CAVENDISH UNIVERSITY
Faculty of Business, Finance & Management
BBA 413 - Research Methods
SYLLABUS AND DETAILED COURSE GUIDE
Part 1: Course Description and Resources
Lecturer/Facilitator: Peter Kanyinji
Office: Cavendish House; 2nd Floor, Lecturers’ Office
Office Hours: Mondays to Fridays
Office Telephone: +260211387624
Lecturer’s E-mail: pkanyinji@[Link]
Course Description
Research Methods is a fundamental course for all degree students at
Cavendish University Zambia. All student must pass the module before they
could undertake dissertation or research projects
Prerequisites
All degree students who have at least finished up to year two (2) of their
course. The course cuts across all modules and it requires an integration of
all specialties
Required Books and Articles
- Bryman & Bell, 2011, Business research methods, Oxford University Press
- Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson
Education
- Sekaran & Rogers, 2009, Research methods for business, A skill building approach
- Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005, Research methods in Business studies, a Practical guide
Course Delivery
The course will be taught in the following manner described below:
Lectures: This will be the main mode of delivery. Lectures will taught using
PowerPoint. Module notes will be given to students which are not
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comprehensive but to the point
Discussions: This will done at the end of each section. Discussions are
important to have interactive learning
Group work or teamwork: Assignments will be inform of a dissertation
proposal writing done individually or in groups
Part 2: Student Learning Outcomes
General Learning Outcomes for employability:
Use and compare different research methodologies, explain how different methods
complement each other and examine when one might be more appropriate than
another.
Demonstrate a clear understanding of type and source of business data and data
handling techniques.
Analyse quantitative and qualitative business/management data and arrive at
appropriate conclusions.
Assess and use appropriate research methods in applied in business and
management situations.
Design, conduct and record research in business and management.
Critically evaluate research methods used in an applied business/management
situation.
TOPIC ONE –
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH
1.1 Concept of research
1.2 Characteristics
1.3 purpose of research
1.4 Nature of business research
1.5 Epistemological consideration
1.6 Ontological consideration
1.7 Theory and Research
1.7.1 Inductive (theory building)
1.7.2 Deductive ( testing theory)
1.8 Research process
1.9 Attributes of a good research topic
1.9.1 Motivation,
1.9.2 support,
1.9.3 creativity,
1.9.4 Personal qualities)
Readings:
Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson Education
( P. 122-125)
Page 2
Research books -
[Link]
ethods+pdf
[Link]
[Link]
Research_Methodology_A_Step-by-Step_G.pdf
Free online videos: Find appropriate free videos for each week’s topic
[Link]
Problems to solve for the week
a) Identify main characteristics of research
b) Differentiate between epistemology and ontology
c) Discuss the features of research purpose
TOPIC TWO –
3.0 FORMULATING & CLASSIFYING RESEARCH TOPIC &
RESEARCH PROBLEM
a) Research ideas
3.a.1 Generating research ideas: Organizations,
universities, literature reviews, new terms, vertical
& horizontal analysis)
b) Re-fining research ideas
3.b.1 Delphi, preliminary study
Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson Education
(P. 25-65)
Online books
[Link]
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[Link]
Online videos
[Link]
TOPIC THREE –
4.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
a) Developing the problem
b) literature search and strategy
c) Literature source
4.c.1 Primary source
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4.c.2 Secondary source
4.c.3 Tertiary source
d) Literature source strategy
e) Plagiarism
Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson Education
(P. 70)
Online reading
[Link]
[Link]
Books%20(part%201%20of%203)/A%20Practical%20Research%20Methods%20-
%[Link]
TOPIC FOUR –
5.0 RESEARCH STRATEGY (Research Onion approach)
a) Criteria in business
b) Replication
c) Validity
d) Purpose of research
5.d.1 Exploratory
5.d.2 Descriptive
5.d.3 Explanatory
e) Research designs & clear research strategy
5.e.1 Experiment
5.e.2 Survey
5.e.3 Case study
5.e.4 Action research
5.e.5 Grounded theory
5.e.6 Ethnography
5.e.7 Archival research
f) Time Horizons
5.f.1 Cross-sectional studies
5.f.2 Longitudinal studies
g) Credibility of research findings
5.g.1 Reliability
5.g.2 Validity
5.g.3 Generalizability
Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson Education
(P.167)
Readings
Page 4
Research books -
[Link]
ethods+pdf
[Link]
[Link]
Research_Methodology_A_Step-by-Step_G.pdf
Free online videos: Find appropriate free videos for each week’s topic
[Link]
TOPIC FIVE –
6.0 ETHICS OF RESEARCH DESIGN
a) Ethical principles
6.a.1 Harm to participants
6.a.2 Lack of informal consent
6.a.3 Invasion of privacy
6.a.4 Deception
b) Ethical & legal consideration
6.b.1 Data management
6.b.2 Copy right
6.b.3 Reprocity ad trust
6.b.4 Affiliation and conflicts of interest
- Bryman & Bell, 2011, Business research methods, Oxford University Press
- Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson
Education
- Sekaran & Rogers, 2009, Research methods for business, A skill building approach
- Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005, Research methods in Business studies, a Practical guide
TOPIC SIX –
7.0 DATA SOURCE & SELECTING SAMPLES
a) Types of business Data
7.a.1 Data
7.a.2 Information
b) Qualitative & Quantitative Data
7.b.1 Quantitative data
7.b.2 Qualitative information
c) Source of Business Data
d) Internal sources of information
e) External source of information
f) Sampling techniques
7.f.1 Probability samples
7.f.1.1 Simple random
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7.f.1.2 Stratified random
7.f.1.3 Systematic
7.f.1.4 Cluster
7.f.2 Non-Probability samples
7.f.2.1 Quota
7.f.2.2 Snow ball
7.f.2.3 Convenience
7.f.2.4 Purposive
7.f.2.5 Self-selection
7.f.3 Target population
7.f.4 Sample size
Reading
- Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson
Education
- Sekaran & Rogers, 2009, Research methods for business, A skill building approach
- Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005, Research methods in Business studies, a Practical guide
Online reading
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
TOPIC SEVEN –
8.0 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
a) Data collection techniques
8.a.1 Interview
8.a.2 Observations
8.a.3 Documents
TOPIC EIGHT –
9.0 ANALYSING QUALITATIVE DATA
a) Thematic approach
b) Content analysis
c) Grounded theory
TOPIC NINE –
10.0 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH –
a) Collecting data
b) Formulating hypothesis
c) Null hypothesis
d) Alternative hypothesis
e) Correlation designs
10.e.1 Positive correlation
10.e.2 Negative correlation
10.e.3 No correlation
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f) Questionnaire development
Text books
- Saunders, Lewin, & Thornhill, 2009, Research Methods for business students, Pearson
Education
- Sekaran & Rogers, 2009, Research methods for business, A skill building approach
- Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2005, Research methods in Business studies, a Practical guideding
-
Online reading
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
Online videos
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
TOPIC TEN –
11.0 ANALYSING QUANTITATIVE DATA
a) Goals of data analysis
11.a.1 How to get a feel of results, measures & response (Frequency
distribution, bar charts, Histograms)
11.a.2 Identify average values and variability – measures of central
tendency and dispersion (Central tendency - the mean, the
median, the mode) (measures of X2 test) (Correlations)
11.a.3 Aspect of Statistical inference (inferences, statistical
significance, power of significance test, significance test of
average measures in two unrelated samples etc.)
12.0 TOPIC ELEVEN –
a) USING SPSS FOR WINDOWS
12.a.1 Defining variables
12.a.2 Variable names
12.a.3 Missing values
12.a.4 Variable labels
12.a.5 Value labels
12.a.6 Recoding variables
12.a.7 Computing new variables
12.a.8 Data analysis
13.0 TOPIC TWELVE – REVISIONS
a) Identify main characteristics of research
b) Differentiate between epistemology and ontology
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c) Discuss the features of research purpose
d) Briefly explain the difference between inductive and deductive
reasoning in research
e) Discuss the methods of refining research ideas
f) How do researcher develop research problems?
g) Differentiate Tertiary from Primary and Secondary sources of
data
h) Identify ethical principles and legal issues in research
i) Identify probability and non-probability samples
j) What are main tools for collecting qualitative and quantitative
data
k) How do you analyse qualitative and quantitative data?
l) Comment what you know about hypothesis
TOPIC THIRTEEN –
14.0 DISSERTATION & DISSERTATION OUTLINE
Title Page
Abstract (2 Pages)
Acknowledgements
Letter of Authenticity or Declaration
List of Acronyms
Table of Contents
List of tables
List of Figures
Appendices
Chapter one:
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
1.2 Problem statement
1.3 Research Purpose
1.4 Rationale of the study
1.5 Objectives of study
1.6 Research hypothesis/Research questions/Propositions
1.7 Significance of the study
Chapter two
2.0 Literature review
2.1 Overview of literature
2.2 Literature review underpinning study (focus on research questions)
2.3 Research variables arising from literature (focus on research questions)
2.4 Conceptual model (focus on research questions)
Chapter three
3.0 Methodology and design
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Approach (either inductive or deductive)
3.3 Research Strategy (either survey, case study, action research, ethnographic, grounded theory,
action
research, archival)
3.4 Sampling frame
3.5 Sample size and sampling techniques (either probability sampling techniques Simple
random, stratified, systematic, cluster, multistage) or non-probability technique (convenient, judgement,
snowball)
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3.6 Operationalization of Research variables (identify indicators to measure)
3.7 Data collection techniques (interviews or questionnaires)
3.8 Data analysis methods (Qualitative or quantitative methods)
Chapter four
4.0 Presentation of Findings
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Presentation of qualitative or quantitative findings
Chapter five
5.0 Analysis of data
5.1 Analysis of overall findings
Chapter six
6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusion & Recommendation
TOPIC FOURTEEN
15.0 EXAMINATION PREPARATION
a) Review of students CAs
b) Preparation of exams
c) Ensure that students are ready and well registered
d) Provide information to academic on class attendance
e) Motivations
Group work and problem solving techniques
Part 4: Grading Policy
Graded Coursework (or CATs), Problem sets (or assignments) and
examinations
ASSESSMENT % OF FINAL GRADE
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Chapter one: 10 marks
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
1.2 Problem statement
1.3 Research Purpose
1.4 Rationale of the study
1.5 Objectives of study
1.6 Research hypothesis/Research
questions/Propositions
1.7 Significance of the study
Chapter two 10 marks
2.0 Literature review
2.1 Overview of literature
2.2 Literature review underpinning study (focus on
research questions)
2.3 Research variables arising from literature (focus on
research questions)
2.4 Conceptual model (focus on research questions)
Chapter three 20 marks
3.0 Methodology and design
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Approach (either inductive or deductive)
3.3 Research Strategy (either survey, case study, action
research, ethnographic, grounded theory, action
research, archival)
3.4 Sampling frame
3.5 Sample size and sampling techniques (either
probability sampling techniques Simple random,
stratified, systematic, cluster, multistage) or non-probability
technique (convenient, judgement, snowball)
3.6 Operationalization of Research variables (identify
indicators to measure)
3.7 Data collection techniques (interviews or
questionnaires)
3.8 Data analysis methods (Qualitative or quantitative
methods)
TOTAL POINTS Out of 100% 40
Letter Grades [to be adjusted to reflect
national regulatory standards – guidance of
Dean and Registrar]
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A+ 100
A 70-74.9
B+ 65-69.9
B 60-64.9
C+ 55-59.9
C 50-54.9
D 40-49.9
E Below 40
Part 5: Course Policies
Class Attendance, Participation and Emergencies
1. Attending classes is mandatory for all students.
2. Participation in group work or teamwork is required whenever such
work is assigned.
3. In case of any emergency that disenables a student from attending
classes or completing work, the student is expected to communicate
with the lecturer or dean as soon as possible.
4. Students with disabilities should inform the dean of the faculty of
any special needs that they may have.
5. Please insert other class rules here
Late Work and Missing Assessments
1. Each student is responsible for making sure that his or her work is
done on time.
2. Any student who misses assessments or misses class should talk to
his or her lecturer/facilitator or professor as soon as possible and
seek the lecturer’s advice on how to make up for work missed or
assessments missed.
3. Students who expect to miss classes or to miss assessments for
health reasons or special family reasons should communicate with
the lecturer or professor for the course as soon as possible.
4. Students should note that there may be a penalty for late work,
and missed assessments. The penalty may include not being
allowed to sit for the final examination.
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5. Students who are unable to keep up with class work should consult
with the course lecturer or faculty dean or dean of students, and
seek advice.
Integrity and Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism
1. All students are expected to abide by the university’s policy on
ethical conduct.
2. Any student involved in cheating in tests, coursework or
examinations will be suspended pending investigations, and may be
expelled from the University.
3. Any student involved in buying or selling tests or examinations will
be suspended from the University pending investigations.
4. Any student involved in using sexual favors in exchange for marks
will be suspended pending investigations, and may be expelled from
the University.
5. Plagiarism means presenting other people’s work from online or
from other sources as your own. Plagiarism is a serious offence and
will not be tolerated, and offenders will fail that particular course.
6. Students are required to read the University’s policy on
examinations.
Make up of Missed Classes
1. There will be special make up classes for each class that is missed
because the lecturer could not come to class on a particular day
2. Students are required to treat make up classes as part of the
regular learning program
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