1. School of Social Sciences
1
Course title: Research Methods (C39RE)
Professor Rania Kamla [email protected]
Dr Bing Xu [email protected]
Dr Esinath Ndiweni [email protected]
Course Introduction
Research Methods develops research skills which are essential
for your dissertation and for a career in accounting, finance or
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.
To research is to methodically search for new knowledge and/or
practical solutions in the form of answers to specific questions.
Developing skills in providing robust, convincing answers to
different questions is critical to success in many professional,
as well as, academic settings. This course will provide you the
opportunity to understand how to gather relevant data/evidence,
how to analyse and interpret evidence, how to make sense of
complex situations, how to draw conclusions or make
recommendations and how to communicate your finding.
A series of lectures will provide you with a sound grounding in
social science research methods and guide you through the
assigned readings. This will be complemented with
tutorials/workshops to develop a range of practical research
skills. The assessments provide you with an opportunity to
apply the knowledge and provide a sound foundation for the
honours year, in particular the dissertation.

2. Aims and Objectives
· To provide the knowledge and skills required to conduct a
sizeable piece of independent research
· To generate an understanding of the social science research
process
· To develop an appreciation of the nature of accountancy and
finance research
· To enable students to practice their skills and test their
understanding of aspects of the research process
Learning Outcomes
· Understand differences between qualitative and quantitative
research
· Select and develop a research topic in accountancy or finance
· Identify, access and evaluate literature relevant to the research
topic
· Select an appropriate research methodology
· Obtain relevant data
Personal Abilities
· Work independently
· Analyse and interpret research results
· Communicate and present ideas effectively by written and
verbal means

3. Teaching Overview
This course comprises of lectures and tutorials, detailed in the
table below. The lectures will last for up to 2 hours and the
tutorials are an hour long.
Week
Topic
Tutorial
1
Purpose of Research & An introduction to the dissertation
2
What to Research and how to select YOUR research Question
3
Literature Review - using other peoples’ research – reviewing
literature, plagiarism and referencing.
Finding a research question
4
How to research – using library resources
Setting your dissertation aims & objectives
5
Content Analysis /Interviews most popular qualitative methods
Planning your sources of evidence
6
Reading Week Coursework Preparation
None
7
Descriptive statistics

4. Literature review
8
Statistical inference and correlation
Selecting research approach / methods
9
Introduction to time series analysis
Revisiting assessment one
10
Introduction to regression analysis
Reviewing dissertations
11
The next steps to successfully complete your dissertation.
Writing your research proposal workshop
Assessments
The assessment is 100% coursework. Together the two
assignments combine form your complete research proposal and
serve as your map to your dissertation, they should both be
around 1,500 words, and no more 2,000 maximum. Please refer
to the assessment page on VISION for more details
Submission Date
Coursework
% of total mark
Monday 12pm Week 7
Research Proposal Part 1
50%
Wednesday 12 pm Week 12
Research Proposal Part 2
45%
On-going assessment
Tutorials submission sheets
5%
All coursework should be submitted via Vision by 12pm on the
submission date. No extensions will be granted. 30% will be
deducted from the mark of the coursework who submits up to 5

5. days late. Submissions later than 5 days late will not be marked.
Students who have mitigating circumstances should contact
their mentors who will advise them of how to apply, with
appropriate supporting evidence, to the Mitigating
Circumstances Board for the potential removal of any late
penalty.
You need to hand-in a hard-copy of your tutorial worksheet to
your tutor in the tutorial each week. You are expected to hand-
in at least five tutorial worksheets throughout the course. These
will amount to 5% of your total mark.
ALP students:
You are strongly advised to undertake and complete
coursework, even though the marks will not contribute to the
final assessment, which is based 100% on the end of semester
exam.
Please note that plagiarism is an offence. All coursework where
plagiarism is detected will be referred to the disciplinary
committee for consideration. Please refer to your student
handbook for information regarding the rules on this matter. It
is the student’s responsibility to make themselves aware of and
to adhere to the rules.
Assignment 1: Is the first part of your research proposal, it
frames your study, and should contain the follow sections:
· Title. What is the working title of your proposed research?
· What is the dissertation about and why is it important?
· Research Question, Aim and Objectives?
· What are the potential impacts of the dissertation?

6. · What is the theoretical and literature context for the
dissertation?
Assignment 2: Is the Method and Structure sections of your
research proposal and should contain the follow sections:
· Briefly outline your key research questions.
· A discussion of data – what data are you planning to use &
how to collect them?
· Primary data – if you decided to collect primary data, we
expect a clear identification of a target group including tactics
for establishing contact and ensuring sufficient number of
replies as well as a preliminary sectioning for
interviewing/survey questions or concrete example questions.
· Secondary data – to extract data from existing databases, you
need to state clearly the variables that you would like to collect,
their frequency, and sample period and source of the data. It is
important to check if you will have the access to these
databases.
· What methodology will be used to analyse your data?
· You need to identify the appropriate methods that are suitable
to analyse your data from the prior studies.
· You need to justify the choice of your chosen approach(es).
· What is the structure of the final work?
· Initial bibliography i.e., review of key studies.
Referencing in Assignments
Both assignments should be referenced, drawing on general

7. methodology textbooks, books that focus on particular data
collection methods and analysis techniques and ethics, and
loads of journal articles. Now, of course you will be wondering
how many references are required. The answer is as many as
necessary… however, around 10 to 20 per assignment would be
a rough guide.
Learning and Teaching Arrangements
The teaching is delivered with a combination of weekly lectures
and tutorials (the tutorials commence in week 3). Attendance at
both lecture and tutorials is compulsory with a register taken in
tutorials. The course assessments build on the topics covered in
the assigned readings, lecture and tutorials. It is therefore very
important to attend all the lectures and tutorials.
Further information on the coursework will be provided during
the lecture series as appropriate and you will be given the
opportunity to discuss any queries you may have on the
assessment, in tutorials and staff office hours.
For each tutorial you are required to submit (on vision) your
answer to the set tutorial question by 9am each Tuesday. This
material will not be formally assessed but will be monitored to
ensure students are keeping up with the class. These set
questions are designed to assist in the preparation of the
formally assessed coursework elements. The non-submission of
any piece of work or consistently poor-quality work will be
reported to your mentor. Submission forms for each weekly
tutorial are available on vision.
Week
Tutorial Overview
3
Finding a research question
4
Setting your dissertation aims & objectives
5

8. Planning your sources of evidence
6
None
7
Literature review
8
Selecting research approach / methods (focus on qualitative
research)
· Discussions about carrying-out interviews
· Discussions about carrying-out content analysis
· Discussions about carry-out questionnaires
9
Selecting research approach / methods (focus on quantitative
research data analysis)
· Brief introduction to SPSS
· Download data from Yahoo Finance
· Perform some basic data analysis
10
Correlation and Simple Regression Analysis
11
Reviewing dissertations and Writing your research proposal
workshop
Course Materials
Everything is on VISION, PowerPoints of lectures and tutorials,
required readings, factsheets, coursework briefings, coursework
assessment criteria etc. All the basics for this course will be
posted there.

9. Essential Reading
1. Research Methods for Business Students, 6th Edition,
Pearson, Mark N.K. Saunders, Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill.
This book is available as an eBook and in print in the library.
The print version is also available from the Edinburgh
Blackwells campus bookshop and other online retailers, and can
be purchased as an eBook from the VitalSource online store and
the Pearson online store set up especially for Heriot-Watt
students in Dubai and Malaysia: http://www.pearson-
books.com/heriotwatt
As well as the text this book has a range of extremely useful on-
line student resources ordered by chapter to aid your
understanding of this topic. These include
· Student resources for each chapter, including:
· Multiple choice and true/false questions to help test your
understanding
· Additional case studies to those given in the book
· Figure 4.1: The research 'onion'
· Online glossary to explain key terms and definitions
· Flashcards to test your understanding of key terms
· Weblinks to sites of interest for selected chapters
· Tutorials and datasets - NVivo tutorial and other exercises
To access these resources either click on the hyperlinks in this
document or go to
http://www.pearsoned.co.uk/Bookshop/detail.asp?item=1000000
00391235
and click on Online Resources Companion Website.

10. Schedule of Reading for “Research Methods for Business
Students”–Chapters by Lecture.
Chapters
Relevant Lectures
1. Business and management research, reflective diaries and the
purpose of this book.
Week 1
2. Formulating and clarifying the research topic
Week 2
3. Critically reviewing the literature
Week 5
4. Understanding research philosophies and approaches
Week 4
5. Formulating the research design
Week 3
6. Negotiating access and research ethics
Weeks 9 & 10
7. Selecting samples
Weeks 7 & 9
8. Using secondary data
Weeks 8 & 9
9. Collecting primary data through observation
Week 10
10. Collecting primary data using semi-structured, in-depth and
group interviews
Week 10
11. Collecting primary data using questionnaires
Week 9
12. Analysing quantitative data
Week 6, 7 & 9
13. Analysing qualitative data
Week 9 & 10
Other recommended readings:
Research Methods for Accounting and FinancePaterson, A.

11. (ed.), Leung, D. (ed.), Jackson, W. J. (ed.), MacIntosh, R. (ed.)
& O'Gorman, K. D. (ed.) 2016 1st ed. Goodfellow. 256 p.
(Global Management Series)
Assessment Details
Assessment 1.
Your first assignment in this course is to complete the first part
of your research proposal.
Your assignment should be around 1,500 words, and 2,000
maximum. It should be submitted online via the Turnitin
assessment 1 submission option in Vision, by 12pm Monday of
Week 7. (ALP students please follow your tutor’s instructions.)
This assignment, in conjunction with the second assignment,
forms your complete research proposal, and it will serve as your
map to your dissertation and should contain the following
sections:
Framing the Study
1. Title. What is the working title of your proposed research?
Does this make your dissertation instantly recognisable to the
reader, does it capture the theory and the context of your study?
2. What is the dissertation about and why is it important. Short
overview detailing why anyone would want to undertake this
study and why anyone would care! [Refer to your notes from
lecture 2 and tutorials 1 &2]
3. Research Question, Aim and Objectives. Clearly state and
delimit these three separate elements. [Refer to your notes from
Tutorials 1 &2]
4. What are the potential impacts of the dissertation? For
example, what problems are you intending to resolve, which
stakeholders may benefits from your work, Any potential new

12. ideas, ways of understanding old problems, new techniques,
revised techniques or criticisms of current practices.
5. What is the theoretical framework for the dissertation?
Specify which literature are you engaging with and which
theoretical body of knowledge you are basing your study within,
are you developing that theory (or theories), or are you testing
that theory in a new context. [Refer to your notes from lectures
1, 2, 3 & 5 and tutorials 1,2 & 3]. Are you applying the theory
to a particular business, industry, sector, country, etc. and why
are you planning on doing that. Highlight briefly the significant
knowledge gaps in the literature.
N.B. Please remember that parts 4 and 5 should be heavily
referenced, drawing on journal articles and books. Now, of
course you will be asking how many references are required.
The answer is as many as necessary… however, between 15 and
-20 would be normal.
Assessment 2.
Your second assignment in this course is to complete the
Methodology and Structure sections of your research proposal.
Your assignment should be around 1,500 words, and 2,000
maximum. It should be submitted online via the Turnitin
assessment 2 submission option in Vision, by 12 pm Wednesday
of Week 12. Hard copy submission is required. (ALP students,
please follow your tutor’s instructions.)
This assignment, in conjunction with the first assignment, forms
your complete research proposal, and it will serve as your map
to your dissertation and should contain the follow sections:
1. Outline your key research questions.
2. Data Collection Methods: what data are you planning to use?
& how are you getting your data? Source of the data – e.g.,
primary data collection – how? Secondary data source – where;
which variables? [Lectures 3, 4,7,8 & 9 & tutorials 3, 5, & 6]
3. Data Analysis Techniques: how are you going analyse your

13. data when you have collected it [Lectures 5,7, 8 & 9]
4. Structure of final work: what will be the final structure of
your dissertation look like, e.g. draft chapter headings, other
main sections to your work, etc.? [Lectures 1 & 10, tutorials 7
& 8]
N.B. Please remember that the Methodology section should be
extensively referenced, drawing on general methodology
textbooks, books that focus on particular data collection
methods and analysis techniques and ethics, and related journal
articles. Now, of course you will be asking how many
references are required. The answer is as many as necessary…
however, again, between 15 to 25 is normal.
2
COURSE OUTLINE: STUDENT
C39RE Research Methods