939726

Course
Research Methodology in Organization and Management Analyses (runs annually)

Faculty
Professor Jesper Strandgaard, Professor MSO Anne Reff Pedersen, and Associate Professor Per Darmer, all from CBS

Course Coordinator
Associate Professor Per Darmer

Prerequisites
It is a prerequisite that the participants’ work on their research projects has reached a phase – including the empirical work – where they can bring forth ideas about, reflections upon, experiences and problems from their analyses.

The participants are required to submit a written presentation – 7-10 pages – which is read by the other course participants and form the basis for discussions and reflections of each other’s projects. Deadline for submission of the presentation is 7 February 2018.

It is a precondition for receiving the course diploma that the PhD student attends the entire course.

Aim
The course focuses on the whole PhD process from research question(s) over the role of theory, the generation and analysis of data, and the composition of the thesis. The course does so to discuss and make participants holistic about their choices and their PhD projects. The holism is shown in presentations from researcher about their research projects and is part of the discussions of the participants own projects.

Presentations of research projects from experienced researcher are presented in the mornings (Tuesday – Friday and on Monday afternoon), and the idea is that these presentations are inspirational for participants both for their projects and the discussions of them in the afternoons (Tuesday – Thursday). The presentations comes in pairs where the two presentations are to some extent in opposition to one another to show that the role of theory (research questions, the empirical field, the generation and analysis of data and the composition of the project) comes in many different forms and shapes, but all of them has to be holistic or consistent, as it is a common feature for all scientific work.

The objective of the course is to make participants aware of the many choices they are bound to make and how to provide consistency between those choices and to make a holistic project (linking research question(s), the theoretical framework, data generation and analysis, and the composition of the thesis)

The course deliberately differs from more specialized courses on method (which typically address only one methodological aspect or approach such as ‘the qualitative interview’ or ‘case studies’) and more general courses on qualitative and quantitative methods by focusing upon and dealing with the overall methodology and holism of the project: The relation between research questions, the empirical field, the theoretical framework, data generation and analysis, and the composition of the thesis.

The ambition of the course is to create awareness of and discuss the connections between the different elements and how to establish a methodological coherence of each PhD project, which makes the participants more aware of both the single elements and the coherence of their own PhD project.

To highlight the discussion of both the elements and the coherence an in-depth discussion of each single PhD project in smaller groups in the afternoons (Tuesday – Thursday) is an immanent and very important part of the course. The discussions follow a concept that provides room for constructive discussions of each PhD project and help participants develop their projects and the coherence of them.

Course content

The course is built up around four basic methodological elements:

1) How to work with the research question?
2) How to develop and use a theoretical framework?
3) How to generate and analyse data?
4) How to write the dissertation?

The course mornings are lectures focusing upon specific methodological themes followed by discussion and plenary debate. The afternoons are reserved for presentations and discussions of the participants’ projects and discussions of these in groups of 4-6 persons.

The course is based on the following assumptions and premises:
- The combination between presentations from experienced researcher and the discussions of the PhD projects provide fertile ground for getting new inspiration and specific comments to work with and improve the projects.
- Research as a creative process involving both learning processes and personal development and they are both highlighted in the combination of the course
- The focus of the course on coherence (consistency) seeks to constantly interweave theory and empirical material related to organization and management processes.
- The course sees methodology as the linkages between theoretical perspectives, methods and techniques, empirical field, researcher and work process, and it makes methodology a practice which finds its legitimacy in relation to the completion of the research project and the research publications’ ability to convince relevant research and practitioner communities.

Teaching style
The course is not an introductory course to methodology with the intention of giving ‘solutions’ to the participants’ projects in terms of one specific ‘how-to-do design’ (as ‘solutions’ differ between projects). The course, instead, invites to a joint discussion, exploration, and reflection to develop the participants’ methodological competences especially in relation to their own projects, but also as a qualified participant in research-related connections as opponent, reviewer, etc. The reflection is based on two elements (that mutually benefit each other throughout the course):

1) Discussion of methodological questions related to the course participants’ own projects

2) Presentation and discussion of methodological reflections and experiences related to completed research projects.

Lecture plan

5 March

Introduction to the course · Presentation of the programme and the participants. 

Research questions and focus

  • ’Tricks of the Trade’
  • What is an interesting project?
  • How do you create a research question?
  • The development of the research question
  • The project’s aim and research interest
  • The research question’s status and consequences
Contribution and profiling
6 March

The theory’s role and status in the project 

  • How is theory included in the project?
  • What is ‘theory’ in the project?
  • Different strategies for confronting theory with the empirical analyses (theory-driven or phenomenon-driven, theory testing, problem identifying, one-or-more-theories approach?) 
Group discussion of projects
7 March

Data generation and the analysis process I

(Ethnographic methods)

  • Choice of data generation methods
  • Analysis of data
  • Relevance in relation to the project’s problem definition and theory
Group discussion of projects
8 March

Data generation and the analysis process II

(Archive and case studies)

  • Choice of data generation methods
  • Analysis of data
  • Relevance in relation to the project’s problem definition and theory
Group discussion of projects
9 March

Composition of the dissertation

  • Strategies for writing
  • Articles or monography?
  • Styles of writing and narration
Rounding off, evaluation, (light) lunch and goodbye  

Learning objectives
The course provides students with
- Greater insights into a number of approaches to organizational analyses,
- Offers a larger repertoire to choose from, and
- A better foundation for making qualified and consistent choices about each and every element in the PhD project and the coherence between the elements of the PhD project

The course improves the students' ability to critically and constructively evaluate the coherence and adequacy of different choices and parts of the research process. This strengthens the research methodology of their own projects and develops their competences to discuss and help other’s research projects (the latter increases their competences in the research community and ability to do other research-related tasks, such as: Reviewer and opponent / discussant)

Exam
N/A

Other

Start date
05/03/2018

End date
09/03/2018

Level
PhD

ECTS
5

Language
English

Course Literature
A course compendium with selected texts on the four headlines of the morning lectures. Suggested readings:Background literature:  Denzin & Lincoln (eds.) (1994) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage · Becker, H. (1998): Tricks of the Trade. How to Think About Your Research While You’re Doing it. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Fee
DKK 6,500 (covers the course, coffee/tea and lunch)

Minimum number of participants
16

Maximum number of participants
18

Location
Copenhagen Business School
Kilevej 14 A
2000 Frederiksberg
Room: K4.74 (4th floor)

Contact information
The PhD Support
Katja Høeg Tingleff
Tel.: +45 38 15 28 39
E-mail: kht.research@cbs.dk

Registration deadline
11/01/2018

Please note that your registration is binding after the registration deadline.

In case we receive more registrations for the course than we have places, the registrations will be prioritized in the following order: Students from Doctoral School of Organisation and Management Studies (OMS), students from other CBS PhD schools, students from other institutions than CBS.
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