COURSE TITLE/NARRATION: BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS

COURSE CODE: To be advised

TARGET GROUP: All Faculty of Commerce Students

LECTURER AND CONTACT DETAILS: Dr P.F.C Mupambireyi (PhD)

Commerce Building, Office Number 5
Email: pfcmupa@gmail.com
Cell: +263 772 515 589

CONTACT HOURS: 4 hours per week

COURSE VENUE: To be advised

LECTURE TIMES: To be advised

COURSE PURPOSE/SYNOPSIS: To equip students with the whole spectrum of basic

research aspects, proposal development and writing skills.

COURSE AIM: The course aims at helping students to develop an appreciation and
understanding of why businesses carry out researches and the different approaches and
methods that can be used by businesses in undertaking research.

COURSE PREREQUISITE: none

COURSE OBJECTIVES: at the end of the course students should be able to:
Define business research and outline its importance;
Distinguish the different research philosophies and their importance in research;
Explain the various research designs;
Demonstrate proficiency in the application of qualitative and quantitative research
methods; and
Develop a scholarly research proposal.

COURSE CONTENT: to achieve the above objectives the course will cover the
following areas:

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS REASEARCH

Definition of business research
Scope of business research
Managerial value of business research
Business research utilization and ethics

OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Identifying a research problem
Reviewing the literature
 Specifying the purpose and research question / hypotheses/propositions
Characterization of data types (nominal ordinal, interval and ratio)
Methods of collecting primary quantitative / qualitative data

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PARADIGMS

Research paradigms - positivism and phenomenology
Assumptions of the paradigms – Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology, Rhetoric
and Methodology
Critique of the research paradigms

RESEARCH DESIGNS (PROS & CONS)

Experimental
Correlational
Survey
Grounded theory
Ethnography
Narrative research
Action research
Case study
Archival
Mixed methods

PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION TEHHNIQUES

Quantitative data (structured questionnaire and experiments)
Qualitative data (semi-structured questionnaires, observation, focus group
discussions, in-depth interviews, case studies, etc)
Questionnaire construction and points to note
Interviewing techniques (personal, self-administered, postal, e-mail, telephone)

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
Population vs sample
Sampling procedures
Advantages and disadvantages of sampling
Probability sampling (simple, systematic, cluster, and stratified random sampling)
Non-probability (convenience, quota, judgmental, snowballing)
Appropriate sampling techniques for different types of researches

RESEARCH ETHICS
Community sensitization (negotiating access to research sites)
Consent and assent
Privacy and confidentiality
Integrity and objectivity of researcher
Respect for research participants
Voluntarism
Data management
RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEEVELOPMENT
Importance of the research proposal
Uses of research proposal
Common pitfalls of research proposals
Components of the proposal (Introduction, background, problem statement,
research objectives, research questions, research hypothesis/proposition,
justification of research, scope of research, literature review/conceptual
framework, research methodology, data analysis and presentation techniques,
conclusion and references)

DATA ANALYSIS IN EXCEL AND SPSS

Basic data summarization (graphical displays) and analysis in Excel
Terminologies in SPSS (code book, variable name, variable label, value labels etc)
Data capturing, cleaning, analysis and presentation in SPSS

TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Lecture mode: On-line

Group work: Meant to nurture and cultivate team spirit
Written individual tests: Reflections on individual assimilation of concepts
taught.(if possible)
Guest lecturers: To enhance appreciation of relevance of concepts to industry and
commerce by students.

COURSE ASSESSMENT:
Students will be assessed based:
1) At least Individual test (ideal) 5%
2) Group assignments 10%
3) Group Project (A real company-based project) 15%: There has to be
EVIDENCE that it’s a practical addressing an existing company
problem/challenge

RECOMMENDED READINGS:
Saunders M., Lewis, P and Thornhill, A., Collis, J and Hussey, R.,(2012):
Business Research. Palgrasve MacMillan
Mustafa, A., (2010): Research Methodology. A.I.T.B.S. Publishers India
Blumberg. B (2005). Business Research Methods. McGraw-Hill Education. 3rd
European Edition.
Kothari. C.R., (2004). Research Methodology. Methods and Techniques:2nd
Edition. New Age International Publishers.

NOTE
Students are also encouraged to read any other Research Methods text
books/journal articles and E-resources materials from the library.