MGMT617 - Research Methods

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Teaching organisation

Unit rationale, description and aim

Being able to undertake and interpret research is an increasingly important skill in many roles within business. This unit will help you develop these skills by teaching you about a range of (quantitative and qualitative) research designs that are applicable for business, the methodological, practical and ethical considerations involved in executing those research designs, and how research design choices powerfully shape the nature and validity of research findings. In doing so, this unit aims to help you make more informed research design choices and to more critically assess research findings.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Demonstrate an understanding of the range of concepts and techniques associated with quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods; (GA4, GA5, GA8, GA10) 

LO2 - Critically review appropriate research methods for specific research problems; (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA8, GA9) 

LO3 - Apply standardized procedures to ensure research is conducted ethically and demonstrates respect for human dignity; (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA8) 

LO4 - Design a qualitative and/or quantitative research project and write an associated research proposal. (GA1, GA2, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA8, GA10) 

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA2 - recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society 

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include: 

• Topic choice and relevance  
• Searching and reviewing the literature  
• Formulating research questions 
• Methodological, practical and ethical considerations in research design choice  
• Quantitative and qualitative methods and instruments  
• Negotiating access, sampling and data collection 
• Assessing the validity implications of the chosen research design  
• Writing a research proposal 

Note: Those students conducting this unit as part of the Graduate Diploma or Master of OHSEM will be provided with content, examples and applications specific to this discipline.  

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

The philosophy of this online unit is that the best way to learn is to: 

1. Look at material with an inquiring mind; 
2. Self-study those materials before attending the online workshops; and 
3. Enhance that learning with online workshop activities. 

The unit is thus based on a ‘flipped classroom’ model of teaching that emphasises student-centred self-learning with guidance from the course materials and teacher. As such, the roles and expectations of students and teachers are different to traditional classes:  

• Students must take more responsibility for their own learning and studying the core content in advance and then apply the obtained knowledge and skills to a range of activities during the workshops. It is up to the students to make sure that their study and preparation is adequate in order to yield optimal learning outcomes during the workshops. 
• Rather than lecturing, teachers facilitate and moderate the workshops. In doing so, students will be able to gain a more active learning experience, while teachers will be able to more actively engage with the students in the online classroom, guiding their learning, correcting any misunderstandings, and providing them with timely feedback. 

The following technology assistance will be accessible to students online: 

• unit outline; 
• notices/announcements; 
• assessment information, submission, marking and return of results/feedback; 
• learning resources (readings, direction to further sources of online information, lecture slides, and video recorded material). 

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessment is an integral part of the learning process. Assessment tasks in MGMT617 are aimed at measuring and developing student’s achievement of both the learning outcomes and graduate attributes noted above. This unit includes formative assessments (involving providing students with ongoing feedback help them improve their learning) as well as summative assessments (involving evaluating students' learning by comparing it against the learning objectives using pre-defined assessment rubrics), both of which are directly related to three assessments tasks. Formative assessments are provided to students in the form of feedback on drafts on each of the three assessment tasks, allowing them to enhance their learning and quality of their final submission. The latter submissions serve as input for the summative assessments. The first, second, and third task require students to demonstrate their ability to: 1) select an interesting research topic and establish its relevance for scholars and practitioners; 2) critically review the literature on their topic, problematise the current state of the literature, and formulate their envisioned contribution for their research project; and 3) design an empirical study that enables them to generate an answer to their research question and hence achieve their envisioned contribution, respectively. All tasks are individual submissions. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Aguinis, H., & Vandenberg, R. J. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: improving research quality before data collection. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1, 569–595. 

Buchanan, D. A., & Bryman, A. Contextualizing methods choice in organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 10(3), 483-501. 

Edmondson, A. C., & McManus, S. E. Methodological fit in management field research. Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1155–1179. 

Gibbert, M., Ruigrok, W., & Wicki, B. What passes as a rigorous case study? Strategic Management Journal, 29, 1465–1474.  

Robinson, M. A. Using multi-item psychometric scales for research and practice in human resource management. Human Resource Management.