Module BUSI4E715: RIGOUR AND RELEVANCE IN BUSINESS RESEARCH

Department: Management and Marketing

BUSI4E715: RIGOUR AND RELEVANCE IN BUSINESS RESEARCH

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• As specified in the Special Regulations.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide a comprehensive and critical review of debates concerning the 'double hurdles' of rigour and relevance within business and management.
• To equip the student with the conceptual and practical skills necessary to identify and develop their dual contributions to theory and practice within the thesis phase of the programme.
• To consolidate and extend the skills acquired during previous modules in the DBA programme to successfully complete the thesis element of the Programme.

Content

• The individual sessions within the module will be organised around the following questions:
• How is management knowledge produced?
• Who are the main producers of management knowledge?
• What kinfds of management knowledge is valused by different communities and what does this imply for the design, conduct and reporting of doctoral/DBA research?
• What id meant by rigour and relevance and how are they manifested within the design, conduct and reporting of research for the DBA?
• What is the nature of the contributions arising from DBA research and what do these imply for the individual projects being planned by students?
• How do we communicate effectively within a research context with different 'user' groups?
• How might these issues be applied to each student's research project?

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should have: a critical awareness combined implications of rigour and relevance for the conduct of doctoral research within business and management;
• a critical appreciation of the distinctions between contributions to theory and practice, together with the challenges inherent in developing and applying these a piece of doctoral research.
• further enhanced their acquisition of the advanced skills needed to plan, implement, report, and manage a comprehensive programme of research during the theis stage of the DBA.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The learning outcomes will be met through a combination of lectures; guided reading; individual exercises and the group discussion of case studies.
• The assessment of the module, by written assignment, is designed to: Test the acquisition and articulation of knowledge and research skills. Test conceptual understanding and skills of application and interpretation within a practitioner-researcher context.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Student presentations, case studies, performance in IT practical classes.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University