Postgraduate Course: Methods of Research (CMSE11091)
Course Outline
| School |
Business School |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits |
15 |
| Home subject area |
Common Courses (Management School) |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None |
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| Course description |
This course is divided into three parts: $ùundertaking postgraduate research&© $ùqualitative analysis&© and $ùquantitative analysis&©. It is designed to provide students with an overview of the scholarly conventions on research in social sciences in general, and management studies in particular, and the role of qualitative and quantitative research in such research. It also aims to provide students with the practical skills in designing their research projects for their dissertations. |
Entry Requirements
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites |
|
| Prohibited Combinations |
|
Other requirements |
None
|
| Additional Costs |
None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2010/11 Full Year, Available to all students (SV1)
|
WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| No Classes have been defined for this Course |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
* Possess knowledge on the general philosophical debate in social sciences and management studies;
* Plan how they define research questions in relation to their chosen topic area;
* Choose appropriate research design for any management subject matter, given a set of constraints;
* Identify and critically evaluate literature in a given management field;
* Evaluate, select, justify and apply appropriate qualitative or quantitative data collection methods to their chosen area of research, in order to ensure that the evidence generated, its analysis and the conclusions drawn from it are valid and reliable;
* Use such knowledge to construct an original piece of research of their own, and develop further independent research skills as well as the skills for presenting the findings of their research in an academic manner.
Knowledge and Understanding:
On completion of the course students will be aware of the following issues:
* General philosophical debates and their influences on management research;
* Principle of research design and the basis issues of reliability, validity, access and ethics;
* Strengths and weakness of different methods of data collection.
* Principles of statistical sampling and the reliability of conclusions arising from it
* Appreciation of the particular meaning that statisticians give to terms such as significant, biased, correlated, and estimated.
Cognitive Skills:
On completion of the course students should demonstrate that
o They can develop research questions and objectives in a chosen research area;
o They can critically evaluate literature review and different research design and data collection methods
o They can produce a sound research proposal
o Recognize qualitative and quantitative techniques appropriate to the analysis of some particular circumstances.
o Be able to design and implement simple sampling experiments with a view to achieving or approaching adequate randomness and reliability in sample data. |
Assessment Information
| Each part of the module is assessed separately and each part of the assessment carries a third of the final module mark. The first part of the module will be assessed by submission of a draft research proposal for their dissertation (maximum length 2,500 words). This must be submitted by 4.00 pm on the Friday of Week 6 of Semester 2. The second part of the module will be assessed by an essay that reviews the strengths and weaknesses of three types of qualitative methods (maximum length 3,000 words). This must be submitted by 4.00 pm on the Friday of Week 11 of Semester 2. The final part of the module will be assessed by way of an examination. |
| Please see Visiting Student Prospectus website for Visiting Student Assessment information |
Special Arrangements
| Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Prof Stephen Osborne
Tel: (0131 6)50 8358
Email: Stephen.Osborne@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Miss Rachel Allan
Tel: (0131 6)51 3757
Email: Rachel.Allan@ed.ac.uk |
|
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1 September 2010 5:45 am
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