Archive for the ‘open university’ Category
What is a masters research proposal ?
A colleague of mine is applying for masters (by research) course . She explained to me that the course is asking for a research proposal. But she has not published any papers as such. She asked my help in writing a research proposal in this pretext.
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Management and Business Research
I did not even have time to take a rest and put away the books of the previous course. The material of the new course already arrived!
It seems we are geared up towards a heavy half year, looking at the amount of books and reading material in the box.
The new course is called Management and Business Research and will only run for half a year. There are 2 essays to write and one final End of Course Essay. All crammed into a very short period of time. No rest this Christmas. Like with the previous courses the first essay is due just before Christmas, followed by the next one early Feb. The final essay is in April.
I wonder, judging the amount of books, how we are going to fit this all in. But than again, it is a Masters Degree. 
I will put up some updates as we go along, for now, it is back to the books and the planner.
Introduction to research finalised
Finally, the first year has ended.
The last essay was all in light of SPSS, not an easy subject at all. It is not difficul to generate the results out of the system, but the explanation and understanding of the data is a complete different cup of tea.
I will try put up some separate posts specifically relating to how to read and interpret SPSS outputs sometime in the near future. However for now, the year has ended. The final part of the year consisted of an exam. The main focus on the exam was SPSS, followed by understanding of some key phrases passed throughout the year. At the end we had to write a short essay on a subject outlined in the exam paper.
After 3 hours of writing and thinking, I finally managed to hand in my examwork. Now it is waiting until December for the results. Hopefully the Open University will deliver an early Christmas present!
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Online Survey
For our 3rd essay in the Master in Research degree course with the Open University we have to explain what method of survey is chosen, write up the questionnaire with its coding and discuss ethical implications.
There are two common extremes in survey methods, face to face interview and (online) self completion questionnaires.
Suggestions for a career in market research?
A fellow student asked me the following question:
“Currently I am a senior in college with a major in communication studies, emphasis in public relations, and I have a minor in international business. I’ve also taken 3 semesters of statistics courses and studied abroad in France. Is this a strong college background to start to work in market research? What are some entry-level jobs that I should look for in market research/marketing? Would a marketing internship help prepare me for a career in market research?” Read the rest of this entry »
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How do i become a Market Research Analyst?
One of my relatives asked me advice for one of their children.
“Their child is heading to college and would like to beceome a Market Research Analyst or something in a related field. She is enjoy doing research and working with computers. What should she study? ”
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Qualitative research
In general research can be divided into two categories; Qualitative and Quantitative. Both have distinctive features and specific uses. Often when research is performed a combination of these two is used.
The easiest way to understand the difference between these two research methods is as followed:
- Quantitative research measures, eg. deals with quantities like kg, units, value (coins/notes), weight
- Qualitative research assesses which means it is not easy to quantify
The course has started!
Today, finally, the first course towards my Masters degree has started. The course is based on several study materials;
- A study guide from the Open University
- Doing postgraduate research (S. Potter)
- Survey Research ( R. Sapsford)
- as well as using SPSS (originally stood for Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and now commonly used as abbreviation for a statistical computer program to analysis research data)
The first focus on the course will be on the books, whilst later in the year, SPSS will be introduced for actual analysis.
In due course I will explain more about how to use SPSS and the different statistical tests it can perform and what they mean.
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MSc in Management and Business Research Methods
What is the Master of Research (MR) Program?
There are several different MR programs run through the Open University (Philosophy, Social, Technology, Business). My proposed study is the MR program in Management and Business Research Methods.
This Master of Research program aims to equip students to be able to:
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