Course Outline

  1. Introduction
    Meaning and Importance of Research, Nature of Research: Positivism and Normatism,Types of Research: Theoretical Research, Empirical Research and Pragmatic Research, Characteristics of Scientific Research, Purpose of The Research and Steps of Social Research, Problems in Social Research, Objectives of Research.
  2. Formulation of Research Problem
    Topic selection: Problem Identification, Statement of the problem, Factors affecting the research topic, Guidelines to select the research topic.
  3. Methodology
    Type of Study: Descriptive and Exploratory Study, Literature Review, Theoretical Framework, Selection of Appropriate Research Methods to Test the Hypotheses, Sample Selection: Sampling Techniques, Choice of Specific Technique(s) for Current Research.
  4. Data Collection
    Types of Data: Primary and Secondary Data, Use of Relevant Data for The Research, Observation, Interview and Questionnaire, Characteristics of Developing Good Questionnaire.
  5. Presentation and Analysis of Data
    Tabulation of data, Data Analysis Applying Suitable Statistical and Econometric Techniques, Parametric and Non- Parametric Analysis, Testing the Relationship between the Economic Variables, Quantifying the Relationship between the Variables.
  6. Research Proposal
    Importance of Research Proposal, Characteristics of Research Proposal, Steps of Research Proposal: Introduction, Identification/ Statement of The Problem, Literature
    Review: Studying Background Material for Problem Exploration, Methodology, Justification and Objectives of the Study.
  7. Research Report /Thesis Presentation
    Introduction and Review of Literature [Optional for Research Report], Methodology and Result Discussions, Conclusions and Policy Recommendations/ Suggestions, References.

Reference Books

  1. Babbie, Earl R. The Practice of Social Research. Cengage Learning.
  2. Best, John W. and James V. Kahn. Research in Education. Pearson.
  3. Ethridge, Don E. Research Methodology in Applied Economics. Wiley-Blackwell
  4. Leedy, Paul D. and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. Practical Research Planning and Design. Pearson.
  5. McCloskey, Deirdre. Economical Writing. Waveland Press.
  6. Neuman, W. Lawrence. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Pearson.
  7. Ormerod, Paul. Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction and Economics. Pantheon.
  8. Sekaran, Uma and Roger Bougie. Research Methods for Business. Wiley.
  9. Varian, Hal. How to Build an Economic Model in Your Spare Time. The University of Michigan Press, 1998.
  10. Zikmund, William G. Business Research Methods. Cengage Learning.