Business Research Methods
Subject Overview
Business Research Methods equips students to conduct managerial research — the research process and design, sampling and measurement scales, sampling distributions and estimation, index numbers and time series analysis, and hypothesis testing (t-test, Z-test, F-test, chi-square, ANOVA) alongside correlation and regression diagnostics. Students also prepare a mini research project. A 4-credit core theory paper.
Unit-wise Syllabus
4 units — click WhatsApp below to get the full notes for each
Unit 1: Research design and data collection
Meaning, objectives and process of research, selecting and defining a research problem, review of literature, research design types (descriptive, diagnostic, exploratory, experimental), primary and secondary data sources, questionnaire construction and design
Unit 2: Sampling and measurement
Census vs sampling, probability and non-probability sampling methods, sample size and errors, uni-dimensional and multidimensional scales, nominal/ordinal/interval/ratio measurement, rating/ranking/Likert/semantic differential scales, data editing, coding, classification and tabulation
Unit 3: Sampling distributions, estimation, index numbers and time series
Sampling distribution of means and proportions, Central Limit Theorem, point and interval estimation, confidence intervals, sample size determination, index number construction and consistency tests, base shifting/splicing/deflation, time series components and trend analysis via least squares
Unit 4: Hypothesis testing and inferential statistics
Hypothesis formulation and testing procedure, errors in hypothesis testing, t-test/Z-test/F-test/chi-square test/goodness of fit/ANOVA, techniques of association of attributes, partial and multiple correlation, multiple regression, testing assumptions of regression (multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation)