E-resources (videos) on research problems, research questions and research aims: academic research type

 E-resources (videos) on research problems, research aims and research aims: academic research type

1a. How to Develop a STRONG Research Question 

1b. Types of research questions

1c. 3 types of research questions for quantitative research.

1d. Research question in quantitative and qualitative research (checklist)

2a. Developing a research question

2b. How to write qualitative research questions

3. How to define research problem

4. What is the Difference B/W Research Problem and Research Questions 

5. How to Write Research Aims and Objectives?

6. How to state the aim of your thesis or academic paper

7. How to develop a good research topic?

8. On research conceptualization

Also study the topics of (i) contextualization in research work and (ii) the steps to refine research objective and questions and some basic information (examples) on research objectives.

The more independent variables in multiple regression formula, the better: a note

The more independent variables in multiple regression formula, the better: a note:

The more independent variables (Xs) do not make a multiple regression formula more "comprehensive" or "strong in explanation power". Some considerations are as follows:

1. If certain X variables are closely related (e.g. correlated), that could negatively affect the ability of the regression formula to work out the influence of these X variables. You need to ensure that all the X variables are mainly independent (e.g. with very low correlation with the other X variables).

2. There is a need to examine the organization structure of the X variables. It is likely that they do not make up a simple many-to-one relationship with the dependent variable (the Y variable).

3. More fundamentally, there is a problem of "do not know what we don't know". We do not know what other important variables have been omitted in the multiple regression formula.

4. Related to point 3, even if we are aware that a particular independent variable is is important for the construction of the multiple regression formula, there may not be data available on this  independent variable or that the variable can be quantified/ measured satisfactorily.

Beyond that, there are fundamental limitations of multiple regression analysis, especially using a relatively simple statistical tool of Excel. A notable example is that the multiple regression analysis is based on linear equations between the X and Y variables. It is quite possible that the correlation between variables is non-linear. Also, the data you gather for the multiple regression analysis can be biased, e.g. when your data sample is not probabilistic.

Study materials (videos) on the main topics related to quantitative research methods

 Study materials (videos) on the main topics related to quantitative research methods

For students who are serious about learning and using quantitative research methods in their dissertation projects, the following collections of study materials (videos) are useful:

1. Related to quantitative research methods

2. Related to statistical methods

3. Related to sampling.

4. Related to hypothesis testing.

Two types of housing dissertation project: a briefing

Two types of housing dissertation project: a briefing

Type 1: housing-concerns- [non-academic stakeholders]/ also called consulting-oriented (Based on the agile literature review approach)

85% housing-concerns driven (Based on the agile literature review approach) [housing-concerns owned by non-academic stakeholders]

15% research-gap driven [as identified from the academic literature]

Main project value: practical value [especially actionable value]

Type 2: academic-oriented (very often inspired by a specific academic article or a specific academic dissertation report).

85% research-gap driven [as identified from the academic literature]

15% housing-concerns driven (Based on the agile literature review approach) [housing-concerns owned by non-academic stakeholders]

Main project value: academic value [especially originality value] [it makes useful contribution to the academic knowledge of the Housing Studies field]

Note: academic value and practical value are not totally separate; academics are also concerned that academic knowledge being useful to address practical problems in the real world.

Now, mainly related to type 2 project type, students need to also study the topic of research objectives, research aims and research questions.

Study materials (videos) on research limitation writing in dissertation report

Study materials (videos) on research limitation writing in dissertation report:

1. How to write research limitations section

2. Thesis/Dissertation Tips: Limitations of Your Research

3. Research Limitations & Delimitations

e-resource (videos) on sampling in research methods study

 e-resource (videos) on sampling in research methods study

1a. Population vs sample

1b. Populations, Samples, Parameters, and Statistics (also on "What Is A Parameter? (Includes Examples of Parameters and Populations)")

1c. Sampling: Simple Random, Convenience, systematic, cluster, stratified - Statistics Help

1d. Stratified sampling.

1e. On sampling techniques.

1f. Sampling in qualitative research.

1g. Selecting your participants.

2a. Defining your Population and Sampling Strategy

2b. (i) Non-probability sampling vs (ii) probability sampling.

2c. Techniques for random sampling and avoiding bias 

2d. Confidence intervals and margin of error

2e. Sampling error

3. Sample size

4. Theoretical sampling and purposeful sampling.

Two types of MBA dissertation project: a briefing

Two types of MBA dissertation project: a briefing

Type 1: consulting-oriented (Based on the agile literature review approach)

85% management-concerns driven (Based on the agile literature review approach)

15% research-gap driven

Type 2: academic-oriented (very often inspired by a specific academic article or a specific academic dissertation report).

85% research-gap driven

15% management-concerns driven (Based on the agile literature review approach)

On type 2 project type, it is also highly relevant to study the topic of research aims, problems and questions. Students interested in type 2 MBA dissertation project examples could refer to academic journals such as Journal of Business Research and Management Research Review to find illustration of academic research articles.

*** A related reading is on the two versions of contextualization in dissertation project works.

e-resources on research gap

 e-resources [videos] on research gap (including research project rationale and contribution).

1. 3 easy ways to identify the research gap

2. four types of research gaps

3a. WHAT IS RESEARCH GAP | HOW TO IDENTIFY RESEARCH GAP

3b. Research gap: how to find it.

3c. Finding a research gap in one day.

4. How to identify the contribution of your research.

5. Rationale of the study

6. On rationale and significance of research.

Also study a related topic of contextualization in research work. Research gap analysis can be supplemented with a concept mapping study on literature review on a specific academic topic. A YouTube video on concept mapping is informative.

Related readings: on research gap statements and research objective statements; another one on scientific progress and research gap analysis.

Two basic desirable features of a well formulated research objective in the agile literature review approach

Two basic desirable features of a well-formulated research objective in the agile literature review approach [in the context of doing an MBA dissertation project]:

Obsessed with the direct management issues on hand, some MBA students tend to formulate research objectives in a concrete implementation [using direct empirical details: code-based] tone such as:

To evaluate the capability of the ABC inventory management system version 4 for XYZ Ltd.

To start with, such a research objective is difficult to serve as an agenda to do literature review, because it is very rare that there are academic articles on evaluating ABC inventory management system.

Above all, there are two related desirable features of a well-formulated research objective:

1. The research objective should be associated explicitly or implicitly with certain theories, themes, and/or management topics, e.g.. managerial competence, innovation capability, strategic change management, organizational design, etc..

2. The research objective, being derived from 1-2 management concerns, should preferably represent an intellectual response that is in line with the MBA education programme spirit, in terms of strategic thinking, and innovation/ strategic change-orientation. Thus, "to evaluate how to improve the reliability of the customer order processing task of Department A [product line 123] in Fanling" is not quite an interesting topic, while "to evaluate the customer service performance" of ABC Ltd is a more interesting topic as it is more clearly aligned with the MBA education programme spirit. Or to put it in a simple way, the research objective should preferably be an intellectual response to a specific management concern at the strategic or tactical level, rather than predominantly at the operational level.

To formulate a desirable research objective requires managerial intellectual competence via engaged managerial intellectual learning over time. There are additional agile literature review guidelines from the ALRA publication to consider to make the research objectives more desirable.

Note:

In the agile literature review approach, management concerns are depicted in the management-concerns diagram while research objectives appear in the theoretical framework diagram set (i.e. level-0, level-1a, level-1b [optional] and level-1c).