Reference no: EM132937802

BMG871 International Business Research Skills

Option 1. Qualitative Research Tasks

You should answer all tasks (a, b and c)

a) You are required to watch the following video which is a poor example of how to conduct an interview

Provide a written report that outlines some of the key mistakes made by the interviewer during the interview.
Just to note, the interviewer is the one asking the questions.
The interviewee is the one answering the questions.

Guidance
You should think about the following to inform your report...
• How the interviewer introduced the research topic to the interviewee.
• The speed at which the interviewer talked.
• Interviewer behaviour during the interview, including:
o Her general behaviour
o Her body language
o Her approach to building rapport with the interviewee
o Her listening skills
o Was the interviewer respectful?
• The way in which she asked questions and probed the interviewee
Were the questions objectively asked?
Did she ask leading questions, did she criticise the interviewee at times?
• Was the way in which the interviewer ended the interview appropriate?
o If no, then explain why it was not appropriate

b) You should also watch this video
Provide a written report outlining the good points on how the interview was conducted.

Guidance
Again, think about the following to inform your response:
• How the interviewer introduced the research topic to the interviewee.
• The speed at which the interviewer talked.
• Interviewer behaviour during the interview, including:
o Her general behaviour
o Her body language
o Her approach to building rapport with the interviewee
o Her listening skills
o Was the interviewer respectful?
• The way in which she asked questions and probed the interviewee
Were the questions objectively asked?
Did she ask leading questions, did she criticise the interviewee at times?
• Was the way in which the interviewer ended the interview appropriate?
o If yes, then explain why/how it was appropriate

c) Please provide a detailed evaluation of participant observation.

Guidance
You should include the following sub-headings to structure your response

o What is participant observation?
o What is meant by overt or covert participant observation?
o The advantages and disadvantages of overt and covert participant observation
o Examples of the use of participant observation as a method to gather qualitative research.

Read about participant observation in Chapter 8 of the required textbook for the module Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R. (2016) Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach, (seventh edition). UK:Wiley

Option 2 - Quantitative Research Tasks

You should answer all tasks (a, b and c)

a) Please evaluate the structure and content of the covering letter provided for this task. It is a good example of a covering letter and one that should accompany a postal
Guidance

• Consider both the structure and content of the letter.
• Is it well structured? Is the layout clear?
• Outline the key features of the cover letter - what is good about it? Is it informative?
• Evaluate the implications of each component e.g. what impact does a university logo have on a potential research participant?

b) Please answer the following questions using literature to support your statements and your own examples to demonstrate your understanding of the terms.

• Explain the difference between open and closed questions.
• Explain the difference between positively and negatively worded questions.
• Explain what is meant by a double-barrelled question.
• Explain what is meant by a leading question.
• Explain what is meant by a loaded question.

Guidance

Use the following subheadings to structure your response - open and closed questions, positively and negatively worded questions, double-barrelled questions etc.

Write a paragraph or so to address each question and use at least one example per each term e.g. an example of an open question is....

Read about survey design and the different types of questions in Chapter 9 of the required textbook for the module Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R. (2016) Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach, (seventh edition). UK:Wiley

You should endeavour to include references from other textbooks (see reading list in module handbook).

c) Pre-testing or piloting a survey questionnaire is an important phase of the research process. Explain why?
Guidance

Use your required textbook for the module Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R. (2016) Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach, (seventh edition). UK: Wiley

Additionally - Chapter 11 of Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2016). Research Methods for Business Students, (seventh edition). UK: Pearson.

Word limit for all 3 tasks is 2000 words maximum

Option 3 - International Business Research Tasks
You should answer all tasks (a, b, c, d and e)

A UK Retailer who sells Bicycles and Outdoor Pursuit Clothing is keen to expand their business operations into Latin America. The overall aim of the research is to determine which countries in Latin America have the greatest market potential for their products?
You have been employed to coordinate some research for this firm to help inform their decision making.

Using the above scenario, you are required to:
a) Provide a background on the importance of conducting this research and outline the potential uses of your research to inform managerial decision making of the UK retailer who has commissioned it. (500 words)

b) Outline a set of appropriate research objectives (250 words).

c) Identify and justify your chosen primary and /or secondary research approaches to fulfil the objectives of your research? (400 words)

d) Who is the target audience for your research? (350 words)

e) Outline and critically evaluate the key challenges associated with conducting your chosen reseach approach in this Latin American country of your choosing (500)

Guidance
The word count provided for each section is indicative. You may use more words in places, which means you will use less words in other places, to ensure that your overall word count is 2000, excluding references, appendices, title page and contents page.

For each of the different sections you should draw on what has been covered in lectures.
Section a) is the literature that best sets the background to the research

Section a) This section is literature based.
• Please look at the lecture "Developing a critical literature reiew" also Chapter 4 of the Sekaran and Bougie textbook; Chapter 3 of the Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill textbook
• In addition look at the lecture on International Business Research, and read Neelankavil Chapter 1 where research issues are covered. Try and incorporate new information by doing some additional independent research

Section b) Remember your objectives should begin with eg:
o To determine
o To explore
o To investigate
• Refer back to lecture topics Formulating and Clarifying a Research Topic PPT; and Generating Research ideas PPT; as well as chapter 3 Sekarin and Bougie textbook; Chapter 2, Saunders, Lewis. and Chapter 3 Neelankavil textbook

Section c)
• Think about which research approach would be best to gather the evidence linked to the research objectives.
• Explain your chosen approach
o eg a qualitative approach, a quantitative approach or a mixed methods approach?
o Will the chosen approach be based on gathering primary data or/and secondary data, and if so which reseach tools will you use?
» For example if you are taking a qualitative approach, the research tool is the interview or perhaps focus groups?
» Will the interviews or focus groups be semi-structured or structured? Think about an interview guide.
» How do you plan to conduct these interviews - eg face to face; using meeting software or telephone

Section d) is all about your sampling approach to get a suitable population to participate in your research
o Is your target audience consumers or businesses?
o Explain what type of approach you will use - for example it might be non-random purposive sampling, which is often used for qualitative research.
o What criteria will you use to select an appropriate sample population
o Explain how you will gain access to the sample population. (400 words)

Section e) you should refer back to the lecture on International Business Research Skills, and Chapter 1 of the Neelankavil textbook, also any additional research to increase your knowledge and understanding.

TWO MIND MAPS

Please choose 2 of the options below, to create 2 Mind Maps.
• Each Mind Map is worth 10% of the overall marks for the module (20% in total)
• N.B. Submission with CW3 - WEEK 8 - SUNDAY 15TH July 2021

General guidance - creation and presentation of 2 Mind Maps

• You can draw the mind maps by hand if you wish, as long as they are presented in an EASY TO READ format.
• Or if you have suitable software, you can use this to create the mind maps.

Presentation: Each mind map should be presented on one page, but if you need a second page, this is acceptable.

Create TWO mind maps (by hand or electronically/using software).
The 2 mind maps should be submitted as one document WITHIN CW3 (report), to BB TurnItin - CW2 Mind Maps and CW3 Report

THE TASK:
CHOOSE TWO OPTIONS OUT OF THE FOUR SHOWN BELOW.

Option 1
Read the paper titled Taking the ‘‘Q'' Out of Research: Teaching
Research Methodology Courses Without the Divide Between Quantitative and Qualitative

Create a mind map that illustrates the core factors that are presented by the authors.

Option 2
Every research study starts with an overall aim that is linked to a specific research problem that needs to be solved. For example, here is a researchable problem based on an overall aim which seeks to investigate the factors that impact on gambling behaviours?
With this overall aim at the core of the research study, create a mind map to illustrate the key considerations that need to be taken into account as you prepare to undertake this research.

Option 3
This option is scenario based, meaning you don't have to undertake the research.

It has been decided that a focus group needs to be organised for a piece of research on the topic of gender equality in the workplace.
As the researcher who will undertake this focus group, please create a mind map to represent the key considerations that you need to be take into account to gather primary research data, using a focus group approach.

Option 4
Current mental health service provision for citizens living in rural locations in the Northern Periphery of Europe and the Arctic regions, cannot meet the rising demand to prevent and manage mental ill health. There is a lack of digital mental health support for tracking symptoms and for providing treatments and coping strategies at the point of need for 24/7, whilst at the same time, traditional one-to-one mental health services supporting people with chronic mental illness, as well as mild-to-moderate mental illness, is expensive and resource limited. ChatPal is an EU project, funded under the Northern Periphery and Arctic programme, that will undertake pilot trials in 5 EU regions with the aim of increasing citizen access to psychotherapeutic support using a computer-based intervention service which will be in the form of a conversational user interface, or chatbot.

Attachment:- International Business Research Skills.rar