RESEARCH METHODS FOR THE DIGITAL AGE - 2024/5

Module Overview

This module aims to help students to develop an understanding of the research process and to undertake research leading to successful completion of their dissertation, business plan, or applied research project. It enables students to conduct research independently and provides them with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to critically evaluate research work and undertake primary research. In addition, this module will help students prepare a research proposal for their dissertation, business plan, and applied research project: students will identify their area of research, develop research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested, conduct literature review, and select the appropriate online research methods to answer the research questions. This module covers ideas, techniques, and methods relevant to different stages of the research process, stressing the interdependence of each stage in conducting effective, coherent and rigorous research. By covering the fundamentals of research methods and research methodologies, this module will help students develop a research mindset, and provide students with critical thinking and problem-solving skills which will help them identify, critically evaluate,

Module provider

Surrey Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

SIRIPIS Maltika (Hosp & Tour)

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:

• Introduction to research
  
  
  
  • Research typology
  
  
  • (Business) research process
  
  
  • Identifying a research topic
  
  
  
  


• Formulating research aims and objectives


• Developing a conceptual framework


• Developing a research proposal


• Critically reviewing the literature and hypothesis development


• Formatting and managing references and citations


• Qualitative and quantitative research


• Obtaining secondary data in the digital age


• Collecting primary data
  
  
  
  • Survey research
  
  
  • Observation methods
  
  
  • Interviews and focus groups
  
  
  • Experimental research
  
  
  
  


• Sampling strategies


• Measurement and scaling; questionnaire design


• Analysing qualitative data


• Quantitative statistical analysis


• Negotiating access and ethical issues in research

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to enable students to demonstrate their breadth and depth of understanding of both the theories of research methods and application of the theoretical knowledge to research problems in a hospitality context. A formative assessment strategy is used to help students gradually build up their knowledge and skills and obtain continuous feedback to help them improve their research proposal.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

Individual Research Sketch 

Students are required to submit a research idea sketch, which includes the research title, research questions, research aims and objectives, the research methods and target population that will be used to answer the research questions. Students should also justify the research questions by stating the research background, the research gaps, and the expected theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study. Students may choose any topic which is relevant to their study programme. Students will get feedback on how to improve their research idea and research design through this assessment, which helps build up their research proposal.

Individual research proposal 

Students will be required to write a research proposal in which students will identify their area of research, develop research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested, conduct literature review, and select the appropriate research methods to answer the research questions. Students will need to draw on the latest academic research and industry trends to demonstrate the relevance of their research topic. 

Formative Assessment and Feedback

• During the first online activity, the assignments and the feedback process is explained.


• Feedback is also provided during and after online discussions/guided activities. Students will be required to contribute to moderated discussion forums and seminars to demonstrate the development of their subject knowledge and apply the theoretical knowledge into practice.


• As the online activities are built around topic-specific exercises in a group setting, students will not only benefit from lecturer feedback but also receive peer evaluations.


• After submitting the first assignment, students are encouraged to develop their draft of the final assignment, a research proposal,  based on feedback given for the fist assignment and submit drafts of each element of a research proposal to teaching team for formative feedback. This on-going  process provide students room for improvement and being resilient. 

Module aims

• Introduce the fundamentals of the research process
• Provide students with an introduction to various qualitative and quantitative research methods, with a particular focus on digital means
• Enable students to effectively identify research problems and to identify appropriate research research methods to answer the research questions
• Compose a detailed research proposal on a topic relevant to hospitality industry
• Write a critical literature review that deals effectively with relevant concepts/theories/models
• Provide students with skills in basic primary data collection and data analysis
• Locate information from a variety of secondary sources online
• Stress the ethical aspects of research and how to embed them into research practice
• To contribute to resourcefulness and resilience; to develop digital capabilities relevant to employability

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching and learning strategy for this module is designed to provide students with an overview of fundamental elements of research methods. This theoretical overview will be supplemented with practices, practical project, and continuous improvement methods so as to equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to critically evaluate research work and independently conduct primary research in a hospitality context. Students will also be provided through SurreyLearn with a series of guided study activities to extend their knowledge of the subject. 

The learning and teaching methods include:

• theoretical lectures with supporting materials from a range of academic research readings and empirical studies in hospitality to provide students with a holistic framework of knowledge


• online exercises, practical examples, and research scenarios to put theory into application and transform the acquired knowledge into practice


• a research proposal in which students will identify their area of research, develop research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested, conduct literature review, and select the appropriate research methods to answer the research questions.


• supporting guest lecture sessions


• providing formative feedback sessions

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: MANM497

Other information

This module adopts the University curriculum framework, which aims to develop learners with strong capabilities in Digital Capabilities, Employability, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module contributes to the development of the following capabilities: 

Digital Capabilities: This module focuses on developing students’ capabilities in research methods. They will learn how to collect secondary data from various online sources and how to use various software to analyse qualitative and quantitative data. Students will use the virtual learning environment, i.e. SurreyLearn, and data analysis software, i.e. SPSS, Tableau and Nvivo to facilitate learning. 

Employability: The assessments in this module help students to gain knowledge and skills about how to do applied research, i.e. how to solve a real business problem using rigorous research methods, how to collect data and analyse data to facilitate business decision-making. This will increase students' employability when they work in the industry.   

Global and Cultural Capabilities: Students will learn how to identify important research problems that are relevant to the hospitality industry, and these problems can be related to consumer behaviours, organisational behaviours and strategic decision-making. Students need to pay attention to the study contexts of their research problems, and strive to understand the influences of sectoral, national, regional and cultural differences on the focal research topic. 

Sustainability: Students will learn how to reflect on how to conduct research to support sustainability in the hospitality industry. 

Resourcefulness and Resilience: Students will be required to use a range of sources to identify and justify research problems, conduct a critical literature review, develop rigorous research design, identify primary and secondary data sources, and analyse the data to answer the research questions. Finding solutions during the research process is the key learning aspect of this module that will develop students’ resourcefulness and resilience.   

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 2024/5 academic year.