GRA 2243 Research Methodology for Organisational Behaviour
GRA 2243 Research Methodology for Organisational Behaviour
The purpose of this course is threefold. First, to provide students with knowledge and skills that enable them to conduct high quality research in their thesis projects. Second, to guide students towards becoming critical readers and users of OB research. Third, in their future professional careers to design and carry out applied research projects for organizations.
The course has an applied focus, where students are initially given a general introduction to research methodology covering issues in both quantitative and qualitative methodology research ethics, and learn to search and critically examine sources for scientific knowledge. Students are also trained in critical evaluation of research conducted by others as well as their own research
- Concepts and tools to collect and analyse data
- Strengths and weaknesses of different methodologies and data sources
- Reviewing the litterature
- Knowledge about appropriate research designs (ways to conduct research) to answer different types of questions
- Practical knowledge on statistical inference, estimation, and hypothesis testing
- Internal validity and causal questions
- External validity and generalizability
- Ethical considerations
- Epistemological foundations of qualitative and quantitative methods
- Qualitative interviews, focus groups, discourse and thematic analysis as well as coding of qualitative data
- Compare and critique different research designs and research methods
- Understand strategies for information harvesting, including search techniques and critical evaluation of sources
- Design a crossectional and an experimental study
- Create and use an interview guide
- Ethical issues and dilemmas in business research
- Reflecting on threats to reproducibility, the role of researcher degrees of freedom and pre-registration
- Critical thinking in evaluating the research process and outcomes
The learning outcomes will be realized by twelve course components consisting of:
- Introduction to OB research
- Research questions and designs
- Literature search
- Hypothesis testing, estimation, and inference
- Error control, hypothesis testing and researcher behavior
- Internal and external validity
- Seminar on validity
- Semi structured interviews
- Qualitative research designs
- Qualitative analysis
- Case study
- Research ethics
- Exam prep lecture
The course consists of a combination of lectures, class discussions and a research design seminar. Videos that describe a step-by-step guide to converting research questions into statistical tests supplement the traditional lectures.
During the semester there will also be additional Thesis Seminars to guide the students towards writing a Thesis Proposal. These sessions are complimentary to the course.
Research Methodology is a very important course in the MSc Programme as the course is central to the thesis work. Please make sure you read the information about the thesis work in the student portal.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.
All parts of the assessment must be passed in order to get a grade in the course.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
A Bachelor's degree qualifying for admission to the Master programme. Students should have basic knowledge in methods and statistics and in the use of library sources and search techniques.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Submission PDF Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 3) Duration: 1 Week(s) Comment: Library assignment Exam code: GRA 22432 Grading scale: Pass/fail Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
Exam category: School Exam Form of assessment: Written School Exam - digital Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Comment: Written examination under supervision. Exam code: GRA 22433 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.