Course Outline MSCI 601 Research Methods in Management Sciences
Term and Year of offering: Fall 2015
Course Number and Title: MSCI 601 Research Methods in Management Sciences
Instructor’s Name: Parmit K. Chilana
Course Description: See description in the Graduate Calendar
This course provides an overview of empirical research methods and introduces the process of carrying out high quality research in Management Sciences and related fields. It encompasses: stages in the research process, problem definition, research strategies and designs, measurement issues, sampling, ethical concerns, data analysis, and the communication of research results. These issues will be examined in published research and students will also learn to translate their interests and passions into research questions and formulate an independent research proposal. Priority may be given to Management Sciences students.
Course objectives:
This will be a discussion-heavy and research-intensive course. The first half of each class period will be spent discussing the readings for a given topic. The second half of each class will be devoted to work-shopping individual student research projects. The research projects will progress from idea generation to research design to peer review over the course of the term, ultimately culminating in a complete draft of a grant proposal. Students will work independently on these projects, but the class will be involved in giving feedback and discussing each individual’s project at each stage of the research process.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
- formulate research questions and contextualize them in the context of existing literature
- understand the techniques, strengths, and drawbacks of different empirical research methods
- effectively communicate research in written and oral forms
- carry out constructive peer reviews
- learn the process of developing a research grant proposal
Required Readings, Materials and Texts:
Textbook (available for purchase at the bookstore and at Amazon.ca; one copy is on reserve at the circulation desk in the Davis Centre Library):
Krathwohl, D.R. (2009) Methods of educational & social science research: The logic of methods (3rd Edition). Waveland Press, Long Grove, IL.
Additional Readings:
All files are accessible via the UW library electronic resources website or online search. (Additional files will be available through LEARN.)
This is a basic course description made available for public reference only. The Graduate Calendar is always the official source for all course descriptions. Course Syllabi will be distributed by the instructor in class. For additional details not found here, please contact the listed instructor.