Introduction to Research Methods for Business and Technology

Period	Autumn semester
Course type	PhD seminar
ECTS	5
Instructor	Konstantinos Koumaditis (course responsible) Christian Tang Lystbæk Ismail Golgeci Juliane Möllmann John Vestergaard Olesen Anders Frederiksen Robert Alphinas Francesco Chinello
Room	Room 8003-3124 \| Birk Centerpark 15 \| Herning
Dates	4 Nov, 20 Nov, 21 Nov, 27 Nov, 28 Nov, 29 Nov, 16 Dec
Paper submission deadline	TBA
Maximum enrolment	The maximum number of students is 20
Academic prerequisites	Enrolment is restricted to PhD students. The seminar is open to all PhD students, but preference will be given to PhD students from the PhD programme at the Department of Business Development and Technology, followed by PhD students from other PhD programmes at Aarhus BSS Graduate School.
Compulsory literature	All articles marked with *

Background

The main objective of this course is to provide PhD students with fundamental and advanced knowledge about research methodologies to design and conduct interdisciplinary research in the intersection between business development and technology areas. The course distinguishes itself by equipping PhD students to investigate relevant empirical questions and problems in the intersection between business and technologies. This course covers the main qualitative and quantitative research methodologies capable of solving issues in the intersection between business development/technology.

The course is divided into three main topic areas:

Foundations of research and knowledge development, and implications for research design choices in interdisciplinary research in business and technology.
Qualitative methodologies for interdisciplinary research in business and technology.
Quantitative and experimental methodologies for interdisciplinary research in business and technology.

Learning objectives

After completion of this PhD course, participants should be able to:

Understand the main research methodologies for interdisciplinary research in business and technology.
Critically assess research designs using different methods in scientific articles in business and technology research.
Develop a research design for research projects included in their own PhD dissertation that aims to advance knowledge in the intersection between business development and technology.
Decide and implement the appropriate research methodologies with specific application to issues in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of business development and technology according to the formulated research question.

Format and schedule

This course is comprised of seven days of teaching in addition to preparing readings and assignments per session. Participants are expected to have carefully read the recommended articles prior to class. The mandatory articles are indicated (*) in the references list of the course. It includes a combination of seminal and instrumental articles on the qualitative and quantitative methodology discussed, as well as the examples of articles implementing those methods.

The teaching format includes readings for each session, lectures, hands-on practical exercises in the classroom, mandatory take-home exercises and a final assignment.

Each day is comprised of three to four sessions (details to be defined by the responsible lecturer):

Session 1: 09:00 am–10:30 am
Session 2: 11:00 am–12:30 pm
Lunch
Session 3: 01:30 pm–03:00 pm
Session 4: 03:30 pm–05:00 pm

Apply here

Email Emily Tynes at emily@btech.au.dk to apply for the course

Assignments

1. After-class assignments:

After-class assignments are “individual” or “group” activities. The aim is to allow the students to apply the methodologies learned in the classroom. The lecturer in the respective session will provide detailed information for each after-class assignment.

2. Final assignment: Research design proposal

This assignment aims to develop student skills in an elaborate, rigorous and robust research design of a study. Each student must submit a detailed proposal for a research design utilising the elements and the methodologies covered in the course. Appropriate methodologies (i.e., qualitative, quantitative or the combination of both) should be described according to the research problem and examined research questions. This proposal could be incorporated in one of the research papers in the PhD dissertation.

Style guide for the final assignment:

The document can include five to seven pages of text plus one page of references; single-spaced; 11 Times New Roman points.

Supporting literature for the assignment:

Hair Jr., J., Page, M., & Brunsveld, N. (2019). Essentials of Business Research Methods (4th ed.). Routledge. AU Library link: https://doi-org.ez.statsbiblioteket.dk/10.4324/9780429203374.