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Unit 1 - Introduction to Business Research

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Unit 1 - Introduction to Business Research

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This Unit was the introduction to the Course on Research Methods. It defined what a Research process is, which in my words is the strategic way of collecting and analyzing data so that it can be beneficial for use by other persons. I learnt that Research in business is very important as it can give valuable information on market trends, consumer buying choices and competitors among other things. The importance of business research was also gathered during this unit as it can identify new business opportunities, help a business to set goals and also to make important decisions such as: whether to drop or add a new product, diversify or consolidate. I also learnt that there are three types of research: Exploratory - where this type of research is conducted in a field that is relatively new and more information is needed e.g a Soda Company may need to find out if introducing a new flavour will boost sales, Descriptive Research - used to find out who, what, where and why e.g What age group of consumers are mostly likely to buy your products? casual research -which is used to determine the cause and effect relation between variables e.g The effect of poor customer service on Business success. The Research Philosophies were also introduced in this Unit. Epistemology which have three philosophies: Positivism, Interpretivism and Prognathism. Ontology which has two Philosophies: Objectivism and Subjectivism and the third Research philosophy is axiology. These help to shape the way we approach a research question and whether we will take a Positivist stance or an interpretivist stance. The Research Process also involves a deductive process - where we confirm a theory through testing and investigation and the Inductive Process where a theory emerges from the data we collected. The three types of research were also introduced which are Qualitative research - which is data that is descriptive, Quantitative - data that is numerical and Mixed Method research which uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research.  Theory building was also explored in this Unit and it invloves  an explanation of events.  The ethics in Research was also learnt in this Unit and is a guide on the relationship that should exist between a Researcher and his/ her sponsor.  It also sets the rules on how a researcher should follow when doing a Research.  For example he/she must be confidential, objective, honest and open.
This Unit was a great learning experience, it not only provided new information but sets the foundation for conducting a successful research by proving knowledge on how to choose a methods, philosophy, stance or process based on your Topic of interest. I was a bit reluctant in doing all this reading and the concepts and philosophies were a bit daunting but in the end I think I have a good grasp of this Unit

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According to Blankenship (2010) Research involves a systematic process that focuses on being objective and gathering a multitude of information for analysis so that the researcher can come to a conclusion. The Process has six stages : The Problem Definition - which requires the Researcher to identify the Problem, list his objectives and state his questions. The second stage is the Research Design- The research at this stage decides the methods he will use in his research, the third stage is the Measurement - which involves identifying the variables to be measured and how they will be measured. The fourth stage is data collection - at this stage the Researcher has to identify how he will acquire the data he needs and the fifth stage involves analyzing the data that was collected.  The last stage of the Research process is where the researcher presents his findings and identifies the implications of his findings. This Unit also introduces what a Literature Review entails, Purpose of the  Review, Steps on how to conduct a review, Where to find a review and how to write a review.  According to an online article from QUT (2017) a literature review is a critical analysis of published sources, or literature, on a particular topic. It is an assessment of the literature and provides a summary, classification, comparison and evaluation.  I learnt that the Literature Review is very important in Research as it helps to identify gaps in a previous research, it provides justification for further research and it helps to establish a theoretical framework for your study. This Unit was very easy to understand and helped me to build on the knowledge acquired from the previous chapter.  It introduced terms that were relatively unknown to me and assisted in widening my knowledge on how to start a Research.

References
Blankenship, D. C. (2010). Applied Research and Evaluation Methods in Recreation . Cloth. doi:http://www.humankinetics.com/products/all-products/Applied-Research-and-Evaluation-Methods-in-Recreation

What is a Literature Review. (2017, June 21). Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/litreview.jsp

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Unit  3 - Communication in the Research Process

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Unit  3 - Communication in the Research Process

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This Unit deals with Communications in Research.  It highlights the importance of communicating throughout the Research Process, such as the Research proposal where the ideas are presented to the persons who may be financing the Research or who may have sanctioned the research, the findings where the result of the Research is communicated to the important parties so that pertinent decisions can be made or measures can be put in place.  The Research Proposal serves to identify the need for the particular Research that you intend to do.  The Proposal is used to plan the way you are going to approach the topic and your methodology.  The basic components of the Research Proposal are identified and what each component entails. For example Introduction includes: the objective of the study, Background of the Problem and the Problem statement. This Unit explains that another Communication tool called the Research Report is somewhat similar to the Research Proposal; however the latter is written using past tense while the proposal uses present tense.  There are additional components to this such as Results, Discussion and Conclusion.  The last communication tool discussed in this Unit is Oral Presentation.  Oral Presentation is very important as it allows persons to ask questions to clarify any doubts that they may have while reading your Research Report.  The Unit explains some tools such as Microsoft Power point that can be used to make an effective Presentation and techniques such as keeping the audience engaged and interested and the ability to answer all questions.

This Unit was very helpful for me as it assisted me in preparing for my assignment.  This information was very important as I used it as a guideline to construct my proposal and will use the techniques to tackle any oral presentation that I may have to do in the future.  This Unit would have been so beneficial to me in the past when I had other major projects to do. However, because I have other courses to do, this information will be invaluable.  The information was rather easy to understand and the videos were also helpful.

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This Unit involves the in depth study of the three methods of research: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Method research approach. According to an online article from Qualitative Research Consultants Associatives (n.d) Qualitative research is designed to reveal a target audience’s range of behavior and the perceptions that drive it with reference to specific topics or issues.The results of qualitative research are descriptive rather than predictive. I Quantitative on the other hand is  used to assess and measure and aims to be objective and Scientific.  The Mixed Method is a combination of these two methods. Research Designs is a plan on how you intend to carry out your Research. It can be  either exploratory or conclusive depending on the research method used.  The Unit also goes on to explain Conceptualization and measurement and their importance to the Research Process. The importance of studying variables and their importance in measurement.  The Unit also identifies sampling. Sampling is when a small group is used to and the results is used as a consensus for a larger group.  The sampling technique is a more feasible way to gather data when there is a large population and it will be time consuming and expensive to gather data from everyone.  The Unit also talked about internet sampling which I was practicing unknowingly in my various past projects.  Overall this Unit is a bit challenging because of the numerous sampling techniques, research methodologies and designs but it very informational and provides the building block in constructing your Research Project.

References
What is Qualitative Research? (2017). Retrieved October 7, 2017, from http://www.qrca.org/?page=whatisqualresearch

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This Unit speaks about type of data and their sources. Primary data is regarded as data that the Research collects him or herself. There sources can be from interviews, surveys and result from experiments among others. The advantages and disadvantages of this type of data is also illustrated. One disadvantage is that it is more time consuming - for e.g if a Firm needs to do research on products consumers purchase the most, it has to conduct research through questionnaires, interviews and surveys which can take time versus gathering information from Secondary source which is more readily available. An advantage of Primary data is that the Researcher gets information for his specific study rather than a different study. Secondary Data is data that was not collected by the Researcher ie data that was published by someone else. Secondary data is beneficial because it helps the Researcher to understand the problem, serves as a guide for his study and helps him to develop a hypothesis. Secondary data saves time but it can also be outdated. The value of data is also examined and is based on timeliness, quality, relevance and completeness. There are three main methods for data collection: survey method which is used in Quantitative Research and Observation and interview method is used in both Qualitative and Quantitative Research. This Unit also introduces the concept of triangulation - which is when a number of techniques is used within one study to verify data. The fieldwork aspect of data collection is also examined. The fieldworkers are the ones responsible for conducting interviews and conducting surveys. They must be trained to asked questions and accurately record data. They are very important to the Research and any shortcomings on their behalf can adversely affect the research.   This Unit imparted valuable knowledge that I will use in my future projects.  The application of this information to real life scenario not only clarifies how researchers gather data but also the types of data they gather and the advantages and disadvantages for each type.

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The research proposal was the assignment given for this week. This Research Proposal as I came to realise is a very important feature when conducting research. It can convince sponsors to fund your research or convince Management why your Research is important. The structure for writing such a Report was illustrated such as features of your Research Design, your selected methodology, your Literature review - which is a comparison and critique of other Research done in the same field and the Theoretical framework which required you to research concepts and theories related to your study. The Research Proposal was somewhat challenging for me especially the Literature Review and the Theoretical Framework. However, it was a good learning process because it equipped me with the necessary knowledge to not only complete my Report but in the future when my Practicum is taken, the knowledge will be invaluable