SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND LANGUAGES

Course Handbook

Research Philosophy and

Practice
C11BU
Professor Mike Danson
with Emma Bolger, Dr Stavros Karamperidis,
Rebecca Stirzaker, Dr Yen Tran

COURSE HANDBOOK

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

Course Overview
Research Philosophy and Practice develops research skills in business research methods which
are essential for your dissertation and for a career in business research. It is designed to help
you to prepare for the dissertation by allowing you the opportunity to learn about approaches to
research and how to use them.

Topic

Topic Title

Purpose of the Topic

Considers the nature of management research: Broadly speaking

there are two ways of thinking about management research. One
view holds that the purpose of management research is to
understand the problems facing managers where the other argues
that the starting point for any new research is the body of theory
already generated about management and organizations.
Leads you through where ideas come from, how they can be
Finding a Project
moulded to attend to a problem space, how they are framed
appropriately and ultimately how they can underpin a solid and
realistic research proposal.
The Literature Review Concentrates on establishing and understanding the purpose of
the literature review and the steps involved in undertaking a
comprehensive literature review.
Research Philosophy Clarifies the purpose of research philosophy and its place in
your research and dissertation. It then goes on to consider the
and Case Studies
merits of single and multiple case study research.
Helps you to evaluate data quality, considers ways in which
Finding Your Data
different sources of data be combined and will provide practical
advice on data collection.
Qualitative research is sometimes, unjustly, viewed as less
Working with
valuable, less useful or even less robust than its quantitative
Historical and
counterpart. However, rather than being a lesser form of
Contemporary Data
research method, qualitative methods often allow research into
Sources
areas in which quantitative methods would be unsuitable, or are
able to add extra depth to a mixed methods project
Gathering Qualitative Discusses some common approaches to qualitative research
methods and the issues that must be considered with their
Data
application in order for them not to be viewed as somehow
inferior to real science.
Analysing Qualitative Illustrates some of the most common approaches to analysing
qualitative data, namely, Grounded Theory, thematic and
Data
template analysis, discourse analysis and hermeneutics.
Focuses on sampling and measurement issues, surveys and
Gathering
experimental research, and the principles of decision making
Quantitative Data
studies.
Analysing
Focus is on two sets of the most widely used statistical tools
exploring relationships and comparing groups.
Quantitative Data
Introduces some simple steps which can help ensure that your
Managing Ethics in
research embodies the kinds of ethical principles that many
Research Projects
institutions require. Using a range of real life ethical dilemmas to
help you as you formulate your own research
Managing a research project is similar to managing any other type
Managing the
of project: following some basic rules minimises the chances of
Research Project
things going wrong as well as making the whole process more
enjoyable and productive.

The Nature of
Research
1

9
10

11

12

COURSE HANDBOOK

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

Detailed Structure
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1 16 Jan
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2 23 Jan
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3 30 Jan
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4 6 Feb
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5 13 Feb
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6 20 Feb

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7 27 Feb
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8 6 Mar

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9 13 Mar

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10 20 Mar
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11 27 Mar
rd

12 3 April
NO LECTURE
UNIVERSITY
CLOSED

Lecture Title
The Nature of
Research
Finding a
Project
The Literature
Review
Research
Philosophy and
Case Studies
Finding Your
Data
Working with
Historical and
Contemporary
Data Sources

Gathering
Qualitative Data
Analysing
Qualitative Data

Managing
Ethics in
Research
Projects
Gathering
Quantitative
Data
Analysing
Quantitative
Data
Managing the
Research
Project

Chapter

The chapter number and title corresponds directly with the lecture.

Week

Further Reading

Factsheet

Tutorial

Jones, O. (1995) 'No Guru, No Teacher, No Method': A critical view of (my)

managerial research. Management Learning, 26, 109-127
Maclean, M., Harvey, C., & Chia, R. (2012). Sensemaking, Storytelling and the
Legitimization of Elite Business Careers. Human Relations, 65(1), 17-40.
Denney, A.S. and Tewksbury, R. (2013). How to Write a Literature Review.
Journal of Criminal Justice Education 24(2), 218-234
Butler, R. Curran, R. and OGorman, K. D. (2013), Pro-Poor Tourism in a First
World Urban Setting: Case study of Glasgow Govan. International Journal of
Tourism Research, 15, 443-457

The Idea of a
Dissertation
Aim and
Objectives
Literature
Review
Research
Philosophy

Questions on Finding a
Project
Focusing Your
Research Question

CHOOSE AN ARTICLE FOR THE CRITICAL REVIEW

Critical Review of a Journal Article

HISTORICAL: Bryce, D., OGorman, K. D., & Baxter, I. W. F. (2013). Commerce,

Empire and Faith in Safavid Iran: The caravanserai of Isfahan. International
Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(2), 204-226.
CONTEMPORARY: Coulson, A.B., MacLaren, A.C., McKenzie, S. and OGorman,
K. D. (2014) Social Exchange and the Pashtuns of Afghanistan. Tourism
Management, 45, 134-141
Alexander, M., OGorman, K. D., & Wood, K. (2010). Nutritional Labelling in
Restaurants: Whose responsibility is it anyway? International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(4), 572-579.
OGorman, K. D. and Gillespie, C. H. (2010). The mythological power of
hospitality leaders? A hermeneutical investigation of their reliance on
storytelling. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
22(5), 659-680.
Bell, E. and Bryman, A. (2007), The Ethics of Management Research: An
exploratory content analysis, British Journal of Management, 18(1) 6377.

Citing, Quoting
and
Referencing

Writing your Aim and

Objectives

Writing
Rules Well,
sort of!
Data Analysis

What is Academic
Integrity

Theory,
Context and
Data

Writing your
proposal I

Alexander, M., MacLaren, A., OGorman, K., & White, C. (2012). Priority
Queues: Where social justice and equity collide. Tourism Management, 33(4)
875-884..
Bryce, D., Curran, R., OGorman, K.D. and Taheri, B. (2015) Visitors
Engagement and Authenticity: Japanese Heritage Consumption. Tourism
Management, XX, XXX
Matta, N. E., & Ashkenas, R. N. (2003). Why good projects fail anyway. Harvard
Business Review, 81(9), 109-114

Questions for
an ethical
study

Questions on Analysing
Quantitative Data: SPSS
labs*
Writing your research
proposal II*

General Advice
on Writing
Your
Dissertation

NO TUTORIALS
UNIVERSITY CLOSED

Questions on Analysing
Qualitative Data

Some groups will have SPSS labs in week 11 and Writing your research proposal in week 10, the other groups will have this in reverse.
COURSE HANDBOOK

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

research

Learning Materials
The course provides five main sources of learning materials: Lectures; Tutorials; Core Textbook; Further
Readings, and Factsheets. All of these are discussed in detail below. However, these must be
augmented by a sixth: Individual Reading! The easiest way to generate ideas for research projects is to
read journal articles as this helps you discover how other researches present their ideas, and it will also
stimulate your own thinking. Many authors also finish their papers with ideas for further research!
Reading relevant material is a pre-requisite for successful completion of this class and so for proceeding
to and completing your Masters dissertation. The assignments depend on clear understanding of issues
involved in the topic chosen and a structured formulation of ideas. Lectures and tutorials introduce you to
the relevant topics and act as a catalyst for further study; they can never be a substitute for broader
reading around the subject. The recommended readings for the lectures provide a good overview of
methods; however, wider reading will be required for successful completion of the class and your
dissertation.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Lectures are designed to last approximately two hours; sometimes there will be 2 one hour
lectures.
Tutorials fall into two types: Tutorials 1, 3, 6, 7 & 8 are what I would call typical discussions.
Tutorials 2, 4 and 5 are mini-lectures.
Core Textbook matches exactly each of the 12 blocks and has been written by experts from
the department here in Edinburgh for this course.
Further Reading is a key journal paper that has been used in writing of the chapter and can
also illustrate the method or technique under discussion in each block
Factsheets are sometimes serious or amusing, or a mix of both. Often used to emphasise
some points made in that block.

COURSE HANDBOOK

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE

Assessment
The assessment for this course is based on two courseworks; they have equal weighting and are
worth 50% each. Together the two assignments combine to form your complete research proposal
and serve as your map to your dissertation. The assessment details can be found on VISION in the
Coursework page and will be covered in the lectures and tutorials.
Assignment 1 is an annotated bibliography of 5 academic journal articles chosen by you related to
your dissertation subject area and should be about 1500-1600 words maximum. There should be a
brief Introduction (100 words) of the topic and a Summary (about 250 words) to pull the bibliography
together.
Each section should address these sorts of issues regarding each article:
1. Purpose/scope
2. Audience and level of reading difficulty
3. Bias or standpoint of author
4. Relationship to other works in the field
5. Data collection and analysis
6. Findings, results, and conclusions
7. Format/special features e.g., bibliography, glossary, index, survey instruments, testing devices,
etc.
Assignment 2 is the Methodology and Structure sections of your research proposal and should
contain the follow sections:
1. Research Philosophy.
2. Data Collection Methods.
3. Data Analysis Techniques.
4. Ethical Issues.
5. Structure of final work.
An Introduction, Summary and Bibliography should be included also.
Referencing in Assignments
Both assignments should be referenced, drawing on general methodology textbooks, books that focus on
particular data collection methods and analysis techniques and ethics, and loads of journal articles. How
many references are required: the answer is as many as necessary. However, again, at least 20 to 30 for
Assignment 2 would be a rough guide.

Submission Dates and Times

Please make sure that you have submitted the work to Turnitin in advance of the submission of a
paper copy to the departmental office, facilities to do so are on the assessment page of VISION. If
you want to know the criteria by which your assignment will be marked, go and have a look at the
feedback form on VISION.
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Assignment 1: Friday, 27 February by 12noon.

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Assignment 2: Wednesday, 1 April by 12noon

COURSE HANDBOOK

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE