Advantages and disadvantages of honey and mumford learning styles

LD9631 Developing Research Informed Learning and Practice

Session 2: Research: its values and benefits DR Aliar Hossain

Learning Outcomes • By the end of this session, students should be able to: • To comprehend the values of research • To understand the foundations of research methods (research

philosophy) • To critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of adopting

different research methods • To differentiate between different types of research methodology

Recap from last week • Review of assignment brief • 1. How many words is the assignment? • 2. What are the different components of the assessment? • Definition of research • Keywords? Or definition • Understanding the uses of research • Examples? • Completion of VARK and Honey and Mumford • What did you learn about yourself after completing the learning style

questionnaires?

Assessment • You will be summatively assessed by a 3,000 word portfolio that will consist of the following pieces of work: 1. A 1,500 word critical review of literature relating to a business topic to be allocated by the module leader. (40% weighting) (MLO1, MLO2, MLO3)

2. A 1,500 word critical appraisal of your learning preference(s) using tools such as Honey and Mumford Learning Styles questionnaire and VARK. This should include a discussion of the implications for your learning development on this programme. This should include detailed examples and reflections on your past learning experiences. (40% weighting) (MLO4) AOL 4 COLLECTION POINT

3. The completion of a module learning log consisting of weekly sheets which are completed to build a total log (20%) The word count for this is not limited or included in word count. Minimum 5 entries.

• Your answers should demonstrate wide reading from academic book and journal sources from the university E- library. The work should consider appropriate and relevant theories, models and concepts. Work should be appropriately cited and referenced using the APA referencing system.

Assessment: 1,500 word critical review of literature relating to a business topic • Smaller businesses such as SMEs experience a number of issues and disadvantages, such as

retaining staff (Shettima, 2018), but they also experience a number of advantages and disadvantages within their operations, for instance, being closer to their customer base and experiencing customer intimacy.

• With this issue in focus, you should carry out a 1,500 word critical review of literature appraising the advantages and disadvantages of running an SME. You must not use the two examples given above in your answer.

• You must also provide recommendations for SMEs to overcome the disadvantages. All arguments and discussions put forward must be supported with a critical review of academic literature, research data and other relevant evidence.

• The critical review should use a range of sources of research, including academic theories, concepts, policy and practice as well as the use of contemporary information / material to illustrate and support in-depth research, debate and analysis. The review should draw together findings in a clear conclusion which should focus on recommendations to the assignment question posed.

What is research?

‘Something that people undertake in order to find things out in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge’

Saunders et al. (2016)

Characteristics:

•Data are collected systematically/methodically

•Data are interpreted systematically/methodically

•There is a clear purpose to find things out

• How can you ensure that your research has a clear purpose?

Why study research? • To understand research reports, etc. which you read • To understand research results • For writing academic research projects –

e.g. the SME Project!!! • Research is also a management tool in:

• policy-making • planning • managing • evaluating

Why is research important in this respect?

Who does research?

Who does research?• Academics • Part of the job description. Knowledge for its own sake and/or to engage with industry/professions

and/or benefit society. • Students

• Coursework projects + Theses • Government commercial and non-profit organisations

• To inform/evaluate ‘evidence-based policy’ • Charities / social enterprises

• To collate and disseminate research, and may be funded from government, industry and/or non- profit sources

• Justify money spent from donations / encourage donations • Managers

• To monitor performance, aid decision-making • Consultants

• Under contract to government and industry • Businesses – why might businesses want to conduct research?

Business Research • Businesses want to find out about:

• Current customers/members

• Market/community research: potential customers/community – e.g. market research

• Environmental appraisal/analysis

• Organisational performance • Sales • Efficiency (e.g. cost saving potential) • Staff performance/motivation (e.g. KPIs)

• Competitor research

• Scoping Products • Existing and new

Who funds / pays for research?

Who pays for research?

• Unfunded • University internal funds • Public sector (e.g. invitation to tender) • Government-funded research councils

• Government grants • Private businesses • Non-profits • NGOs • Private trusts • Industry – public, commercial or non-profit

Research report formats • Academic journal articles • Professional journal articles • Conference presentations/papers • Books • Policy/planning/management reports:

• Position statements • Market profiles • Market research • Market segmentation/lifestyle studies/ psychographic studies • Feasibility studies • Cultural needs studies • Marketing plans • Forecasting studies • Impact studies • Industry/sector studies

Types of research

1.Descriptive research –used to “describe” a situation, subject, behaviour, or phenomenon.

2.Explanatory research – explaining how or why things are as they are (focuses on cause and effect)

3.Exploratory research - is carried out to understand a problem in depth and to gain insights using primary and secondary research methods

4.Evaluative research – evaluation of policies and programmes (assessment techniques).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBFdEgrTBM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlBFdEgrTBM
1. Descriptive research • Associated with particular research problem /

question • Can you think of an example of a research problem?

• Attempts to gather quantifiable information • Statistically analyse target audience / subject • Not associated with the ‘why’ – more ‘what is’ • Because the social world is constantly changing,

descriptive research is continuously needed • E.g. changes in population; success rates of small businesses

• Descriptive research needed for: • market profiles of consumers • needs assessment of staff, etc.

Descriptive research relies on observation as a means of collecting data. It attempts to examine situations to establish what is the norm, i.e. what can be predicted to happen again under the same circumstances;

2. Explanatory research • Involves: why and how? • Causality: A is caused by B • Prediction: a change in A will result in a change in B • Social science: A causes B to a predictable extent. • Examples: • A study into the role of social media sites as an effective marketing

communication channel • An investigation into the ways of improvement of the quality of customer

services in Uber • An assessment of the role of corporate social responsibility on consumer

behaviour in the retail industry

There are three principal ways of conducting exploratory research: • a search of the literature; • interviewing ‘experts’ in the subject; • conducting focus group interviews.

3. Exploratory Research • When a problem is broad and not specifically defined, researchers can use exploratory

research as a beginning step. • Example: • The researcher starts with a general idea and uses research as a tool to identify issues

that could be the focus of future research. • The goal: • To formulate problems more accurately; • Clarifying concepts; • Provide explanations and gain insights; • Forming hypotheses. • Methods: • Literature research, survey, focus group and case studies

4. Evaluative research • Evaluation is the systematic acquisition and assessment of

information to provide useful feedback about some object

• For example, to what extent has a programme achieved its aims?

• Intended to have some real-world effect (e.g. aids decision-making)

• Important when public funds are used • Important when subsequent funding is dependent on the

results

Questions might touch upon 1. What was the

effectiveness of a programme?

2. What was the impact of an initiative?

3. How well is the Programme delivering its aims?

Getting down to research

Research • Research is about acquiring knowledge and

developing understanding; collecting facts and interpreting them to build up a picture of the world around us, and even within us.

• Your choice of research methodology for your SME project, requires some thought and will probably be prompted by the objectives of your research question (e.g. what you want to find out!)

A research question is an answerable inquiry into a specific concern or issue. It is the initial step in aresearch project. The 'initial step' means after you have an idea of what you want to study, the research question is the first active step in the research project.

Where do I start?

• Almost all degrees require students to complete a larger scale assignment based on some sort of research, examples could be an:

• In depth case study • Dissertation • Research project • Long essay Doing a research

project of my own, I loved it……

I enjoy research because it involves investigation and independence!

Research Methods

Deductive Inductive

• Starts with specific observations and measures (research qs), then the researcher can start to detect patterns, then formulate some tentative hypotheses that can be explored, and finally end up developing some general conclusions or theories.

• Deductive reasoning works from the more general to the more specific.

• Starts with a theory about a topic of interest • Then is narrowed that down into more specific

hypotheses that can tested • Narrow down even further when the research collect

observations (empirical tests) to test the hypotheses • This results in the researcher being able to test the

hypotheses with specific data either confirming or disproving the original theory / hypothesis.

Start with theory

Confirm your hypothesis

= Quantitative methods

Start with data

Infer conclusions from the data

= Qualitative research

Hypothesis: an informed speculation, which is set up to be tested, about the possible relationship between two or more variables

Variable: A variable is something that can change, such as 'gender' and are typically the focus of a study.

Research Methods

Deductive Inductive

• Example, black business owners seem to have more difficulties in the start up of their business

• Formulate research questions • Is it because of x - hypothesis • Conduct tests / interviews / secondary

research • Results

• Start with an existing theory • Low cost airlines always have delays • Formulate a hypothesis based on existing theory • If passengers fly with a low cost airline, then they will

always experience delays • Collect data to test the hypothesis • Collect flight data of low-cost airlines • Analyse the results: does the data reject or support the

hypothesis? • 5 out of 100 flights of low-cost airlines are not delayed =

reject hypothesis

Start with theory

Confirm your hypothesis

= Quantitative methods

Start with observations

Generate theories

Hypothesis test

= Qualitative research

Hypothesis: an informed speculation, which is set up to be tested, about the possible relationship between two or more variables

Variable: A variable is something that can change, such as 'gender' and are typically the focus of a study.

https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation-writing-roadmap/hypotheses/
Example: Inductive and Deductive

Langdridge & Hagger-Johnson (2014) Introduction to Research Methods and Data Analysis

Which approach would be best for exploring the following :

1. Local’s attitudes towards immigrants in a coastal town in North East England

2. The wealthy tend to always vote for the Conservative party

Research Methods • Variety of methods to choose from but there are different methods needed to

answer different types of research questions. • For example, what research method would you use to find out peoples’ views

on Brexit? • Or, women’s experiences of discrimination at work? • Quantitative research tends to use: experiments, structured interviewing,

structured observation and structured questionnaires. • Deductive

• Qualitative research tends to use: unstructured or semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participant observation and semi-structured questionnaires.

• Inductive

Qualitative Research • Used to obtain and analyse information on human behaviour – for

example, opinions, values or interpretation.

• Tends to: • Focus on understanding meanings / people’s views (not truths); • Describe rather than explain (explains the whys and how's as opposed to what); • Focus on researching a small number of participants;

• Quality is more important than quantity • Provides specific information on a much deeper level

• Rely on semi-structured or unstructured interviews. • As opposed to structured questionnaires or interviews.

Quantitative Research • Tends to:

• be conducted in controlled settings; • emphasise behaviour rather than meaning (for example, the publics’ voting

preferences); • be concerned with prediction; • use experimental and/or structured methods; • For example, questionnaires.

Research Methodology

Quantitative Methods • When quantitative research is

dominant (an objective/empirical perspective), derived from the positivist worldview, researchers are preoccupied with the scientific method.

Qualitative Methods • Qualitative researchers subscribe

to an interpretivist worldview. They reject the positivist position that there is a concrete reality or an objective truth.

Positivism: It’s based on the view that whatever exists can be verified through experiments, observation, and mathematical/logical proof.

Interpretivism: argue that the study of human society must go beyond empirical and supposedly objective evidence to include subjective views, opinions, emotions, values: the things that can't be directly observed and counted.

What is qualitative and quantitative data?

Qualitative and quantitative research Qualitative Quantitative

Subjective Objective

Descriptive Measured

Interpretive Concrete

What to consider?

• Your research may focus on undertaking your own research (primary) or gathering and analysing research undertaken by someone else (secondary).

• Primary: is information that you will collect yourself. It can either be qualitative / quantitative, such as scientific experiments or conducting interviews or focus groups.

• Secondary: is information that has already been collected, for example, journal articles, government reports etc.

Primary data • There are four broad types of primary data, which can be differentiated by how they are collected:

• 1. Measurement – includes collections of numbers indicating amounts, e.g. voting figure, exam results, temperatures, etc.;

• 2. Observation – includes records of events, situations or things experienced first hand with the help of an instrument, e.g. a camera, dictaphone, microscope, etc.;

• 3. Interrogation – data gained by asking and probing for information, e.g. information about people’s, likes and dislikes, experiences etc.;

• 4. Participation – data gained by the experience of doing things, e.g. the experience of learning to ride a bike tells you different things about balance, dealing with traffic, etc. rather than just observing.

Secondary data • The quality of the data depends on the source and the methods of

presentation. • Refereed journals containing papers reviewed by leading academics and

experts in the field and serious journals • Important to assess the quality of information or opinions provided. • Can be achieved reviewing the quality of evidence that has been presented in

the arguments, and the validity of the arguments themselves, as well as the reputation and qualifications of the author.

• Good to use a variety of secondary data • To compare • Avoid bias and inaccuracies

YouTube Videos: Qualitative and Quantitative Research • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmLE8UqCXU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmLE8UqCXU
Workshop

Activity 1: Topics You Enjoy

• Think of three topics you have particularly enjoyed studying in the past that are small business related

• ……………………………………………………. • ……………………………………………………. • ……………………………………………………. • Why did you enjoy these areas? Is there something you could explore

in more detail (for example, for the SME project)?

Activity 2: Brainstorm Topics Brainstorm around your favourite topics Create three brainstorm diagrams, each one based around one of your three topics.

Which topic do you get most excited about? Which one has the most material to consider? Turn this diagram into a research question:

For example: why are micro food businesses in Lambeth failing to survive more than two years?

• 1. What do you already know about the topic?

• 2. What do you need to find out? • 3. Where are you going to find

information? • 4. Can this topic be turned into

your SME Project proposal?

Activity 3: Choosing one topic

• Activity 3: Focus on ONE topic only! • Turn the topic you have chosen into a research question or project

title

Activity 4 • Once you have your research title, use the Internet to find out more

information on your topic.

• Prepare a 10 minute presentation on your research topic

Activity 5: Structure of presentation • Using either notes or PowerPoint prepare a 10 minute presentation on your chosen

research topic. The structure is as follows:

• Introduction • Topic chosen • Why its important • Why you chose it

• Information about the topic • Key points on the topic area • Areas for further investigation

• Conclusion • Summary of above

Activity 6: Extension • Either continue working on your assignment(s) or make an entry in

your learning / reflective learning log.

Slide 1
Learning Outcomes
Recap from last week
Assessment
Slide 5
What is research?
Why study research?
Who does research?
Who does research?
Business Research
Who funds / pays for research?
Who pays for research?
Research report formats
Types of research
1. Descriptive research
2. Explanatory research
3. Exploratory Research
4. Evaluative research
Getting down to research
Research
Where do I start?
Research Methods
Research Methods
Example: Inductive and Deductive
Research Methods
Qualitative Research
Quantitative Research
Research Methodology
What is qualitative and quantitative data?
Qualitative and quantitative research
Primary data
Secondary data
YouTube Videos: Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Workshop
Activity 1: Topics You Enjoy
Slide 36
Slide 37
Activity 4
Activity 5: Structure of presentation
Activity 6: Extension