School of Business and Economics

MBA Program

Course Name: Business Research Methods

Course Code
BUS-535 Section: 6
& Section No:
Semester: SUMMER 2023
INSTRUCTOR & DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

1. Instructor Name: Dr. Mehe Z.Rahman

2. Designation: Director, BBA Program
3. Email Address: mehe.rahman@northsouth.edu
4. Mobile +8801711477277

5. Office Hour Monday :5 pm to 7 pm, Sunday to Thursday 5pm to 6 pm at NAC 634

COURSE & SECTION INFORMATION

Class Time and Location Monday and Thursday from 7 pm to 9 pm NAC604

Course Credit Hours 3:0

Course Description Business research is the foundation for building knowledge about the market. It’s an
exciting and critical aspect of business. It covers a wide range of phenomena and it can
help to answer many questions and reduce the uncertainty in decision making. This
course is taught with a practice orientation. It is hoped that students will gain a
practical and sound understanding of how business research is conducted in the real
business environment. After completing the course students will be able to write
research proposals, identify research problems, design survey questionnaires, analyze
data and write a research report.
Student Learning On successful completion of the course students will be able to:
Outcomes
 Discuss and apply different research approaches and methodologies
 Develop data collection instrument according to the underlying theoretical
framework.
 Explain how to conduct data collection (quantitative and qualitative)
 Analyze quantitative data and qualitative data
 Refine research questions to meet research objectives/questions.
 Construct and document an appropriate research design, including
argumentation for data collection and analysis methods/techniques
 Discuss limitations and potential contribution to theory and practice of research
LEARNING RESOURCES AND TEXTBOOK(S)

Main Text

Author Title Edition & Year Publisher

Zikmund, Babin, Carr &
Business Research Methods 8th Thomson South Western
Griffin

Reference Texts

Author Title Edition & Year Publisher

Hill, Griffiths & Lim Principles of Econometrics 4th Wiley

Gujarati Basic Econometrics 4th The McGraw−Hill Companies

TEACHING STRATEGY (Online, classroom, blended, self-directed through CD, web-based courses and DVD,…)

The classes will be conducted through various activities including presentation of international business
concepts and issues, discussion and exchanges of ideas related to international business environment, history,
student initiative and active involvement, cases abstracting actual business practices, and written assignment.
Students are expected to actively involve and take initiative for their own learning experience.

ASSESSMENT STRATEGY AND GRADING SCHEME

Grading tool Points

Class Attendance & Participation 5%
Class Tests/Quizzes 20%
Midterm Exam 25%
Individual Project and Presentation 20%
Final Exam 30%
Total 100%

Grading policy:

Numerical Scores Letter Grade Grade Points

93 and above A (Excellent) 4.0
90 - 92 A- 3.7
87 - 89 B+ 3.3
83 - 86 B (Good) 3.0
80 - 82 B- 2.7
77 - 79 C+ 2.3
73 - 76 C (Average) 2.0
70 - 72 C- 1.7
67 - 69 D+ 1.3
60 - 66 D (Poor) 1.0
Below 60 F (Fail) 0.0
CLASSROOM RULES OF CONDUCT

1. Students are encouraged to be regular in the class and be on time.

2. Mobile phones must be switched off or put-on silent mode when the class is underway (only in case
of emergency, walk out of the room slowly to attend incoming calls without disturbing fellow
classmates).
3. Students are expected to stay away from any sort of misconduct (side-talk, noise etc.), which may
create problem in class proceedings.
4. Any unusual request (grade change, undue advantage) regarding grades of quizzes, assignments and
exams will not be entertained. These may lead to a disciplinary action.
5. Academic Integrity Policy:
School of Business does not tolerate academic dishonesty by its students. At minimum, students must not be
involved in cheating, copyright infringement, submitting the same work in multiple courses, significant
collaboration with other individuals outside of sanctioned group activities, and fabrications.
Students are advised that violations of the Student Integrity Code will be treated seriously, with special
attention given to repeated offences.

Please Refer to NSU Student Handbook, Sections: “Disciplinary Actions” and “Procedures and Guidelines”.

LATE ASSIGNMENT POLICY

Promptness is a highly valued attribute in the workplace. Employees are expected to plan ahead to meet deadlines.
Managers reprimand or terminate employees who are repeatedly late in submitting assignments. In this course,
submitting assignments late will be penalized. For each day late, 10 percent will be deducted from the value of the
assignment.
EXAMS & MAKE UP POLICY

In order to complete the course, students must submit all the required assignments and sit for the exams. Make-up
exams are not given unless there is a major circumstance preventing the student from sitting in the exam (official
material evidence is required). The timing of the make-up is to be fixed with the instructor of the course if granted.

Formal dress code will be maintained during exams. Cell phones are prohibited in exam sessions. Further instructions
will be given in class by the instructor.
ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students are required and expected to attend all classes and participate in class discussions. North South University
mandates to fail students who are absent 25% or more from their classes, even if such absences are excusable. The
one who will attend all the classes will earn full credit for the attendance.

COMMUNICATION POLICY

All communications should take place using the instructor’s email. In addition, students can communicate in the
class or during the instructor’s office hours.

APPROPRIATE USE POLICY

All members of the North South University community must use electronic communications in a responsible manner.
The University may restrict the use of its computers and network systems for electronic communications subject to
violations of university policies/codes or local laws or national laws. Also, the university reserves the right to limit
access to its networks through university-owned or other computers, and to remove or limit access to material
posted on university-owned computers.
STUDENTS COMPLAINTS POLICY

Students at North South University have the right to pursue complaints related to faculty, staff, and other
students. The nature of the complaints may be either academic or non-academic. For more information about the
policy and processes related to this policy, you may refer to the student handbook.
COURSE CONTENTS &SCHEDULE

Week Chapter No. Topic

01 01 ICE Breaking & Introduction to Business Research

02 01 Introduction to Business Research

03 02 Defining the Business Research Problem and Developing an Approach

04 02 Defining the Business Research Problem and Developing an Approach

05 04 Exploratory Research Design (QUIZ)

06 04 Exploratory Research Design (MID1)

07 06 Descriptive Research Design

08 08 Measurement and Scaling

09 08 Measurement and Scaling (QUIZ)

10 10 Questionnaire and Form Design

11 10 Practicing Questionnaire Format

12 11 Sampling: Design and Procedures (MID2)

13 11 Sampling: Design and Procedures

14 13 & 14 Data collection and preparation

14 13 & 14 Data collection and preparation

15 15 Data analysis and Hypothesis Testing

16 16 Analysis of Variance and Covariance

17 17 Correlation and Regression & Communicating research result

18 17 Final Exam
Key Instructions:
1. The SPSS AND AMOS statistical software will be provided to the students by the course instructor.
2. Students are strongly encouraged to actively engage in class discussions and ask questions if they
have any questions regarding any topic.
3. The report and presentation should be done individually, not in a group.

Note: The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the syllabus if necessary.

THANK YOU