Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong Post Graduate Program Business Research Method; Jan,Mar 2013 Course

Title: Instructor Name: Office: Office Hours: Office Phone: E,mail: Text Book Business Research Methods: Donald R Cooper, Pamela S Schindler and J. K. Sharma: McGraw,`Hill 11th Ed Course Objective Business research has become a necessary way of information gathering for every firm that wishes to survive in the present dynamic world. New marketing institutions are opening up and old institutions are restructuring their business practices. Data about consumers preference are being generated from various sources like online marketing, social networking, blogs etc. New expertises are required to process these data and make it comprehensible for business decision making. This course provides an insight into the contemporary business research methods and offers tools to conduct and analyze business research. This course provides an insignt into the contemporary business research methods and offers practical advices both for managers and researchers. The BRM module opens with the current practices of business research and then flow in the micro and macro concepts like research problems, research objectives, research process, research design, concepts of validity reliability, stability, analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, analysis f Requisite Preliminary The requirement of the course is a basic understanding of algebra and calculus and an open mind for analytical thinking. The Basic structure of the Course Module-1: Introduction to Business Research MethodBusiness Research Process, Steps in Business Research Process, Value of Research, Language of Research,Concept,Construct,Definition,Variables,Hypothesis,Theory,Model,Reasoning,Philosopy of Research, Positivism and Phenomenology, Types of Research Study-Explanatory Study- Descriptive Study-Causal Studies. Introduction to CMIE database Prowess. (4 Secession) Business Research Methods Tara Shankar Shaw Barrack By Appointment TBA tss@iimshillong.in; tarashankarshaw@gmail.com

Module-2: Qualitative Research Methods Introduction to qualitative research method, Difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods, Methods of Qualitative Research Methods-Interviews, In-depth interview, Group discussion, Focus Group discussion, Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Research (2-Secession) Module-3: Methods, Sources of Date Collection Survey-Self Administered Surveys, Survey by Telephonic interview, Personal interview, Sampling methods; Measurement, Measurement Scales for capturing attitude-Attitude scale, Likert scale, semantic differential scale etc; Questionnaire and Survey Instrument; Sampling Methods (4 classes) Module-4: Data Analysis-Descriptive Data preparation, Data cleaning and missing data; Exploratory data analysis-frequency tables, bar, charts, histograms; Hypothesis testing-Logic to test-types of test-one-sample test, two sample test, MannWhitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, k-independent sample test (3 Classes) Module 5: Multivariate Data Analysis Coavariance, Correlation, Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Discriminant Analysis, Multiple Regression, Limited Dependent Variable, Longitudinal data analysis (6 Classes) Module 6: Report Writing Types of report- Research report-Harvard system of referencing-bibliography, footnote Reading (The above is a tentative schedule and it is subjected to change, which can be changed): Grading The grading will be done on the basis of assignment, midterm and end term. Exam Assignment Mid-term Exam End-Term Exam Weight 30 30 40