Research Methods for Graduate Business and Social Science Students

Research Methods for Graduate Business and Social Science Students is a fundamental and easy guide to studying research methods. In addition to the general concepts relating to research methods, broad research issues and theoretical concepts critical to research are discussed. The book is written in a reader-friendly manner and contains plenty of examples and helpful practical exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce and enjoy learning. Divided into 16 chapters, the authors aim to clearly and concisely explain the basics of quantitative and qualitative analysis and research to students, including:

• Research ethics
• Formulation and process of research
• Literature analysis and critical reading
• How to plan and implement a research project
• Data collection, survey research and data management
• Practical research techniques
• Elementary and advanced statistical analyses
• Assessment, reliability and validity of research work
• Guidelines on research writing and structures of dissertation

John Adams is the Head of Department of Economics at the British University in Egypt and was previously Director of the China-EU Research Centre based in Edinburgh. He has published widely in the field of economics in both national and international academic journals, is the co-author of several textbooks and has worked as external examiner at the Universities of Dundee, Sussex and Hong Kong. Professor Adams has also undertaken consultancy assignments for a wide range of public and private sector organisations in the United Kingdom and overseas. He is currently a visiting Professor at three universities in China. His research is mainly focused on economic development and on the process of development. Professor Adams also provides training to Investment Promotion Agencies in several countries on attracting, managing and evaluating FDI.

Hafiz T. A. Khan is Professor of Public Health at the University of West London. He is also an Associate Research Fellow in Demography at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, The University of Oxford, UK. Professor Khan trained as a statistician at the University of Chittagong and later as a statistical demographer at several institutions: Edinburgh Napier University in the UK, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria, the National University of Singapore, the University of Oxford, Middlesex University London, and lastly at Birmingham City University in the UK. His principal research interests lie in the broader areas of population and development including population ageing and its consequences, poverty and vulnerability, micro-finance; development issues, reproductive health and family planning in developing countries. He has written extensively in population-related issues and has over 100 academic publications including books, book chapters and journals.

 

Robert Raeside is currently Professor of Applied Statistics and Director of the Employment Research Institute (ERI) at Edinburgh Napier University, UK. He is also a Chartered Statistician of the Royal Statistical Society (CStat), London, Member of the Operational Research Society, Birmingham, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), York. He received his BSc Hons from Napier College under the auspices of the Council for Academic Awards (CNAA), his MSc from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and PhD in demographic forecasting from the CNAA in collaboration with the University of Oxford. He serves on two British Standards Committees and is part of the editorial teams for the Journal of Applied Probability and Statistics and the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management. He was appointed a visiting Professor in Demography to the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2009. Professor Raeside’s research has been on the application of statistics to areas of demographic change, public health, employment and business improvement. He is particularly interested in the use of social network analysis to investigate complex processes. He has acted in an advisory capacity to business, local authorities and to the national government.