Basic Courses

1. Course Title: Research Methodology

Course Number: MBA in CM-611
Credit Hours: 2
Year: I
Semester: I

Course description
The course presents participants with the requisite knowledge, skills and conviction of research
students at master’s level. The content covers all stages of research from problem identification
to organizing reports. Learners are encouraged to advance their skills through extensive reading
and practical involvements through conducting a researches, and assignments in their day to day
construction activities. Individual and group assignments are intended for helping learners share
experiences and apply key skills. Statistical tools of hypothesis testing with SPSS are
emphasized in lectures and group assignment.

Course objectives

After completing this course, learners will be able to:

 Appreciate the procedures of research and scientific investigation;

 Summarize the methods and techniques of research;
 Identify researchable problems,
 Select appropriate methods and techniques of inquiry;
 Prepare draft research proposals in standard format;
 Demonstrate skills in organizing literature review with proper citations and referencing.
 Make clear scientific way of research design, analysis and sampling techniques.

Content outline

Chapter 1: Basic Concepts of Research:

1.1. The Meaning of Research;
 1.2. Philosophy of Research;
1.3. Research Fallacies;
1.4. Ethics in Research;
1.5. Motivating Factors for Research;

Chapter 2: The Nature and type of Social Science Research:

2.1. Components of a Study;
2.2. Types of Research;
2.3. Major Steps in Conducting Research;
2.4. The Research Design;
2.5. The Major Methods and Techniques of Research;
Chapter 3: The Research Problem:
3.1. Possible Steps in Identifying Research Problems;
3.2. Problem Statement as a Key Issue to Describe;
3.3. Formulation of Hypothesis;
3.4. The Importance of Literature Review;

Chapter 4: Sampling as basic Components in Research:

4.1. Issues of Sampling;
4.2. Procedures of Sampling;
4.3. Defining the Population;
4.4. Selecting a Representative Sample;
4.5. Types of Sampling and their Merits and Demerits;

Chapter 5: Data Collection:

5.1. The Major Techniques of Data Collection;
5.2. Observation Technique;
5.3. Interviews Technique;
5.4. Focus Group Discussion;
5.5. Survey Technique;
Chapter 6: Statistical Tools:
6.1. Descriptive Statistics;
 6.2. Tests of Differences and Associations;
6.3. Comprehensive Tool of Data Presentation and Analysis: SPSS etc.

Chapter 7: Data Analysis and Interpretation:

7.1. Analysis of Quantitative Data;
7.2. Coding as a Means of Analyzing Qualitative Data;
7.3. The Significance of Triangulation;
Chapter 8: Writing Research Report:
8.1. Writing Research Proposal;
8.2. Major Issues in Writing up a Thesis;
8.3. How to Organize the Entire Report;
8.4. Referencing in Literature Review and Organizing Bibliographic Entries.

Mode of Delivery

The teaching approach follows active learning and learner-centered strategy and all students are
expected to attend classes and participate actively in class. The following approaches are applied
in the course delivery:

 Lectures;
 Discussions;
 Exercises and assignments;

Participation in discussions is encouraged as advantage of each learner; those who talk more are
expected to learn better.

Mode of Assessment and Evaluation

In this course, assessment of learning is based on assignments and a final exam that
bearing different weights as given below.
 Individual Assignment ………….….10%
 Group Assignment ………………... 15%
 Test: …………..……………………..20%
  Class Attendance:…………………….5%
 Final exam ……………………………50%
Total 100%

In the assignments, academic style of work is expected (proper citations and neat
presentation of ideas are valued. Exams will be subjective in format; and accuracy and
clarity of answers are most valued. Length of writing bears no value; and the overall
evaluation will be as per the college’s grading scale.

Books
- Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & A. Thornhill. (2009). Research Methods for Business
Students, 5th edition, Pearson Education Limited, England.

-Von Eye, A. & C. Schuster. (1998). Regression Analysis for Social Sciences. Academic Press,
USA.

- Yin, Robert K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3 rd Ed. Sage Publications,
U.S.A.

- Cooper R.D & Schindler S.P. (2006), Business Research Methods, 9th ed. McGraw hill, USA,

- Beins C.B & McCarthy A.M (2012), Research Methods and Statistics, PearsonEducationInc,
USA.

- Cates D.M (2013) Marketing Research Essentials, 8th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. USA.

Sekaran U. (2003), Research Methods for Business, A Skill Building Approach 1 st ed. John
Wiley & Sons, Inc USA.
References

-Deribsa Abate (2017), Research Methodology Handbook for Research Students and
Practitioners, 1st edition, Addis Ababa, Mega Publishing & Distribution PLC.
-Dawson, K. (2007). A Practical Guide to Research Methods, 3 rd edition. How To Books Ltd.,
U.K.
-Heeringa, S. G., West, B. T., & P. A. Berglund. (2010). Applied Survey Data Analysis. Taylor
and Francis Group, LLC. New York.

-Neuman, W. L. (2014). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, 7 th

edition. Pearson Education Limited, England