Management Research, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 4Designing your research

DOI: 10.4324/9781003381006-6

Chapter learning outcomes

After reading this chapter you will be able to

• relate research design to theory;
• select an appropriate research design according to your research questions;
• choose between quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods;
• recognize the characteristics of primary and secondary data;
• select the time horizon for your research;
• recognize quality in research.

4.1 Introduction

In Chapter 2 we highlighted the importance of identifying your research problem and developing research questions that your research aims to answer. We introduced three generic types of research questions: ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ questions. In this chapter we will look at the key dimensions ...