We also looked at the research proposal, this is prepared before the actual research is done as a guide for the researcher. It allow him/her to think critically about the purpose of research, its feasibility etc.

The researcher though not bound by any rule per se in carrying out his duty should be guided by the best practices of the process such as indicating how the data would be analyzed , the purpose of the study and it beneficiaries , scheduling or approximating a completion time among others.

Also discussed in this unit was the research report, its components and what is required in each section. According to (Zickmund et al 2009, P. 611), it is the written statement communicating the results, recommendations and conclusions to a specific audience. 

The oral presentation – this is where the researcher presents his findings and discusses them with his audience. In this step the use of visual aids is pivotal to capture and maintain the attention and interest of the audience.

After reflecting on the main points covered I realize that daily I use a number of the steps outlined as an instructor and I’m reminded that visual aids are especially important to aid the understanding of my audience. Having to write multiple research pieces both proposal and reports I now have a clearer understanding of what is required. 

Each method contains a number of sub-methods, for example, Phenomenology, Ethnography, Grounded theory and Case study are all Qualitative methods of business research.

The quantitative method includes; Experimental, Quasi-experimental and Non-experimental research, the main focus of which is cause-effect relationships by manipulating independent variables or inability to do such.

We also learned that business research design is classified into two broad categories;  explorative and conclusive which is further sub-divided. Explorative is commonly used in qualitative research while conclusive is quantitative.

The process where the researcher identifies and explains the most important terms associated with the concept being researched is conceptualization and management basically looks at numbers such as height, weight,  age etc. in business there are four main levels of measurement; nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Good measurement must be reliable, valid and sensitive.

Sampling was also discussed in this unit,  compared to census it is less accurate but however, less practical most time due to time and financial constraint among a long list of others. Sampling is further broken down into probability and non-probability sampling and we also looked at sampling and non-sampling errors.

This unit served as a sort of refresher as a lot of what was discussed in it were covered in my Statistics Course Modules. I was also reminded that in this course of study, one course builds on the other as rungs on a ladder.