Research methods study - a brief note

Increasingly, students do not read textbooks, do not read academic articles and, do not read Research Methods references. Very often, students have difficulties to express ideas in English... Basically, these are labelled as academic stuff, not relevant to practical requirements. Thus, why study these readings if all is required is to gain a recognized certificate? I do believe otherwise. Here, I provide a reading list for you to learn Research methods. Studying the subject takes time; you will do well if you just ignore the time consideration and enjoy the learning process. The list is as follows:

Stage 1:

1. Bailey, K.D. (1994) Methods of Social Research, Free Press.
2. Chalmers, A.F. (1992) What is this thing called Science, Open University Press.
3. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2007) Research Methods for Business Students, Prentice Hall.
4. Mitroff, I.I. and Linstone, H.A. (1993) The Unbounded Mind, Open University Press.
5. Lind, D.A., Marchal, W.G., Mason, R.D. (2001) Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics, McGraw Hill.

Stage 2:

1. Gerring, J. (2007) Case Study Research, Cambridge University Press
2. Bauer, M.W. and Gaskell, G. (editors) (2000) Qualitative Researching with Text, Image and Sound, Sage Publications
3. Griseri, P. (2002) Management Knowledge: a critical view, palgrave.
4. Jackson, M.C. (2000) Systems Approaches to Management, Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers.
5. Morgan, G. (editor) (1983) Beyond Method: Strategies for social research, Sage.

Studying these books well for a start, and then move on to more specialized references, including academic journals on research methods, in your own pursuit to learn Research Methods.  Studying the books identified above takes several years. Just do not expect to learn the subject of Research Methods well in 3-4 months on a part-time basis. What the advertisements in the marketplace tell you about management education can be quite misleading...