BUS 661: Research and Experimental Design Seminar
Spring 2007
CLASS PERIOD:
Wednesday 6:00-8:30
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Douglas W. Vorhies, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
North Holman 327
915-1351
dvorhies@bus.olemiss.edu
OFFICE HOURS:
MW 3:00 – 4:00 pm (An appointment is recommended).
Other times can be obtained by appointment.
WEB PAGES:
Vorhies:
TEXTS:
Pamela L. Alreck and Robert B. Settle, The Survey Research Handbook, Irwin-McGraw
Hill. (3rd ed).
Nunnally or Nunnaly and Bernstein (any edition is OK)
Cook and Campbell (any edition is OK).
Kerlinger (Mostly for reference. Any edition is OK).
ARTICLES:
Students are responsible for getting the articles and reading them as listed in the
assignments section of the syllabus.
http://faculty.bus.olemiss.edu/dvorhies
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course focuses on the study of empirical research methods including survey research and
experimental methods. The primary objective of the course is to prepare students to conduct empirical
research.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The primary goal of this course is to provide students with an understanding of research design theory,
methodology and application and to prepare students to conduct empirical research. To do this, the course is
structured to help students achieve the following objectives:
1. To develop a broad understanding of research design issues and the tradeoffs present when designing
research using surveys and experiments.
2. To develop an in-depth understanding of the methods for enhancing reliability and validity of empirical
research.
3. To develop an understanding of common measurement and scaling issues and applications.
4. To develop an understanding of common survey design issues and applications.
5. To develop an understanding of common experimental design issues and applications.
6. To provide a philosophy of science background against which the decisions inherent in empirical
research are made.
GRADING:
Grades for the course will be determined based on your performance in the following areas:
Final Exam
Final Paper
Class Participation.
30 %
50 %
20 %
Final letter grades will be given according to the following points schedule:
A
B
C
D
F
=
=
=
=
=
90%
80%
70%
60%
Below 60%
EXPLANATION OF ASSIGNMENTS AND CLASS POLICIES:
1. Final Exam: The final examination will contain questions similar to those included on doctoral
comprehensive exams. The questions will require that you integrate and synthesize the material we
have discussed. The exam will contain 4-6 comprehensive exam style questions and you will have
some discretion concerning which questions you answer.
2. Class Participation: Class participation is a very important part of the seminar and all seminar students
are expected to play an active role in regularly discussing the assigned readings. The evaluation of
class participation will be based on your level of preparation and the strength of your contributions to
our discussion. Please feel free to discuss your class participation with me at any time during the
semester.
Weekly Readings Summaries: Each week (after session one), the seminar team will divide up the
next week’s readings for the purpose of determining who will lead the discussion of each article or
chapter from the text. Each student will prepare written summaries of each of the readings and
chapters for each session. These summaries must not exceed two typed pages (single spaced) and
may be collected to check quality and the understanding each student is getting from the articles. To
maintain consistency, each summary should have the format outlined below.
3. Final Paper: 50% of your grade in this class is determined by the class paper. To write the paper the
student will:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Choose a research topic.
Write a well researched literature review that defines the constructs conceptually.
Prepare and discuss theory driven hypotheses that define the relationships between the constructs.
Determine the appropriate method for testing the hypotheses and write an in-depth discussion of this
methodology.
e. Prepare measures for assessing the theoretical constructs of interest (operational definitions).
f. Present the FINISHED paper to the class (Papers will be presented in the last two weeks of the
semester).
My strong suggestion is that you use this opportunity to begin writing chapters 1-3 of your dissertation.
4. Attendance: Attendance is required for all students. If you must miss class, you do so at your own risk.
Missed in-class assignments, homework and participation cannot be made up.
5. Other Assignments: I also reserve the right to give you other assignments throughout the course of the
semester. As assignments are added, the total number of points for the class will be increased.
6. School of Business Administration Statement of Academic Integrity: The School of Business
Administration upholds honor and academic integrity in all of its teaching, research, and service
activities. All business faculty, staff, and students are charged with the responsibility to behave with
personal and professional integrity and to refrain from dishonorable conduct.
ARTICLE SUMMARIES FORMAT
Chapters in a Book:
Chapter citation: in bold, at the top of the page. For example, Bollen, (1989) Chapter 1, p. 1-9.
Summarized by: Your name here.
Purpose of the Article: This section should describe why the purpose for the chapter.
Major Issues discussed: This section should summarize the methodological issues discussed in the
chapter and give insight regarding key points.
Critique: A brief critique of the chapter. What do you agree with and what do you disagree with? What
methodological questions are left unanswered? What could be done in future research to fill these
gaps? Last, but not least, what didn’t you understand? What could be made more clear to everyone?
Research Articles:
Complete citation: in bold, at the top of the page (following JM format).
Summarized by: Your name here.
Purpose of the Article: this section should describe why the article was written, how this reading fits in
a broader stream of research, and what the authors’ purpose was in writing the piece. Identify and
label the Research Questions (RQ).
Research Questions: If there is a RQ, identify and list the research questions.
Theoretical foundation: This section should summarize the theoretical arguments made by the
authors. This would include the theoretical concepts, paradigms and assumptions used by the
researchers. Identify and summarize any hypotheses or research propositions proposed in the article.
Identify and label these.
Hypotheses/Propositions: Summarize the hypotheses or propositions.
Methodology: this section should summarize the research design and methodology (if appropriate).
Results and conclusions: this section should summarize the results and major discussion points.
Critique: A brief critique about the article. What do you agree with and what do you disagree with?
What theoretical questions are left unanswered? What could be done in future research to fill these
gaps?
Please note: I will collect your summaries periodically to check for quality and to see how well you are
understanding the text and readings. Incomplete or poorly prepared summaries will result in a
reduction in your participation score.
RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN SEMINAR BUS 661 TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE
Date
Topic
Readings and Assignments
1-21
Introduction to Course
Survey and Experimental Design.
Introduce the topic and discuss what students have had
in previous courses.
1-28
Theory Development:
 The importance of appropriate
conceptual definitions
 Knowing the literature
 Picking the right design
1. Please review materials from Research Design I.
2. Hunt, Shelby D. (1991) Chp 6 "The Morphology of
Theory." in “Modern Marketing Theory” 147-172.
3. Hunt, Shelby D. (1983), “General Theories and the
Fundamental Explananda of Marketing,” Journal of
Marketing. 47 (Fall) 9-17.
4. Tsang, Eric W. K. and Kai-Man Kwan (1999)
“Replication and Theory Development in
Organizational Science: A Critical Realist
Perspective.” Academy of Management Review,”
24(4) 759-780.
5. Calas, Marta B. and Linda Smircich (1999) “Past
Postmodernism? Reflections and Tentative
Directions” Academy of Management Review,” 24(4)
649-671.
6. Jugdev, Kam (2004) “Through the Looking Glass:
Examining Theory Development in Project
Management with the Resource Based View Lens.”
Project Management Journal, 35(3) 15-26.
2-4
Measurement:
 Operational Definitions
 Creating New Measures
 Adapting Existing Measures
1. Churchill Gilbert A. (1979) “A Paradigm for
Developing Better Measures of Marketing
Constructs.” Journal of Marketing Research. 16
(February) 64-73.
2. Vorhies, Douglas. W and Neil A. Morgan (2005)
Benchmarking Marketing Capabilities for
Sustainable Competitive advantage. Journal of
Marketing, 69 (January), 80-94.
3. Kohli, Ajay K., Bernard J. Jaworski and Ajith Kumar
(1993) “MARKOR: A Measure of Market
Orientation,” Journal of Marketing Research. 30
(November) 467-477.
4. Homburg, Christian and Christian Pflesser (2000), “A
Multiple-Layer Model of Market-Oriented
Organizational Culture: Measurement Issues and
Performanc Outcomes,” Journal of Marketing
Research. 37 (November) 449-462.
2-11
Measurement:
 Scale Development Theory
 Measurement error
 Social Desirability Bias
 Demand Artifacts
1. Nunnally & Bernstein Chp 1,2, 6 and 8
2. Diamantopolous Adamantous and Heidi M.
Winklhofer (2001), “Index Construction with
Formative Indicators: An alternative to Scale
Development. Journal of Marketing Research. 38
(May) 269-277.
3. Jarvis et al. (2003) “A Critical Review of Construct
Indicators and Measurement Model
Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer
Research,” Journal of Consumer Research, 30
(September).
4. Sawyer, A. G. (1975) “Demand Artifacts in
Laboratory Experiments in Consumer Research,”
Journal of Consumer Research,” 23 (Nov) 317-326.
5. Ganster, Daniel, Hennessey, H. W. and Luthans
(1983) “Social Desireability Response Effects:
Three Alternative Models” Academy of
Management Journal,” 26 (2) 321-331.
2-18
Measurement:
 Developing Valid measures
 Internal and External validity
 Other types of validity
1. Nunnally & Bernstein Chp 3
2. Peter, J. Paul (1981) “Construct Validity: A Review of
Basic Issues and Marketing Practices,“ Journal of
Marketing Research,18 (May) 133-145.
3. Lynch, John G. (1982) “On the External Validity of
Experiments in Consumer Research” Journal of
Consumer Research, 9 (December) 225-239.
4. Calder, Brian J., Lynn W. Phillips and Alice M.
Tybout. (1983) “Beyond External Validity,” Journal of
Consumer Research, 10 (June) 112-115.
5. Lynch, John G. (1983) “The Role of External Validity
in Theoretical Research” Journal of Consumer
Research, 10 (June) 109-112.
6. Calder, Brian J., Lynn W. Phillips and Alice M.
Tybout. (1983) “The Concept of External Validity,”
Journal of Consumer Research, 9 (December) 240244.
7. Cook and Campbell Chp 2.
2-25
Measurement:
 Reliability
1. Churchill, Gilbert and Peter, J. Paul. (1984),
“Research Design Effects on the Reliability of Rating
Scales: A Meta Analysis,” Journal of Marketing
Research, 21 (November) 360-365.
2. Peter, J. Paul (1979) “Reliability: A Review of
Psychometric Issues and Marketing Practices,“
Journal of Marketing Research,16 (February) 6-17.
3. Gerbing David W. and James C. Anderson (1988),
"An Updated Paradigm for Scale Development
Incoporation Unidimensionality and Its Assessment,"
Journal of Marketing Research, 25, (February), 98105.
4. Peter, J. Paul, and Gilbert Churchill. (1986),
“Relationships Among Research Design Choice and
Psychometric Properties of Rating Scales: A Meta
Analysis,” Journal of Marketing Research, 23
(February) 1-10.
5. Peter, J. Paul, Gilbert A. Churchill and Tom J. Brown
(1993) “Caution in the use of Difference Scores in
Consumer Research.” Journal of Consumer
Research, 19 (March) 655-662.
6. Fornell, Claes and David F. Larker (1981),
“Evaluating Structural Equation Models with
Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error,”
Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (February) 39-50.
3-4
Survey Research – Surveys and
Sampling:
 Why survey?
 Project Planning
 Developing valid samples
 Sampling Plans
 Sampling Bias
1. Armstrong, Scott and Terry Overton (1977)
“Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys,”
Journal of Marketing Research, 14, (August), 396402.
2. Assael, Henry and John Keon (1982) “Nonsampling
vs. Sampling Errors in Survey Research,” Journal of
Marketing, 46 (Spring), 114-123.
3. Sudman, Seymour and Edward Blair (1999)
“Sampling in the Twenty-First Century,” Journal of
the Academy of Marketing Science, 27(2), 269-277.
4. Alreck and Settle Chps 1-3
3-11
Survey Research:
 Designing Surveys
 Negatively worded items
3-18
SPRING BREAK
3-25
Survey Research:
 Attitudinal Research
1. Alreck and Settle Chp 4-8.
2. Articles - TBA.
1. Voss, Kevin E. , Eric R. Spangenberg, and Bianca
Grohmann, 2003) “Measuring the Hedonic and
Utilitarian Dimensions of Consumer Attitude,”
Journal of Marketing Research 40, (August), 310–
320
2. Martin, Ingrid M. and David W. Steward (2001)
“The Differential Impact of Goal Conguiency on
Attitudes, Intentions and the Transfer of Brand
Equity,” Journal of Marketing Research, 38
(November) 471-484.
3. Aaker, Jennifer (1997), “Dimensions of Brand
Personality,” Journal of Marketing Research, 34
(August) 347-356.
4. Slotegraaf, Rebecca J. and Jeffrey Inman (2004),
“Longitudinal Shifts in the Drivers of Satisfaction
with Product Quality: The Role of Attribute
Resolvability,” Journal of Marketing Research, 41
(August) 269-280.
4-1
Experimental Design:
 Theory of Control in Experiments
 Rigor versus Relevance.
 Internal versus external validity
1. Cook and Campbell Chp 8
2. Kerlinger Chp 23.
 Randomization
3. TBA
4.
4-8
Experimental Design:
 Analysis of Effects
 Continuous and categorical variables
 Factorial designs.
1. TBA:
4-15
Experimental Design:
 Applications of experimental design
in business research
 The Practice of Experimental
Research
1. TBA:
4-22
Research Presentations
Papers are due when presented unless special
permission is given. Be aware that questions asked
during your presentation may require you to re-write your
paper.
4-29
Research Presentations
Papers are due when presented unless special
permission is given. Be aware that questions asked
during your presentation may require you to re-write your
paper.
5-6
FINALS WEEK
Final Exam – Comprehensive style exam.