Module overview
This module aims to provide opportunities for students to develop an appreciation of marketing research in theory and practice. There are two broad objectives: (1) to enhance your knowledge of the research process and enable you to be aware of the problems associated with research, and (2) to prepare you to carry out your own research, in most cases your dissertation.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- conduct an independent research at masters level;
- understand research from an ethical perspective (ERGO).
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- identify appropriate data collection strategies that link methodological theory to research practice;
- critically evaluate the diverse techniques that can be employed in quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- describe the main methodologies and methods used in marketing research.
- demonstrate an understanding of the research paradigms deployed by marketing researchers;
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- design research projects and outline the key steps to managing them.
- critically assess the main types of contemporary management/marketing research;
Syllabus
Foundations of marketing/management research: ontology, epistemology, axiology and links to methodology and methods; positivist/phenomenological research; conducting a literature review, collecting and analysing data using quantitative and qualitative methods; formulating research questions/research problems; questionnaire design; interviews; participant observation; exploratory data analysis; case study methodology; grounded theory; ethnography; netnography, standard software packages for analysing quantitative data (SPSS) and qualitative data (QRS NVivo), University Ethics Approval Procedure (ERGO).
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
This module is delivered as a series of lectures with computer laboratory workshops.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Independent Study | 126 |
Teaching | 24 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (2017). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. UK: Sage Publications.
Corbin, Juliet and Anselm Strauss (2008). Basics of Qualitative Research. CA: Sage.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2018). Research Methods for Business Students. Pearson - An e-version of this text is available via the Hartley library.
Gray, D.E. (2022). Doing Research in the Real World. Sage.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Class discussions
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback: Informal feedback given during class discussions and workshop sessions.
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Coursework | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Coursework | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External