To provide students with tools to refine a research topic into an appropriate research problem and questions;

To offer guidance for students to choose the research design which is the most appropriate to the objectives and constraints relating to their research;

To focus on in-depth research gathering skills;

To give an overview of different data collection methods, including questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and ethnography;

To explain how different research methods can be combined into a coherent methodological design and produce good empirical analysis;

To guide students for the dissertation writing process;

To show an ability to integrate theories and concepts drawn from the wider business/management literature with use of empirical case studies, use of empirical work, or references to appropriate empirical work and to develop expertise in that subject area;

To develop techniques which will improve research skills in problem defin ition, information collection, analysis, synthesis and reasoned argument;

To develop individual initiative and judgement;

To develop writing and other communication skills.

(LO1) Students will be able to develop an initial idea into a feasible research project.

(LO2) Students will be able to search, synthesise, critically analyse and discuss existing literature, contemporary policy and practice relevant to the chosen issue.

(LO3) Students will be able to plan and schedule the dissertation.

(LO4) Students will be able to compare and contrast the relative merits of different research methods and appreciate how to choose appropriate research methods.

(LO5) Students will be able to undertake a systematic analysis of quantitative and/or qualitative information and present the results in a clear and consistent format.

(LO6) Students will be able to understand how to present a logical, critical and sustained argument; develop conclusions in a manner consistent with Masters level; and make recommendations.

(S1) Adaptability. Developed through the proposal preparation, discussion and dissertation writing.

(S2) Problem solving skills. Lectures involve tasks that take specific cases from firms where students get the opportunity to analyse the case and offer solutions.

(S3) Numeracy. SPSS workshops give students the opportunity to learn how to analyse quantitative data and data interpretation.

(S4) Commercial awareness. Lectures use cases that give students commercial relevance in conducting research.

(S5) Teamwork. Workshops are team based. Proposal presentation gives students the opportunity to support each other as a team.

(S6) Organisation skills. Producing a research proposal and putting into practice as a part of the dissertation helps to develop organisation skills.

(S7) Communication skills. Research proposal presentation and group work require students to develop communication skills.

(S8) IT skills. Secondary data search requires IT skills. SPSS data analysis workshops also give students the chance to learn new software.

(S9) International awareness. Systematic literature review that is promoted in dissertation allows students to access work from international journals.

(S10) Lifelong learning skills. Critical reflection as in the proposal presentation and group discussions, is a key way in which lifelong learning is developed.

(S11) Ethical awareness. This is an important element in research and ethical issues are widely discussed in lectures.

(S12) Leadership. Team tasks help to develop leadership skills.

3 hour lecture x 4
4 hour workshop x 4
1 hour supervision x 3
Self-Directed Learning x 569 hours

The context for management research;

Developing a research proposal;

Methods of management research;

Planning and conducting the research project;

Wider business/management literature search and review;

Data collection and analysis;

Composing the dissertation.

Students are then supervised individually throughout semester 3.