Business Research Projects for Students

Transcription

1 Business Research Projects for Students

2 Business Research Projects for Students A. D. lankowicz Reader in Management Teesside Business School, Cleveland I~I'I SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, BV

3 First edition 1991 Reprinted 1992, 1993, A.D.lankowicz Originally published by Chapman & Hall in 1991 Typeset in 10/12pt Times by Columns Typesetters of Reading ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the UK Copyright Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may not be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction only in accordance with the terms of the licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK, or in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the appropriate Reproduction Rights Organization outside the UK. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the London address printed on this page. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied. with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. A Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

4 Dla Tatusia (Jest nas teraz dwoch autorow) and To 'Ariadne' of the New Scientist (,When an idea can be expressed in plain words, it should be. Cor burney, is that so difficult to understand?')

5 Contents Preface PART 1 GETTING STARTED 1 1 Introduction What this book is about A brief overview What this book doesn't do Final thoughts 6 2 The purpose and objectives of a project The purpose of a project The objectives of a project The special objectives of professional programmes In conclusion: making the objectives your own 21 3 Choosing a topic Basic criteria Working up and narrowing down In case of emergency 37 4 Standards of assessment General guidelines The attributes of a successful project Assessment criteria Format and deadlines The importance of structure in assessment 58 5 Getting organized for takeoff Your pre-flight checklist Planning and timetabling Physical resources Your thesis 76 xi

6 Vlll Contents PART 2 KEY ISSUES IN DEPTH 79 6 What is research anyway? Research: a military campaign Problems for applied research: the terrain to be fought over Project work as guerrilla warfare The art of guerrilla warfare 94 7 The role you're in Gaining entry Defining your role Working under supervision Leaving the field Reviewing and using the literature Using literature for review and for referencing What to look for Where and how to look What to do with it once you've got it 133 PART 3 A GUIDE TO EMPIRICAL WORK Planning empirical work Planning a design Sampling The practicalities of design In conclusion: timetabling for empirical work Methods and techniques: an overview of the main issues Methods and techniques: definitions Choosing and combining methods A framework of general guidelines for empirical work In conclusion: the importance of pilot work Semi-structured, open-ended techniques Conversations and storytelling The individual interview The key informant interview The focus group A note on the validity of what you're doing Fully structured techniques The structured questionnaire The structured, face-to-face interview Telephone interviews: convincing respondents of your bona fides 232

7 Contents ix 13 Further techniques 13.1 The repertory grid 13.2 Attitude scaling 13.3 Observation techniques 13.4 Concluding comments Bibliography Glossary Index

8 Preface The idea for this book came about one Friday afternoon towards the end of a summer term. I was giving the third project tutorial of the afternoon. The first had been to a BA (Business Studies) student, the second to a part-time MBA student, and the third to a student registered on the Diploma in Personnel Management programme, and a great variety of issues had been dealt with during the course of the time involved. Nevertheless, I noticed that some of the material was common to all three students. I found myself thinking that I was repeating myself, and wanting to get through the basics as quickly as possible so that we could move on to the specifics of each particular project, which we both, each student and I, found more interesting to deal with. Unfortunately, the basics were precisely those topics which I considered essential to the success of any project. What's more, they dealt with the sort of material which wouldn't, on the whole, have occurred spontaneously to many students, and so it was a necessary part of my job to go through them. One or two could be dealt with by issuing a handout, and the student could be referred to the library for some of the rest, but there wasn't a systematic written compilation of all the points that I needed to make. I could see this recurring as the series of tutorials continued. A little of the material might be found in textbooks and manuals with the simple title of 'Research Methods', but much of it wasn't available in a written form, being more a matter of 'project methods' than social-science-based research. The more I thought along these lines, the more confident I became that the two represented distinct realms of discourse - with some overlaps, to be sure, but with the differences more significant than the similarities. And this book developed as I began to set down the distinctions, focusing on the basics of 'project work' as distinct from 'research methods'. As you might imagine, with such pragmatic beginnings, this book owes a lot to its clients, the students themselves. Whoever they might be, whether they're people I met twenty years ago, or yesterday, or the

9 xii Preface people I've yet to encounter, my thanks to you all. Next, my thanks are due to the business and management practitioners especially those who have kindly given their permission for me to cite materials developed during my association with them, whether as tutor to students placed with them, or in the course of my own consulting and research activities. Particular thanks are due in this respect to Assistant Commissioner P. J. Moran of An Garda Siochana, and to Mr Bob Mitchell, Chief Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer, Middlesbrough General Hospital. I'd also like to thank my academic colleagues in the School of Management at Ealing College, in the College of Business at the University of Limerick, and in Teesside Business Schoo): for their interest and assistance in reviewing parts of this book, for providing ideas on project topics and examples, and for helping me with specific techniques initially beyond my ken. They are: Mr Mike Cumming, Mrs Ruth Davidson and Mrs Deirdre Kelly-Patterson in the College; Mr Jim Dalton and Professor Barra O'Cinneide at the University; and Dr Pat Allatt, Mrs Lynn Benson, Dr Frances Brassington, Mr Tim Hemingray, Mr Gerry Kirkwood, Mr Mike Lawrenson, Mr Andee Lillie, Dr Hedley Malloch, Dr Brian Matthews, Mr Alan Welsh and Mr Colin Wimpory of the Business School. And finally, my thanks are due to my editors, Mr Stephen Wellings, Ms Una-Jane Winfield, and latterly, Mr Mark Wellings, for their firm guidance and help; a quiet word of thanks is also due to my wife Chetna, for putting up with an un silenced Imagewriter printer, well into the night. A. D. lankowicz Teesside Business School