BUS9056M Research Methods and Design - University of Lincoln

Learning Outcome 1: Design a programme of research and investigation: formulate and implement qualitative and/or quantitative research designs appropriate for post-graduate research in business and management

Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to gather and analyse data in accordance with sound principles of research and investigation (having the know- how to analyse, present and interpret complex qualitative data using appropriate tools of analysis and to analyse, present and interpret large quantitative data sets using a range of statistical techniques)

Learning Outcome 3: Critically evaluate source material using the concepts of research design and evaluate the contribution of your research to existing theoretical frameworks

Learning Outcome 4: Evaluate critically different research paradigms; reflecting on your own research practice and design preferences and the implications for your dissertation

Report on a Research Exercise

You will be asked to write a report on a specific exercises you are required to undertake. There are 3 parts to this report. Part 1 assesses skills in Qualitative research, Part 2 assesses skills in Quantitative Research and Part 3 is a short personal reflection on your own research preferences and the skills developed.

The details of the required exercises are pre-specified and outlined in Appendix 2. The word count for your report for this assessment will be up to 5,000 words.

These reports should all reflect the newly enhanced knowledge-base on research design and methods built up during this module and students' own independent study - and you are expected to demonstrate this with your use of appropriate supporting references.

PART 1] Qualitative Methods and Design - Undertake an analysis of a 2021 Greta Thunberg interview with Andrew Marr - approx. 2,000 words
Greta Thunberg was interviewed on the BBC in 2021 by Andrew Marr as part of the COP26 discussions. This interview and a draft transcript of it is available online on the BBC ‘Andrew Marr' website (BBC, 2021) - full details of which are given in the references below.
Exploring the transcript provided reconstruct a plausible question guide that might have been used by the interviewer, Andrew Marr? (i.e. identify the structure of the questioning Andrew Marr used by reviewing the actual interview). Present this reconstructed interview guide as an appendix and discuss it briefly in your main report, showing the main themes. [LO1 and LO2]

The transcript is given by the authors, the BBC, as ‘uncorrected'. Listen to the actual interview as you read the transcript - can you find any mistakes or places where the exact wording might be questionable? Discuss this process and its implications for your own understanding of research practice. [LO2]
Using appropriate research methods textbooks to guide you, take any section (of at least 500 words) of the transcript as presented online (BBC, 2021), code it and present an extract of this coding in an appendix. You should also add another appendix that presents a codebook &/or a diagram that shows how you analysed/grouped themes found within the whole interview. Briefly discuss the findings of your analysis of the interview in your main report (we suggest you use separate headings for any key themes you have identified). [LO1 and LO2] .
Critically reflect and comment on the methods used by the BBC to conduct the interview and to create the original transcript (again with reference to research methods texts). Discuss any difference in expectations between a research interview and a journalistic/media interview you may perceive. Comment on anything else that you feel might have been useful to ask. [LO1, LO3 and LO4].
Appendices are not included in the wordcount but should not exceed 5 pages.

PART 2] Quantitative Methods and Design - Analyse numerical data provided on 2016 Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions  - approx. 2,000 words
The discussion on CO2 emissions has been a key part of discussions at both International and National levels. The Worldometer website (Worldometer, 2022) gives figures for 2016 CO2 emissions by country. Examine this data and look carefully at the source(s) of the information presented.
Using research methods textbooks to guide your work, perform an analysis of this data and present and discuss your findings. Using SPSS (or similar) present an analysis of the following (you should present this as a report and use graphs and tables as appropriate to communicate your findings):
Using descriptive statistics summarise and describe this data set. In doing so you should discuss the distribution of data (including any outliers), the mean and standard deviation of the data and any other descriptive statistics that you think are informative. Your presentation should make it clear you understand the meaning and use of these measures. [LO2, LO3]

Using this data source undertake the following analysis ...
- Identify which 10 countries are reported as producing the most CO2 (total) in 2016 and rank these [LO2, LO3]
- Identify which 10 countries are reported as producing the most CO2 per capita in 2016 and rank these [LO2, LO3]
- Present a graph comparing the 2 metrics for all countries in the dataset (i.e. comparing CO2 total and CO2 per capita). Discuss any interesting features of this graph. Discuss why it is important to consider these 2 metrics [LO3 and LO2]
- What is the correlation (if any) between the size of population and the total CO2 produced in 2016? [LO2]

- By finding an external source of information, identify the "G7" countries (or any other grouping of interest to you). Using statistical tests of difference can you test for a statistically significant difference between these 2 groups? (e.g. a difference between G7 and non-G7 countries)? (NB there may not be any difference, this is for you to investigate). We suggest you define a clear hypothesis to test here rather than looking for
differences without a focus [LO2]. Explain the meaning of ‘statistical significance' here.
- Comment on any other aspects of this data you find interesting. (Present any analysis you produce here to support this discussion)

- Look carefully at the original sources stated for this data - discuss if you can establish what methods were used to collect this data. How reliable do you think this data is likely to be and why do you think this? [LO1 and LO2]
- What ethical issues exist in drawing conclusions from this analysis alone? How could you improve (the reliability or validity) of your analysis if doing a larger study on this topic? [LO3 and LO1]
- Are there any additional measurements you would like to add to this analysis? If so, say why you would like to know this information? [LO3]
- What initial suggestions do you have for where to look for this data? [LO3 and LO1]

Part 3] General Skills evidenced:

Personal Reflection on your own learning and development of skills in research

c.500 words (10%). Briefly reflect upon your own preferences in undertaking research. Discuss the development of skills in both areas and which you feel you may use in future dissertation work / for other studies [LO1, LO3 and LO4].
General Communication skills and research writing (10%). Additional marks will be given here for overall written and graphical communication, including the presentation of thematic analysis and statistical analysis, the quality of the overall report and the originality and maturity of arguments throughout [LO2].
Use of referencing to Research Methods and Design texts and academic articles to underpin the assignment (10%). Additional marks will be given for general evidence of wider reading, independent study and reflection related to research methods and design along with skills in referencing [LO1 and LO3].

Attachment:- Research Methods and Design.rar