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Methodology is a field which is indisputably complex. In the academic world, it is often said to be important, yet in everyday academic practice, it is not always treated accordingly. In teaching, methodology is often a mandatory course. Usually, it consists of learning how to adopt several common approaches when doing research, and how to conceive a research design (often leading to a survey). This usually leads to collecting data on a modest scale and - when the opportunity arises - analysing the data with the help of some statistics. Ask the students of their opinion at the end of such a course and they tend to heave a deep sigh of relief and say, "I have got through it. " Then their real courses start again, in which methodology often does not play a role at all. We are of the opinion that writing-off methodology in this way is a real pity. It ignores the valuable role that methodology should play in academic teaching as a whole. Here, methodology is presented as a form of thinkingand acting that, while obviously entailing research work, can also include the design and change of organisations. This broad approach has been purposefully chosen, as it is almost obvious from research and graduation projects that the students do not really have a clue what methodology involves and, therefore, wasting their time by producing work that has a little quality.
List of contents
Looking at Research.- The Essence of Methodology.- Conceptual Models.- Quantitative Research.- Qualitative Research.- Assessing Your Research.- Acting and Organising.- Elaborating Your Own Research Design.- Comparative Glossary.- Epilogue.
About the author
Jan Jonker, Professor an der Nijmegen School of Management (NSM) an der Radboud University Nijmegen (NL); seit über 20 Jahren als Wirtschaftsberater aktiv, insbesondere mit dem Fokus auf Corporate Social Responsibility in Verbindung mit der Entwicklung von Geschäftskonzepten, -strategien und Implementierung; Er unterrichtet in den Niederlanden, England, Frankreich und Deutschland die Themengebiete Organisationstheorie, Organisationsveränderung, qualitative Forschungsmethoden, Total Quality Management (TQM), Sustainable Development (SD) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Autor von über 20 Büchern und 150 Artikeln
Summary
This book offers a concise introduction to different research approaches in management science. It provides readers with the knowledge to make well-reasoned methodological choices and helps them understand what structuring and designing a research implies. The book contains more then fifty practical examples, exercises, discussions and short case studies, which are aimed at showing how to apply a particular methodology in a specific context. In addition, short footnotes draw attention to more fundamental theoretical, ontological or epistemological issues. Criteria are listed making it possible to judge the quality of the results. At the end of the book various checklists are provided to help structure research activities and reflect on key issues and choices to be made. A special feature of this book is an extensive comparative glossary of the methodological terms and notions.
