The research process

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content focus on international business rather than marketing knowledge

1.    The research process

Is not linear, it is iterative. It should always begin with a thorough search of the literature. Relevant literature will help you to form your aim, your objectives and devise an appropriate methodology. You should have done some preliminary reading before completing the Topic Submission Form (see appendices) which the module leader uses to allocate a supervisor to you

2.    Your topic, aim and objectives

 MUST be related to your specialism, and, where possible, should have a strategic aspect rather than being purely operational in focus.

3.    Aim and objectives

 Should reflect the sources from which your interest is derived e.g.:

1. an area or topic in which you have an interest e.g. – appraisal systems
2. ideas or issues which you wish to explore in detail e.g. – women’s experience of appraisal
3. problems detected and needing a solution in practical or theoretical terms e.g. – the ‘glass ceiling’ effect in promotion/advancement
4. questions arising from experience, reading the literature, etc. e.g. – do women feel that the glass ceiling effect is embedded in appraisal systems?
5. you should clearly state the nature of the problem etc. and its known or estimated extent
6. if possible you should locate your questions within the context within which it is to be studied e.g. – do women at (company/institution/etc) feel that the glass ceiling effect is embedded in the internal appraisal systems of their (company/institution/etc)

Aims and Objectives should:

1. be presented concisely and briefly
2. be interrelated. The aim is what you want to achieve, and the objective describes how you are going to achieve that aim i.e. make sure that the aim is matched with specific objectives
3. be realistic about what you can accomplish in the duration of the project and the other commitments you have i.e. the scope of your project must be consistent with the time frame and level of effort available to you
4. provide you and your assessors with indicators of how you:
   1. intend to approach the literature and theoretical issues related to you project
   2. intend to access your chosen subjects, respondents, units, goods or services and develop a sampling frame and strategy or a rationale for their selection
   3. will develop a strategy and design for data collection and analysis
   4. you will deal with ethical and practical problems in your research

Aims and Objectives should not:

1. be too vague, ambitious or broad in scope: though aims are more general in nature than objectives it is the viability and feasibility of your study that you have to demonstrate and aims often present an over-optimistic picture of what the project can achieve
2. just repeat each other in different terms
3. just be a list of things related to your research topic
4. spend time discussing details of your job or research site i.e. it is your research study your assessors are interested in and you should keep this in mind at all times.
5. contradict methods, that is, they should not imply methodological goals or standards of measurement, proof or generalisation of findings that the methods cannot sustain

Remember:

1. At the conclusion of your project you will need to assess whether or not you have met your objectives and if not, why not.

You may not however always meet your aim in full, since your research may reveal that your questions were inappropriate, that there are intervening variables you could not account for or that the circumstances of the study have changed etc. Whatever the case, your conclusion will still have to reflect on how well the research design that was guided by your objectives has contributed to addressing your aim.