UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT

Department of Management Sciences

Faculty of Management and Administrative Sciences
Course outline
Course: Advance Research Methods in Business Class: MBA (3.5 years) fifth semester
Total Credit Hours: 3 Instructor: Dr. Muhammad Ajmal

I. COURSE DESCRIPTION

The students in this course will go through the complete research process which starts with the translation
of a practical problem into a research problem. The course will introduce students to a range of
methodologies applicable in management research. It will follow the preparation of workable plan for
their research, a research proposal. Since this course has an applied orientation, the course will also
introduce students to modern tools and techniques to facilitate them in their research endeavors.

II. COURSE OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this course students will be able to:

Have analytical skills based on objective understanding of a business situation.

Develop own understanding of the business problem.
Be skilled enough to convert a business problem into a research problem with clear objectives.
Prepare a plan of research (Research Proposal), while using various methods and techniques
learned in this course.
Be acquainted with various data analysis techniques

III. COURSE OUTCOMES

This course will develop following competencies among students

Ability to develop critical understanding of research methodology and design prior to writing
the dissertation/thesis
Ability to formulate a comprehensive research proposal
Ability to employ the major techniques associated with qualitative and quantitative research
methods in dissertation/thesis.

Weekly Course Breakup

Week Topic

1 Introduction to research, theory building and its levels ,induction, deduction

and types of research , mode of inquiry perspective (qualitative, quantitative)
2 Philosophical paradigms in Management Research: Positivism, Realism/Post-
positivism, constructivism, Pragmatism
3 The Research process in detail

Defining the research problem ,Searching and using the literature, types of
4 variables, building the theoretical framework , introduction to reference
management APA
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 Recommended reading
Colquitt, J. A., & George, G. (2011). Publishing in AMJpart 1:
topic choice. Academy of Management Journal, 54(3), 432-435.

Theory and Hypotheses:Types of hypothesis ,Alternate hypothesis ,Null

hypothesis, Errors in testing a hypothesis ,Type I error, Type II error
Recommended reading
5 Hypotheses-JAC, G. (2011). Publishing in AMJ/-Part 3: Setting The
Hook. Academy of Management Journal, 54(5), 873-879.
Sparrowe, R. T., & Mayer, K. J. (2011). Publishing in AMJPart 4:
Grounding hypotheses. Academy of Management Journal, 54(6),
1098-1102.
Research Design: Purpose, Type of study ,Researchers Interference ,Study
setting ,Unit of analysis ,Time horizon ,Measurements; Sampling; Data
Collection; Data Analysis
Recommended reading
6 Bono, J. E., & McNamara, G. (2011). Publishing in AMJpart 2:
Research design. Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 657-
660.
Zhang, Y. A., & Shaw, J. D. (2012). Publishing in AMJPart 5:
Crafting the methods and results. Academy of Management
Journal, 55(1), 8-12.
7 Sampling techniques

Mid-term examination Presentations, (Research Gaps, statement of the

8
problem, objectives, Lit review)

Measurement and scaling

-Validity and Reliability
Recommended reading
9
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N.
P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a
critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.
Journal of applied psychology, 88(5), 879.
10 Data collection methods

Questionnaire-Design and format

Recommended reading
11 Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P.
(2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review
of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of applied
psychology, 88(5), 879
Data Preparation and Preliminary Analysis
12-13 - Preparing, inputting and checking data, Exploring and presenting data,
Missing value analysis

14 Principal components and factor analysis, Correlation and Regression

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 15 Introduction to SEM

16 Conducting CFAs

17 Proposal Presentation

18
Final term

IV. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Proposal: 50%
Mid Term Examination: 25%
Final Term Examination 25%
Total: 100%

V. Policy on Plagiarism
Student are advised to follow highest standards of ethical conduct in the preparation of their
assigned tasks. Those found plagiarising others works in any form will be disqualified from
the course.

VI. Note:
Changes in the course schedule or otherwise will be communicated to the students
accordingly.

VII. Recommended Books

Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill. Research Methods for Business Students (Latest edition).
Pearson Education
Zikmund et al. Business Research Methods. Cengage Learning.
Cooper & Schindler, Business Research Methods. Mc Graw Hill-Irwin.
Kotari, C.R (2004) Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, New Age International
(PVT) Ltd
Sreejesh, Mohapatra, and Anusree (2014). Business Research Methods: An Applied
Orientation. Springer

Reading materials will also be provided by the instructor from time to time.

VIII. Journals

JCR 2014-15
Journal of Business Research, Science Direct
Organizational Research Methods, Sage
Academy of Management Journal
Journal of Organizational Behavior
Journal of Marketing Science
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Finance

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