Social Research Method

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar
Social Research Methododology
PGP 2009-2011 & FPM

Faculty: Dr.Amar KJR Nayak

Course Objective:

The inability to precisely diagnose the problem often leads to inaccurate prescription or solution to management problems. The heart of this problem could be the inadequate training to think critically and to question the current internal patterns within the company and the stereotype understanding of the external conditions of the company. While all managers would like to think out of the box, most of them are unaware of the processes of creative problem solving. Using the various approaches and techniques available in the word of enquiry, this course tries to expose and train the students of management to challenge the present understanding of their internal and external settings and be able to creatively solve the management problems that come their way.

With the above backdrop and objective, the course has been developed around two themes/modules. Module 1 deals with the issues of Critical Thinking and the various Windows / Methodologies available to explore a management problem. Module 2 deals with several logical and statistical tools for analysis and the application of the concepts and the tools in a real life management problem.

Course Outline and Schedule:

Session	Topics
Module 1: Critical Thinking & Alternate Windows to Explore
1	Learning to think critically
2	Power of Observation: 'The Golden Compass'
3	Deconstructing the Reality
4	Measuring abstract ideas
5	Validation of measurment tools

6	Ethnographic Methodology A Documentary: 'Skeleton Lake - Roopkund'
7	Survey Methodology: Beneficiary Survey of RLTAP in KBK districts
8	Case Methodology Making Case Studies Deductive: A Sampling Methodology ....,Amar KJR Nayak http://www.ximb.ac.in/ximb_journal/vilakshan-2.1.pdf
9	Historical Methodology: FDI History of India, Amar KJR Nayak http://www.bu.edu/historic/06conf_papers/Nayak.pdf
10	Action Research: Implementing the 'Community Based Enterprise System'
Module 2: Tools & Application to Management Problems
11	Variance Analysis
12	Regression Analysis
13	Data Reduction
14	Data Classification

15	Research Theme and selection of sub-themes by different groups
16	Decomposition Exercise & Instument Development
17	Data Collection & Analysis
18-19	Presentations of Research Projects
20	Summary

Evaluation Criteria:

Components	Marks
Quizzes/Mid Term test (including SPSS Tutorial Test)	30 %
Solving a Management Problem (Term Research Project)	30 %
End Term Exam	40 %

SPSS Tutorials: The Tutorials will start from the first week of the Term and all the students are adviced to learn the SPSS software through the Tutorial classes. There will be exam based on the tutorials. Each student is required to load the SPSS 11.0 software on to your laptops. Contact the Computer Centre for any clarification on loading the software.

Sample Question Paper (to be attached)

The end term will test clarity on concepts, research process, methodology, techniques and application of the same to the research projects.

Term Project on a Management Problem:

The research project includes conceptualization of a problem, developing a framework and hypothesis for the study, design of an appropriate instrument, data collection from field and analysis using the multivariate statistical techniques. Secondary data using the various databases like Company Annual Reports, Industry database, CMIE, ISI Emerging Markets, EBSCO, Census of India and other Central Government or State Government Reports may be used where ever necessary.

Groups: Each group shall consist of 5 students. The overall theme of the Research Project will be on Sustainability of Business Practices in the current social context. The groupwise issues for research will be uploaded on the coursepage before the course begins.
Contents of Term Project Report:

Project Submission Deadlines:
Group List:
Identification of Management Problem:
Decomposition of the Management Problem
Instrument for Data Collection
Report Submission
Presentation & Viva-voce
Final Report Submission

Reference Books (these are not text books):
1. Business Research Methods, Cooper Schindler, Tata McGraw Hill (For general issues in research & research report guidelines)
2. Research for Marketing Decisions, Paul Green, Donald S Tull, & Gerald Albaum (For general issues and Research in Marketing)
3. Multivariate Data Analysis, Hair, Anderson, Tatham & Black (For Multivariate Analsysis)
4. Research Methodology, R Panneerselvam (For Factor & Cluster Analysis)
5. Basic Econometrics, D N Gujarati, TMH (For Regression Analysis)
6. Multinationals in India: FDI & Complementation Strategy in a Developing Country Context (For Case Research)
7. SPSS for Windows Step by Step, Darren George & Paul Mallery, Pearson (For SPSS)
However, the students may refer to other books in the library for reference. In addition, the instructor will also provide some reading material for reference.

Important Reading List (to be provided):