As management education is spreading across globe,
management research has also become important for creating literature and
developing models for their application.
India has responded quite positively so far as institutional
infrastructure for the provision of management education is concerned. We witness existence of many institutions of
importance both in public as well as private sector focusing on management
education. However research in this area
has not been focused as required. Still
we depend on much of the literature created outside India and that too many
years before. In this light what is
important is that we start focusing on creating quality literature based on
research which is more relevant, apt and contemporary in nature. In order to prepare students to get to learn
the basics of research and to know the process of conducting research, SL Gupta
and Hitesh Gupta introduce this book entitled Research Methodology: Text and
Cases with SPSS Applications.
The book tries to facilitate management research through
providing the base of research methodology and its application through SPSS
software. The book is divided in 14
chapters discussing the fundamentals of research, available scientific methods,
designing research framework, preparations of questionnaires, methods and
techniques of collecting data, relevant statistical tools as to sampling,
measurement scales, statistical analysis and interpretation of data through
relevant statistical tools and tests.
The book also guides the researcher on writing the project proposal and
project report. As widely accepted
statistical package, IBM developed SPSS (Statistical Package for Social
Sciences) is used by many researchers to handle robust data and to provide the
output quickly, has been used throughout the book wherever necessary for
analysis purpose. The students would
certainly benefit from this approach.
The design of the book is simple and systematic. Every chapter of the book starts with a set
of learning objectives and the contents of the chapter systematically arranged
to help achieving these objectives. The
contents of each chapter are well designed and portrayed through diagrams, tables
and exhibits. The bullet format of the
book makes it easier for the students to focus on the contents. The illustrations and examples used in the
text are very relevant, simple and explanatory.
There are review questions, practical problems (wherever required),
suggested problems (try following problems) and cases with questions towards
the end of the chapters which help a student/researcher to relate and get
practical exposure of the concerned problem.
The cases are very lucid, short yet comprehensive, helping the student
to relate and solve similar questions.
The format of the book is excellent. The presentation of the last chapter on use
of SPSS 17.0 is excellent as it is brief, yet guides the beginner (researcher)
through the process of using SPSS for statistical analysis in order to get
output. The chapter displays the
computer screen view of different processes which is genuinely user friendly. As a
text, the book is good for students, however for a teacher it could have been better
packaged through relevant references, citations and bibliography towards the end
of the chapters/book. It would have really added lot of value to the book. Though
the title of the book is Research Methodology, it primarily focuses on research
in management domain. There is a scope
of improving the theoretical base of research methods and relevance of
appropriate statistical tools in the relevant chapters. Overall the book is good as a text, especially
when it is the first edition. No student
would regret buying this volume.
(published in IJM, Vol 4, No 1, 2012)
(published in IJM, Vol 4, No 1, 2012)
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