Outline

Overview

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 unit also helps students understand the implications of adopting qualitative research methods.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	BUSS7903
Academic unit	Business School
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	ECOF7903
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Barney Tan, barney.tan@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Research ideas Written task and oral presentation	20%	Week 06	2 pages, 5 minutes, 5 slides
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Research proposal Proposal	50%	Week 11	5000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Presentation	Discussion leadership session Written task and oral presentation	30%	Weekly	15 minutes
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Discussion leadership session: A specific paper/book chapter will be assigned to you during the lectures. You are required to review the assigned reading carefully, prepare a summary and critique of the paper/book chapter, and present your work to the class in a designated session. The time to be allocated for the presentation, and questions and answers will depend on the size of the class.
Research ideas: In the fourth scheduled lecture for this unit, you will have to develop an idea for a research topic that can be suitably addressed by qualitative research and present your idea in class. You will also be required to prepare a writeup to elaborate on your research idea, including the motivation for your study, the state of existing knowledge surrounding the phenomenon of interest, the research gaps that you are attempting to address and your research questions.
Research proposal: Your research report should be structured as a research proposal consisting of three sections: (1) introduction, (2) literature review, and (3) proposed research method. In your introduction section, you must establish a compelling motivation for your proposed study, articulate the research gaps that you are aiming to address and clearly state your research question(s). In the literature review section, the state of existing knowledge surrounding your phenomenon of interest and your selected guiding theory should be summarised. In the third section, you must detail your proposed procedures for collecting and analysing qualitative data. Any additional information relevant to the qualitative method you have selected should be included as well.

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an exceptional standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Distinction	75 - 84	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a very high standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Credit	65 - 74	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at a good standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Pass	50 - 64	Awarded when you demonstrate the learning outcomes for the unit at an acceptable standard, as defined by grade descriptors or exemplars outlined by your faculty or school.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Unit introduction	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 04	Introduction to qualitative research	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 05	The different genres of case research	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 06	Research idea presentations	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 07	Collecting qualitative data	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 08	Analysing qualitative data	Lecture (3 hr)
Week 09	Writing a qualitative research paper	Lecture (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Lecture recordings: All lectures and seminars are recorded and will be available on Canvas for student use. Please note the Business School does not own the system and cannot guarantee that the system will operate or that every class will be recorded. Students should ensure they attend and participate in all classes.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Denzin, N. K., and Lincoln, Y. S. 2000. "Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research," in The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research, N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (eds.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 1-26.
Myers, M. D. 2013. "Overview of Qualitative Research," in Qualitative Research in Business and Management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 5-16.
Pan, S. L., and Tan, B. 2011. "Demystifying Case Research: A Structured-Pragmatic-Situational (SPS) Approach to Conducting Case Studies," Information & Organisation (21:3), pp. 161-176.
Lee, A. S. 1991. "Integrating Positivist and Interpretive Approaches to Organisational Research," Organisation Science (2:4), pp. 342-365.
Dube, L., and Pare, G. 2003. "Rigor in Information Systems Positivist Case Research: Current Practices, Trends and Recommendations," MIS Quarterly (27:4), pp. 597-635.
Klein, H. K., and Myers, M. D. 1999. "A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (23:1), pp. 67-93.
Gerring, J. 2009. "Case selection for case study analysis: Qualitative and quantitative techniques," The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology (available at http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199286546.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199286546-e-28).
Myers, M. D., and Newman, M. 2007. "The Qualitative Interview in Is Research: Examining the Craft," Information and Organisation (17:1), pp. 2-26.
Porra, J., Hirschheim, R., and Parks, M. S. 2014. "The historical research method and information systems research," Journal of the Association for Information Systems (15:9), pp 536-576.
Langley, A. 1999. "Strategies for theorising from process data," Academy of Management Review (24:4), pp 691-710.
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., and Saldana, J. 2014. "Drawing and verifying conclusions," in Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook, Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 275-322.
Gioia, D. A., Corley, K. G., and Hamilton, A. L. 2012. "Seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research," Organisational Research Methods (16:1), pp 15-31.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. understand the general principles and methods of qualitative research, including the different genres and when and how to apply them
LO2. understand and apply the best practices prescribed in the literature in relation to the collection and analysis of qualitative data
LO3. identify a research gap within your majoring discipline that can be addressed by qualitative research, and design a qualitative study to fill the gap.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered.

Additional information

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

BUSS7903: Qualitative Business Research Methods

Semester 1, 2020 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect