2021/22 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

LUBS2415 Research Methods in International Business

20 creditsClass Size: 200

Module manager: Emma (Yan) Liu
Email: E.Y.Liu@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2021/22

Module replaces

LUBS2875 Research Methods in International Business

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module explains the principles underlying the scientific discovery of new ideas, theories and empirical relationships in the field of International Business. It gives students of International Business a toolkit for recognising good quality research (the ability to criticise research) and understanding where to start in conducting their own research. It provides them with an understanding of different research philosophies, and a knowledge of how to apply these in designing the research that forms the basis of their undergraduate dissertations.

Objectives

This module aims to give learners a sound grounding in research methods at a level sufficient to enable their undertaking of a research project to meet the requirements of the International Business Dissertation (LUBS3321) module, within the Programme.

Learning outcomes
Learning Outcomes - Knowledge / Application

On successful completion of this module students will be able to identify and explain:
- The concept of the scientific method
- The principles of epistemology
- The debate between different "world views" in the conduct of scientific discovery , and why these differences exist
- The logic underpinning the identification of a research question, and to design a piece of research

Learning Outcome - Skills
Transferable.
- critical thinking and a critical awareness of alternative research methods
- research skills for the world of work beyond the academic environment
- the ability to design a research project
- the ability to locate relevant literature for a project
- the ability to evaluate research strategies, data collection methods and data analysis methods in the context of a particular project

Skills outcomes
Subject Specific:
- ability to critically assess the academic literature for original ideas and findings that forms the theoretical and empirical core of the Programme.
- be able to identify the strengths and shortcomings of the scientific basis of knowledge in International Business and its supporting disciplines
- the critical analysis of research (e.g., journal articles) which over-claim or have weak research methods

Syllabus

Semester 1:
Indicative content:
1. Introduction to Research methods
2. Formulating research questions
3. Research topic and literature review
4. Intro to qualitative research
5. Qualitative interviews
6. Focus groups
7. Qualitative case study
8. Observation
9. Texts, documents and visual images
10. Research ethics
11. Analysing qualitative data

Semester 2:
Indicative content:
1. Introduction – What is quantitative research
2. Quantitative research design
3. Measurement
4. Quantitative data collection methods
5. Quantitative data analysis
6. Quantitative data analysis
7. Quantitative data analysis
8. Quantitative data analysis
9. Quantitative data analysis
10. Presenting quantitative data
11. Re-cap

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	22	1.00	22.00
Tutorial	10	1.00	10.00
Private study hours			168.00
Total Contact hours			32.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

This could include a variety of activities, such as reading, watching videos, question practice and exam preparation.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Your teaching methods could include a variety of delivery models, such as face-to-face teaching, live webinars, discussion boards and other interactive activities. There will be opportunities for formative feedback throughout the module.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	2,000 word essay	50.00
Essay	2,000 word essay	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

The resit for this module is by failed element. If a student were to fail, they would re-sit the ACW assignment that they had failed (either the Semester 1 50% or Semester 2 50% assignment) and the mark they receive will constitute 100% of the re-sit mark. If a student were to fail both ACW assignments, they would re-sit both assignments (as separate submissions) and the capped re-sit mark they receive will be calculated over both assignments.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 23/09/2021

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