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STA2024 Course Outline 280218
STA2024 Course Outline 280218
SUBJECT OVERVIEW
STA 2024: RESEARCH METHODS IN BUSINESS
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Subject Description
Modern society is driven by research. From shopping for a shampoo to buying a new car,
we engage in research everyday. ‘Research literacy’ is therefore important to everyone.
Without being conscious of how we arrive at a decision beyond the fact that it takes time and
thought, we are nevertheless making use of the research process. For students regardless
of discipline, understanding this process is vitally important. For them, research projects
form an integral part of academic programme even at undergraduate level. It is therefore
vital that students learn the skills necessary to undertake meaningful research.
This course provides the basic skills needed for students of business to undertake research
activities. It takes students through each step of the research process, emphasizes to them
the significance of each step, makes them aware of alternatives and alerts them to potential
pitfalls.
As both qualitative and quantitative research requires some basic knowledge of statistics,
the prerequisite for this subject is: STA 1024: Business Statistics is a pre-requisite
subject.
Subject Objectives
Solid research requires a number of critical tasks. The overall objective is to provide
students skills to perform these tasks - design, prepare and implement a research project in
business studies, and to communicate the results.
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Department of Marketing STA 2024 Subject Overview
This subject provides the basic skills required when conducting the research project in the
final year of your degree programme: BMB 3205: Business and Community Project / STA
3014 Research Project 1 and STA 3023 Research Project 2 (For BBM and BBS students).
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Department of Marketing STA 2024 Subject Overview
PO1: Employable graduates with a sound knowledge and understanding of general business
studies.
PO2: Business graduates who are ethical and responsible leaders or managers.
PO3: Business graduates with the skills and competencies in critical thinking and problem
solving.
PO4: Business graduates with managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
PO5: Graduates who recognise the need to engage in life-long learning for personal and
professional growth and development.
Delivery Methods
Lectures are delivered with MS Power Point as visual aids. Each lecture covers a major topic
on the various aspects of Research Methods in Business. Students should note that while a
lecture is self-contained in terms of presentation and broken down into 14 weeks, the topics
are closely interrelated, whereby pre-requisite knowledge is needed before progressing to
the next topic. This interconnectedness is essential to their understanding and the substance
of the subject in a holistic manner. While the focus will be on understanding the research
process, lectures and tutorials provide practice and experience in a range of research
methods. Students will be exposed to both quantitative and qualitative methods in this
subject. This is important as the preparation for them for their final year project.
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Department of Marketing STA 2024 Subject Overview
1024: Business Statistics. This helps them to strengthen their data analysis skill. They
consist mostly of lab practical assignments and /or short exercises that students are
expected to complete in class.
Assessment
Students are assessed throughout the semester via tests 1 and 2 and final written
examination, as shown in the table below: -
The details of the coursework components and submission dates are as follows: -
TOTAL 100
Subject Outline
The following is the lecture topics and the respective readings covered over the course of
one semester (14 weeks). Additional readings may be added during the course. You should
note that the schedule is subject to change according to the learning needs within
semester.
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Department of Marketing STA 2024 Subject Overview
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Department of Marketing STA 2024 Subject Overview
Reading List
Main Text:
Additional Text:
Sekaran, U (2016), Research Methods for Business: A Skill-building Approach, 4 th ed., Wiley,
New York.
Gaur, A and Gaur, S (2009), Statistical Methods for Practice and Research: A Guide to Data
Analysis Using SPSS (Response Books) 2nded, Sage
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2016), Research Methods for Business Students,
Harlow: Prentice Hall.
Payne, G and Payne, J (2015), Key Concepts in Social Research, Sage, London.
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