SRM-P12

SRM-P12
PGDM 2012-14: Term-II

COURSE NAME: SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODS (SRM)

Credits	03
Faculty Name	Professor P.Mishra
Program	PGDM – I
Academic Year and Term	2012 – 2014, Term – II

1. Course Description

The course provides an opportunity to the participants to expose themselves to various theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects of Social Science Research. A course like this draws its content from several disciplines. It describes various characteristics of social sciences and deals with various concepts, tools and techniques used in social research particularly empirical research. Moreover the course helps in developing skills amongst the participants to identify research topics, formulate research proposal/design, and use suitable tools and techniques in social research. It focuses on developing skill to conduct independent research and enable the participants to appreciate articles published in research journals.

2. Student Learning Outcomes

· The students will be able to critically appreciate various characteristics of social sciences.
· The students will be exposed to various concepts, tools and techniques of social research.
· The students will be able to acquire skills to independently identify research problems and research topics and formulate a scientific research design to conduct research on the related topic.
· They will be able to identify statistical tools and understand the logic/rationale of using the tools to test their hypotheses in empirical studies.
· Acquire skills to use packages like Excel and SPSS for data analysis and to interpret the output/statistics related to the various statistical tools used in social research.

3. Required Text Books and Reading Material

The following books may be referred to by the participants for the present course.

1) Foundations of Behavioral Research by F.N. Kerlinger
2) The Practice of Social Research by E.R.Babbie
3) Business Research Methods by Cooper and Schindler
4) Business Research Methodology by W.G.Zikmund
5) Social Research Methods by C.R.Kothari
6) Basic Econometrics by D.N.Gujarati
7) Introduction to Econometrics by Christopher Dougherty
8) Business Statistics by Ken Black
9) Scientific Social Surveys and Research by P.V.Young
10) Applying Regressions and Correlation By J Miles & M Shevlin
11) Multivariate Data Analysis by Hair et al.
12) Analyzing Multivariate Data by James Lattin et. al.

4. Course Contents:

The course is visualized in three parts.

The first part

relates to

‘Conceptualization’

with emphasis on some theoretical concepts like science and scientific approach to research, unique features of social science, types of research, measurement of variables etc. The students are required to relate these theoretical aspects to the

second part

, which is known as

‘operationalisation’

The second part,

‘Operationalisation’

has been divided into two parts

It deals with instrument designing, use of various statistical tools and techniques used in social science research. Emphasis will be given to the application, interpretation of the findings of the statistical tools and their rationale.

The third part

constitutes a field study (group work) and writing a research report in which various tools will be used for data analysis. The participants, in a group, are required to identify a research topic relating to the society/economy and conduct a study on the selected topic. The group will collect secondary and primary data and use several tools to analyses those. They will take the help of the course instructor for identifying a research topic and formulating a questionnaire for primary data collection. The groups will present the report in the assigned class for discussion. After the presentation and feed back, a final report will be submitted by the groups towards the end of the term. (The groups will be formed as per the advice of the instructor)

5. Tentative Session Plan *

Session Number	Topics/Activities	Reading/case list etc. (Refer to the list for the names of the books)
· Conceptualisation
02	Scientific approach to research and social scientific enquiry	F.N.Kelinger, E.R. Babbie & study materials
02	Types of Research, concept, construct and variables	F.N.Kelinger, & study materials
01	Scale of measurement-Some basic concepts, Reliability& Validity	F.N.Kelinger, & study materials
· Operationalisation – I
01	Research Problem, Hypothesis & Research Design	Study Materials
01	Sampling Techniques and their uses	Study Materials
01	Formulating a Research Proposal/Design for the field study &data collection	Study Materials
01	Questionnaire Construction and operationalisation of variables	E.R.Babbie & Study Materials
· Operationalisation – II (Tools for Data Analysis)
01	Tabulation & diagrammatic representation of data and Univariate tools	Study Materials
03	Explanation, Uses and Applications of Bivariate Tools (includes two variable regression), Application of ANOVA	D.N.Gujarati & Study Materials
06	Explanation and uses of multivariate tools. (The dependence and interdependence methods) a) Multiple Regression, b) Factor Analysis & c) Cluster Analysis	DN Gujarati; C Dougherty; Hair et.al and related Study materials
01	Report Writing	E.R.Babbie & Study materials

* Presentation of exercises using tools for data analysis will be in the assigned classes mentioned under each tools for data analysis.

5. Evaluation: Midterm Test - 25%
Presentations of exercises - 20%
Final Report & Presentation - 15%

End-term Test - 40%

6. Academic Integrity : Any kind of academic dishonesty viz. exchange of remarks, notes, gestures or glances at another student’s paper in the examination hall will lead to disciplinary action against the person involved in such dishonest activities. The volume of disciplinary action depends on the gravity of the offence.

Good Luck!

Course Instructor: Dr P.Mishra. Professor
Email: pmishra@ximb.ac.in

Created By: Debasis Mohanty on 08/29/2012 at 05:03 PM
Category: PGDM-I Doctype: Document

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