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Lecture 1 RDM

The course, taught by Dr. Bryan Usrey, focuses on research methods and design, equipping students with hands-on experience in developing a research proposal. It is intended for students with a background in management and marketing, and it emphasizes participation and engagement through various assignments and in-class activities. The course will cover topics such as research problems, literature reviews, and both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

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9 views

Lecture 1 RDM

The course, taught by Dr. Bryan Usrey, focuses on research methods and design, equipping students with hands-on experience in developing a research proposal. It is intended for students with a background in management and marketing, and it emphasizes participation and engagement through various assignments and in-class activities. The course will cover topics such as research problems, literature reviews, and both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Uploaded by

duongvananh205
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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R e sea rch Method

and Design

Lecture 1

Dr Bryan Usrey
Welcome to Research
Design and Method SP2025
Hi, I’m Professor Bryan
• M S c and P hD from the University of L eeds (United Kingdom)
• Worked a s an Assistant Professor at the University of Ea st Anglia (United
Kingdom) and started at A P U in 2021.
• Conduct Res ea rch in the Area of Consumer Behavior and Marketing.

Email:
• Prof. Bryan: [email protected]
• TA Chico: [email protected] (first point of contact)
What is This Course?

This course will equip you with a comprehensive and hands-on


understanding of research concepts and methods.

This class will involve the step-by-step development of a research


proposal to be submitted and presented.
Who is This Course For
Students should have taken basic Management and Marketing
courses. Knowledge of statistics can help but is not required.

Students should speak and read at an Advanced English or above


level.

Students should have some level of interest in seminars, thesis


writing, or general research.
About the Course and Grades
Weekly Assignments (Six Forms): 40%
Research Proposal and Presentation: 40%
Weekly In-Class Work Summaries, Participation and Attendance:
20%
Class Participation and Attendance

Participation is tracked in various ways.

• Asking and answering questions in-class (tracked via LMS)

• Open-mic class policy

• In-class engagement
• Being involved in group work in-class (assessed via in-class
work summaries)
The 50/50 Class

• The 50/50 class will be used in this course. 50% of the time
will be devoted to a lecture. The remaining 50% will be for
you.

• During the second part of the class, the TA will act as the lead.
Please work on your weekly assessments during this time.
The Book
Research Methods For
Business: A Skill Building
Approach, 8th Edition ( E
Book Only)

Highly Recommended.
C la s s Sc h ed u l e ( * su b j ec t to ch a n ge )
Class Topic Assignment

1 Introduction Plagiarism Quiz

2 Research Problem and Research Questions Week 1 Form

3 Literature Review Groups are Formed

4 Theoretical Development Week 2 Form

5 Variables and Hypotheses

6 Introduction to Research Design Week 3 Form

7 Qualitative Research 1

8 Qualitative Research 2 Week 4 Form

9 Experimental Design

10 Measurement of Variables Week 5 Form

11 Population and Sampling

12 Research Ethics Week 6 Form

13 Research Report Writing

14 Final Project Presentation


One More Thing
BE PREPARED! THIS IS A TIME CONSUMING BUT
REWARDING COURSE!!

There will be a lot of reading, writing and critical


analysis, as you will learn from hands-on experience how
to develop a research project.
Show of Hands
Who has done research before?

Who has done academic research before?


What is it
In the broadest terms, we do research whenever we gather information to
answer a question that solves a problem.

Problem: I want to understand more about folding smartphones in 2025.


Question: What is the best folding smartphone to buy in 2025?
Research: You search the internet for information for articles, videos, and
social media posts.
Academic Research: How do self-efficacy and risk-taking impact one’s
adoption of the latest smartphone technology?
(this is a refined research question)
Research is Hard
Academic Research is hard to do. It
takes time and it takes effort. You
will read more for this class than
you have read for any other class at
APU.

However, if you’re preparing to do a


research project not because you
want to but because it’s been
assigned, you might hesitate to
work hard.
Therefore
While you must do research in this class, each group is
free to select a topic of their choice, provided it relates to
business-focused academic research.
• Management
• Marketing
• Operations
• Consumer Behavior

Doing this prepares you to conduct research that will


make you a part of the academic conversation.
Starting a Research Project
If you are beginning your first project the task may seem
overwhelming.

How do I find a topic? Where do I find information on it?


What do I do when I find it?

The first step starts with brainstorming, reading, and


note-taking to lead to the research problem.
The First Part of Your Research Project
A research problem is a specific issue or gap in existing knowledge that
you aim to address in your research. You can contribute to existing
knowledge in two ways:

• Theoretical Contribution: an addition to academic knowledge and a


development in theoretical knowledge.
• Practical Contribution: guidance for managers in the chosen field.

Good research in the business field can offer both of these things.
Why Have a Research Problem
“I want to understand why some social media posts influence
consumer buying behavior more than others.”

This is interesting but too broad. It lacks specificity in terms of


what kind of posts, which platform, which consumers, or what
aspects of influence are being studied.

This problem statement:


• Too Broad to Manage
• Lacks Depth
• Difficult to Structure
• Hard to Collect Data
• Challenges in Drawing Conclusions
Four Steps to Develop the Problem
It’s common to start with a broad topic. However, broad topics are
not suitable for a research project. We must narrow it down!

• Ask open-ended “how” and “why” questions about your general


topic.
• Consider the “so what” of your topic. Why does this topic matter
to you? Why should it matter to others?
• Read, read, and read some more (Google Scholar).

The role of in-store music and its impact on consumer emotional


responses and consumer purchase intention.
Narrowing Down The Research Problem
Broad Research Problem:
“Why do some social media posts influence consumer buying
behavior more than others?”

How would you narrow this topic down?


For Example
Why certain posts on social media have more of an influence over
consumer buying behavior than others.

You can narrow this down by:


However,
Questioning your topic can only get you so far.

You may have thought that exploring the impact of visuals


compared to text posts on consumer engagement is a nice research
topic.

Only to discover:
So, How Do We
Narrow Down
Read, Read, and Read

You may find that:


• You can use a new outcome
• Explain why (mediation)
• Uncover factors that may change
the effect (moderators)
• Delve deeper into text or visuals
Four Steps to Develop the Problem
Ask yourself what kind of evidence is going to help you support the
answer to your research problem.

Will they expect quantitative data, quotations from authorities, or


firsthand observations, or even interviews?

Keep track of the methods used by the papers most useful for you!
Four Steps to Develop the Problem
Determine whether you can find those data. There’s no point
starting research on a topic until you know you have a good chance
of finding data on it.

Data refers to not just the numbers that natural and social scientists
collect, but anything you find “out there” relevant to answering
your research question.

Importantly, you do not need to collect data for your survey, but
you will need to do an interview.
Types of Research
Research can be undertaken for two different purposes.
• One is to solve a current problem faced by the manager
in the work setting, demanding a timely solution.
• The other is to generate a body of knowledge by trying
to comprehend how certain problems that occur in
organizations can be solved.
Our Research Method
What You Can Learn with Basic Research
Basic research is also problem-solving-based but in a different sense.
It aims to solve questions or obtain new knowledge of a theoretical
nature that has little direct or immediate impact on a firm.

Basic research in the business arena might involve a researcher who


is interested in music and wants to explore how music can shape
what we buy. This problem can lead to the primary question:
• How can country-specific music drive sales of that country's
products?
What You Can Learn with Basic Research
In another pure research scenario, researchers might study
the impact of price anchoring on impulse buying in thrift
shops.

Another example would be an examination of humor


appeals in advertising and how specific types of humor
might influence our evaluations of a brand or a specific
product class.

* These are real topics from my seminar students.


What You Can Learn with Basic Research
In this class, we are focusing on basic research, as you will
be generating knowledge to understand a phenomenon of
interest to the researcher.

In particular, we will focus on inductive and deductive


research.
Deductive
vs
Inductive
Deductive Research
The deductive method involves the seven primary steps
listed.
1. Identify a broad problem statement
a) Conduct a literature review
b) Identify research variables
c) Develop your conceptual model
2. Develop hypotheses
3. Determine measures
4. Data collection
5. Data analysis
6. Interpretation of data
The Inductive Method
However, inductive reasoning may also be used. In inductive
reasoning, we work from the more specific to the more general.

The observation of a first, second, and third white swan (this is a


very famous example) may lead to the proposition that “all swans
are white.”

Think about this conclusion for a few seconds.

What do you think?


The Inductive Method

However, inductive research utilizing qualitative methods


(interviews, observations) is still common in basic research.

In this class, both types of research will be used in your proposal.


Any Questions
So, How Do We Start?

Think of an Idea, Read and


Question!

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