Research Methods II

This course covers the fundamentals of a specific methodology for research: inductive methodology. It will teach students the fundamental principles for ideating, designing, developing, and structuring a piece of inductive research in a scientifically rigorous way. In the first session, students will identify a preliminary research idea. Throughout the course, students will then work in teams to refine and develop a research idea into a rigorous research project by applying the principles and concepts learnt in class. Part of each lecture will be devoted to providing feedback to the teams to develop their projects. Students will have to discuss and present their projects in class as their research progresses. Although attendance is not checked, it is highly recommended: it is indeed unlikely that a team's research project will achieve top marks unless the students will have attended each session, and engaged with the content and the lecturer. To aid the learning and the progression of the research project, this course is structured in few, long sessions across the semester.

• Develop the ability to design and undertake an inductive research (e.g., develop new theoretical insights from case studies)
• Understand the main differences between qualitative and quantitative methods
• Understand what a research question is. 
• Appreciate the difference between doing research and reinventing the wheel.
• Practice the collection of interview data.
• Distinguish between different qualitative methods (case studies, comparative case studies, ethnography, etc.
• Learn how to code textual data. 
• Learn how to develop theoretical models that capture your empirical observations.
• Learning the best structure for writing-up your research.

In presence

Lecture face-to-face; individual and team-based work; class discussions and presentations. 

100% Coursework: In-class presentation of a research project that student will have conducted in teams during the course.