7.1 Chi-squared test......Page 223
7.2 T-tests......Page 225
7.3 Correlation and regression......Page 226
7.5 Coefficient of determination......Page 227
7.6 Regression equations......Page 228
8.1 Time series analysis......Page 229
8.2 Index numbers......Page 230
9.2 Variety of strategies and approaches......Page 231
9.3 Main approaches to qualitative data analysis......Page 232
10.2 Unitising data......Page 234
11 DEDUCTIVE APPROACH......Page 235
11.4 Explanation-building......Page 236
12.3 Open coding......Page 237
12.6 Using the deductive and inductive approaches together......Page 238
13.3 Self-memos......Page 240
14.2 Databases......Page 241
14.5 A final word .........Page 242
Chapter 7 : PROJECT PRESENTATION......Page 244
2.1 Who are you writing for?......Page 245
2.2 The needs of different audiences......Page 246
3.2 The title page......Page 247
3.4 Acknowledgements......Page 248
3.5 The abstract......Page 249
3.6 The introduction......Page 251
3.7 The literature review......Page 253
3.8 Methodology......Page 255
3.10 Analysis, discussion and conclusions......Page 257
4.2 Making it easier......Page 258
5.2 Using plain English......Page 260
5.3 An effective writing style......Page 263
6.2 Sexist, racist and other offensive language......Page 265
7.1 Revising......Page 266
8 EXAMPLE REPORT......Page 267
10.2 Purpose......Page 271
10.4 Developing content......Page 272
10.5 The introduction......Page 273
10.6 The ‘body’ of the presentation – clarifying the message......Page 274
11.1 Visual aids......Page 276
11.2 What is a PowerPoint presentation?......Page 277
11.3 Creating a basic PowerPoint presentation......Page 278
11.4 Viewing and testing your PowerPoint presentation......Page 283
11.5 AutoContent Wizard......Page 284
Bibliography......Page 290
Appendix: Edexcel Guidelines......Page 294
Index......Page 300