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University of Zimbabwe Business Studies Department

The course aims to equip undergraduate students with the theory and practice of business research. It seeks to bridge the gap between corporate experiences and academic theory. Students will learn practical research skills like developing research proposals, reviewing literature, and considering ethical issues. They will also learn about different research designs, paradigms, data collection techniques, and how to analyze and present data. The goal is for students to understand why research is important in business and to be able to conduct basic research and write a proposal. The course will be taught through lectures, group work, discussions and assignments over a semester. Students will be assessed through individual

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95 views3 pages

University of Zimbabwe Business Studies Department

The course aims to equip undergraduate students with the theory and practice of business research. It seeks to bridge the gap between corporate experiences and academic theory. Students will learn practical research skills like developing research proposals, reviewing literature, and considering ethical issues. They will also learn about different research designs, paradigms, data collection techniques, and how to analyze and present data. The goal is for students to understand why research is important in business and to be able to conduct basic research and write a proposal. The course will be taught through lectures, group work, discussions and assignments over a semester. Students will be assessed through individual

Uploaded by

Tafadzwa
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

Business Studies Department

BUSINESS RESEARCH METHODS 1 (BS213)

COURSE OUTLINE

Business Research Methods is a first semester course which seeks to expose


undergraduate students to the theory and praxis of business research phenomena. The
course seeks to create an inter-face between the theoretical construct of corporate world
and academic scenario. Emphasis is on understanding real corporate life experiences
within their proper intellectual framework. The idea is to add value to a student’s
appreciation of the business world, its structure, networks and composition. To facilitate
this, the course equips the student with practical business research tools and skills such as
developing research design and method, reviewing literature, drafting a research
proposal, considering ethical issues in research, referencing, research assumptions and
paradigms, differentiating types of researches and techniques.

The main aim is to equip the student with basic knowledge of research as research has
become one of the most important concepts in today’s business.

Target Group: all level 2 students in the Faculty of Commerce

Lecturer: Kaseke

Contact hours: 4 hours per week

Course venue: NLT 400 and HLT 500

Course Purpose: To equip students with basic research and proposal writing skills.

Course Aim: the course aims at helping students develop an understanding and
appreciation of why businesses carry out research and the different approaches and
methods that can be used by businesses in undertaking research.

Course prerequisite: none

Course Objectives: at the end of the course students should be able to:
Define business research and outline its importance;
Distinguish the different research philosophies and their importance in research;
Explain the various research designs;
Demonstrate proficiency in the application of qualitative and quantitative research
methods; and
Develop a scholarly research proposal.
Course Content: to achieve the above objectives the course will cover the following
areas:

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS REASEARCH


Definition of business research
Scope of business research
Managerial value of business research
Business research utilization and ethics

MAJOR RESEARCH UNDERPININGS


Research process
Types of researches
Reviewing the literature
Characterization of data types (nominal ordinal, interval and ratio)

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH PARADIGMS


Research paradigms - positivism and phenomenology
Assumptions of the paradigms – Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology, Rhetoric
and Methodology
Critique of the research paradigms

RESEARCH DESIGNS
Experimental
Correlational
Survey
Grounded theory
Action research
Case study
Participative enquiry
Mixed methods

PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION TEHHNIQUES


Research instruments - Quantitative data (structured questionnaire and
experiments)
Research instruments - Qualitative data (semi-structured questionnaires,
observation, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, case studies,
community meetings)
Questionnaire administration and interviewing techniques (personal, self-
administered, postal, e-mail, telephone)

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
Population vs sample
Sampling procedures
Advantages and disadvantages of sampling
Probability sampling (simple, systematic, cluster, and stratified random sampling)
Non-probability (convenience, quota, judgmental, snowballing)
RESEARCH ETHICS
Ethical issues to the Researcher
Ethical issues to Participants
Ethical issues to the Institution

RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEEVELOPMENT


Importance of the research proposal
Uses of research proposal
Common pitfalls of research proposals
Components of the proposal (Introduction, background, problem statement,
research objectives, research questions, research hypothesis/proposition,
justification of research, scope of research, literature review/conceptual
framework, research methodology, data analysis and presentation techniques,
conclusion and references)
DATA PROCESS AND PRESENTATION
Data Process
Data presentation

Teaching Methodology
Lectures
Group work
Class discussions
Written individual and group assignments
In class tests

Course Assessment: students will be assessed based on individual assignments tests and
group assignments 30% and final examination 70%.

Recommended Readings:
 Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., (2012) Research Methods for Business
Students. Pearson
 Collis, J. and Hussey, R., (2012) Business Research. Palgrasve MacMillan
 Mustafa, A., (2010) Research Methodology. A.I.T.B.S. Publishers India

Students are encouraged to read any other business research text books / journals /
publications.

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