Course syllabus
Course-PM
TEK780 Research methodology lp2 HT26 (7.5 hp)
Course is offered by the department of Technology Management And Economics
Contact details
Examiner and lecturer (qualitative methods)
Catharina Landström (CL), Associate Professor, Division of Science, Technology and Society (STS), TME
catharina.landstrom@chalmers.se
+ 46 (0)709 49 23 69
Lecturer (qualitative methods)
My Hyltegren (MH), Part-time fixed-term teacher, Division of Science, Technology and Society (STS), TME
Lecturer (quantitative methods)
Dan Andersson (DA), Associate Professor, Division of Supply and Operations Management (SOM), TME
+46 31 772 13 39
Lecturer (quantitative methods)
Hendry Raharjo (HR), Teaching Fellow, Division of Innovation and R&D Management (IRDM), TME
Course purpose
The course aims to provide students with knowledge of, and training in, methods and skills used in scientific research and investigations to support decision making. Students will learn to:
1) design a research/investigation project (including to formulate research questions and select appropriate empirical methods);
2) deploy methods in empirical research/investigations (including analysis of qualitative and quantitative data);
3) present qualitative and quantitative data and analyses (report data and findings);
4) assess the quality of empirical research/investigations (analyse published articles and reports).
The course also aims to make students able to reflect upon and motivate methodological choices and understand ethical ramifications of choices and actions when doing research/investigations.
Schedule
A detailed schedule can be found in the 'Course Information' module on the right in addition to:
Course literature
Coursebook:
Business Research Methods. Sixth Edition. Emma Bell, Alan Bryman, Bill Harley (2022) Oxford University Press.
The course book can be purchased from STORE, other bookshops or on-line book sellers.
STORE also offers it as an e-book: https://www.chalmersstore.se/e-bocker/business-research-methods-2.html
Additional readings may be supplied ahead of specific course sessions.
Course design
Teaching includes lectures, guest lectures, seminars, and exercises, individually and in groups.
• Introduction of methodological debates.
• Problem analysis
• Overview of the array of available data collection methods.
• Clarification of methodological challenges.
• Introduction of ethical guidelines for research.
• Qualitative data collection and analysis
• Quantitative data collection and analysis.
• Discussion of the importance of critical thinking.
• Application of methodological principles in analysis of scientific publications.
Learning objectives and syllabus
Learning objectives:
a. Describe and discuss the connections between research design, research methods, and data analysis required to answer research questions.
b. Prepare for conducting a practice-driven or theoretically oriented empirical investigation based on a consistent relation between research design, data collection and analysis.
c. Formulate practically and academically relevant research questions.
d. Critically reflect on choosing data collection methods and understand the consequences of selecting one data collection method rather than another.
e. Identify ethical challenges associated with research and discuss how they can be addressed.
f. Recognise how relations of power in societies and organisations (such as gender or minority status) could influence sampling and data collection in both qualitative and quantitative research.
g. Choose and apply methods for qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
h. Recognise common mistakes in applications of research methods in the research process and apply research quality criteria.
i. Reconstruct the methodology of published articles and reports and analyse the relationship between method selection and research results.
Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen: https://www.chalmers.se/en/education/your-studies/find-course-and-programme-syllabi/course-syllabus/TEK780/?acYear=2026/2027
Examination form
The examination comprises compulsory seminars and workshops and oral presentations, and written examination as specified in the course syllabus. All compulsory elements of the course must be completed to pass the course overall.
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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