Business Research Methods Syllabus - BBS (TU)

Course Objective

The primary aim of this course is to introduce students to the principle of research methods used most frequently by business students. Basic knowledge of these methodological approaches is absolutely critical to the comprehension of academic understanding and comprehensive and critical writing which is an essence of business students. Therefore, the basic objective of this course is to provide knowledge and understanding of basic principles of business research methods.

Course Description

The course comprises introduction to research, different types of research, literature searching and frame working, research design issues, measurement, scaling, sampling, data collection and analysis, research proposal and report writing . This encompasses the overall understanding and application of appropriate research techniques, research statistics and presentation skills.

Learning Outcomes:

On the completion of this course, students will be able to:

• become acquainted with the scientific methodology in business
• write a literature review that synthesizes and evaluates literature in a specific topic area to justify a research questions.
• apply appropriate research design and methods to address a specific research question and acknowledge the ethical implications of the
• understand how research activities can be used to address business
• develop, present and defend a research proposal and prepare a research

Course Details

Unit 1: Introduction  :  20 LHs

Meaning of research; Scientific research : features; Types of research: applied and basic; The Scientific research process; Approaches to research: Paradigm shifts – Positivist Versus interpretivist philosophies; Management research : concept, nature and value in business decision making; Applying scientific thinking to management problems; and Ethical concerns in research.

Qualitative research: concept, features, assumptions; Common practices in qualitative research; Methods of collecting and analyzing qualitative data; Role of computers in different phases of research; Qualitative data analysis: content, thematic and narrative.

Methods of qualitative research: case study, ethnography, grounded theory and phenomenological study (A short introduction only); Building trustworthiness and credibility in qualitative research; and Strength of qualitative research.

Unit 2: Literature Searching and Theoretical Framework  : 10 LHs

Literature searching : concept, purposes and kinds; Writing a literature survey; Literature search through the internet; Relation of literature to research; Theoretical framework; Theory and research: research approaches – deductive and inductive; Research problem: identification of research problem in business, research questions; and Concept of hypothesis formulation.

Unit 3: Research Design  :  5 LHS

Concept; Features; Types: descriptive, developmental, case studies, causal-comparative, experimental, cross-sectional and longitudinal; Basic principles of research design ; and Criteria of a good research design.

Unit 4: Measurement, Scaling and Sampling  : 12 LHs

Variables and their types; Nature of measurement; Types of scales of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales; Scale construction for attitude measurement; Scales commonly used in business research; Validity and reliability of measurement; Sources of measurement problems; Concept of population, sample and sampling; Concept of sample size; The sampling process; Types of sampling: probability and non-probability sampling; and Sampling and non- sampling errors.

Unit 5: Data Collection and Analysis  :  20 LHs

Types of data: primary and secondary; Importance of secondary data in business research; Primary data: methods of collecting primary data; Questionnaires: design, components and principles of questionnaire writing; Pilot testing and questionnaire administration; The research interviews: face-to- face, telephone interviews and computer assisted interviewing; Observation: concept and methods: participative and non-participative; Data analysis: organizing and preparing data, presenting data in tables, graphs and charts; Pre-conditions and the use of statistical techniques: descriptive (Mean, Median, Mode and Standard Deviation) and inferential statistics: correlation analysis, statistical significance, basic forecasting tools, regression (concept of linear and non-linear); Concept and illustration of t- test : single mean and two means ; Chi-square test : goodness of fit and independence of attributes; and Statistical testing of hypothesis.

Unit 6: Research Proposal and Report Writing  :  8 LHs

Topic selection; Research proposal : purpose, types and structure; Writing research reports : reporting process, contents of the research report and style of writing; Typing and layout of the research report; Citations and references by using APA format; and Essentials of a good research report.

Suggested Readings:

1. Cooper, R., Schindler, P. S., & Sharma, J. K., Business Research Methods, New Delhi: Tata Mc Graw Hill.
2. Sekaran, & Bougie, R., Research Methods for Business, New Delhi: Wiley India.
3. Zikmund, G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., Adhikari, A., & Griffin, M., Business Research Methods, A South Asian Perspective, New Delhi: Cengage Learning.
4. Bryman, , & Emma, B., Business Research Methods, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
5. Kothari, R., Research Methodology Methods and Techniques, New Delhi: New Age International Publication.
6. Sachdeva,J.K., Business Research Methods, Mumbai: Himalayan publishing
7. Chawla, & Sondhi, N., Research Methodology, Mumbai: Vikash Publishing house.
8. Adhikari, R. & Pandey, D. L., Research Methodology for Management, Kathmandu: Asmita Books Publishers & Distributors (p) Ltd.
9. Gautam, K. & Gautam,P.K.,Research Methodology, Kathmandu: KEC publication and Distribution (p.) Ltd.