Research Methods
an 8-week postgraduate course, taken entirely online and in self-paced mode.
Module overview
This module offers students the opportunity and support to plan a research project that they could carry out later, possibly on doctoral level or as part of their professional assignments. Students will be encouraged to engage with the theories and methods underlying business research processes, to critically reflect on their own interests and development, and to determine where they wish to position their own research practice as they move forward from the module.
The main purpose of this Research Methods Course is to introduce students to the advanced quantitative and qualitative methods for conducting meaningful inquiry and business research. They will gain an overview of research intent and design, methodology and technique, format and presentation, and data management and analysis informed by commonly used statistical methods. The focus of this course is not on mastery of statistics but on the ability to plan and conduct an independent research and to use research in the business environment. The course will develop each student’s ability to plan and carry out a research project of their choice.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course students will have demonstrated, through their assessed work, that they have achieved the following learning outcomes:
- To have practical understanding of the research process;
- To identify and articulate a community/business problem and formulate relevant empirical question(s);
- To critically analyse and apply various research methods, tools and techniques;
- To explain, design and apply various data collection and analysis tools and techniques;
- To evaluate various sources of information and to critically use this information in their own research;
- Ability to contextualize and use research skills in their own context (research, business management or consultancy);
- To advise on appropriate ethical considerations in business and academic research well as critical scholarly writing skills;
- To critically reflect upon and apply what you have learned (from both peers and facilitator) to your own professional or personal context;
- Ability to plan and carry out an independent research project.
Course curriculum
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1Module Specifications
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2Week 1: Introduction
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3Week 2: Formulating a problem-based research topic
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4Week 3: Literature Review
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5Week 4: Methodologies
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6Week 5: Data Management & Analysis
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7Week 6: Scholarlyl Writing
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8Week 7-8: Research Proposal Writing