Type of
Assessment: Assessment 2 – Report on research paradigm
Unit Learning Outcomes addressed: (a) Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the major steps involved in conducting research.
(b) Demonstrate an extended understanding of various business research designs and methods and be able to evaluate and explain their strengths and weaknesses in research designs for particular projects.
(c) Demonstrate a critical appreciation of ethical issues in research and an advanced understanding of appropriate procedures and protocols applicable to these issues.
(d) Critically review and evaluate research literature.
(e) Design research for a particular project, explaining the limitations, advantages, and technical and ethical implications of the techniques employed.
(f) Select, justify and design questions suitable for a survey instrument and be able to analyse survey data in relation to a particular research question.
(g) Prepare a formal research proposal investigating an innovative and/or unresolved research question.
Criteria for Assessment: • Knowledge and Understanding
• Content and exploration of theories and ideas
• Analysis, synthesis and critical engagement
• Technical skills and referencing
Assessment Task: Using particular research methodologies raises many philosophical questions for researchers about the nature of reality, how knowledge is constructed, the role of value in research and how
research should be conducted. Identify relevant research philosophies or paradigms and investigate their epistemology, ontology, axiology and their implications for methodology (research design, data collection, etc.) selection.
Your essay must focus on contentious and problematic issues, therefore they must contain a well-argued case with an appropriate structure and obey academic conventions regarding referencing, etc.
Although you may use any scholarly sources, the following are list of readings you can use to support your arguments.
Creswell, J.W and Creswell, J.D. (2018). Research Design
Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, SAGE, Thousand Oaks
Bell, E., Bryman, A., & Harley, B. (2018). Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Burrell, G., & Morgan, G. (2017). Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis: Elements of the sociology of corporate life. Routledge.
Hammersley, M., & Gomm, R. (1997). Bias in social research. Sociological Research Online, 2(1), 1-13.
Neuman, W (2017) Social research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches: The Meanings of methodology, Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Leech, N. L. (2005). On becoming a pragmatic researcher: The importance of combining quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. International journal of social research methodology, 8(5), 375-387.
Yilmaz, K. (2013). Comparison of quantitative and qualitative research traditions: Epistemological, theoretical, and methodological differences. European Journal of Education, 48(2), 311-325.