Overview
This course develops the knowledge and practical skills required to plan, conduct, evaluate, and communicate applied business research for managerial decision-making. Students examine problem identification, research purposes, exploratory and descriptive approaches, causal reasoning, research questions, hypotheses, conceptual frameworks, and project scoping.
Core topics include research ethics, informed consent, literature and secondary-data reviews, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, sampling, sample-size considerations, measurement, reliability, validity, questionnaire design, and data quality. Students gain introductory experience in interviews, focus groups, observation, content analysis, surveys, experiments, data preparation, descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, visualization, correlation, and basic inferential reasoning.
The course emphasizes the distinction between association and causation, the limits of research claims, data privacy, bias, reproducibility, and the appropriate use of spreadsheets or introductory analytics software. Applied assessments develop students' ability to produce research briefs, design instruments, analyze data, and present concise, evidence-based recommendations to business stakeholders.
Learning Outcomes
- Formulate business problems as focused, researchable questions with appropriate objectives, hypotheses, and conceptual frameworks.
- Evaluate exploratory, descriptive, qualitative, quantitative, and causal research designs for specified business decisions.
- Design ethical research projects that address informed consent, privacy, bias, data quality, and reproducibility.
- Construct defensible sampling approaches, measurement instruments, questionnaires, and data-collection procedures.
- Prepare and analyze basic business datasets using spreadsheets or introductory analytics software.
- Interpret descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, visualizations, correlations, and basic inferential results without overstating conclusions.
- Distinguish association from causation and evaluate the validity, reliability, limitations, and practical implications of research findings.
- Synthesize research evidence into concise proposals, executive presentations, and actionable recommendations for business stakeholders.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Lab | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Research brief | 15.00% |
| Assignment | Research instrument design | 15.00% |
| Deliverable | Data analysis exercise | 20.00% |
| Capstone | Executive research presentation | 20.00% |
| Test | Mid-semester test | 10.00% |
| Exam | Final examination | 20.00% |
Prerequisites
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
