Research Methods for Business Students

Number of Lectures: 2 Total Hours: 8 Marking: MCT – 30%; Final Exam – 70%

This module explores key theoretical and methodological issues in social science research, contrasting ‘ways of knowing’. It is premised on the idea that social science is better served by researchers who can master several methodologies, who can consciously choose among concepts and theories and who command many basic principles of reasoning. Indicative content includes a discussion of philosophical and theoretical positions, understanding causality, comparative and case study research and discuss the relevance of social science research to real-world problems.

The dissertation stage of the central banking and regulation programme involves an extended, independent investigation of a topic individually chosen and supervision on the preparation of a 7,000-word dissertation describing this original work. Essentially, the dissertation is a test of the participant’s ability to create and investigate, on own initiative, a text which demonstrates an expert-level understanding of a particular subject issue. Participants will benefit from world-leading supervision advice in order to ensure a high-quality output.