成人大片

Course Coordinator: Dr Cate Jerram
Location: 09.03, Nexus 10 (10 Pulteney St, 成人大片, 5005)
Telephone: 8313 4757 (office)
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/cate.jerram

Note: this course is run on a participatory seminar-basis. A considerable degree of the course assessment will occur during seminars which will, for the most part, occur on Saturdays, from 9:00am – 4:30pm. For specific dates, see your Course Calendar and/or MyUni.

Saturday Seminar 1 [9:00am – 4:30pm]
12 September 2015

Saturday Seminar 2 [9:00am – 4:30pm]
26 September 2015

Saturday Seminar 3 [9:00am – 4:30pm]
03 October 2015

Saturday Seminar 4 [9:00am – 4:30pm]
17 October 2015

Saturday Seminar 5 [9:00am – 4:30pm]
31 October 2015

Saturday Seminar 6 [9:00am – 4:30pm]
14 November 2015

Students are reminded that weeks in which attendance is not required still have a considerable off-site engagement process.

The course provides a strong grounding in understanding the research process enabling students to either engage an external research organisation to undertake a study on their behalf in a business environment or, alternatively, action and complete a research project themselves as either the sole researcher or as part of a research team. In addition to the technical skills and knowledge required to be successful in these endeavours, the course also provides students with a clear understanding of the ethical considerations involved in undertaking research and the special challenges evidenced in international and cross cultural studies.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Apply an advanced understanding of business research design options, methodologies and analysis methods (both qualitative and quantitative), including respective terms, definitions and applications to the design, implementation and evaluation of a research project.
2. Distil an identified business problem into a succinct research problem (or problems) and articulate this into a comprehensive research brief for investigation by a research team locally or internationally.
   • This brief will include a statement of the resulting research problem and the objectives that need to be achieved to provide the information necessary to tackle the business problem and the decisions that need to be made respective to it.
3. Complete, from the brief created, a research proposal for implementation at either a local or international level.
   • This will include (but not be restricted to), a literature summary at the necessary level of depth to ensure a thorough understanding of what is already known about the problem to be addressed, the proposed research design, data collection, sampling, analysis methods to be employed along with an indicative time frame for each stage of the research proposed and budget.
4. Apply a broad understanding of issues specific to undertaking business research across international boundaries, including cultural, geographical, language and cost related challenges and respective strategies and approaches that may be employed to solve them to the design, implementation and evaluation of a research project.
5. Recognise, and take account of, the importance of ethical conduct in undertaking research, including potential implications for business relationships, effects on potential respondents and sensitivity to cultural differences and honesty and integrity in analysis and reporting in the design, implementation and evaluation of a research project.

GILL, John & JOHNSON, Phil (2010) Research Methods for Managers, 4th edition, London: Sage.

For the required level of Advanced Excel Skills: . If you are unsure if you have the necessary level of Excel expertise, . Note: Excel online training has . You need all three. You can only book one at a time. You have 2 weeks to accomplish each level (but can progress faster if you wish or rebook to repeat a level). You will need to have accomplished level 3 by commencement of session 1 in Business Research Methods.

ANDREWS, Frank et al. (2nd edition / 1981). A Guide for Selecting Statistical Techniques for Analyzing Social Science Data, University of Michigan Press (more recent editions exist).

BOYD, Jr. Harper W., R. Westfall, and S.F. Stasch (6th edition / 1985). Marketing Research: Text and Cases, Irwin.

CASSELL, Catherine & Symon, Gillian (Eds). 2004. Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in
Organizational Research - Pub ISBN-10: 0761948880 | ISBN-13: 978-0761948889

CRESSWELL, John W. (2007) Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: choosing among five approaches. 2nd ed. Sage: London.

CROTTY, M (1998) The foundations of social research: meaning and perspective in the research process. Sage: London.

ERIKSSON, Paivi: & Kovalainen, Anne (2008) Qualitative Methods in Business Research. Sage: London.

FLICK, Uwe (2006) An introduction to qualitative research. 3rd ed. Sage: London.

LYNN, Kelley, D. (1999). Measurement Made Accessible: A Research Approach Using Qualitative, Quantitative, & Quality Improvement Methods, Sage Publications.

MARTIN, William E. and K.D. Bridgmon (2012). Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods: From Hypothesis to Results, Jossey-Bass/Wiley, (ISBN: 978-0-470-63182-9).

MAXWELL, Joseph A. (2012). A Realist Approach for Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, Inc.

NEUMAN, William L. (2010). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Pearson.

ROBSON, Colin (3rd edition / 2011). Real World Research, Wiley.

SILVERMAN, David (2005) Doing Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Sage: London.

SYMON, Gillian & Cassell, Catherine. 2012. Qualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and
Current Challenges. SAGE Publications Ltd (• eBook ISBN 13:9781446258279• Print ISBN 13:9780857024114

SUDMAN, Seymour, and N.M. Broadway (1986). Asking Questions, Jossey-Bass.

ZIKMUND, William G., B.J. Babin, J.C. Carr, and M. Griffin (9th edition / 2013). Business Research Methods, South- Western/Cengage Learning, (ISBN: 978-1-111-82692-5).

All topic lectures will be recorded for the benefit of those that can't attend the sessions. (Interactive discussions and sessions cannot be recorded without permission from every person participating). A comprehensive reading list will also be available in addition to lecture slides (although this is not a 'slide intensive' course) etc. All resources will be available via the course MyUni site. All assessments are to be provided electronically and will be marked and returned electronically, where possible, mostly via the Turnitin portal on the MyUni site. Online discussion tools will be available for students to maintain contact with each other between intensive sessions.

In order to perform well in this course, students must have a strong command of the relevant research theories and concepts covered in preparation and in class and successfully apply them in their assessment and project. Therefore, students are expected to have completed all the preparation and engagement work every week (including non-seminar weeks) and be fully prepared. In addition, there is a strong assumption that students will engage in seminar discussions in an informed way, which requires reading of preparatory materials and text as well as completed work on schedule. The communication skills developed in seminars by regularly and actively participating in discussions are considered to be most important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that, for this course, you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for private study (i.e., the study time outside of your regular classes). Students are required to attend all class sessions.

Seminar 1 [9:00am – 4:30pm]

Introduction
Nature & Value of Research in Business Setting
Identifying and elucidating the business problem
From Defining a research topic to Refining a research question
Dimensions of Research: Approaches; Philosophies & Design
Secondary Sources
Academic Integrity
NVivo [A]: Project Management; Literature Review; & Data Management
Qualitative Research Design & support

Seminar 2 [9:00am – 4:30pm]

Annotated Bibliographies & Comparative Matrices
NVivo [B] Data sets; Data Classification & Analysis; Data linking; Basic Queries;
Literature Review for Background, Review, Justification, Exploration, Method & Results
Non-reactive data & analysis
Content analysis
Research Brief
Research Proposal
Survey Research Design & Applications (survey development)
Intro to Quantitative Research & Scientific Method
Measurement
Data collection instruments; Sampling & Analysis methods
SPSS [Part A]: Introduction to SPSS & Statistics

Seminar 3 [9:00am – 4:30pm]

Action Research
Design-Based Research
Systems Research & Systems Dynamics
NVivo [C]: Synthesis & Exploration of Data: Advanced Queries
Quantitative Methods Part 2 & SPSS [Part B]
Preparation of Quantitative data for analysis
Quantitative Data Analysis
Descriptive Data Analysis & Testing

Seminar 4 [9:00am – 4:30pm]

NVivo [D] Synthesis & Visualization of Data: models, charts, graphs, cluster analysis
Hybrid & Mixed Method Questionnaire design
Introduction to survey software: Qualtrics overview (& Survey Monkey)
Experimental designs and analysis – Quant
Experimental Design & Analysis - hybrid
SPSS [Part C]
Regression Analysis
Factor Analysis
Cluster analysis

Seminar 5 [9:00am – 4:30pm]

Case Study Design: Qualitative; Quantitative; Hybrid; Mixed & Multi Methods
Case study Analysis
Framework Matrix Method
Methods, Techniques & Skills in data collection:
Developing and Conducting Interviews
Developing and Conducting Focus groups
NVivo [E] Transcription; Framework Matrices

Seminar 6 [9:00am – 4:30pm]

Working with industry and other stakeholders - the partnership
International Research
SPSS [Part D]: Advanced Statistics & SPSS
Temporal Dimensions in Research (including Time Series)
Research & Budget
Workshop: Developing Proposal

Students are reminded that weeks in which attendance is not required still have a considerable off-site engagement process.

This course is preparatory to the culminating Research Project. Each School and Discipline has specific Research Project criteria, so students undertaking the Business Research Methods course must prepare for their Research Project specific to their home Discipline’s criteria rather than in a uniform manner across the course. Students are responsible to be familiar with their own Discipline’s criteria for length and style of written work, and meetings with their Research Supervisor.
Proper class attendance must be observed (this includes, for instance, proper attendance, punctuality, returning from a break in a timely way, and the like).
Academic writing PLC Workshop sessions are available. Students must attend at least one session.

This course is inherently conducted for development of individual Research Projects. Teamwork and small group discovery may be part of the class activities, but all assessment and primary focus is on individual accomplishment.

Research Brief  (submitted electronically)_____________________________20%

Qualitative & Quantitative Assignments (students choose weighting)_____40%

Qualitative (presented partially in class & partially electronically)

Quantitative (submitted electronically)

Research Proposal (submitted electronically)_________________________40%

In order to pass this course, students must achieve at least 50% overall, and achieve a passing mark of at least 50% for their final research proposal.

Qualitative and Quantitative Assignment_______40%
Students are able to select a weighting of 10/30; 20/20; or 30/10 for the qualitative and quantitative assignments.

Qualitative - Students will complete a qualitative assignment that supports their upcoming research project and is relevant to the research design they are pursuing in their proposal. The full software database employed is submitted, accompanied by specified justification and printouts. This assignment lays the foundation for the research project literature review and methods chapter, and gives students important practice in practical aspects of developing qualitative instruments and analysing and interpreting results. More information will be provided in class and on the MyUni site.
Quantitative - Students will complete quantitative assignments that give students important practice in practical aspects of developing quantitative instruments and analysing and interpreting results. Soft and hard copy files of output with discussion of findings will be expected from students. More information will be provided in class and on the MyUni site.

Research Brief __________________________20%
Students are required to submit a research brief that summarises a stated business problem that requires specific information in order for Managers to decide a strategic direction to address the issue. This will include a background to the problem and the implications of not finding a solution. The nature of the information that needs to be sourced (from both secondary and primary sources), concise and actionable research objectives and an indicative time frame for the completion of the resulting study. This is not meant to be an 'argument' for the research per se - but it must provide any researchers that may take on the task with good understanding of the issues involved and nature of the information that is needed to find a solution. A sample brief will be provided to students and many others can be found from a variety of sources. This brief (including no more than 10 references) may not exceed 2000 words.
Note: where students come from a Discipline that has a specified Research Brief descriptor, the Brief must conform to that Discipline’s specifications.


Research Proposal________________________40%
(as above) In order to pass this course, students must achieve at least 50% overall, and achieve a passing mark of at least 50% for their final research proposal.

The written proposal is the culmination of the work in this course and provides the basis for the culminating Research Project. This document will be assessed on:
1. Short restatement and justification of the research problem
2. Relevance of objectives to the stated problem
3. Adequate assessment of the relevant secondary data
4. Justification of the research design and proposed methodology, including data collection and sampling methods. Questions to be answered include:
a. can it be done this way?
b. is it an appropriate design - is there a precedent for this design/approach?
c. will it provide the right kind of data and enough of it?
d. will analysis of the data provide the insights required?
e. are projected costs defendable?
5. Proposed analytical methods
6. Research budget and timelines for completion of the project
7. Quality of written presentation (referencing, grammar, punctuation and clarity).

For the purposes of this course, this document is expected to be no more than 15 pages (not including references and appendices), and follow the "Document Guidelines".

Note: where students come from a Discipline that has a specified Research Proposal descriptor, the Proposal must conform to that Discipline’s specifications.

All assignments are to be submitted by the due date using the Turnitin facility on the course MyUni site, unless an alternative submission site is required. Software-based assignments (qualitative and quantitative) will require additional electronic submission. Assignments will be marked and returned electronically, when possible. Please remember to keep a copy of all your work. Each assignment must also have a cover sheet as its first page and title page after that.

Late Assignment Submission
Students are expected to submit their work by the due date to maintain a fair and equitable system. Extensions will generally only be given for medical or other serious reasons. All requests for extensions must be emailed to the lecturer in charge of the course before the due date. Each request will be assessed on its merits. A late assignment (without prior arrangement) will be penalised by a 5% mark reduction for each day that it is late.

Return of Assignments
Lecturers aim to mark and return assignments to students, with written feedback, within two (2) weeks of the due date.