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Research Methods for Business Students, 9th edition

Published by Pearson (March 21, 2023) © 2023

  • Mark N. K. Saunders Professor of Business Research Methods, University of Birmingham
  • Philip Lewis Formerly of University of Gloucestershire
  • Adrian Thornhill Formerly of University of Gloucestershire

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  • Multimedia and practice embedded throughout quality author content help students explore and apply concepts
  • Interactive assignments foster and assess critical-thinking skills
  • Valuable performance insights help tailor instruction

Support your students' research project with the definitive textbook.

Research Methods for Business Students offers robust and pragmatic guidance to Business, Marketing, and Management students conducting a research-led project or dissertation.

Written by experts, it includes a range of features such as boxed examples demonstrating students' experiences, news articles and contemporary case studies. The self-study prompts help your students apply learnt material to their own research projects.

For more information and useful tips by Mark Saunders on how you can help your students use this new edition, check our YouTube channel.

Also available in Revel®, with a Companion Website.

Pearson's webinar series "Changing Perspectives": a conversation about the book's commitment to DE&I.

Read our blog post Diversity, equity and Inclusion in Research Methods for Business Students and watch the full webinar video, where Mark Saunders talks about how he incorporates those fundamental themes into this latest edition.

Hallmark Features of this title

Clear explanation of theory and concepts that enables students to see their practical application.

  • Clear and concise text with a glossary of clear definitions for over 750 research-related terms explains concepts and their use in practice.
  • Checklists provide further guidance.
  • Case studies written by academics include a range of organisations, from public finance to manufacturing to services, across the world from Tehran to Tanzania.

Encourages students to self-reflect apply their learning to their research project.

  • Boxed examples of news articles, student research experiences, and published management research encourage students to apply learning to their project.
  • Progressing your research offers your students practical guidance, planning, and opportunities to check their own learning and progress with their research accordingly.
  • Online datasets offer students opportunities to manipulate and analyse data.

Ranked as the most highly cited text in Business, Marketing, Accounting & Economics!

According to the Financial Times' Teaching Power Rankings (research by Open Syllabus)

With over 500,000 copies sold, this is the definitive textbook for the students conducting a research-led project or dissertation, and an essential resource to guide them through the entire process - now in a new, fully revised edition.

Find out how your students can get the most out of their study of the book here, and hear the author's top study tips.

New and updated features of this title

Listen to the author discuss the new features of this edition here.

Updated and revised content according to recent developments in the field reinforces student learning and practical application.

  • Chapters fully updated, incorporating visual methods throughout the text, along with detailed insights on the drafting of a critical literature review.
  • Updated content, incorporating sustainability throughout, Internet-mediated access, and associated ethical issues using purchased data lists.
  • New section evaluates interview practices, use of visual methods and offers more insights into transcription and qualitative data analysis
  • New cases use up-to-date scenarios at the end of each chapter.
  • Worldwide coverage of processes and issues raised through new end of chapter case studies from Australia, Iran, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK and the USA, on a wide range of organisations, from public finance to manufacturing to services to finance and film.
  • An updated glossary of clear definitions now includes over 750 research-related terms.

New and updated content reflects the impact of COVID-19 on the research methods, further supporting your students' research process.

  • Research methods adapted according to challenging recent changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, such as gaining access and recruiting participants.
  • Impact of the pandemic including the shift from face-to-face interviews to online and telephone interviews.

Features of Revel for the 9th Edition

Activity Learning Features

  • Progressing Your Research Project Builder prompts students to apply what they have learned in the chapter to their own research project, which builds to a full proposal by the end of the module.
  • Downloadable datasets in Excel help students practice manipulating, analysing, and reporting data.
  • The embedded glossary provides immediate access to all the key terms for easy study and quick look-up.
  • the Heightening Awareness of Research Philosophy survey (HARP) prompts your students to understand more about their own research philosophy.

Audio & powerful multimedia features

  • Audio recordings of students who share their own experiences and tips about their research projects.
  • A range of videos, audios and articles encourage active learning, with open-response activities prompting your students to type in their notes for participating in class.

Learn more about this Revel®.

Brief Contents

  1. Research, reflective diaries and the purpose of this book
  2. Generating a research idea and developing your research proposal
  3. Critically reviewing the literature
  4. Understanding research philosophy and approaches to theory development
  5. Formulating the research design
  6. Negotiating access and research ethics
  7. Selecting samples
  8. Obtaining and evaluating secondary data
  9. Collecting primary data using observation
  10. Collecting primary data using interviews and diaries
  11. Collecting primary data using questionnaires
  12. Analysing data quantitatively
  13. Analysing data qualitatively
  14. Writing and presenting the project report
  • Appendix 1: Systems of referencing
  • Appendix 2: Calculating the minimum sample size
  • Appendix 3: Guidelines for non-discriminatory language

Mark NK Saunders is Professor of Business Research Methods and Director of Global Engagement at Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham.

Philip Lewis was a Principal Lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire.

Adrian Thornhill was a Head of the Department at the University of Gloucestershire.

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