MBA: RANGSIST COLLEGE Course Outline: RESEARCH METHODS FOR BUSINESS Instructor: DR.

SANTI LEKMANEE Contract: website: http: // santi.aru.ac.th ,e-mail: santilekmanee1@msn.com , tel: 0815678507
COURSE OBJECTIVE Information gathering and interpretation are integral to any managers job. Human resource practitioners often need to diagnose a variety of organizational issues and conduct staff assessment. They are called upon to conduct valid and independent research, interpret the results, and make recommendations for organizational change and development. A sound valid and reliable research with the aim of gathering quality information for decision-making. The main objective of this course is to familiarized students with the research process and provides them with the necessary foundation in designing and conducting research which can be applied to pragmatic problems encountered by organizations. In taking this course, you will experience some of the challenges and drudgery involved in researching. With lots of work, a little luck plenty of caffeine and a lot of food, you will also experience some of the insights, exhilaration and good fun involved in the research process. MAIN TEXT BOOK Uma Sekaran (2003). Research Methods for Business--A Skill Building Approach. John Wiley. New York. 4th Edition.

(2009). :

download website http:// santi.aru.ac.th

Course Content:
chapter Topics 01 INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH 02 What is research Research in Business Types of business research Managers and research Applying scientific thinking Ethics in research CH2 PPT CH1 Week

SCIENTIFIC INVESTGATION Hallmarks of scientific research Scientific research in the management area The building blocks of science in research The hypothetico-deductive method Other types of research 1st Quiz

03

TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS RESEARCH Information needs of business Commonly used technologies in business research Some software used in business research Observational studies method Experimental method

CH3

04

THE BROAD PROBLEM AREA, PROBLEM DEFINITION

PRELOMINARY DATA GATHERING,

CH4

The research process for applied and basic research Broad problem area Preliminary data collection Literature survey Problem definition Start Practice project

05

Theoretical framework hypothesis development

CH5

The need for a theoretical framework variables theoretical framework CH6

06

hypotheses development hypothesis testing with qualitative research Element of research design The research design The purpose of the study Exploratory study Descriptive study Hypothesis testing Case study analysis

07

Experimental designs The lab experiment control Manipulation of the independent variable Controlling the contaminating exogenous or nuisance variables matching groups randomizatio n internal validity external validity trade-off between internal and external validity factors affecting internal validity identifying threats to internal validity internal validity in case studies factors affecting external validity types of experimental designs and internal validity simulation ethical issues in experimental design research

CH7

managerial implications

summary 08 Measurement of variables: operational definition and scales how variables are measured operational definition dimensions and elements scales international dimensions of operational definition and scaling 09 Measurement: scaling,reliability,validity rating sales ranking scales goodness of measures reliability validity summary 10 Data collection methods sources of data primary sources pf data secondary sources data collection methods interviewing unstructured and structured interviews questionnaire guidelines for questionnaire principles of measurement general appearance or getup of the questionnaire CH 9 CH8

electronic questionnaire and surveys Ch 11

11

Sampling Population element, population frame, sample, and subject population Sampling Sampling Normality of distributions Probability and nonprobability sampling Sampling in cross-cultural research Issues of precision and confidence in determining sample size Sample data, precision, and confidence in estimation Trade-off between confidence and precision Sample data and hypothesis testing Determining the sample size Efficiency in sampling Sampling as related to qualitative studies

12

Data analysis and interpretation Getting data ready for analysis Data analysis Data analysis and interpretation Research done in excelsior Some software packages useful for data analysis Summary

Ch12