...A qualitative researcher should identify the issue that is under investigation in the problem statement within the first few sentences of the work, usually within the introduction, in order to engage the reader "A well-written problem statement will have an opening sentence or phrase that stimulates interest as well as conveys an issue to which a broad readership can relate" (McCaslin & Wilson, 2003). The problem statement should include not only the topic that originally prompted the research, but it should also state the reasons that lead to formulating new questions about the identified dilemma (Polit & Beck, 2010, p. 151). The researcher’s interest is also reflected in the issue under inquiry within the context of qualitative research. There has to be a rational need for investigation, a valid reason behind the questioning, and a degree of reliability for the source of motivation or need, as explained by McCaslin &Wilson (2003) "Your objective, your reason for conducting your study, derives from some issue of importance to you that can be substantiated through a body of evidence from the literature. Once you recognize what that issue is, you have a rudimentary problem statement" (p. 451). The problem statement should be critiqued based on completeness of presentation with all the necessary elements: (Polit and Beck, 2010, pp. 150, 152) The problem should be easily identifiable and should be scrutinized under the elements of identifying the nature of the problem...
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...of conducting business research for improving decision making within an organization. Students will learn to apply an understanding of commonly employed business research techniques to improve a situation, solve a problem, or change a process. Other topics include problem framing, data collection, data analysis, and data presentation. Week 1 - Topic 1: Recognizing the Situation Objectives Recognize a situation, problem, issue, or opportunity that needs addressing. Determine the significance, scope, magnitude and feasibility of finding a solution to the situation, problem, issue, or opportunity. Identify ethical issues involved in business research. Describe the business research process. Materials Week One Student Guide Sample Examination to prepare for Final Examination EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 1 EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 2 EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 3 EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 4 ARTICLE: Week One Topic Searches Assessment Individual Assigment: Current Events in Business Research Write a 300-word summary of the business research process by describing the business research process from your experience in the workplace or in an article you find through the University Library. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Please see the instructor's syllabus for this week's assignments. Week 2 - Topic 1: The Purpose of Business Research Objectives State the...
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...of conducting business research for improving decision making within an organization. Students will learn to apply an understanding of commonly employed business research techniques to improve a situation, solve a problem, or change a process. Other topics include problem framing, data collection, data analysis, and data presentation. Week 1 - Topic 1: Recognizing the Situation Objectives Recognize a situation, problem, issue, or opportunity that needs addressing. Determine the significance, scope, magnitude and feasibility of finding a solution to the situation, problem, issue, or opportunity. Identify ethical issues involved in business research. Describe the business research process. Materials Week One Student Guide Sample Examination to prepare for Final Examination EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 1 EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 2 EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 3 EBOOK COLLECTION: Business Research Methods, Ch. 4 ARTICLE: Week One Topic Searches Assessment Individual Assigment: Current Events in Business Research Write a 300-word summary of the business research process by describing the business research process from your experience in the workplace or in an article you find through the University Library. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Please see the instructor's syllabus for this week's assignments. Week 2 - Topic 1: The Purpose of Business Research Objectives State the...
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...Evans(Psychology)-3589-03.qxd 6/15/2007 6:23 PM Page 21 3 CHOOSING A TOPIC AND THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL Objectives On reading this chapter you should: • • • • • • • • understand the importance of choosing a research topic that lends itself to a ’do-able’ project; be able to evaluate potential topics; be able to formulate a valid research question (and hypothesis); understand the importance of creativity, and its relationship to innovation in formulating your research question; understand the integral role played by the research question; understand the vital role of the research proposal; be aware of the common pitfalls to be avoided in writing a successful proposal; and be able to write a logical and persuasive research proposal. Overview Chapter 3 deals with the practical issues of choosing an appropriate topic for your research project, and with the all important task of developing a research proposal. Section 3.1 deals with the practicalities of evaluating topics from your potential list, in order to choose the most appropriate for your project. Section 3.2 focuses on how to formulate a good research question. The role of the research question and different types of questions are dealt with in Section 3.3. Section 3.4 highlights the functional importance of the research proposal, which is often neglected by undergraduate students. The proposal acts as an exercise in thought, a reference point for supervision, and also as a motivational device. Section 3.5 deconstructs the...
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...homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jom Qualitative case studies in operations management: Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications Mark Barratt, Thomas Y. Choi ∗ , Mei Li Department of Supply Chain Management, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4706, United States a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Our study examines the state of qualitative case studies in operations management. Five main operations management journals are included for their impact on the field. They are in alphabetical order: Decision Sciences, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Journal of Operations Management, Management Science, and Production and Operations Management. The qualitative case studies chosen were published between 1992 and 2007. With an increasing trend toward using more qualitative case studies, there have been meaningful and significant contributions to the field of operations management, especially in the area of theory building. However, in many of the qualitative case studies we reviewed, sufficient details in research design, data collection, and data analysis were missing. For instance, there are studies that do not offer sampling logic or a description of the analysis through which research outcomes are drawn. Further, research protocols for doing inductive case studies are much better developed compared to the research protocols for doing deductive case studies. Consequently, there is a lack of...
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...As such, the case study answers the following questions: 1) What are the characteristics of the collaborative relationship that have led to the HKC partnership?; 2) What are the barriers and facilitators of working collectively?; and 3) What are the roles of the HKC lead agency, steering committee members, funders, and community members in building collaborative relationships to support a community health intervention? The first research question for the case study examines the coalition formation process, activities, and ways in which this collaboration manifested. The two additional questions directly explore the coalition formation process and management, such as the planning and organizing of the HKC coalition, its history and how it came to selecting a priority activity as part of a community-based health initiative. This discovery-oriented process helped the researcher to further develop and refine questions as a basis for a more rigorous and reflexive inquiry (Agee, 2009; Maxwell,...
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...theory in qualitative approaches to research: application in end-of-life studies Hung-Lan Wu & Deborah L. Volker Accepted for publication 24 July 2009 Correspondence to D.L. Volker: e-mail: dvolker@mail.nur.utexas.edu Hung-Lan Wu PhD RN Nursing Instructor Meiho Institute of Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan Deborah L. Volker PhD RN AOCN Associate Professor The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, Austin, Texas, USA W U H . L . & V O L K E R D . L . ( 2 0 0 9 ) The use of theory in qualitative approaches to research: application in end-of-life studies. Journal of Advanced Nursing 65(12), 2719–2732. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05157.x Abstract Title. The use of theory in qualitative approaches to research: application in end-of-life studies. Aim. This paper is a report of an analysis of the use of theory in qualitative approaches to research as exemplified in qualitative end-of-life studies. Background. Nurses researchers turn to theory to conceptualize research problems and guide investigations. However, researchers using qualitative approaches do not consistently articulate how theory has been applied, and no clear consensus exists regarding the appropriate application of theory in qualitative studies. A review of qualitative, end-of-life studies is used to illustrate application of theory to study design and findings. Data sources. A review of theoretical literature was carried out, focusing on definitions and use of theory in qualitative end-of-life studies published...
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...Literature Review Asking the Right Questions in the Business Research Process Liberty University Abstract This paper seeks to briefly define the topic of business research, then explore the various steps within the associated process while revisiting the issue of what questions are appropriate to ask as the researcher during each of these steps. This will be accomplished by conducting a literary review of the subject in order to gain a general understanding of how the academic community views the business research process. The paper will be divided into two main sections. These main sections include the business research process, and ethical considerations thereof, and research design. By the end of the literary review, the reader should have a good understanding of not only the business research process as a whole, but how to ask the right questions during each step in order to maximize the impact of the study and ultimately lead to better decisions made with the findings. Literature Review Introduction The business research process is one riddled with decision points. Each step comes with many complexities and options that must be carefully considered in order for the researcher to get the best final product possible. From identifying the manager’s question to detailing the wording for a survey to choosing a report format, the researcher must be aware of not only what options are available to him, but also what questions should be asked along the way...
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...Page 65 CHAPTER 3 Presenting Methodology and Research Approach OVERVIEW Chapter 3 of the dissertation presents the research design and the specific procedures used in conducting your study. A research design includes various interrelated elements that reflect its sequential nature. This chapter is intended to show the reader that you have an understanding of the methodological implications of the choices you made and, in particular, that you have thought carefully about the links between your study’s purpose and research questions and the research approach and research methods that you have selected. Note that in the proposal’s chapter 3, you project what you will do based on what you know about the particular methods used in qualitative research, in general, and in your tradition or genre, in particular; hence, it is written in future tense. In the dissertation’s chapter 3, you report on what you have already done. You write after the fact; hence, you write in past tense. As such, many of the sections of chapter 3 can be written only after you have actually conducted your study (i.e., collected, analyzed, and synthesized your data). To write this chapter, you need to conduct literature reviews on the methodological issues involved in qualitative research design. You need to show the reader that you (a) have knowledge of the current issues and discourse, and (b) can relate your study to those issues and discourse. In this regard, you ...
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...cancer narratives have become prevalent in Western culture, few researchers have explored the structure of such narratives, relying instead on some form of thematic analysis based upon content. Although such analyses are valuable, Arthur Frank (The Wounded Storyteller, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1995) provides researchers with an additional means of studying stories of illness, through the examination of their structures. In this article, the author applies Frank’s work to a phenomenological study of embodiment after breast cancer. Frank’s three narrative types are used to enhance understanding of the ways in which stories are culturally constructed, using data collected through one focus group discussion and two in-depth interviews with each of 12 women who had experienced breast cancer. The author then conveys the significance of this form of analysis for future research. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Breast cancer; Qualitative and narrative Introduction Frank (1995) writes that those who are ill ‘‘need to become storytellers in order to recover the voices that illness and its treatment often take away’’. (p. xii) Frank’s ideas are supported by the fact that stories of breast cancer have become ubiquitous in Western culture (Couser, 1997), while Bury (2001) provides compelling illustration of the historical failure of biomedical narratives to address illness experiences and the subsequent ‘‘expansion of information about...
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...Introduction- In the critical analysis “Kissing in the Carnage: An Examination of Framing on Twitter During the Vancouver Riots” by Lauren M. Burch, Evan L. Frederick & Ann Pegoraro; it was certain that the biggest hockey game of the National Hockey League season had been occurring, but the riot it has spawned in Vancouver makes it look like something far more politically charged may be the cause. In the introduction of the text it states “On June 15, 2011, more than 150,000 fans assembled on the streets of Vancouver to watch game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins. Within minutes of the Canucks loss, a riot began. One aspect that made this event unique was that it was documented on Twitter” this would clearly indicate that there was a relationship between the fans knowledge of the current affair which was the hockey game and the Literary review-RQ- 1. Is there a relationship between social media use and KNOWLEDGE of current affairs? 2. What is the relationship between social media use and knowledge of stand your ground law? 3. What is the relationship between social media use and attitude toward stand your ground law? Methodology- In the text it is stated that Twitter is a fairly new medium within the sport communication scenery; a growing body of literature has examined its utilization among various user groups such as athletes. Sport-specific research regarding Twitter has largely focused on general usage trends, however...
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...CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION There are various factors that contribute to the rising workplace diversity. These include increasing numbers of immigrants, company mergers and joint ventures in different countries, increased engagement of business consultants and temporary employees, international competition and the phenomenon of globalization, which has transformed the world into a global village. Globalization has occurred because of a combination of factors such as improved infrastructure, advancements in technology. Infrastructure and technology have not only provided cheaper means of communication and travel, but have revolutionized the speed at which individuals and businesses communicate with each other. Domestic companies are also spreading their operations to new territories across the globe in search of new markets or outsourcing some aspects of their production process. Management of employee cultural diversity, through the integration of suitable strategies plays a key role in improving the competitive advantage of the business, especially on the global platform. Globalization calls for specific approaches that promote harmonious working relationships within increasingly culturally diverse workplaces. Hansen (2002) observes that workplace diversity is critical to the existence of businesses and identifying key strategies to ensure harmonious working relationships among culturally diverse employees is integral to the survival of any business. Diversity in this case...
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.... ReseaRching and WRiting a disseRtation a guidebook foR business students Colin Fisher second edition . Researching and Writing a Dissertation: A Guidebook for Business Students . We work with leading authors to develop the strongest educational materials in management, bringing cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a global market. Under a range of well-known imprints, including Financial Times Prentice Hall, we craft high-quality print and electronic publications which help readers to understand and apply their content, whether studying or at work. To find out more about the complete range of our publishing, please visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk . Researching and Writing a Dissertation: A Guidebook for Business Students Second edition Colin Fisher with John Buglear Diannah Lowry Alistair Mutch Carole Tansley . Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published 2004 Second edition 2007 © Pearson Education Limited 2004 © Pearson Education Limited 2007 The right of Colin Fisher to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical...
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... ABSTRACT This research project explores crisis communication in theory and practice in Australia and New Zealand with specific focus on cultural influence, strategy applicability, and stakeholder relevance. A mixed-method approach was used to evaluate crisis communication in its theoretical and practical constituents. The research project comprises of the two data collection methods of content analysis and in-depth interviews. The content analysis, the selected method to evaluate the theory, was conducted from published research studies in leading Australian and New Zealand Public Relations and Communication journals, the websites of the PRism journal, the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), the Public Relations Institutes of Australia (PRIA) and New Zealand (PRINZ), and via the database search platform Ebsco. The content analysis provided information about the number of published articles, leading theoretical models, research methods, and research orientation. The in-depth interviews, the chosen method to investigate the crisis communication practices, were conducted with three Australian and three New Zealand practitioners and addressed the issues of cultural influence, strategy applicability, and stakeholder relevance in crisis communication. However, both methods complement each other and add different perspectives to the research subject. The findings of this research project indicate a dominance of non-theoretical, qualitative crisis...
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...Calculators, lemmings or frame-makers? The intermediary role of securities analysts Daniel Beunza and Raghu Garud Introduction As Wall Street specialists in valuation, sell-side securities analysts constitute a particularly important class of market actor.1 Analysts produce the reports, recommendations and price targets that professional investors utilize to inform their buy and sell decisions, which means that understanding analysts’ work can provide crucial insights on the determinants of value in the capital markets. Yet our knowledge of analysts is limited by insufficient attention to Knightian uncertainty. Analysts estimate the value of stocks by calculating their net present value or by folding the future back into the present. In so doing, they are faced with the fundamental challenge identified by Frank Knight, that is, with the difficulty of making decisions that entail a future that is unknown. These decisions, as Knight wrote, are characterized by ‘neither entire ignorance nor complete . . . information, but partial knowledge’ of the world (Knight, [1921] 1971: 199). The finance literature has not examined the Knightian challenge faced by analysts. Indeed, existing treatments circumvent the problem by adopting one of two extreme positions. In the first, put forward by orthodox economists, it is assumed that Knightian uncertainty is non-existent and that calculative decision-making is straightforward. Analysts are presented as mere calculators in a probabilistic world...
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