A guide to the correct research methodology for your MBA dissertation

The type of research methodology used in any MBA program, be it quantitative, qualitative, or others, can vary depending on the type of research.

Several objectives of an MBA dissertation including addition to knowledge, analysis of the existing research knowledge, proper structuring in an effort to addressing the research question, and development of critical thinking skills, can be easily achieved by choosing and implementing the right research methodology.

Research methodology can determine several critical research factors, including:

• The size of the sample population
• The correct approach to the sample size
• The overall time frame and cost of research
• Project design constraints, if any

Irrespective of the type of methodology used, your dissertation must be able to inform the reader of:

• How you gathered your data, meaning the tools that you used for your primary data collection.

• Why you used a particular data collection tool for this research?

• Why you chose this particular methodology, meaning why the used methodology type was more suited for your research objective.

• What was the criteria for selecting the sample size that you used?

• How are you going to analyse the data, meaning which software would be more useful for your research type?

• What were the limitations of your study, and how there were overcome?

You must be able to fill the contents of your research methodology, on the basis of the above points. Choice of a methodology type that is not suited for your research topic can put all your research efforts to waste and remove all value from the contents of your MBA dissertation.

As an example, the use of “interviews” as a data collection methods can be appropriate (or not) depending on the structure (or no definite structure) of the interview questions, the experience of the interviewers, and the use of prompts. Particularly, a research survey has the advantage of using a diverse group of people, but can also suffer from limitations like personal bias, high cost factors, and lack of response.

In conclusion, it is important for MBA students to design their research methodology particular to the research problem in hand. This is quite similar to an architect designing his building based on various factors including the size of the building, the approved budget, the total number of rooms, windows, and doors and their location, and the correct use of building material.