Debre Markos University

College of Business and Economics

Department of Accounting and Finance (PG-Extension)
Course Title: Business Research methodology
Instructor: Beza M. (Phd)
Course Description
In general, this course is designed to familiarize students about the methods and techniques involved
during the research work. Specifically, topics included are definition of research, classification of
research, research proposal, research problem, literature review, hypothesis formulation, research design,
sampling design, sources and methods of data collection, data analysis and research report writing.
Course objective
At the end of the course students will be able to:

 Understand the nature of research

 Understand the classification of research

 Understand the importance and contents of research proposal

 Understand research problem, literature review and hypothesis formulation

 Identify the different types of research design

 Identify the different types of sampling design

 Understand sources of data and method of collection

 Understand data processing and data analysis techniques

 Understand the importance and contents of the research report

Chapter one: Introduction to Research

1.1. What is research?
1.2. Scope of Business Research
1.3. Business Research Defined
1.4. Characteristics of good research
1.5. Motivations in doing research
1.6. Research method Vs research methodology
1.7. The research process
1.8. Classification of research
1.9. Ethics and Business Research
 Chapter Two: Research Proposal
2.1. What is research proposal?
2.2. Importance of research proposal
2.3. Identifying research topic
2.4. Basic contents of a research proposal
Chapter Three: Formulating Research Problem, Reviewing Literature and Hypothesis
Formulation
3.1. Research problem
3.2. Literature review
3.3. Hypothesis formulation
Chapter Four: Research Design
4.1. Introduction
4.2. The functions of a research design
4.3. Different research designs
Chapter Five: Sampling Design
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Sampling design
5.3. Sampling techniques
5.4. Sample Size
Chapter Six: Sources of Data and Method of Collection
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Sources of data
6.3. Selecting the data collection methods
Chapter Seven: Processing and Analysis of Data
7.1. Data processing
7.2. Data analysis
Chapter Eight: The research Report
8.1. Introduction
8.2. Contents of the research report
Evaluation scheme
 Research proposal writing and article review-----------------------40%
 Final exam---------------------------------------------------------------60%
References

1. Research Methods for Business. A Skill Building Approach, Fifth edition. John Wiley and Sons
Ltd Publication United Kingdom by Sekaran and Bougie, 2010.
2. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. Second revised edition: New Age International
Publishers by Kothari, 2004.
3. Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research. Fourth edition, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Published by Pearson Education, Inc.
by Creswell, 2012.
4. Business Research Methods, (8th ed), Orlando, FL.: The Dryden Pres by Zikmund, 2000