Scientific research method
In this take-home exam you are given three assignments. Your task is to provide answers to each of them. Read the instructions for each assignment carefully. Write in a clear and logical way. Do not exceed word limits.
Use references to literature, and list references in relation to each assignment (the word count of the references is not included in the maximum word count for each assignment).
Submit your responses to each assignment in designated areas at Student portal en. Use font: Times New Roman 12pt, 1.5 spaced.
1. Exam assignment research design
Below you find the introduction to a scientific article. Your task is to analyze the way the authors formulate their research problem, using Van de Ven (2007). In particular, you can draw upon chapter 3 in your analysis.
Also state an argument whether you approve to the way the authors formulated their research problem or not. Your discussion should be no longer than 500 words.
2. Exam assignment qualitative methods
Discuss the core principles of qualitative methods, using the course literature and your experiences from the course. (Maximum 750 words total):
a) Explain the principles of theory building from inductive, qualitative research, as elaborated in Van de Ven (2007) and the paper by Gioia, Corley and Hamilton (2013).
b) Explain how the Gioia method can be used to enhance rigor in the theory-building process of qualitative studies.
3. Exam assignment quantitative methods
Consider that you were to write a master thesis, where you have one-semester full time to devote to research. A part of this thesis work is to decide on the research design, data collection and data analysis. For this you would need to come up with a plan on how this is going to be conducted.
Hence, for the quantitative part of the exam you are tasked with outlining and commenting on how to perform a QUANTITATIVE study. For this we expect you to:
1. Write a short introduction where you outline the research problem, a problem statement, a research question, and the purpose of the study. Use relevant literature and empirical examples to illuminate this.
2. Outline the research design. This should contain:
• A description and discussion of the nature of the study, e.g. Exploratory or Explanatory?
• Data selection, that is, describe what type of data is going to be used. Why is this appropriate data for the research question you have presented? Are there sampling issues that need to be considered?
• Data collection, that is, describe how the data is to be collected. Are there any particular problems or considerations that need to be attended to in relation to data collection? How much data will be collected?
• Development of hypotheses, that is, try to develop a few hypotheses to be tested. Use relevant literature to build your hypotheses.
• Data analysis, that is describe how the data will be analyzed. Are there any specific steps that will be followed that can ensure the quality of the analysis? What are the specific
tests that can be used to for this particular data and study? How can you ensure the validity and reliability of the results?
• Ethical considerations, that is, describe any ethical issues that may be of relevance for the study. If there are foreseeable ethical problems, what actions can you take to mitigate these?
• Potential results and contribution, that is try to envisage what the potential contribution can be (e.g. in terms of theoretical, empirical or practical implications) given the problem statement and research question posed initially. It may also be appropriate to indicate possible limitations of the study.
Maximum word count: 1000 words (excluding references)
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