Includes bibliographical references and index.

" A student-led guide, Business Research is for student researchers who need to conceive, conduct, and complete a new research project for the first time. Rather than looking at business research as a scientific set of procedures, Ng and Coakes concentrate on the business organization and give practical advice on going out into the field and conducting interviews, researching problems and learning about organizations.Through its conversational, accessible style and its adoption of a student's perspective, this book makes the process of learning about research enjoyable and the resulting research project outstanding. "-- Provided by publisher.

"Business Research is a groundbreaking book for student researchers who need to conceive, conduct, and complete a new research project for the first time. It concentrates on the business organization and gives invaluable practical advice on going out into the field and conducting interviews, researching problems and learning about organizations. Through its conversational, accessible style and its adoption of a student's perspective, this book will make the process of learning about research enjoyable and the resulting research project outstanding"-- Provided by publisher.

Machine generated contents note: -- Introduction -- What are the right research methods for you and how might you go about selecting them?PART ONE Planning your project01 The nature of business research -- What is scholarly literature? -- What is a research question (RQ) and how do I develop a good one? -- How may I use scholarly literature in my project? -- How may I use theory?02 Methodology and methods -- What is research methodology? -- What has methodology got to do with research methods? -- How may I design my research? -- How should I use my 'case study'? -- What research methods should I use for my project?Part Two 'Doing' your project03 The project proposal -- Project proposals -- Contents of a project proposal -- Critical and analytical thinking -- Prior planning prevents poor performance04 Collecting quantitative data -- Finding quantitative data -- Secondary data -- Primary data -- Designing a successful survey -- Example of literature from which a hypothesis is derived -- Methods of collecting survey data -- Designing your questionnaire05 Collecting qualitative data through interviews -- Interviewing types and design -- Focus groups -- Interviewing references and further websites -- Chapter appendix: Interview Protocol06 Collecting data as an ethnographer -- Participant observation -- Non-participative observation07 Case study research -- Objectives -- The case study -- Using deductive theory in case studies -- Cross-sectional case study design -- Longitudinal case study design -- Case study tactics adopted for design quality08 Collecting data: less common methods -- Mixed methods research -- Social network analysis -- Action research -- Delphi method -- Participant and non-participant observation -- How to use crowdsourcing as a research tool -- How to use a repertory grid09 Ensuring data saturation -- Validity of quantitative data -- Reliability of quantitative data -- Signifi cance of quantitative dataPart Three Reporting your findings10 Analysing quantitative data -- Measures of central tendency -- Measures of spread -- Some notes on statistical testing -- Variables: dependent and independent11 Analysing qualitative data -- Coding text -- Checking -- Causal mapping -- Software for codingPart Four Writing your report12 Discussing anticipated project findings -- Flawed reasoning13 Conclusion to your report -- How to begin your conclusion -- Lessons to be learnt -- Recommendations14 Reference lists15 Writing your abstract16 Conclusion -- Research question -- Knowledge of cutting-edge research and theory -- Research tools.