Department of Management Sciences Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology Islamabad Course: Semester: Credit

hours: Instructor: Advance Research Methods MBA-I 03 Mr. Ahmed Arif ahmed.arif@smprpk.org

INTRODUCTION This course on Advance Research Methods provides students with a fundamental understanding of the research methods to solve the problems in management sciences. This course involves a series of modules aimed at introducing students to academic research, as well as various research methodologies. One of the main objectives is to develop students understanding of the research process so that they are able to apply this to the design of a research project of their own, and the writing of a research proposal setting out their project. LEARNING OUTCOMES 1. This course will enable students to understand when and how advanced research method(s) can be used for a business research problem. 2. Students will learn how to formulate appropriate research model commensurate with the research questions/objectives. 3. Students will be equipped with the knowledge of selecting and using appropriate advanced data analysis tools for testing various hypotheses. TEACHING METHODOLOGY The method of teaching will include lectures, quizzes and hourly exams, research project and final examinations. GRADING The following weight-age will be used for grading purposes. Category Quizzes and assignments Mid Term Exam Final Exam Project Class Participation Weight (%age) 10% 30% 40% 15% 05% 100%

HOME WORK ASSIGNMENTS The instructor will frequently assign the home work assignments related to different problems and issues of research. All the students will be required to complete and submit their assignments in time. No late assignments will be accepted and no marks will be given to the students for missing assignments. CLASS QUIZZES The instructor will take frequent class quizzes. This is worth noting that all the quizzes will be unannounced. Therefore, students should always be prepared for a class quiz. These quizzes will help the students to make their preparation for their final exams.

RESEARCH PROJECT All students will be required to complete a research project in this course. This will be a group project. One group should not have more than 3 members. The Mid Term Exam will be taken on the basis of this project. The students will be required to submit their research reports upto the research design and give a presentation of their research reports. All the students should get the approval of their research topics from the course instructor well in time. The students should avoid plagiarism in their research project. All the research reports will be checked for Plagiarism through Turnitin. There will be zero tolerance policy on the issue of plagiarism. COURSE OUTLINE Week Contents 1. Introduction to Research Concepts of Research Research as a Scientific Method Research Approaches Characteristics of Good Research Ethics in Research 2. Research Problem Need of Research Problem Defining Research Problem Identifying Research Problem Formulating Research Problem Components of Research Problem 3. Literature Review Introduction to Literature Review Literature Sources Planning Literature Search Strategy Conducting Literature Search Obtaining and Evaluating the Literature Recording the Literature Plagiarism 4. Nature of Variables Types of Variables Research Framework Formulating Hypothesis 5. Research Design Introduction to Research Design Concept of Research Design Need and Features of Research Design Types of Research Design 6. Research Design (continued..) Sampling Sampling Errors Methods of Sampling Concept of Scaling

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Research Design (continued..) Data Collection Types of Data Methods of Primary Data Collection Methods of Secondary Data Collection Selecting Appropriate Data Collection Method 8. Mid Term 9. Questionnaire Development Measurement Scales Validity Analysis Reliability Analysis 10. Demographic Analysis Descriptive Analysis Reliability Analysis Measure of Association o Pearson Correlation o Spearman Correlation Regression Analysis Assumptions of Regression 11. Regression Analysis Linear Regression Multiple Regression 12. Baron & Kenny Method for Mediation and Moderation Testing 13. Measure of Difference o One Sample T-Test o Independent Sample T-Test o Paired Sample T-Test o ANOVA Post Hoc Tuckey Test 14. Factor Analysis 15. Report Writing Revision 16. Final Examination The above schedule is tentative so the number of weeks given can be changed as well as the expected date of examinations (as announced by the Exam Dept). RECOMMENDED READINGS: 1. Business Research Methods by Donald R. Cooper and Pamela S Schindler 2. Research Methods for Business by Uma Sekaran 3. Management Research Methods by Phyllis Tharenou, Ross Donohue and Brian Cooper 4. Research Methods for Business Students by Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhill 5. Research Methodology by G.C. Ramamurthy