| | | Research Methods
Conducting research, in a simple terminology, is to ask questions, to wonder "things" around us, and to obtain data with careful design. Without operationally defined, carefully conducted, and empirically testable research questions, it is hard to arrive at "true" conclusions.
Computer technology enables us to carry out data analysis with great ease. Thousands of data can be factor analyzed, compared, and / or checked for correlation structure with little effort of the researcher. However, there is one very important thing remained "human", that is critical thinking. The purpose of the SB 5002 course is to bring critical thinking applications to research questions. In other words, we (including me) are going to force our brain to work hard in a multi dimensional perspective.
Art of Making Research, is a more technical part of SB 5002. We are going to discuss and try both qualitative ( "research without numbers" ) and quantitative ( "numbers are good" ) methods. Research questions and application will be concentrated on business related issues but they may also include examples from social sciences in general.
The major aim of SB 5002 is to read and do research. Reading research means using critical thinking skills powered by technical knowledge to read and understand published data. Doing research is not only doing numerical calculations but also applying research methods knowledge to the world.
The purpose of research methods is searching rather than finding.
Doğan Kökdemir, PhD |
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