A tool to organize the discussion on the onion model layer of "approaches" in the agile literature review approach

A tool to organize the discussion on the onion model layer of "approaches" in the agile literature review approach (ALRA).

This practice note is for the MBA students doing dissertation project with the agile literature review approach.

On writing the dissertation report chapter of Research Methodology, students using the agile literature review approach make use of the diagrams of the theoretical framework level-1c (for the consulting-oriented project type) and the academic literature review tree-b (for the academic-oriented project type). It is expected that the students will then evaluate his/her research methodology in terms of the onion model of research. This practice note deals with layer 2 of the onion model, which is about the approaches to theory development (re: a brief video on this Research Method topic).

This note proposes using the following table to make explicit what specific approaches (to theory development) [layer 2 of the onion model] are employed in the research methods employed in the dissertation project under examination. The table template is as follows:

 Table 1: The research approach tasks involved by the research methods in the dissertation project.

Research methods employed	Research approach tasks involved
Research method 1: semi-structured interview	Induction task 1.1: Induction task 1.2: Deduction task 1.1: Deduction task 1.2:
Research method 2: questionnaire survey	Deductive task 2.1:
Research method 3: document study of exit interview records of ABC Ltd.	Induction task 3.1: Deduction task 3.1:
….etc.	….etc.

 

Further reading: examples of inductive and deductive reasoning.

Reference

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