Postgraduate Research In Business: A Critical Guide

00-Quinton-3343-Prelims.qxd 2/12/2006 12:42 PM Page i POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS 00-Quinton-3343-Prelims.qxd 2/12/2006 12:42 PM Page ii Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of Stuart Rooks who inspired and enormously encouraged us in our teaching and writing. It is also for our children Edmund, Olivia, Aidan and Ella with love. Study Skills SAGE 00-Quinton-3343-Prelims.qxd 2/12/2006 12:42 PM Page iii POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS A Critical Guide Sarah Quinton and Teresa Smallbone SAGE Publications London ● Thousand Oaks ● New Delhi 00-Quinton-3343-Prelims.qxd 2/12/2006 12:42 PM Page iv © Sarah Quinton and Teresa Smallbone 2006 First published 2006 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42, Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 110 017 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN-10 1-4129-0835-3 ISBN-10 1-4129-0836-1 ISBN-13 978-1-4129-0835-1 ISBN-13 978-1-4129-0836-8 (pbk) Library of Congress Control Number: 2005931794 Typeset by C&M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge, Wiltshire Printed on paper from sustainable resources 00-Quinton-3343-Prelims.qxd 2/12/2006 12:42 PM Page v Contents Acknowledgements vi About this Book vii 1 What is Management Research and What Does it mean at Masters’ Level? 1 2 Developing a Critical Approach 15 3 Generating, Developing and Mapping Ideas for Research Topics 28 4 Making your Project Manageable 44 5 Sources of Secondary Information 67 6 How to Read Critically 81 7 Organizing and Analysing What You Have Read and Researched 97 8 9 10 Reflection – How to Learn to Be a Better Researcher and Business Manager from Doing Research 110 Reliability, Validity and Generalization 125 Writing Up and Beyond 141 References 162 Index 167 00-Quinton-3343-Prelims.qxd 2/12/2006 12:42 PM Page vi Acknowledgements We would like to thank the many people who have helped us in writing this book, in particular, our editor Patrick Brindle for his patie