RESEARCH SKILLS FOR BUSINESS AND MARKETING PROFESSIONALS - 2021/2

Module Overview

Working in business and marketing related professions will often entail research, for example on customers’ needs, employee satisfaction, etc. This module develops students’ understanding of the principal qualitative and quantitative research methods and will provide them with opportunities to practice and apply these methods.

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

BOND Oliver (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes

• Research design

• Research questions and hypotheses

• Generating quantitative data

• Quantitative analysis of categorical and continuous variables

• Generating qualitative data: interviews, focus groups and ethnography

• Thematic analysis

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

n/a

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to develop research questions, identify appropriate methods of data collection, design data collection instruments and analyse small samples of data to answer research questions and make recommendations.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of two 1500 essays, the first one focusing on quantitative methodologies, the second one on qualitative methodologies. Students will be asked to plan small research projects, including the analysis of a small sample of data. • Assignment 1: 1500 word essay (addresses learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4) • Assignment 1: 1500 word essay (addresses learning outcomes 2, 4, 5)

Formative assessment / feedback Students will receive feedback on assignment 1 in the form of practical advice for the second assignment. Students will also receive verbal feedback on practical exercises throughout the class and will be able to discuss their plans for the assignment(s) with the module tutor.

Module aims

• • develop students’ understanding of the nature and methods of quantitative research
• • develop students’ understanding of the nature and methods of qualitative research
• • enable students to develop questions and procedures (data collection, and analysis) which allow them to address problems in professional practice in business and marketing

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to apply theoretical concepts in a practical manner and develop their own ideas for research problems. The module is taught primarily in seminar-style, with lecture-type input by the tutor which is followed by practical examples and exercises. Some sessions will take place in a lab, allowing students to use relevant analytical software (SPSS, NVivo).

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: CMCM064

Other information

n/a

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.