Institute of International Management
RA 60500 Business Research Methods
Fall 2008
Instructor: Prof. Wann-Yih Wu, PhD
Teaching Objectives:
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Identify the different kinds of scientific research methods, including their principles and procedures;
2. Understand measurement scales, including its reliability and validity;
3. Design a questionnaire, a sample and data collection methods to be used in a survey;
4. Understand various data analysis techniques by using SPSS and AMOS program;
5. Develop research framework, research hypotheses;
6. Select appropriate survey and data analysis methods;
7. Conduct research proposals and write research reports.
Method of Instruction: Lecture, demonstrate the process of data creation and analysis by using SPSS, AMOS
and discussion/presentation.
Course Technology:
SPSS 15.0 and AMOS 7.0 are required for this course.
Course Content:
Kindly refer class schedule.
Student Requirements: There is no such requirement. However, background of Business Statistics course
would be helpful to grab topics to be covered in class
Assignments, Midterm Report, Final Report and Final Exam:
Students must submit all assignments, Reports (Midterm as well as Final) with data analysis. Instructions for
assignments and reports are as under:
1. Assignments: Students will be asked to submit assignment in a group after completion of major topic.
Assignments should be submitted in the next class (two weeks later). Assignments should contain tables and
writings in APA (5th) format style. All the assignments should be analyzed thoroughly, meaning the
appropriate interpretation of each tables should be typed.
2. Midterm Report: Each student must submit a research proposal following APA (5th) format style. Midterm
Report should include introduction and research methodology and empirical results. Report work is
individual and not group based.
3. Final Research Report: In continuation with Mid Term Report, each student must submit the final research
report following APA format. It should contain Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Analysis of
Result and Conclusion. The contents should be as:
a. Conduct literature review and propose a research framework;
b. Design the survey questionnaire;
c. Conduct the survey;
d. Evaluate the reliability and validity of the research instrument;
e. Conduct data analysis using multivariate statistical methods;
f. Summary of the results.
4. Final Exam: Final Exam will be conducted in written form to confirm that the students are able to do
research design and data analysis.
Grading Policy:
1. Assignments
2. Midterm Report
3. Final Report
4. Final Exam
20%
25%
30%
25%
Group Activity
Individual
Individual
Individual
Schedule of Business Research Methods
Assigned Textbooks:
1. Hair, F.J., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L. and Black, W.C. (2006). Multivariate Data Analysis.
Prentice Hall. Fifth Edition;
2. Cooper, D.R. and Schindler, P.S. (2006). Business Research Methods. McGraw Hill. Ninth Edition.
Class
Date
Topic
Note
I
09/23
 Research in Business
Chapter 1,2,3,4 (CS)
 Thinking Like a Researcher
 The Research Process: An Overview
 The Research Requests and Proposals
II
10/7
 Reliability Issues and Factor Analysis
Chapter 3 (HATB)
 Research Design: An Overview
Chapter 6, 12, 18 (CS)
 Measurement
 Hypothesis testing
 Descriptive Analysis
III
10/21
 Multiple Regression Analysis
Chapter 4 (HATB)
 Canonical Correlation Analysis
Professor’s Explanation
 Measurement Scales
Chapter 13, 7 (CS)
 Secondary Data Searches
 Multivariate Analysis of Variance
Chapter 6, 8 (HATB)
 Cluster Analysis
IV
11/4
 Structural Equation Modeling
Chapter 10,11,12

(HATB)
 Multiple Discriminant Analysis, Multidimensional
Chapter 5, 9 (HATB)
Scaling and Logistic Regression
and Professor’s
Explanation
V
11/18
 Midterm Report Submission
VI
12/2
 Data Envelopment Analysis and Analytic Hierarchy
Professor’s Explanation
Process
VII
12/16
 Conjoint Analysis
 Presentation of Research Results
VIII
12/30
Presentation of Research Results
Chapter 7 (HATB)
IX
01/13
Final Exam
Attachment
Topics of Business Research Methods
Week
Date
Topic
Note
I
09/25
 Research in Business
Chapter 1,2,3,4 (CS)
 Applying Scientific Thinking to Management
Problems
 The Research Process
 The Research Proposal
II
10/9
 Sampling Design
Chapter 7,8,17 (CS)
 Measurement
Chapter 3 (HATB)
 Hypothesis testing
 Descriptive Analysis
 Factor Analysis
III
10/23
 Measurement Scales
Chapter 9,10 (CS)
 Exploring Secondary Data
Chapter 4,8 (HATB)
 Multiple Regression Analysis
 Canonical Correlation Analysis
IV
11/6
 Multivariate Analysis of Variance
Chapter 6, 11 (HATB)
 Structural Equation Modeling
V
VI
11/20
12/4
 APMC XI
 Cluster Analysis
Chapter 9 (HATB)
 Multiple Discriminate Analysis and
Chapter 10 (HATB)
Multidimensional Scaling
 Data Envelopment Analysis
VII
12/18
 Conjoint Analysis
 Analytic Hierarchy Process
VIII
01/8
 Final Presentation
 Final Exam
IX
01/22
Final Presentation
Chapter 7 (HATB)