Course Syllabus for students Autumn 2024

On completion of the course the students will be able to:

1. Elaborate and describe the epistemological views on creating new knowledge.
2. Describe the role of theory and empirical research in creating research questions and building or elaborating theory.
3. Differentiate between different research methods and the application of theoretical frameworks.

4. Use theory and empirical research to formulate relevant research questions.
5. Independently design, implement, and analyze qualitative and quantitative research.
6. Demonstrate the skills needed to collect empirical material, write academically, and develop a scientific report.
7. Use tools and apply a systematic approach to the literature search.

8. Assess and critically evaluate science/pseudoscience, ethics in research, research limitations, and future possibilities.

The importance and relevance of conducting scientific research is imperative for our understanding of phenomena, issues and problems which are around us. Therefore, it is of immense importance that students understand how to conduct, design, implement, analyze and interpret research with a scientific and systematic approach. Specifically, the course will help students to understand, the philosophical roots underpinning research such as the epistemological basis for generating scientific knowledge and the demarcation between science and pseudoscience. Furthermore, the course provides students an opportunity to discuss approaches for searching relevant literature in order to form sound empirical and theoretical understanding of the phenomenon being investigated. The course also covers aspects of crafting research reports, understanding the research process, advice on how to write a thesis, and how to begin problematizing and formulating a purpose for a research project and its relevance for practice. A number of research methodologies are introduced which will help students to determine an appropriate data collection strategy. Included (among other topics) are sampling issues, case study research, surveys, interviews and experiments. Finally, methods for analyzing and presenting your data, such as inferential statistics, qualitative/quantitative content analysis, and grounded theory are presented.

Connection to Research and Practice
Research methods cover both the theoretical and practical side of the topic, focusing on understanding and evaluating theoretical frameworks and their applications through empirical material. For instance, the course draws on multiple research focus areas at JIBS and provides students with an opportunity to develop theoretical models and empirically explore them through quantitative and qualitative methods. The course is also based on a real project where students collect primary data and present their findings and analysis in the final group seminar.

Lectures, guest lectures, seminars, student presentations, quantitative and writing labs.

The teaching is conducted in English.

30 credits in Business Administration or Economics (or the equivalent).

The course is graded A, B, C, D, E, FX or F.

- Course Project and Assignments (ILOs: 1-8) representing 4.5 credits
- Individual examinations (ILOs: 1-8) representing 3 credits

Name of the Test	Value	Grading
Course Project and Assignments1	4.5 credits	A/B/C/D/E/FX/F
Individual examination1	3 credits	A/B/C/D/E/FX/F

¹ All parts of the compulsory examination in the course must be passed with a passing grade (A-E ) before a final grade can be set. The final grade of the course is determined by the sum total of points for all parts of the examination in the course (0-100 points). Grade is set in accordance to JIBS grading policy

It is the responsibility of the examiner to ensure that each course is evaluated. At the outset of the course, the programme evaluators in the course must be contacted. In the middle of the course, the examiner should meet the programme evaluators to identify strengths/weaknesses in the first half of the course.

At the end of the course, the examiner should remind students to fill in the survey. The examiner should also call a meeting with the programme evaluators to debrief the course, based on course evaluation data and comments. The next time the course runs, students should be informed of any measures taken to improve the course based on the previous course evaluations.

At the end of each study period, JIBS’ Director of Quality and Accreditation crafts a “Course Evaluation Quarter Report”, presenting the quantitative results from course evaluation surveys. The Associate Dean of Education, The Associate Deans of Faculty, Programme Directors, and JSA President and Quality receive the report.

Academic integrity
JIBS students are expected to maintain a strong academic integrity. This implies to behave within the boundaries of academic rules and expectations relating to all types of teaching and examination.

Copying someone else’s work is a particularly serious offence and can lead to disciplinary action. When you copy someone else’s work, you are plagiarising. You must not copy sections of work (such as paragraphs, diagrams, tables and words) from any other person, including another student or any other author. Cutting and pasting is a clear example of plagiarism. There is a workshop and online resources to assist you in not plagiarising called the Interactive Anti-Plagiarism Guide.

Other forms of breaking academic integrity include (but are not limited to) adding your name to a project you did not work on (or allowing someone to add their name), cheating on an examination, helping other students to cheat and submitting other students work as your own, and using non-allowed electronic equipment during an examination. All of these make you liable to disciplinary action.

• Collis, J. and Hussey, R. Business Research: a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Palgrave Macmillan. Latest edition.