Business Research Methods
MTB820
Overview
To enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into a course from the provider.
Read before you start
Level of study: What does Postgraduate mean?
Postgraduate
EFTSL: What does EFTSL mean?
0.125
Delivery Method: What does delivery method mean?
Fully Online
Prerequisites: What are the prerequisites?
Duration:
13 weeks
Government loans available:
FEE-HELP FEE-HELP
Domestic student fee:
$2,000.00 (AUD)
International student fee:
$2,225.00 (AUD)
Description
The learning focus for this unit is on developing business research skills and defining a business research question. It will bring together students’ theoretical and practical appreciation of how to identify and investigate business opportunities or problems as well as analyse data and conclude on the relevance of research findings. Students will be introduced to a range of relevant quantitative and qualitative business research methods and will select from these in determining a project design. Learning will be demonstrated by applying these skills to a selected preliminary project design which highlights fitness for purpose in answering the defined research question.
Enrolment Restriction
In order to enrol in this unit, you must be accepted into one of the following courses:
- Master of Technology (Business Systems)
- Graduate Certificate of Commerce
- Graduate Diploma of Commerce
- Master of Commerce
If you wish to seek approval to enrol in this unit without being accepted in a course, please contact OUA regarding the process.
Prerequisites
Equivalent units
You cannot enrol in this unit if you have successfully completed any of the following unit(s) because they are considered academically equivalent:
- MTB310 — Research Methods for Business and Communication Project
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this unit students will be able to:
- identify, specify and scope an organisational problem or issue requiring a research-based approach
- define an appropriate research question prior to undertaking research
- assess and select from a range of research methods
- identify major stakeholders in the research context and identify the potential impact of their objectives and expectations on the design of the research project
- conceptualise a framework for the design and implementation of a research or professional project
- draft a project proposal.
Topics
This unit addresses the following topics.
| Number | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Understanding research - ontology and epistemology |
| 2 | What is the business dilemma - identifying the research question |
| 3 | Problem identification and project scoping |
| 4 | Preliminary conceptual frameworks, literature search and review and intelligence gathering |
| 5 | Quantitative and qualitative research design |
| 6 | Research in complex and dynamic environments |
| 7 | Ethics and report writing requirements |
| 8 | Design of data collection instruments |
| 9 | Tools for data analysis |
Study Resources
This unit is delivered using the following methods and materials:
Instructional Methods
- Chat rooms
- Discussion Forum/Discussion Board
- Online Quizzes/Tests
- Online assignment submission
- Podcasting/Lecture capture
- Standard Media
- Web links
- Wikis
Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a unit.
Click on the titles of the listed books below to find out more:
Required textbooks
Recommended textbooks
Relevant Courses
This unit is a core requirement in the following courses:
This unit is an approved elective in the following courses:
- Master of Technology (Business Systems), Swinburne University of Tnlgy
- Graduate Diploma of Commerce, Swinburne University of Tnlgy
- Master of Commerce, Swinburne University of Tnlgy
This unit may be eligible for credit towards other courses:
- Many undergraduate courses on offer through OUA include 'open elective' where any OUA unit can be credited to the course. You need to check the Award Requirements on the course page for the number of allowed open electives and any level limitations.
- In other cases, the content of this unit might be relevant to a course on offer through OUA or elsewhere. In order to receive credit for this unit in the course you will need to supply the provider institution with a copy of the Unit Profile in the approved format, which you can download here. Note that the Unit Profile is set at the start of the year, and if textbooks change this may not match the Unibooks textbook list.
