This workshop was funded as part of one of HEA Social Science’s strategic priorities 2013 – 14 ‘Teaching research methods’.
This blog post was compiled by Paul Latreille (p.latreille@sheffield.ac.uk) and Bill Lee (w.j.lee@sheffield.ac.uk), University of Sheffield.
Context
The teaching of research methods to social scientists, including students of Business and Management, has been the subject of considerable recent attention, with the ESRC, HEFCE, British Academy and Nuffield Foundation working together strategically to address a recognised skills deficit in relation to quantitative methods. While doctoral colloquia at annual conferences and the ESRC’s Doctoral Training Centres help with the training of doctoral students, there are generally fewer opportunities for the up-skilling of existing staff. Although the long-standing British Academy of Management (BAM) Research Methodology special interest group (SIG) has held an annual workshop on “Teaching Research Methods to Business and Management Students” for the last eight years, the philosophy of this workshop has been to share understanding and experiences of modes of delivery of knowledge about epistemological frameworks, different types of methods and ethical regulation, etc. This event drew on the host institution’s links with the broader research methods community to build on the BAM Research Methodology SIG events and to locate discussions of shared experiences within presentations of best practice, practical illustrations of pedagogic technologies and broader debates such as the lecturers’ epistemological predilections on the teaching of research methods and the practicalities of deriving meaning from qualitative data, particularly when English is a second language.
Workshop
The event was hosted at Sheffield University Management School (SUMS), and following an introduction to the work of the HEA by Richard Atfield, was initiated with a scoping workshop for the day facilitated by Professor Paul Latreille as one of the co-convenors. This short workshop sought to elicit from delegates their view of the key issues and challenges in teaching research methods in the discipline, and what they hoped to gain from the event, with presenters invited to pick up on these where appropriate. Issues identified in relation to the former included the learning and teaching of research methods often being viewed as largely functional, to students with diverse backgrounds and experience, and with challenges in terms of staff and student enthusiasm. Delegates also identified a gap between abstraction (theory) and application (practice), the integration of material and ideas and a lack of depth, and difficulties of timing so as to allow for theory to be viewed in the context of application, for progression and for opportunities to (learn from) practice. Research philosophy, and in particular whether this was taught or indeed understood was also noted. Two key areas delegates wanted to get from the day were how to get students to engage with written research methods materials and how to facilitate the development of research questions.
The presentations were organised around more conceptual/theoretical issues in the morning, followed by case studies of specific teaching practices/approaches in the afternoon, and included consideration of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods.
Professor Cathy Cassell from Manchester Business School explored the acquisition of qualitative skills.
Looking at some metaphors for learning qualitative research, she described how this is viewed by practitioners as messy, time-consuming and ultimately about sense-making. Drawing on empirical findings derived from reflective accounts written by MBA students, Cathy highlighted key findings that cohered around practising interview and analysis skills and also the gains from reflection. Implications for teaching and learning included the need to ensure students have opportunities for practice, preparing them for the ambiguous and relational nature of qualitative research, challenging prior epistemological assumptions and promoting reflexivity.
Professor Alan Bryman from the University of Leicester considered the issue of quality issues, and in particular quality appraisal and its significance in the teaching context, highlighting the potential for familiarity with same to effect improvements both to skills and outcomes drawing on Cresswell’s (2003) typology of mixed methods skills.
Alan then examined the use of quality criteria in appraisal and teaching in qualitative research, arguing that quality criteria in mixed methods risks a similar potential for very highly dimensioned, comprehensive lists. Stressing the potential role of such criteria pedagogically, he concluded by arguing that a smaller set of ‘must haves’ may be more helpful in a teaching context.
The third presentation, by Professor Mark Saunders from Surrey Business School, explored how tutor conceptions of methodology might affect learning and teaching.
A particular focus was that what may appear to be misconceptions of methodology, correctable by the tutor, could in fact derive from differences in epistemological perspective between tutor and student. Presenting findings from a survey of individuals with an interest in research methods, Mark examined how tutor variability might exist in relation to views concerning the nature and practice of research among those from different research traditions. It is in fact in the area of practice where such variation is systematic, most notably between qualitative and quantitative researchers, a phenomenon then explored in terms of its teaching implications.
As noted above, the afternoon presentations focused instead on case studies of practice, beginning with Neil Mclean’s description of an innovative, large-scale multi-disciplinary module – LSE100 – for first year students at the London School of Economics.
The module is designed to embed and showcase a range of research methods in the context of contemporary debates about ‘big’ questions lectured by leading academics from complementary disciplines, thereby developing a range of academic and research skills enhanced through activities in weekly classes.
An alternative context was considered by Dr John Kawalek from Sheffield University Management School, who outlined the rationale and process of a move from teaching research methods to MBA students, to teaching ‘management inquiry’, essentially shifting the emphasis from a research topic to a client problem. The redesign process was structured around systems thinking, and in particular Ulrich’s Critical Systems Heuristics to arrive at a more holistic view of research that was argued to result in improvements to student engagement and outcomes.
Whereas the two preceding presentations considered research methods teaching in the context of undergraduate and postgraduate students respectively, the final presentation, by Dr Jeremy Dawson, also from the University of Sheffield, considered the teaching of quantitative research methods to staff.
Two major affordances were highlighted: extending staff supervisory capability and to support them in their own research. Jeremy examined how such training and its coverage had evolved in SUMS over the last two years and showcased some examples of the sorts of material covered on specific sessions.
The meeting was closed by Professor Bill Lee, the other co-convenor, who drew together some of the key debates arising from the day. He paid particular attention to three issues. Firstly, although the initial discussion identified that there were challenges in the teaching of research methods, such as dealing with large numbers of students from overseas, the implications from some of the presentations is that there are also opportunities in such situations, as overseas students help with seeing the world through different lenses, which is important to understanding epistemology. Secondly, it is important to recognise tensions between some of the issues discussed, such as any desire for holistic change and consideration of quality along a set of discrete criteria. Thirdly, institutional support is important to realise many necessary changes in the teaching of research methods.
Related resources
Articles on the teaching of different aspects of quantitative methods in the business and management field may often be found in the journal Organizational Research Methods – see http://orm.sagepub.com/. Articles on the teaching of different aspects of qualitative methods in the business and management field may often be found in the journal Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management – see http://www.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/journals.htm?id=qrom.
Details of the next annual workshop on Teaching Research Methods to Business and Management Students that is organized by the British Academy of Management Research Methodology special interest group may be found at https://www.bam.ac.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=2381#.UuKJxbRFC70.
Discussion
What challenges in the teaching of research methods are specific to business and management, rather than being shared with other social sciences?
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