The course is being presented in Intensive mode with seminars, workshops, and group discussion. All activities will be recorded for the benefit of students that are studying remotely.

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from the Course Planner. Note: this course is run on a participatory seminar-basis , and a considerable degree of the course assessment will occur during seminars (Intensives' sessions). Intensives tend to be run on irregular weekends.  For specific dates, see your Course Calendar and/or MyUni. 

The distribution of materials covered, topics, workshops, and other seminar details can be found in the Learning Activities session below. 

Note 2:  topics sometimes shift from one intensive to another, but any change in required readings is always posted well in advance in MyUni. The information below is presented here for your convenience; however, any changes to the timetable will be recorded in the Course Planner.

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.

Readings: See Course Materials - Assigned reading material has been provided to generate greater depth of understanding on particular topics and may be discussed during class sessions. It is likely that this material will provide useful examples and references during assessment.

ONLINE LEARNING

Course Website: www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au

QUALTRICS DATA COLLECTION SUITE

As an important part of your course, you will need to become familiar with the collection of quantitative data using a web survey. You will need to get yourself an account by going to www.adelaide.qualtrics.com and using your university password.

“ADAPT” FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

ADAPT (Any Device, Any Place and Time) allows staff and students to access their learning and teaching applications on personal devices: desktops, laptops, tablets and smart phones, anywhere:

• On campus via the UofA wireless network; and
• Off campus via broadband access and 3G/4G Mobile networks.

Through this “virtual suite” you will be able to use a range of licensed software products such as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and a range of other useful software.

Details for ADAPT can be found at:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/technology/yourservices/learning-teaching/adapt/

NVIVO QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS SOFTWARE

If you have a PC or a Windows MacIntosh, you can download and install nVivo11 Pro version from QSR International. You can install on a two week trial licence and then contact servicedesk@adelaide.edu.au to receive a license code. nVivo11 will not run through ADAPT and the version for Mac does not perform adequately. So we request that you either use the nVivo through the pool computers or on your own PC.

OTHER RESOURCES

For the required level of Advanced Excel Skills: these skills are articulated on the university's ITS online training site. If you are unsure if you have the necessary level of Excel expertise, book the online courses provided by ITS. Note: Excel online training has 3 courses (levels 1, 2 & 3). 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 bycommencement of session 1 in Business Research Methods.

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.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES SUMMARY

As per Course Timetable. Attendance schedule at Nexus 10, Lab 220, Computer Suite 1.

This course is taught in intensive mode. Each intensive will incorporate revision of key points from online lectures, including Q& A time; software workshops and practice; discussion; and occasionally Mini-Lectures in response to need for further understanding than that gained from the online lectures. Detailed breakdown of activities per session is available here, but any changes will be announced through MyUni.

Course Schedule - Session 1

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Introduction to Research	theory	1 - 5
MS Word basic, intermediate & advanced (esp formatting, heading styles, etc..., captions & cross references	basics
MS Excel basic, intermediate & advanced (esp charting & formulae	basics
Library basics & database usage workshop/s (including comm on Business Databases) a. Secondary Sources (most of)	basics
Academic Integrity workshop/s (including plagiarism & ethics)	basics	5
Nature & Value of Research in Business Setting (& ethics - 1st intro: academic & commercial) a. Outsourcing research (build a research brief, select a rsearch provider, evaluate provided research) b. Designing and conducting research (develop a research proposal and conduct research)	theory	1-5
Identifying & elucidating the business problem a.From defining a research topic to refining a research question	theory	1-2

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Course Schedule - Session 2

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Dimensions of Research: Approaches; Philosophies & Design (& Morphological Analysis)	theory	1 - 5
a. Pure/Basic vs Applied
b. Qualitative, Quantitative & Hybrid, Mixed Methods & Multi-Methods (& preview into Qualtrics)
b.i.inductive/deductive/abductive research (& itertive)
c. Research 'question' vs research 'objective' and 'develop hypotheses' vs 'explore & develop'
d. More than just "Qual vs Quant": Explortory, descriptive and causal and
d.i.Broader & wider "research options" overview (eg: Case Study, Action Research, Systems Research, Systems Dynamics, Design-based Research...)
ADAPT - the University of Adelaide's Virtual Suite	basics
Qualtrics data collection suite	basics
SPSS software: overview of SPSS as a Research Support Tool	quant
NVivo software: overview of NVivo as a Research Project Management Tool	qual	1 - 5
a. research log
b. research journal	theory

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Course Schedule - Session 3

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Secondary Sources (follow-up from Prequel)	theory	1 - 4
Conceptual frameworks, models, lenses & theories:	theory	1 - 5
a. working with pre-existing conceptual frameworks & theories
b. incremental/iterative - working with the old and refining to the new
c. developing new conceptual frameworks & theories
NVivo software supporting research design & development A (& Literature Review; & Data Management)	qual	3
Literature Review for Background, Review, Justification, Exploration, Method & Results:	& theory	3
a. creating and importing folders & documents (structuring project)
b. use of literature to define and refine research questions & hypotheses
c. use of 'coding' as an analytical tool for literature review and data analysis
c.i. a priori coding
c.ii. a posteriori (ad hoc & post hoc) coding
d. 5 diferent methods (mechanically) of coding in NVivo

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Course Schedule - Session 4

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Intro to Quantitative Research, Scientific Method & Experimental Method	theory	1 - 5
a. From Research question to questionnaire items
b. From conceptual framework to questionnaire items
c. Variable types: dependent, independent, moderator
d. Measurement (ratio, interval, ordinal, nominal)
Research Brief	theory	2
a. What is it and why have it
b. Content & focus
c. Timelines & budgets
d. Format & deliery
NVivo software supporting research design & development B	qual	1 - 3
a. Developing use of codes, nodes & classifications
b. Dealing with demographics
c. Identifying relationship types & relationships
d. Working with images
Quantitative research design	theory	1 - 3
a. Data editing
b. data coding
c. data tranformation
Survey Research Design	theory

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Course Schedule - Session 5

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Survey Design & Application	theory	1 - 3
a. Overview introduction to Qualtrics
Qualtrics: Build & Distribute Surveys	theory amd	1 - 3
a. Question types	quant & qual
b. Answer types
c. Survey flow / logic
d. Distributing a survey
e. Time and timing / length
f. Attention checks
g. Validity checks (internal & external)
Content analysis - Qualitative & Quantitative views	theory
Qualtris - on-board analysis	quant	1 - 3
a. Built-in histograms
b. Charting
c. Filtering result-views
d. Cross-tabulations
e. Exporting data to Excel & SPSS

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Course Schedule - Session 6

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
SPSS software suppporting research design & development A	quant	1 - 3
a. Exploring quantiative data
a.i. tabulations
a.ii. descriptive statistics
a.iii. data transformation (conversion between data types)
SPSS software suppporting research design & development B	quant	1 - 3
b. Tests of difference
b.i. Paired sample t-test
b.ii. Independent samples t-test
b.iii. ANOVA
Demographics & Background - what, where & how much (screener or info?)	theory
SPSS software suppporting research design & development C	quant	1 - 3
c. Association
c.i. Correlation
c.ii. Linear regression
c.iii. Crosstabs / non-parametric
Sampling	theory
a. Probability
b. Non-probability
c. Expanding purposive & theoretical sampling
d. What & why (NOT) "convenience"
SPSS software suppporting research design & development D	quant
a. Data reduction / Factor analysis
b. Multiple regression analysis

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Course Schedule - Session 7

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
NVivo software supporting research design & development C	qual	1 - 3
a. Data sets	mixed
b. Data classification & analysis
c. Data linking
d. Basic queries
Research Proposal	theory	1 - 5
a. What is it & why?
b. Content & focus
c. Ethics
d. Format & discipline-specificity
e.How to design & build - customized to YOUR research
Strong research paradigms in the Business World	theory	1 - 5
a. Case study
b. Action Research (& TQM / Sigma / RAD / Design-Based... Lewin)
c. Systems Analysis & Design, CLD, & Systems Dynamics

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Course Schedule - Session 8

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
NVivo software supporting research design & development D	qual	1 - 3
a. Querying literature & raw data to launch	mixed
a.i. word frequency queries
a.ii. text search queries
b. Sets
c. Memos & Annotations
d. Links & Hyperlinks
NVivo software supporting research design & development E	qual	1 - 3
a. Synthesis & exploration of data	mixed
b. Advanced Queries
b.i. Coding	qual
b.ii. Compound	qual
b.iii. Matrix	mixed
b.iv. Group
b.vi. Coding comparison	qual

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Course Schedule - Session 9

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Non-reactive data & analysis	quant	1 - 3
Methods, Techniques & Skills data collection 1	theory	1 - 4
a. Developing & Conducting interviews A	qual
a.i. structured / semi-structured / unstructured
a.ii. types of questions
a.iii. order of questions
a.iv. framing of questions
a.v. probes
NVivo software supporting research design & development F	qual	1 - 3
a. Synthesis & Visualization of data	mixed
b. Models - static; dynamic; customized
c. Charts
d. Graphs
e. Cluster analysis

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Course Schedule - Session 10

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Methods, Techniques, & Skills in data collection 3	theory	1 - 3
a. Developing & Conducting interviews B	qual	1 - 5
a.i. venue & timing
a.ii. rapport & aura (& empathy) - subjective & objective
a.iii. recording (ethics & mechanics)
a.iv. verbal communication - listening, studying & interpreting:
a.iv.1. 'obvious meaning'
a.iv.2. words & word choice
a.iv.3. underlying meanings & assumptions
a.iv.4. fluency
a.iv.5. cultural, ethnic, organisation... influences		4
a.v. Non-verbal communication - 'listening', studying & interpreting	qual
a.v.1. Kinesics (body movement)
a.v.2. Proxemics (spatial)
a.v.3. Vocalics (paralanguage)
a.v.4. Chronemics (time)
a.v.5. Haptics (touch)
a.vi. Phrasing; probing; affirming...

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Course Schedule - Session 11

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
NVivo software supporting research design & development G	qual	1 - 3
a. Transcription (video &/or audio to text)
b. Types of transcription (& meaning of 'verbatim')
c. Choice of transcriber (self or outsource?)
Methods, Techniques & Skills in data collection 4		1 - 5
a. Devloping & Conducting Focus Groups A
a.i. multiple participants vs individual interview / multi-person interview
a.ii. room design
a.iii. recording issues (ethical & mechanical)
a.iv. building a discussion guide
a.v. facilitation of egalitarian input
a.vi. facilitation of comfort / confidenitality / security
a.vii. controlling direction of discussion
a.viii. managing 'difficult' members

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Course Schedule - Session 12

Topic	focus	Learning Outcomes
Pulling it all together - toward the final Research Report (or thesis)	theory	1 - 5
NVivo software supporting research design & development H	qual	1 - 3
a. Framework matrices -	mixed
a.i. theory
a.ii. method
a.iii. practice
Research Design & Development	theory	1 - 3
a. longitudinal	theory
b. (optional advanced topic) Temporal dimensions in researching (including time series)	theory
Methods, Techniques & Skills in data collection 5.		1 - 5
a. the subtleties of the interview & focus groups
The "final" product - Research Report / Thesis / Article		1 - 5
Final Q & A		1 - 5

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SPECIFIC COURSE REQUIREMENTS

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.

SMALL GROUP DISCOVERY EXPERIENCE

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.

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.
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 workshop and consultation are available through the Writing Centre. Students must attend the Writing Centre at least once.

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.

Assessment Item	Assessment Task	Due Date/ Week	Weight	Length(Word,Time)	Learning Outcomes
1	Engagement with Course Participation/attendance Discussion forums Blog	Throughout_the_ course	10%	N/A	1 - 5
2	Research Brief	Midnight_Sat following Session 4	20%	not more than 2,000 words	2 (& 1 - 3)
3	Quantative Assignment	Mignight Sat following session 6	Default 15%	should not exceed 1,500 words (excluding the Appendix)	1 - 3
4	Qualitative Assignment	Midnight Sat following session 11	Default 15%	N/A	1 - 5
5	Research Proposal	Midnight Sat following session 12	40%	no more than 15 pages (not including references and appendices)	1 - 5
Total			100%

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 critical things to note about the assessments in this course are that:

• Discussion forum assignments are very interdependent - built on the concept of community of practice and peer support. ie: if you miss deadlines or mess up, your colleagues suffer as well as you.
• The assessment activities contribute significantly to your actual research project.

Therefore:
• be timely - meet deadlines
• but be sane - when you can only do it by half-killing yourself - negotiate
• collaborate (note: acknowledged collaboration is a powerful professional and academic strength; UNacknowledged collaboration is called 'collusion' and is seen as cheating)
• have fun (if you don't learn to enjoy it now, it will be 'unpleasantly hard work')
• know that it DOES get easier - every piece you do makes the next one easier; every impossible-to-understand article you read makes the next one more possible and more readable - and your blogs will help you scale that wall faster and more easily than you can expect... the discussion board collaboration with your peers will make a world of difference. Therefore, your feedback to one another is critical!

AT1 - Engagement with the course; Participation / attendance, Discussion Forums, Blog (Individual grade 10%)
Get involved
By the end of the course, I will have spent over 35 hours in a classroom with you, seen some projects and taken attendance (really just as a reminder to me). This is ample opportunity for me to allocate 10% of the course mark to the quality of your contribution. This can be confronting for some people, but part of the transition to senior manager role involves being prepared to comment when the opportunity arises.
So this component of assessment in the course comes from being involved in the classroom (which is impossible if you aren’t physically there) as well as online contribution an you might even create a blog in the public domain. If I was looking to “make a splash” in this course, that’s exactly what I’d be doing.
Participate in the Online Discussions
We will establish a weekly discussion which we require you to participate in. At the very least, you need to show that you have gotten in there and thought about the things that are being discussed.
Why not build a blog?
Grasp the nettle. Many people in business these days are creating a simple reflective blog – allowing it to be public but enhancing their personal brand. If you feel a little uncomfortable about speaking up in class, then why not do some reflection in a blog – even one that is public. This provides a triple benefit; you learn a few new skills, you can supplement the insights you demonstrated in the class, and it pumps you up the Google rankings against your name. In the first session I’ll show you how to get a blog going. It’s a five minute job. For the “tragic” among us, we might feed the blog with an outreach medium such as Twitter.
So for AT1 the overarching criterion is as follows:
The instructor’s subjective assessment of the student’s contribution to the discussion of marketing concepts, principles and examples. This can occur in a face-to-face, discussion board or blog context, or all three.
AT2 – Research Brief (Individual grade 20%)
Students will 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.

For further detail, the grading rubric is provided as a part of this course outline.

AT3 – Quantitative Assignment (default 15%)
Students are required to read a short case study provided in this brief and answer 5 questions, selecting the appropriate statistical test to answer each business problem.
This is an individual assignment. So, make sure you conduct data analysis and prepare a summary report individually. The written report represents a summary of key insight from your data analysis, demonstrating an ability to choose an appropriate statistical technique to provide answers to specific business research objectives, as well as an ability to correctly interpret results and develop preliminary conclusions and recommendations.
The title for this report should also include the words Assignment 1_quant_student ID. Please submit this assignment as a Microsoft Word file. The assignment should not exceed 1,500 words (excluding the Appendix). Please use only the key tables or charts in the main body of your report with all support tables attached in the Appendix.
Learning Objectives
This assignment focuses on student’s ability to:
• Develop skills in statistical analysis
• Understand the need to relate research and management objectives to analysis and findings
• Demonstrate an understanding of quantitative research and required analytical skills
• Develop knowledge in the choice and application of inferential and descriptive statistical tests
• Understand how quantitative research fits into the broader management and business planning process
• Apply an advanced understanding of quantitative analysis methods to a specific research problem
In addition, the aim of this assignment is to develop advanced knowledge in relation to the fundamental quantitative business and marketing research processes, such as:
• Data preparation and re-coding
• Descriptive data analysis and charting in SPSS and Excel, use of filters
• Significant difference testing using ANOVA or an Independent-samples T-test
• Factor analysis
• Correlations and regressions
• Provision of a short summary of key findings and recommendations
For further detail, the grading rubric is provided as a part of this course outline.

AT4 – Qualitative Assignment (default 15%)
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. This accomplished by working in, and builing your project in, the software program NVivo11 Pro.The full software database employed is submitted via dropbox. 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 on the MyUni site.

For further detail, the grading rubric is provided as a part of this course outline.

 
AT5 – Research Proposal (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. 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:
• Short restatement and justification of the research problem
• Relevance of objectives to the stated problem
• Adequate assessment of the relevant secondary data
• Justification of the research design and proposed methodology, including data collection and sampling methods.

Things to be considered include:
• can it be done this way?
• is it an appropriate design - is there a precedent for this design/approach?
• will it provide the right kind of data and enough of it?
• will analysis of the data provide the insights required?
• are projected costs defendable?
• Proposed analytical methods
• Research budget and timelines for completion of the project
• 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". (Please note: The University of Adelaide's version of Harvard Referencing is to be used.)

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.