BSBI 531

Business
Research Methods

Module 8 -
Finals
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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 It is for the purpose of conducting literature review that
secondary
sources prove exceptionally useful.
 Textbooks give a good general introduction to the topic. Some advanced
forthcoming
textbooks even areas of research
at times interest.
discuss the also havepassed
current, recently a listand
of
Many references, a bibliography and even an
sometimes bibliography. They are good first stop. annotated
 An annotated bibliography is a good stop. An annotated
second
bibliography is a list of books, and articles organized by topic with each
described briefly in terms of its content, importance and contribution to
the field; usually by a highly rated expert in the field.
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Annotated bibliographies would lead you to the major
works in a given field. A recent one is therefore invaluable
in helping to discover the state of affairs with the topic of
your research.
Pursuing the lead of annotated bibliographies would guide
you to the identification of the important periodical or on-
line sources of publication in a given field. A survey of the
recent volumes of such publications is an obligatory next
stop.
Given that you have done a thorough job of taking these
steps, you should now be on firm ground.
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Types of sources of primary

publication:
 Conference proceedings
 Trade periodical
 Scholarly periodicals/journals
 Archival journals
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Writing and Research:

 Researchers have to communicate. There are four areas of importance
about which researchers need to do so. These are the:

1. Research proposal
2. Research notes
3. Research progress report(s)
4. Research report (final publication)
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 Irrespective of the area, a piece of research
writing must be:
Clear and understandable
An expert is he or she who can talk about the most
difficult aspects of her area of expertise in a way that normal,
educated laypersons would understand. Clarity is one
attribute that assists in this.
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Rules of Clarity

1. Mean what you say.

2. Say what you mean.
3. Correct be grammatically.
4. Perpetually refrain from the employment of a
protracted expression provided that a diminutive
variation of such cognitive handle is at your
disposal.
5. Never use jargon when common speech will do.
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6. If you want to make a sentence with many
qualifications, put some of those qualifications in
separate sentences. Do not write legalese.
7. Do not let the beginning of your sentence lead the
reader to an expectation which is contradicted by
the end.
8. Write in the active voice whenever possible
9. Do not use double negatives unless logically
required.
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10. Do not sacrifice precision. Number 4 says “Do not

use a long word when a short word will do”. It does
not say “Use shorter words to replace long ones”. Use
the PRECISE word for the occasion at all occasions.
11. Be brief. However, again, do not sacrifice precision
and understandability for brevity.
12. Use diagrams –if allowed – as a picture is worth
a thousand words.
13. Do not use diagrams that do not add to the context.
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Similarly, we need to predict and provide a budget, prior to the

commencement of the project. Usually if too high we run the
risk of being rejected, if too low, we may run out of money.
Therein lies the third difficulty.
Finally in order to demonstrate that you are the qualified
person to conduct this work, you almost need to prove that
you have already done this work. But if so, why do it again?
Herein is the fourth difficulty!
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Research proposals usually have a(n):

1. Executive summary
2. Introduction: that discusses the area, the nature
importance of the research to be conducted.
and
3. Proposed research discussion. In this section the research
question is presented and discussed technically.
4. Methodology section that discusses how the research will
be done. In this section the researcher has to prove that
this method is appropriate, cost effective and will yield
results.
5. Budget
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6. Timing and schedule
7. Expected results section that discusses what the
results might be and why they are important.
8. Benefits section. This section discusses the benefits of
conducting this research and that of its results.
9. Investigators’ details. This section provides and discusses
the history and backgrounds of the investigators involved
and their respective roles and responsibilities.
10. Summary and Conclusions section
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11. References

12. Appendices which may include price quotations

for equipment, resume and publication lists of the
investigators, list of and performance indicators on
previous grants, affiliations, security clearances,
conflict of interest, animal and human subject
declarations and other “ethical” binders, etc.
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Research notes come in two forms:

Laboratory/field notes, and
Study notes
Laboratory or field notes basically are notes that
capture the data or some other important fact in an
experiment or a field or case observation.
A study note is an annotated summary of some relevant
material studied; particularly a reference.
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What is Referencing?

Referencing is a standardized method of

acknowledging sources of information and ideas that

you have used in your work, in a way that uniquely
identifies their source.

Direct quotations, facts and figures, as well as ideas

and theories, from both published and unpublished

works must be referenced.
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Why reference?
Referencing is necessary to:
 Support your arguments and assertions;
 Avoid accusations of plagiarism;
 Avoid having to repeat reporting of work already done;
 Enable the reader to verify quotations; and
 Enable readers to follow-up and read more fully the cited author's
arguments.
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There are many different styles of referencing. Each
with its own peculiarities. Amongst these the more
pertinent ones to CS are:
The IEEE Style
The Harvard Style
The AIP Style
Styles of Referencing:
Other referencing styles such as the Chicago style, the
Turabian style, the APA style, and the MLS style might also be
mentioned
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Irrespective of style, a reference has two components,
An in-text citation, and
A reference listing
The in-text citation is placed in the article at or near
where the source is referred to, so that the reference
statement or object is clearly identified.
The reference listing is an entry in the reference section
of the article where the source is identified in sufficient
detail so that the reader of the article can locate the
original source.
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In the case of a book, reference listing includes the
following:
(at a minimum)
Author/editor
Year of publication
Title
Edition
Volume number
Publisher, and
place of
publication.
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In the case of a journal article it refers to: (at a

minimum)
 Author of article
Year of publication
Title of article
Journal/serial title
Volume number
Issue number
Page numbers on
which the article
appears.
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In the case of electronic information it refers to:
Author/editor
Year of publication
Article title
Journal title
The type of
medium (eg. CD-
ROM, Online,
etc.)
Pages or length
"Available at"
statement (eg.
WWW address,