Research in International Business Exam
Week 1: 1 & 2
Week 2: 3,8 & 15
Week 3: 16 (up to page 347 and section that starts with "Moderated
regression provides a means...")
Week 4: 16 (from where we left off last week to end), 14
Week 5: 9 (up to page 204; stop at "Error in survey research" section)
Week 6: 17 (up to page 380; stop at "Researcher-participant relationships"
section), 18 (up to page 399; stop at "Not just People"
section), 20 (excluding pages 440 to 448 - start again at Merits and
limitations of qualitative interviewing)
Week 7: 25 & 6
,Chapter 1: The Nature and Process of Business
Research
Business research = academic study of topics through the posing of
research questions for businesses (e.g. management, organizations) ->
situated in the social sciences such as sociology, psychology, economics
- Why? Noticing a cap/inconsistency in a study
Epistemological considerations = how the social world should be
studied
Evidence-based management = systematic use of the best available
evidence to improve management practice
Literature review = what is known about the topic, what
concepts/theories are there?
Concepts are a key ingredient of theories:
- Theory = shapes what is studied and how findings are interpreted
Research question = statement of what the researcher wants to know
Deductive approach (testing theory)/ inductive approach (building
theory from data)
Deductive = you begin with a known theory/principle -> you apply that
rule to a specific case -> to reach a conclusion
Inductive = you collect observations/examples -> from these examples,
you form a general rule or theory (linear approach)
Abductive = making the best possible guess based on limited information
-> start with an observation , then try to find the best possible explanation
for it.
Big data = the vast quantities of digital information generated, stored,
and circulated, including via the internet
,Chapter 2: Business Research Strategies
Theory = a way of explaining observed patterns of associations between
phenomena
Kind of theories:
- Grand theory = abstract, high-level theoretical perspectives,
empirical findings
- Middle-range theories = operate in a limited domain
- Contingency theory = based on a number of assumptions
Philosophy of social science = understanding the assumptions behind
research
Ontology = understanding of what is reality?
Epistemology = how we can know reality?
Methodology = how should we study reality?
Ontology =deals with the nature of reality
Objectivism = reality exists independently of us
Constructionism = reality is shaped by social interactions
Epistemology = the theory of knowledge
Positivism = knowledge comes from observation and measurement
Interpretivism = knowledge from understanding human
meaning/experiences
Empiricism = learn by observing and experiencing things, not by thinking
or guessing
Iterative Process = going back and forth between data and theory
during research
Hermeneutics = study of interpretation (texts, meanings, and human
experiences)
Empirical realism = similar to positivism: assumes an external reality
and uses scientific approaches for both natural and social science
Postmodernism = thinking about the social sciences and how knowledge
claims are constructed through the language of science
Constructs = an abstract idea/concept that cannot be directly measured
but can be studied through indicators/variables.
, Paradigm = a way of thinking in research that guides what to study, how
to study it, and how to interpret results. Different paradigms lead to
different ways of analyzing and understanding the same problem.
Each paradigm results in the generation of a quite different type of
organizational analysis to address specific organizational ‘problems’
in different ways
Week 1: 1 & 2
Week 2: 3,8 & 15
Week 3: 16 (up to page 347 and section that starts with "Moderated
regression provides a means...")
Week 4: 16 (from where we left off last week to end), 14
Week 5: 9 (up to page 204; stop at "Error in survey research" section)
Week 6: 17 (up to page 380; stop at "Researcher-participant relationships"
section), 18 (up to page 399; stop at "Not just People"
section), 20 (excluding pages 440 to 448 - start again at Merits and
limitations of qualitative interviewing)
Week 7: 25 & 6
,Chapter 1: The Nature and Process of Business
Research
Business research = academic study of topics through the posing of
research questions for businesses (e.g. management, organizations) ->
situated in the social sciences such as sociology, psychology, economics
- Why? Noticing a cap/inconsistency in a study
Epistemological considerations = how the social world should be
studied
Evidence-based management = systematic use of the best available
evidence to improve management practice
Literature review = what is known about the topic, what
concepts/theories are there?
Concepts are a key ingredient of theories:
- Theory = shapes what is studied and how findings are interpreted
Research question = statement of what the researcher wants to know
Deductive approach (testing theory)/ inductive approach (building
theory from data)
Deductive = you begin with a known theory/principle -> you apply that
rule to a specific case -> to reach a conclusion
Inductive = you collect observations/examples -> from these examples,
you form a general rule or theory (linear approach)
Abductive = making the best possible guess based on limited information
-> start with an observation , then try to find the best possible explanation
for it.
Big data = the vast quantities of digital information generated, stored,
and circulated, including via the internet
,Chapter 2: Business Research Strategies
Theory = a way of explaining observed patterns of associations between
phenomena
Kind of theories:
- Grand theory = abstract, high-level theoretical perspectives,
empirical findings
- Middle-range theories = operate in a limited domain
- Contingency theory = based on a number of assumptions
Philosophy of social science = understanding the assumptions behind
research
Ontology = understanding of what is reality?
Epistemology = how we can know reality?
Methodology = how should we study reality?
Ontology =deals with the nature of reality
Objectivism = reality exists independently of us
Constructionism = reality is shaped by social interactions
Epistemology = the theory of knowledge
Positivism = knowledge comes from observation and measurement
Interpretivism = knowledge from understanding human
meaning/experiences
Empiricism = learn by observing and experiencing things, not by thinking
or guessing
Iterative Process = going back and forth between data and theory
during research
Hermeneutics = study of interpretation (texts, meanings, and human
experiences)
Empirical realism = similar to positivism: assumes an external reality
and uses scientific approaches for both natural and social science
Postmodernism = thinking about the social sciences and how knowledge
claims are constructed through the language of science
Constructs = an abstract idea/concept that cannot be directly measured
but can be studied through indicators/variables.
, Paradigm = a way of thinking in research that guides what to study, how
to study it, and how to interpret results. Different paradigms lead to
different ways of analyzing and understanding the same problem.
Each paradigm results in the generation of a quite different type of
organizational analysis to address specific organizational ‘problems’
in different ways
