Business Research Methods

Barry Babin is Morris Lewis Professor and Chair of Marketing, Analytics and Professional Sales at the Ole Miss Business School, University of Mississippi, USA and Executive Director of the Academy of Marketing Sciences. In addition to co-authoring four textbooks, he has published over 100 research publications in periodicals including the International Journal of Wine Business Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research (JBR), Journal of Consumer Research and European Journal of Marketing. Professor Babin also has won numerous honours for his research, including the University of Southern Mississippi Louis K. Brandt Faculty Research Award (on three occasions) and the prestigious Harold W. Berkman Distinguished Service Award. Christina Quinlan lectures in Research Methods at the Technological University in Dublin, where she works currently in the School of Marketing and Entrepreneurship. Formerly, she was Senior Lecturer and Director of the Institute for Research in Criminology, Community, Education and Social Justice, in the School of Applied Social Science at De Montfort University in Leicester, and before that, she taught research methods at Dublin City University. Her PhD research was a study of women�s experiences of imprisonment in Ireland. Using critical ethnography, discourse analysis and semiotics, Christina explored the manner in which the identities of imprisoned women are constructed and represented in different discourses, historical discourses, architectural discourses, organisational/managerial discourses and media discourses. Christina also engaged with imprisoned women themselves and explored with them, using in-depth interviews and photography, the manner in which within prison, they constructed and represented their own identities. Christina�s book on women�s experiences of imprisonment in Ireland was published in 2011 by Irish Academic Press. In recent years, Christina has published widely on the topic of women's experiences of social control and the State. In terms of research methods, her particular interests include qualitative and quantitative research methods, critical research, ethnographic research, action research, image-based research and feminist research. William G. Zikmund was Professor of Marketing at Oklahoma State University, USA. Before beginning his academic career, he worked in marketing research for Conway/Millikin Company (a marketing research supplier) and Remington Arms Company (an extensive user of marketing research). During his academic career, Professor Zikmund published many articles in a variety of scholarly journals, ranging from the Journal of Marketing and Accounting Review to the Journal of Applied Psychology. Professor Zikmund was a member of several professional organisations, including the American Marketing Association, the Academy of Marketing Science, the Association for Consumer Research, the Society for Marketing Advances, the Marketing Educators� Association and the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators. He served on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Marketing Education, Marketing Education Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and Journal of Business Research. Jon Carr is the Jenkins Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at North Carolina State University, USA where he teaches courses in new venture planning at the undergraduate and graduate level. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, family business and organizational behaviour. He has published articles in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Management and the Journal of Business Research. Mitch Griffin is a Professor of Marketing at Bradley University, Illinois, USA. His teaching interests include pricing and product strategies, marketing research and advanced marketing research. In recognition of his teaching and research, Dr Griffin has received numerous teaching, research and service awards. His research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behaviour, Journal of Nonprofit and Public Sector Marketing and Advances in Consumer Research.

Part I: Introduction
1. Introducing Business Research
2. Developing Research Skills
3. Understanding Research Ethics
4. Understanding Research Philosophy and The Role of Theory
Part II: Beginning the Research Process
5. The Literature Review
6. Quantitative Research: An Introduction
7. Qualitative Research: An Introduction
8. Research Methodology and Design
9. Understanding Populations and Sampling
10. Writing the Research Proposal
Part III: Data Gathering
11. Fieldwork and Observation
12. Using Interviews and Focus Groups
13. Surveys and Questionnaires
14. Attitude Measurement

Part IV: Dealing with Data
15. Managing Data and Introducing Data Analysis
16. Analyzing Qualitative Data
17. Analyzing Quantitative Data
18. Completing and Presenting the Research