Wednesday, 22 December 2021

Videos on "choosing a dissertation topic" as study materials

 Videos on "choosing a dissertation topic" as study materials


1. How to find a thesis topic: 10 Tips

2. Choosing A Dissertation Topic

3. Brainstorm your Research Topic

Videos on the topic of "argument" in academic writing

 Videos on the topic of "argument" in academic writing


1. Structuring an argument

2. How to Write a Good Argumentative Essay: Logical Structure

3. Introduction of an Argument Essay

4. Arguments in thesis and research writing

5. Writing a counter-argument.

6a. Logic and arguments (deductive and inductive arguments)

6b. Induction and background theories.

6c. Where reasoning goes wrong.

7. The Toulmin method of argumentation. (another briefing)

8. The Three Persuasive Appeals: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos



Also study the related topic of logical fallacies.




Notice: about Facebook ac: Joseph KK Ho

Study materials on research methods pros and cons

 Study materials on research methods pros and cons

1. The Pros and Cons of Interviewing

2. Advantages & Disadvantages of Surveys

3. The advantages and disadvantages of Online focus group discussions

4. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH -- CHARACTERISTICS, ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES

5. QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: Strengths & Limitations

6. 6 Reasons You Should Do Secondary Research

7. Avoiding Bias

8. Pros and cos of focus group vs interview research.

9. Limitations of participant observation.

10. Desk research: advantages and disadvantages.

11. common pitfalls in research methods to avoid.




Notice: about Facebook ac: Joseph KK Ho

Saturday, 18 December 2021

Assignment essay structure for international financial reporting: an illustration

 Assignment essay structure for international financial reporting: an illustration


Topic 1

Topic title: how corporate governance affects IFRS adoption and practices

1. Introduction

** including essay objectives

2. An examination of drivers and barriers of company board of directors' efforts to introduce IFRS

3. An examination of the determination and capabilities of the board of directors to adopt IFRS in their companies

4. An examination of corporate governance scandals that indicate factors that harm corporate financial reporting, including IFR quality.

5. Concluding remarks

References


**** subtitles 2-4 are the essay objectives in this case



Topic 2

Topic title: a review of Provisions, contingent liabilities and assets (IAS 37).

1. Introduction

** including essay objectives

2. An examination of the background, including accounting issues, that led to the introduction of IAS 37

3. A review of the standards of Provisions in IAS 37

4. A review of the standards of Contingent Liabilities in IAS 37

5. A review of the standards of Contingent Assets in IAS 37

6. An examination of issues related to actual practices of IAS 37

7. Concluding remarks

References


**** subtitles 2-6 are the essay objectives in this case


Wednesday, 15 December 2021

Marketing in a digital world: analysis worksheets

 Marketing in a digital world: analysis worksheets


Worksheet 1 [related to task 1]


Challenges: C1 (challenge 1), C2 (challenge 2), etc...

Organizational impacts (High (H)/Medium (M)/ Low (L)

Nature of the challenges: PESTLE in nature (Y = Yes)


Worksheet 2 [related to task 2]




Marketing practices: marketing practice 1 (MP1), marketing practice 2 (MP2), etc.
Challenges: C1 (challenge 1), C2 (challenge 2), etc...

Marketing practice integrative: Yes (Y)

Marketing practice transformative: Yes (Y)


Sunday, 5 December 2021

Some ideas on marketing transformation from the academic literature

Some ideas on marketing transformation from the academic literature


1. David Edelman and Jason Heller. 2015. "How digital marketing operations can transform business" McKinsey Digital, July.

1.1 "Marketing operations is certainly not the sexiest part of marketing, but it is becoming the most important one. With businesses unable to keep pace with evolving consumer behavior and the marketing landscape, the pressure is on to put marketing operations—skilled people, efficient processes, and supportive technology—in a position to enable brands to not just connect with customers but also shape their interactions";

1.2 "Establishing a center-of-excellence function to develop and manage a consistent content operating model across divisions resulted in transparency, new governance, and improved processes. That cut the time to generate content, stopped the growth in costs, and brought new discipline into managing the impact of content. As a result, marketing return on investment has improved by more than 20 percent";

1.3 "Marketers are aware of what needs to be done, and many are taking action. But that often boils down to implementing new technology platforms, adding head count, or increasing digital allocations within the marketing-spending mix. While these are important steps, they won’t solve the challenge. Fundamentally, modern marketing operations calls for the thoughtful, deliberate development of new processes, coordination, and governance";


2. V. Kumar. 2018. "Transformative Marketing: The Next 20 Years" Journal of Marketing Vol. 82 (July 2018), 1–12.

2.1 "... transformations in the marketing function reflect changes in the immediate business environment. While the impact of transformations can be identified through companies’ financial results, a deeper meaning for such a transformation exists in societal changes. In other words, ongoing changes among consumers, markets, and marketing departments feature prominently in the need for business transformations";

2.2 "....geographical boundaries are increasingly blurred, and technology has emerged as a powerful integrator of markets. Consequently, the location advantage that many companies have enjoyed is gradually eroding, and they now must compete in an increasingly global world. Further, an explosion in the varied number of offerings to satisfy niche and specific user needs have made product differentiation more difficult. These changes have made companies rethink their portfolios of offerings";

2.3 "... transformations in the marketing function can produce changes in the immediate business environment, such as through data, technology, and privacy factors. Advances in big data and cloud computing have brought tremendous changes in terms of need for and affordability of data. The adaptability and customization capabilities of these applications have enabled marketers to establish personalized means of communication with their user base. Employees are now able to access all their customer data and information on a point-and-click interface, connect and interact with other stakeholders involved in the marketing process, and deliver meaningful content and offerings";


Some ideas on integrated marketing from the academic literature

Some ideas on integrated marketing from the academic literature


1. Tsai, S.P. 2005. "Integrated marketing as management of holistic consumer experience" Business Horizons (2005) 48, 431 - 441.

1.1 ".... if IMC [integrated marketing communication] refers to nothing more than tactically delivering commercial messages through a mixture of advertising, public relations, special events, product placement, and sales promotion activities, then it does not deserve to include the term "integrated", the connotation of which goes beyond a mere mixture of everything without strategic discretion";

1.2 ".... IMC is capable, through the comprehensive orchestration between communication factors and brand management, of managing effectively the mediated impression of and the direct encounter with the brand. What results is a holistic brand value structure, fully reflecting the mental and physical spaces of the consumer, relevant to his or her sensory, emotional, social, and intellectual experiences";

1.3 "A strategic axis focusing on the holistic consumer experience ought to run through the units of research and development, manufacturing, marketing management, and marketing communications. This brings out the synergy of interrelated elements in these units to cohort the IMC practice, which leads to a sustainable driving force of the brand usage";


2. Sheth, J.N. 2001. "From international to integrated marketing" Journal of Business Research 51 (2001) 5 - 9.

2.1 "In my opinion, international marketing will be replaced by integrated marketing and in the process, will result in two-dimensional shifts. The first shift to integrated marketing will focus more on cross-functional integration and coordination and less on functional adjustments across national boundaries. The second shift will focus more on transnational similarities for target markets across national boundaries and less on international differences";

2.2 "One of the major drivers for integrated marketing on a global basis is the productivity improvement potential through integrated marketing";

2.3 "As operations get organized around global customer accounts, it becomes increasingly necessary to deploy quality consistency across all functional units. For example, the six sigma or zero-defect concept is no longer limited to manufacturing or to line operations, but is extended to all functions, line, and staff. A theory of consistency becomes a very viable concept for integrated marketing";

2.4 "Cross-functional integration required coordination and communication. While functional adjustments are dependent upon contextual determinants, cross-functional integration and coordination is capable of transcending ad hoc, context-driven issues to a higher plane of conceptual theory. ....  it is becoming increasingly evident that we can use well-accepted concepts of economic and social sciences to develop a theory of integrated marketing";


Friday, 3 December 2021

Some suggestions about writing assignment introduction and others (of IFR)

 Some suggestions about writing assignment introduction and format (related to the subject of international financial reporting):


A. Introduction part

1. State the assignment objectives, i.e. objective 1, objective 2 [about the main evaluation tasks to perform and the scope of your study];

2. briefly mention the overall structure of the assignment essay

B. Format part

3. Use subheadings and outlining, i.e., 1., 1.1, 1.2.

C. Others

4. Relate your content and subheadings to the subject objectives (in subject module guide).

5. Cite your textbook, among others, in your discussion.

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

e-learning videos related to research methods

 e-learning videos related to research methods 


Research methods

Videos to study

1.    Interview research

Video 1a

Video 1b. What is an interview?

Video 2a: semi structured interview. Also study types of qualitative interviewing and questions for semi-structured interviews.

Video 2b: unstructured interview.

Video 2c: how-to guide on qualitative interviews and how to conduct a research interview.

Video 2d: how to develop an interview guide.

Video 2e: a lecture on preparation for a research interview.

Video 2f: qualitative analysis of interview data.

Video 3a: Interview research might make use of narrative inquiry [a vide on narrative inquiry research].

Video 3b: on narrative interview research.

Video 3c. Narrative research design.

Video 3d: on in-depth interviews.

Video 4: tips for online interviewing.

Video 5a: formulating questions for qualitative interviewing.

Video 5b: conducting [qualitative] interviews.

Video 5c: Things to do after the qualitative interviews.

Video 6a: qualitative interviewing: best practices.

Video 6b: 6 tips for conducting semi-structured interviews.; also 5 tips for semi-structured interviews.

Video 7: visions on interviewing.

Video 8: interviewer behaviour.

Video 9: probing in interview research.; also on probing tactics and rapport in interviewing.

Video 10: how to analyze qualitative data for a semi-structured interview.

Video 11: analyzing depth interview findings.

2.    Focus group

Video 1 (a lecture).

Video 2 (a lecture).

Video 3a: the process of conducting focus groups. (especially note the topics of [i] "introduction and first steps" and [ii] "moderators and location").

Video 3b: how to run a focus group.

Video 3c: Focus Group: Participants & Questions

Video 4 (conducting virtual focus group)

Video 5a: tips for running online focus group.

Video 5b: tips for online focus group.

3.    Survey research

Video 1

Video 2: questionnaire survey research.

Video 3a: questionnaire design. (another one on questionnaire design - part 1; part 2; part 3).

Video 3b: how to design a questionnaire. [basics]

Video 4a: tips for questionnaire survey research.

Video 4b: writing survey questions.

Video 4c: Basics of designing a survey. [with illustrative examples]

Video 4d: key issues when designing research questionnaire.

Video 5: survey research design.

Video 6: research strategy: survey (a briefing).

Video 7: survey design and analysis.

Video 8: analyzing questionnaire

4.    Observational research

Video 1a

Video 1b: what is observational research (marketing).

Video 1c:  participant observation and structured observation: a briefing. From participant observation, one could consider to consider autoethnography, as a more specific form of participant observation.

Video 2a: on participant observation. (another one on participant observation: a brief lecture); another discussion from the sociological perspective.

Video 2b: Ethnography (related to participant observation).

Video 3a: Observational Research (a briefing).

Video 3b: Observational focus.

Video 3c: Field notes in observational research.

Video 3d: Observation and interpretation.

Video 3e: Field organisation.

Video 3f: designing observations (structured ones).

Video 3g: Research instruments: observational checklist. [quantitative]

Video 4a: Privatizing public space.

Video 4b: Observational research, with reference to marketing.

Video 5: Observation and interpretation.

Video 6: Hawthorne studies.

** a study note on the ethnographic approach.

5.    Action research

Video 1a

Video 1b: Introduction to action research.

Video 2a: overview of action research.

Video 2b: participatory action research. Another presentation on PAR.

Video 2c: understanding AR.

Video 3a: how to conduct action research.

Video 3b: collecting data for AR.

Video 4: Action research in development.


6.    Case study research

Video 1 ; Part 2 (on planning a case study); part 3: replication or not.

Video 2: a brief overview of case study research.

Video 3: Case study research part 1; part 2.

Video 4: case study research.

** also an academic article about the role of gatekeepers in case study research (pdf).

7.    Grounded theory

Video 1a (a brief lecture on grounded theory)**

1b: an introduction to grounded theory. (also: versions of grounded theory)**

Video 1c: grounded theory and qualitative research.

Video 1d: grounded theory explained in simple terms.

Video 2: using grounded theory approach.

Video 3 on theoretical saturation.

Video 4a: beginners guide to coding.

Video 4b: on open, axial and selective coding. (another one: what is open, axial and selective coding?)

Video 4c: coding qualitative data for categories and themes.

Video 4d: codes, categories and themes: understand the difference.

 

1. Also study the blog note on the onion model.

2. Note that the agile literature review approach utilizes evaluation research a lot.

3. Visual research methods are mainly studied by Housing Studies students, not MBA students.


Some students might also consider to do hypothesis testing; in this case, study the e-resource blog on hypothesis testing.

e-learning videos related to research methods quality

 e-learning videos related to research methods quality

 

Research methods quality attributes

Videos to study

1.    Quality of qualitative research and quantitative research

Qualitative research

Video 1

Video 2: trustworthiness and validity in qualitative research.

** a guide to qualitative rigor in research.

Video 3: Rigour in qualitative research.

Quantitative research

Video 1: objectivity and validity in the subject of sociology.

Video 2: generalizability and representativeness.

Video 3: A briefing on internal and external validity.

Video 4: predictive validity

Video 5: concurrent validity.

Video 6: convergent and divergent validity

2.    Validity and reliability of research

Video 1

Video 2 (related to qualitative research)

3a.    Advantages and disadvantages of different research methods

3b. on triangulation in research.

Video 1

Video 2: on triangulation in qualitative research.

Video 3: triangulation in research.

Video 4: A brief talk about triangulation. [3 myths]

** Slideshare on triangulation.

4a.    On research methods validity


4b. On measurement reliability

Video 1


Video 2 (measurement reliability)

Video 3: measurement validity


5.    On internal validity

Video 1 (basic ideas behind)

Video 2: threats to internal validity.


6.    On external validity

Video 1


7.    On construct validity, including face validity

Video 1 (construct validity)

Video 2 (face validity)

8.    On research credibility and other quality considerations

Video 1 (on credibility)

Video 2: quality in qualitative research.

Video 3: research quality: an overall review.

Video 4: credible source: 5 tips.

Video 5: How to work against bias.

Video 6: theoretical saturation in qualitative research.

 

*** Research methodology evaluation also needs to deal with the topic of research ethics (re: a video on social research).




Notice: about Facebook ac: Joseph KK Ho

e-learning videos related to the onion model of research methods

 

e-learning videos related to the onion model ofresearch methods [jkkh dated: Dec, 1, 2021]

 

Layers of the onion model

Videos to study

Research philosophies

Video 1a: Philosophy of research/ also watch research paradigms and philosophical world views.

Video 1b: defining ontology and epistemology.

Video 1c: what is a research paradigm?

Video 1d: what is ontology and epistemology?

Video 1e: research paradigms and philosophies.

Video 1f: philosophical assumptions.

Video 1g.: a range of research philosophies.

Video 1h: linking research designs and research philosophies.

Video 1i: selecting a research philosophy.

Video 2: (a) Ontology for social researchers/ (b) for social actors. Also on (c) what is social ontology?; (d) research philosophy: key concepts.

Video 3a: On epistemology

Video 3b: methods of acquiring knowledge.

Video 4: Ontology, Epistemology and Research Philosophies

Video 5a: Ontology epistemology methodology and methods

Video 5b: methodology, ontology and epistemology (a briefing).

Video 5c: Objectivism. [also study subjectivism]

Video 5d: empiricism. (compared with rationalism)

Video 6a: positivism as a philosophy of research. [also study the video of the limits of science]. Also study logical positivism and the video of realism and positivism.; a briefing on positivism in the subject of sociology. Also study post positivism.

Video 6b: interpretivism as a philosophy of research. also interpretivism in the subject of sociology; a more theoretical discussion on interpretivism in sociology. on the interpretive approach in sociology.

Video 6c: mixed methods philosophy.

Video 6d: pragmatism as a philosophy of research. (another brief lecture on pragmatism)

Video 6e: post-positivism as a philosophy of research./ another two videos: v1 useful lecture video and v2.

Video 6f: constructivism.

Video 6g: critical theory./ another one on what is critical theory.

Video 6h: structuralism

Video 6i: poststructuralism. Another briefing on poststructuralism, and the third one. Also study structuralism vs poststructuralism.

Video 7a: Axiology defined.

Video 7b: the axiological argument.

Video 8: on phenomenology and ethnomethodology (mainly for students of sociology or my Housing Studies students).

Video 9a: Foundationalism. (also study a related topic on the epistemic regression problem).

Video 9b: on coherentism in epistemology.

Video 10. on Thomas Kuhn and normal science. and then on scientific revolutions, and, finally, on incommensurability/ progress.

A reading:

* On research philosophies and favored research methods.

Research approaches

Video 1a: Inductive and deductive approaches

Video 1b: research approaches (a concise lecture).

Video 2: the scientific process of inductive and deductive reasoning.

Video 3: on deduction, induction and abduction.

Video 4a: critical thinking: deductive arguments

Video 4b: abductive arguments

Video 4c: On truth and validity in arguments.

Study note (with embedded videos).

I. Research strategies


II. Research choices

I. Research strategies

Video 1a: case study research method.

Video 1b: research design: case studies.

Video 2a: grounded theory.

Video 2b: grounded theory in action.

Video 3: questionnaire survey research.

Video 4: interviews and focus groups (a brief lecture).

Video 5: action research.

II. Research choices:

Video 4: on mixed methods and multi-methods research designs.

Video 5a: mixed methods research: the basics.

Video 5b: mixed methods research: briefing part 1. part 2. part 3.

Video 5c: mixed methods research or mixed up methods

Video 6: developing mixed methods research: a briefing.

Video 7: how do research methods affect results?

Video 8: multimodal research.

Video 9a: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research.

Video 9b: qualitative, quantitative and mixed method research design.


*** also study the e-resource blog article on research methods.

Research choices

Video 1: mixed methods research: the basics (also useful to study the differences between qualitative and quantitative research in this regard).

Video 2: multimethod research

Video 3a: developing mixed methods research: a briefing.

Video 3b: mixed methods research: basics ideas on its design.

Video 3c: using mixed methods research for wicked problems.

Video 4: Criteria for Selecting a Research Design

* Slideshare 1 on multimethod research.

* Slideshare 2 on mixed methods research.

* Also see the blog note on the 4 levels of mixed methods research in the agile literature review approach.


** A side topic is pilot study (spare time to study it also).

Time horizons

Video 1: Longitudinal studies.

Video 2: Cross sectional research.

Video 3: cross-sectional study vs longitudinal study.

On the onion model of research (layer 4 : time horizons):

Topic 1: longitudinal

Topic 1.1: what are longitudinal studies.

Topic 2: cross-sectional

Topic 2.1.: what is cross-sectional data?

Topic 2.2.: analytic cross-sectional study design (an illustration).

Topic 2.3a.: stratified vs cluster sampling.

Topic 2.3b.: types of sampling techniques (more detailed).

Topic 3: cross-sectional study vs longitudinal studies.

Topic 3.1.: cross-sectional study vs longitudinal studies.

Topic 3.2.: time series vs cross-sectional data.

Data collection and analysis

Video 1a: an introduction to qualitative data analysis.

Video 1b: types of qualitative data analysis.

Video 1c: developing research instruments: surveys and interviews.

Video 2: quantitative data analysis.

Video 3a: primary vs secondary data.

Video 3b: levels of evidence.

Video 4: choosing data collection methods. (also study "how to compare different methods of data collection": a video).

Video 5: theorizing from qualitative data: case study research.

Video 6: analyzing questionnaire.

Video 7: analyzing interviews.

Video 8: analyzing focus group data.

Video 9: theoretical saturation (related to grounded theory). Also on open, axial and selective coding.

Video 10: deciding on your data analysis strategy.

Video 11: good practice: reflexivity.

* Slideshare 1: qualitative coding.

* Slideshare 2: qualitative data analysis.

* Slideshare 3: quantitative data analysis.

 

Also study the Webinar related to the onion model by M. Saunders.


Reference

Saunders, M.N.K., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2019) Research methods for Business students. 8th edition. Harlow: Pearson.