Research Methods for Business Students

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Brief Contents......Page 6
Contents......Page 8
How to use this book......Page 17
Preface......Page 22
Contributors......Page 24
Publisher’s acknowledgements......Page 26
 1.1 Introduction......Page 29
 1.2 The nature of research......Page 31
 1.3 Business and management research......Page 32
 1.5 Keeping a reflective diary or research notebook......Page 38
 1.6 The purpose and structure of this book......Page 42
 1.7 Summary......Page 45
 Review and discussion questions......Page 46
 References......Page 47
 Further reading......Page 48
 Case 1: Researching buyer–supplier relationships......Page 49
  Self-check answers......Page 50
 2.1 Introduction......Page 53
 2.2 Attributes of a good research topic......Page 55
 2.3 Generating and refining research ideas......Page 58
 2.4 Turning research ideas into research projects......Page 69
 2.5 Writing your research proposal......Page 80
 Self-check questions......Page 87
 Progressing your research project: From research ideas to a research proposal......Page 88
 References......Page 89
 Further reading......Page 90
 Case 2: ‘Helpful but not required’: A student research proposal......Page 91
 Self-check answers......Page 95
 3.1 Introduction......Page 97
 3.2 The critical review......Page 99
 3.3 Literature sources......Page 110
 3.4 Planning your literature search strategy......Page 117
 3.5 Conducting your literature search......Page 120
 3.6 Obtaining and evaluating the literature......Page 129
 3.7 Recording the literature......Page 133
 3.8 Using Systematic Review......Page 135
 3.9 Plagiarism......Page 137
 Self-check questions......Page 139
 Progressing your research project: Critically reviewing the literature......Page 141
 References......Page 142
 Further reading......Page 143
 Case 3: After the crisis: a systematic and critical review......Page 144
 Self-check answers......Page 147
 4.1 Introduction......Page 149
 4.2 The philosophical underpinnings of business and management......Page 151
 4.3 Five major philosophies......Page 162
 4.4 Approaches to theory development......Page 171
 4.5 Summary......Page 177
 Review and discussion questions......Page 179
 Progressing your research project: Heightening your Awareness of your Research Philosophy (HARP)......Page 180
 References......Page 184
 Further reading......Page 185
 Case 4: Chinese tourists and their duty-free shopping in Guam......Page 186
 Self-check answers......Page 188
 5.1 Introduction......Page 189
 5.2 Choice and coherence in research design......Page 190
 5.3 Methodological choice: the use of a quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods research design......Page 192
 5.4 Recognising the purpose of your research design......Page 201
 5.5 Choosing a research strategy or strategies......Page 204
 5.6 Choosing a time horizon......Page 227
 5.8 Establishing the quality of the research design......Page 228
 5.9 Taking into account your role as researcher......Page 234
 Self-check questions......Page 236
 Review and discussion questions......Page 237
 References......Page 238
 Further reading......Page 241
 Case 5: Managers’ challenges when dealing with change......Page 242
 Self-check answers......Page 244
 6.1 Introduction......Page 247
 6.2 Issues associated with gaining traditional access......Page 249
 6.3 Issues associated with Internet-mediated access......Page 253
 6.4 Strategies to gain access......Page 255
 6.5 Research ethics and why you should act ethically......Page 266
 6.6 Ethical issues at specific stages of the research process......Page 276
 6.7 An introduction to the principles of data protection and data management......Page 288
 6.8 Summary......Page 290
 Self-check questions......Page 291
 Progressing your research project: Negotiating access and addressing ethical issues......Page 292
 References......Page 293
 Further reading......Page 294
 Case 6: Chinese students’ interpretations of trust......Page 295
  Self-check answers......Page 296
 7.1 Introduction......Page 299
 7.2 Probability sampling......Page 303
 7.3 Non-probability sampling......Page 322
 7.4 Summary......Page 331
 Self-check questions......Page 332
 Review and discussion questions......Page 334
 References......Page 335
 Case 7: Understanding and assessing economic inactivity among Maltese female homemakers......Page 337
 Self-check answers......Page 339
 8.1 Introduction......Page 343
 8.2 Types of secondary data and uses in research......Page 345
 8.3 Searching for secondary data......Page 354
 8.4 Advantages and disadvantages of secondary data......Page 357
 8.5 Evaluating secondary data sources......Page 362
 Self-check questions......Page 371
 Progressing your research project: Assessing the suitability of secondary data for your research......Page 372
 References......Page 373
 Case 8: Values and behaviours for sustainable tourism......Page 375
 Self-check answers......Page 377
 9.1 Introduction......Page 381
 9.2 Participant observation......Page 383
 9.3 Structured observation......Page 393
 9.4 Internet-mediated observation......Page 400
 9.5 Observation using videography......Page 403
 9.6 Summary......Page 407
 Review and discussion questions......Page 408
 References......Page 409
 Further reading......Page 410
 Case 9: Observing work–life balance in my own organisation......Page 411
 Self-check answers......Page 413
 10.1 Introduction......Page 415
 10.2 Types of interview and their link to the purpose of research and research strategy......Page 417
 10.3 When to use semi-structured and in-depth interviews......Page 420
 10.4 Data quality issues associated with semi-structured and in-depth interviews......Page 423
 10.5 Preparing for semi-structured or in-depth interviews......Page 428
 10.6 Conducting semi-structured or in-depth interviews......Page 431
 10.7 Managing logistical and resource issues......Page 441
 10.8 Group interviews and focus groups......Page 443
 10.9 Telephone and Internet-mediated interviews......Page 448
 10.10 Summary......Page 453
 Review and discussion questions......Page 454
 Progressing your research project: Using semi-structured, in-depth or group interviews in your research......Page 455
 References......Page 456
 Further reading......Page 457
 Case 10: How do you network in your SME?......Page 458
 Self-check answers......Page 461
 11.1 Introduction......Page 463
 11.2 An overview of questionnaires......Page 466
 11.3 Deciding what data need to be collected......Page 471
 11.4 Designing the questionnaire......Page 476
 11.5 Delivering and collecting the questionnaire......Page 501
 11.6 Summary......Page 508
 Self-check questions......Page 509
 Review and discussion questions......Page 511
 References......Page 512
 Case 11: Designing an attractive questionnaire for the Pegasus Memorial museum......Page 514
 Self-check answers......Page 517
 12.1 Introduction......Page 523
 12.2 Preparing, entering and checking data......Page 525
 12.3 Exploring and presenting data......Page 538
 12.4 Describing data using statistics......Page 554
 12.5 Examining relationships, differences and trends using statistics......Page 559
 12.6 Summary......Page 580
 Self-check questions......Page 581
 Progressing your research project: Analysing your data quantitatively......Page 583
 References......Page 584
 Further reading......Page 585
 Case 12: Predicting work performance......Page 586
 Self-check answers......Page 589
 13.1 Introduction......Page 593
 13.2 The nature of qualitative data......Page 595
 13.3 The nature of qualitative analysis......Page 596
 13.4 Preparing your data for analysis......Page 599
 13.5 Aids to help your analysis......Page 602
 13.6 Thematic Analysis......Page 606
 13.7 Template Analysis......Page 614
 13.8 Explanation Building and Testing......Page 617
 13.9 Grounded Theory Method......Page 621
 13.10 Narrative Analysis......Page 627
 13.11 Discourse Analysis......Page 631
 13.12 Content Analysis and quantifying qualitative data......Page 635
 13.13 Data Display and Analysis......Page 640
 13.14 Using CAQDAS......Page 642
 13.15 Summary......Page 645
 Review and discussion questions......Page 646
 References......Page 647
 Further reading......Page 649
 Case 13: The impact of share announcements on market analysts’ behaviour......Page 650
  Self-check answers......Page 652
 14.1 Introduction......Page 655
 14.2 Undertaking writing......Page 657
 14.3 Structuring your project report......Page 660
 14.4 Writing reports for different audiences......Page 679
 14.5 Making the report’s content clear and accessible......Page 681
 14.6 Developing an appropriate writing style......Page 683
 14.7 Meeting the assessment criteria......Page 688
 14.8 Writing a reflective essay or section......Page 689
 14.9 Oral presentation of the report......Page 690
 14.10 Summary......Page 694
 Progressing your research project: Writing your project report......Page 695
 References......Page 696
 Case 14: Elena’s research project write-up......Page 697
 Self-check answers......Page 699
Bibliography......Page 701
 Appendix 1 Systems of referencing......Page 715
 Appendix 2 Calculating the minimum sample size......Page 731
 Appendix 3 Random sampling numbers......Page 733
 Appendix 4 Guidelines for non-discriminatory language......Page 734
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