Professional and academic research are vital necessities for modern management to forge ahead. Research is the process of asking the right and relevant questions and of gathering and analyzing the necessary data in a systematic and methodologically sound manner. An important aspect of sound professional and academic research is to embed the research within the body of existing knowledge (applied research) and to add to it (generating new knowledge).

This module will guide you through the research process, from the formulation of the topic to critically detecting and reviewing relevant literature, designing the research project and choosing appropriate methodologies, collecting and analyzing the data and writing the report. Especially for those who are new to research, this workshop will offer a helicopter view of the approaches that researchers use to answer research questions. The other workshops will zoom in on specific parts of the research process and on specific methodologies that can be employed.

Learning Objectives

• Formulate research topic in clear terms.
• Formulate research objectives and questions, hypotheses and propositions.
• Carry out a critical review of literature relevant to the topic at hand.
• Essential skills in reviewing literature: search for recent and relevant articles in (electronic) libraries and on the Internet; using tools to structure the review; know how to use systematic referencing; summarize the review concisely.
• Understand the key methodologies used in modern research. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Creatively combine various approaches to generate relevant data.
• Have a good knowledge of the various methods of data collection.
• Be familiar with statistical concepts like sampling, and hypothesis testing. Have an understanding of the main statistical (descriptive and inferential) techniques used to analyze data.
• Know how to structure the report, and the main requirements of a high quality professional or academic report.
• Be familiar with ethical considerations in research, including the concept of plagiarism.

Assessment

The assessment will be based on one assignment. The assignment consists of two parts. In part one you will be asked to evaluate parts of a sample research proposal written by somebody else. In the second part you are invited to draft a rough plan for your own research project.

In the assignment you are asked to:

• Clearly describe the topic;
• Formulate research objectives and questions;
• Identify and summarize at least five articles relevant to the study;
• Design your research (in terms of approaches; methodologies; and strategies), and to motivate why the chosen design is effective in meeting the research objectives.

Numbers play an important role in research. Statistical skills are critical to understanding a lot of what goes on in society. Many of us find statistics hard.

One reason is that understanding statistics requires mathematical skills. The mathematical skills needed seldom go beyond operations that all students are familiar with – adding, subtracting, multiplication and division. This module will introduce basic and advanced statistics in an intuitive way. Concepts are introduced using examples that students will easily recognize from daily life. Although we refrain from discussing advanced topics in statistics, the workshop paves the way to exploring more advanced statistics.

A second reason why some students have a fear of statistics is the gap that exists between understanding the statistical concepts on the one hand and applying the concepts to reality. This workshop introduces the student to descriptive and inferential statistics. All techniques will be illustrated with easy-to-understand examples.

In the process, this workshop will zoom in on important topics in survey design: sampling techniques; validity and reliability; and data cleaning.

Learning Objectives

• Ability to design a survey (sample; questionnaire)
• Understand basic descriptive statistics
• Understand the concepts used in inferential statistics
• Understand which statistical tests and techniques can be used in a variety of settings
• Be able to perform, interpret and report statistical tests.

Assessment

Students will be assessed through one assignment.

The assignment will challenge the candidate to draft a plan of analysis, for his or her research, based on a draft of the data collection instrument to be used in the research.

This workshop is designed to help qualitative researchers with all aspects of their qualitative research project from the beginning to the end. It discusses the key philosophies underpinning qualitative research and design – with a focus on research in management – and assesses the key advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches.

We will zoom in on aspects of research design for qualitative studies. The core part of the workshop elaborates qualitative research methods that have been touched upon in the workshop on research methods: action research; case study research; ethnographic research; grounded theory; interviews; participant observation; and document analysis. All techniques will be discuss the various approaches of that technique, along with strengths and weaknesses and examples.

In a separate block the workshop will discuss the analysis of qualitative data, which is fundamentally different from analyzing quantitative data. After an overview of the various methods and techniques that can be used when analyzing qualitative data – including the use of dedicated software – the principles of hermeneutics, semiotics and narrative analysis will be taught and trained.

In a concluding block, the workshop will address issues of write-up and publication, with a focus on the differences from writing up non-qualitative studies.

Learning Objectives

• Familiarize the participants with the fundamentals of qualitative research
• Understand the pros and cons of qualitative research as compared to quantitative research
• Have a sound understanding of the various methods and techniques in qualitative research
• Ability to use the various methods and techniques of qualitative research
• Obtain the various skills needed for carrying out qualitative research: formulating and asking questions; listening; summarizing; analyze qualitative data; write-up.

This course will not make use of software dedicated to analysis of qualitative research. The use of Nvivo is the topic of an elective course.

Assessment

The assignment will be based on the application of various methods and techniques of qualitative research to one’s own research (even if the study will be mainly quantitative).