Business Research Methods - Report Example

Open Malaysia Master in Business Administration Program Hosted by the Arab Open – Bahrain Branch First Semester Business Research Methods (BMBR 5103) Course Instructor: Dr. Farzana Maraghi Assignment Student Name Student ID Section Author Name Institution OUM Year Degree MBA Project Title Evaluation Dimension Check () where applicable Detailed comments and reasons for the rating given Weak Poor Fair Good Excellent 1. Problem Development a. The background of the problem is fully developed  The section titled background of the problem is meant to describe and enlist the events that have led to the emergence of the problem or put simple; it describes the history behind the problem. The problem being studied in this dissertation is the increased divorce rate in Saudi Arabia and the problems that have emerged because of this phenomenon. Unfortunately, upon first glance of this section, it gives no clue about the topic or the problem being discussed in the study. It appears that the study was being conducted about the increased proliferation of internet and the developments in the ICT infrastructure that have taken place in the county. Even if information sharing is a theme of this study, the author has failed to relate it to the main topic and this section seems to have no connection to the question being studied and fails to highlight the major factors behind the rising divorce rates. b. The research problem is clearly stated  The research problem is also very weak as it fails to clearly define the problem. The purpose of this section should have been to employ inductive logic since the population and event are already known and used this information to explain the focus of the research, context of the problem and defines the scope of the problem. The problem statement of the dissertation is weak because it fails to address the basic questions and instead focuses on peripheral issues such as the importance of information and internet usage in the nongovernmental organizations in the country. If a person who does not know about the topic of this study comes across this may confuse it with a study to investigate the roe of internet in the private organizations of Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the section titled significance of the problem is better able to explain the problem at hand and therefore should be merged with the research problem. c. Research questions/hypotheses are well formulated  The research questions/ hypotheses have not been developed and mentioned clearly in a separate section in the dissertation under study. The purpose of the hypotheses or the research questions is to state the problem or the specific questions to be tested in the form of statements that can be tested and proved or disproved depending on the results. Unfortunately, this element is completely lacking in this research study. d. Research objectives are explicitly stated  The purpose of this section in any dissertation is to briefly state clearly what the study intends to achieve. This section includes the general objective which gives an overview of the overall study while specific objectives as well which are more detailed. This section of the study is quite good as it starts off with the general objectives of the study and defines it as improving the current divorce initiative website and then moves on towards the specific objectives as to what changes are expected to be incorporated. Even though the research objectives are stated explicitly in this section, it could have been better if these objectives had been presented in the form of a list. In addition to this, these objectives are restrictive and do not explain all the objectives that were presented to the reader in the Abstract section of the study. e. Research variables/ terms are clearly defined  The study also does a good job of defining the various entities and variables that are being studied in the research study. A separate section is dedicated for this section and definitions of each variable and entity are presented here briefly and this serves to not only define but also to demarcate the scope of the study. However what is missing from this section was that the various statistics such as the divorce rate etc could also have been defined here so that the reader has an understanding about the variables or the characteristics of the population to be studied. f. The limitations of the study are clearly stated  The purpose of this section is to list all those factors that could have had an impact on the study yet have been excluded because of the voluntary inclusion or exclusion of the variables by the conscious decision of the researcher. I have rated this section as fair because even though it does list some of the factors that are impacting the study, such as the status of NGOs in Saudi Arabia but these factors are not a limitation because of the design on the study. In fact, these variables will remain the same and influence all studies carried out in Saudi Arab and hence cannot be classified as limitations. 2. Literature Review a. The published work in the area of study is critically reviewed  The purpose of this section of the study should have been on presenting an overview of the research studies done in the past on the same topic and a brief historical perspective on the development of internet in the country would have sufficed. Unfortunately, this section failed to cite the research studies that have been conducted previously regarding the increased rate of divorce and the e divorce initiative. The section is lacking in this regard and therefore been rated as poor. b. The knowledge gap to be filled by the research is clearly described  The literature review culminates into this part where the author has mentioned the knowledge gap that exists and what needs to be done further to fill this void. The research does a good job of explaining the unfilled areas in the research. 3. Research Design a. The research design is clearly described  This composition of this section coves the minimum requirements of such a section and defies the research as being positivist and employing the case study method and goes on to explain the characteristics of a positive research. Unfortunately, the explanation given is equally applicable to any other positivist study and does not relate specifically to the topic. b. The research design is appropriate for the problem  The research design selected is appropriate for this kind of research study as the case study method would be appropriate because the purpose is to focus on only one country. Positivist method on the other hand may not be very appropriate because this tries to investigate correlations between variables which may be difficult to achieve in this case. c. The measurement instruments are appropriate  The interview method being employed in this research is quite useful because in this way the individual experiences and perspectives of the sample can be gathered accurately. However in the end, this method may become very exhausting because it may not be possible to interview each person individually making the process very time consuming. d. Study population is clearly described  The study population has been defined very clearly and the author has mentioned very clearly the 3 groups that will constitute the sample. The study has clearly stated the Study population and the population has been clearly described in the definitions section. e. The sampling design is appropriate for the stated problem  The sampling design is not very appropriate for the stated problem as according to the study, one source will be selected from each of the groups mentioned and only 10 divorced women will be interviewed. Taking such a small sample when the population is so large and ignoring divorced men from the sample may make the study biased and may not be a true representation of the population. A total sample of 70 was taken, yet this important information is inappropriately placed in the data analysis and results section. 4. Data Collection a. The collection procedures are described  In terms of data collection, the author has only mentioned the interview sessions which is an instrument and not a procedure of data collection. The section needs some elaboration and should be described in detail. The collection procedure is not described properly in this section and is mentioned in detail in the results section which is inappropriate. b. The collection procedures are appropriate for the stated problem  Even though there are certain problems with the sample size and description of the data collection method, the collection procedure is appropriate for the study though a written questionnaire can also get the job done and save a lot of time. The collection procedure is not described properly in this section and is mentioned in detail in the results section which is inappropriate. 5. Analytical Procedures a. The procedures used to analyze the data are appropriate  This section is meant to clearly describe the way in which the data will be analyzed and specifically describing the procedures to be employed. This section in the study however focuses more on defining the quantitative and quantitative methods then explaining what techniques are to be actually employed. b. The results of the analysis are stated clearly  The results of the analysis are stated clearly yet this section has become cluttered because of the information regarding the research design that has been wrongly placed in this section as it does not for a part of this section. Because of such problems in the structure of the study, this section becomes cluttered and an information overload occurs. Despite this the results of each question have been analyzed and presented with care and clarity and the use of tables and graphs has also been done appropriately. 6. Reporting a. Conclusions are unambiguously stated  The conclusions have been presented very clearly and unambiguously. The author has also enumerated the conclusions which also help in making it clearer. Each conclusion of the research is followed by an explanation that makes it easier to comprehend. b. The report is logically organized  The report however has not been organized logically and there are several lapses in the sequence and grouping of data. For example, various elements that should have been a part of the research methodology chapter have been pushed into the data analysis chapter. Similarly, bibliography and references are supposed to be the ending section and are supposed to be listed even after the appendices. c. Citation of references is consistent  Citation of references has remained consistent throughout the text yet the reference list presented at the end of the dissertation uses the full first name rather than just the initials as is the norm with referencing however it does closely resemble the Harvard style of references. Overall Research Score Scale value (v) Number of responses (n) v × n Weak 0 3 0 Poor 1 2 2 Fair 2 6 12 Good 3 6 18 Excellent 4 3 12 Total 20 44 Average 2.2 Interpretation: The average score of the research suggests the rating of the study overall is close to fair. This is because that some of the elements are very weak while some are excellent, which balance each other out. The start of the study is weak but it gradually gets stronger and the results section is quite good. Some of the problems could have been avoided by making some simple and logical changes in the organization of the study. The good thing about the research is that the analytical part is not weak. References Zikmund, W. G. (2003). Business Research Methods (7th ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Thomson. Read More