“What professors do in their classes matters far less than what they ask their students to do.” Halpern & Hakel (2003) “To the university and beyond: teaching.

“What professors do in their classes matters far less than what they ask their students to do.”

Halpern & Hakel (2003) “To the university and beyond: teaching for long-term retention and transfer” Change vol. 35 no. 4

BAM201 Research Skills

Business and Management

First… we’re going to snowball…

• What information do you need or

want about this module? Make a list.

• Compare and discuss your list with a

partner. Agree a new joint list.

• Discuss how you might best obtain

this information.

About BAM201

• Preparation for final year projects.

• Practical…

• but also seeking to develop your

conceptions of knowledge,

research and quality.

BAM201 assessment

• You will do some research!

–Collect some data and analyse it.

• You may choose your research

methods but the research must

be qualitative in character.

Aims for this session

• Clarify our thinking about what

research is.

• Reflect on our existing skill set.

Activity 1

Try out your questions on at least two other students

Pass a copy of your questions to them and let them write on their answers

Skills (A non-exhaustive list)

• Library search

• Critical thinking (argument analysis)

• Creative thinking

• Teamwork skills

• Project management

• Question design

• Interview skills

What is research anyway?

What’s it for? Who is it for?

How important is research to businesses?

What kinds of research do businesses do?

In pairs consider the following…

Research

Research may be descriptive – to find out what’s going on… how the world is

Research

Research may be explanatory– to find out why what’s going on is going on… why the world is the way the world is

Research

But what should count as evidence?

What kind of data is ‘legitimate’ and what is not?

Think about your previous research

• The data must be valid.– It must measure the phenomena we

want to talk about, eg customer satisfaction

• The data must be reliable.–Re-measuring using the same

method should give the same answer.

Research

Activity 2

Research approaches

• The so-called ‘positivist’ approach stresses measurability and quantification

• The so-called ‘interpretivist’ or ‘ethnographic’ approach stresses the discovery of meaning and research subjects’ interpretations

Research approaches

• The so-called ‘positivist’ approach stresses measurability and quantification– Research on the relationship between

profitability and firm size could be an example

Research approaches

• The so-called ‘interpretivist’ or ‘ethnographic’ approach stresses the discovery of meaning and research subjects’ interpretations– Research on business cultures could

exemplify this approach

Research approaches

• The so-called ‘positivist’ approach stresses measurability and quantification

• The so-called ‘interpretivist’ or ‘ethnographic’ approach stresses the discovery of meaning and research subjects’ interpretations

What data collection methods are best suited to these two approaches?

Research approaches

• The so-called ‘positivist’ approach stresses measurability and quantification

• The so-called ‘interpretivist’ or ‘ethnographic’ approach stresses the discovery of meaning and research subjects’ interpretations

When might a firm want some research done of each type?

Research v consultancy

• Research is done to create and share knowledge

• Consulting is done for a private entity – it’s not intended to be shared

• Both need to be done rigorously and both need to draw on existing knowledge – reference it!

Research v consultancy

• To be shared in the public domain, research must be connected with existing knowledge– A literature review should explain how

the new knowledge created ‘fits in’

• This may not be needed in consulting but the consultant should still include discussion of how she’s drawn on existing knowledge

Data collection

• Have a clear research question or objective – be clear what you’re trying to find out

• Think about what this requires you to investigate

• Then think about the data that would enable you to answer your question

Inter-session tasks (see website)

• Read the module handbook

• Read the extract from Piore (1979)

• Look through text books (reading list on the website)