The unit provides Business School HDR students with an understanding of research design as the foundation for effective and interesting research. It emphasises a systematic approach to developing rigour in research design, building theoretical and paradigmatic links from a research idea to the design of research methods.

This unit introduces Business School HDR students to quantitative techniques for research. It provides students with a review or introduction to the types of quantitative analyses that they may be required to know, discuss or conduct, both during their PhD and in their future working lives. It aims to provide a basic training with a focus on statistical and business analysis methods.

This unit is aimed at introducing Business School HDR students to a broad range of qualitative approaches to research. Students discover the practical aspects of research design accompanying each of the approaches. Through this unit, students learn how to choose a methodological approach that is appropriate for a particular research enquiry, while keeping in mind the epistemological 'fit' with the research question. This stream also helps students understand the implications of adopting qualitative research methods.

This unit provides students with an introduction to advanced quantitative analysis techniques that they may be required to know, discuss or conduct, both during their PhD and in their future working lives. The unit is divided into four segments. The first segment reviews basic quantitative methods covered in BUSS7902 before considering issues around estimation and forecasting. Focus then switches to approaches for dealing with repeated measures including panel estimation methods and time series analysis, before consideration of ANOVA techniques and analogous non-parametric methods. Consideration is then given to the most widely used multivariate methods including factor analysis, multiple discriminant analysis, cluster analysis and structural equation modelling. The final segment covers categorical and discrete choice data analysis covering both the theory and practice of designing choice experiments and conducting sophisticated logit modelling applications. The unit covers both the theory and application of the various techniques with hands-on lab-based sessions and assignments crucial to the quality of the learning experience.

The purpose of this unit is to extend and deepen students' knowledge of qualitative research gained in BUSS7903. Students participate in the key contemporary debates on qualitative research in business/management disciplines, and in the social sciences more broadly. The unit covers all stages of conducting a qualitative study, from research design to reporting the results of an empirical study. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of the researcher's own paradigmatic and disciplinary positioning, the diversity and evolution of qualitative traditions, and emerging trends. The implications of different ontological and philosophical commitments for the choices made during the course of a qualitative project are a key integrating theme of this unit. Upon completion of this unit, students are able to critically evaluate qualitative research, make informed decisions in the context of their own projects and improve their own research practices.

This unit introduces students to contemporary philosophical thought concerning the nature of scientific knowledge and its generation. It presents an overview of philosophical issues underlying scientific inquiry in business research. The unit juxtaposes logical positivism, interpretivism, and critical theory by comparing the accepted assumptions within each of these traditions as they pertain to ontology, epistemology, and the nature of human beings. In doing so, the unit addresses a range of topics: the nature of scientific development; the relationship between theory and data; modes of scientific explanation; and the relationship between science and society. The unit is designed to promote critical thinking by encouraging students to discuss, debate, analyse, and synthesise the presented issues rather than accepting them at face value.