Hawaii Pacific University
MGMT 3550 Business Research Methods Section ____
Semester and year, meeting times
Instructor: Name, contact information and other relevant information about the instructor.
Course description: Research process and design, data collection, hypothesis testing, and reporting.
The course features econometrics and other quantitative applications in business research.
Course prerequisite: MATH 1123, ECON 2010, and ECON 2015.
General Education Requirement:
This course satisifes the requirement for an Upper-Division
Research and Writing course for BSBA majors or other majors whose programs of study permit them to
take any Upper Division Research and Writing course. Since some majors specify which course is to be
used to meet this requirement, if you are not a BSBA student, check the requirements for your specific
degree program to determine whether the course can be used for this requirement by students in your
major.
General Education Student Learning Outcomes and the Five Themes: HPU’s general education
curriculum is focused around five themes. As an upper division research and writing course, this course
emphasizes the Communication Skills Theme and the Research and Epistemology theme and provides
students with opportunities to achieve the following related general education student learning
outcomes:
Written and oral communication and critical reasoning
Students will demonstrate critical reasoning in organizing thoughts, feelings, concepts, and information
for effective, clear, and accurate oral and written communication. (CS 4)
Students will use reasoning skills, such as identifying assumptions, considering multiple perspectives and
positions including one’s own, making inferences, and drawing conclusions, to advance an argument
supported by reasons and evidence. (R&E 4)
Critical reasoning is based on criteria set forth in the syllabus and developed throughout the
course through lectures and readings from the text which require an understanding of various
styles of thinking from Existentialism to Idealism to Rationalism to Empiricism. Students also
develop critical reasoning skills and their oral communication skills through class discussions
with the instructor and through their own facilitated class presentations which occur four times
throughout the course. Written communication skills are demonstrated in the drafts of each
section and in the final paper.
Information Literacy
Students will develop the information literacy needed to determine the validity of information sources
and apply these skills in communication environments. (CS 5)
Students will analyze the content, argument, and rhetoric of sources; evaluate the credibility, reliability
and validity of sources; consider the influence of contexts. (R&E 3)
Students will experience a fieldtrip to Meader Library facilitated by the Business Research
Librarian, and make use of research guides from the library and HPU’s Professional Paper
Guidelines for the MBA program. Students are required to conduct a literature review for a
major research project which should include at least five references from peer reviewed
academic journals. In addition the student’s problem statement, literature review,
methodology section, and his or her analyses, findings, and conclusions will be used as the basis
for a student facilitated class dialog which synthesizes the research material obtained.
Performing Research
Students will identify a research question or problem, gather and organize relevant information, apply
appropriate problem-solving strategies, and communicate the results to others. (R&E 2)
Students will utilize methods and technologies appropriate to the discipline to investigate research
questions, generate predictions, test hypotheses and/or solve problems. (R&E 7)
Students complete a major individual research project by progressing through four stages over
the course of the semester-- problem statement (3-5 pages), literature review (4-6 pages),
methodology (6-8 pages), and findings/analysis/ conclusions (6-9 pages). Students ultimately
present their research in a paper of about 20-30 pages. Students are held to the highest
academic standards as they must develop an important and researchable problem statement,
conduct a literature review citing references which adhere to APA guidelines, and construct a
methodology for conducting primary research and analyzing and reporting findings and
conclusions using accepted statistical methods.
Remember that all UDRW courses must meet the following four requirements. This information does not
need to appear on the syllabus but is a checklist for instructors in planning the course syllabus.
1. These courses should require students to work with scholarly sources (such as those from peer
reviewed academic journals). For example, students may write research papers drawing on these kinds
of sources (either literature reviews or original arguments synthesizing information from these sources)
and/or do written assignments or give oral presentations where they summarize, critique or compare
and contrast such sources.
2. These courses should provide explicit instruction in how to find appropriate scholarly sources for the
relevant discipline.
3. These courses should provide explicit instruction in how to avoid plagiarism and cite sources in a
documentation style appropriate to the discipline.
4. These courses should prepare students to conduct research at the professional level required in their
discipline.
Note: Purple text shows places where specific course information must be filled in. Red text contains
explanatory notes to the instructor which should be deleted before using the syllabus. Blue explanations
should be rephrased as needed to fit the course by the individual instructor. Course-specific student
learning outcomes below may vary slightly depending on the instructor and are provided as an example.
Course Specific Student Learning Outcomes for MGMT 3550
After the completion of this course the student should be able to:
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Analyze the role that research methodology plays in the global business environment. This will
be assessed through discussion forums, quizzes, and case study investigations.
Evaluate which value-oriented determinants and cost-benefit choices should be made in
business decision-making. This will be assessed through quizzes, exams, and case study
investigations
Determine proper problem identification, data gathering, and plan formulation/methodology
development processes in business research. This will be assessed through student research
proposals.
Describe and explain through written communication a chosen research approach to problem
investigation. This will be assessed through student research proposals
For the rest of these required syllabus items see the details in the faculty handbook. Delete this note
once the syllabus is complete. For online courses there are some additional requirements given at this
link.
Texts List textbooks with ISBN’s and include this language as well
All textbook information (pricing, ISBN #, and e-books) for this course can be found on the HPU
Bookstore website: hpu.edu/bookstore.
If you have any questions regarding textbooks, please contact the HPU Bookstore at:
Phone:
808-544-9347
Or e-mail:
jyokota@hpu.edu
mmiyahira@hpu.edu
Assignments and mode of evaluation
Summary of important dates and deadlines (if the schedule is a separate document and due dates are
not given with the description of the assignments).
Class rules and policies (including regarding attendance, late work and academic dishonesty)
Schedule of events (may be attached separately)