363-0305-00L  Empirical Methods in Management

SemesterHerbstsemester 2021
DozierendeS. Tillmanns
Periodizitätjährlich wiederkehrende Veranstaltung
LehrspracheEnglisch


KurzbeschreibungIn this class, students learn how to understand and conduct empirical research. It will enable them to manage a business based on evident-based decision-making. The class includes group assignments, where students will cover small parts of the lecture content in self-created videos.
LernzielThe general objective of the course is to enable students to understand the basic principles of empirical studies. After successfully passing the class, they will be able to formulate research questions, design empirical studies, and analyze data by using basic statistical approaches.
InhaltData has become an important resource in today’s business environment, which can be used to make better management decisions. However, evidence-based decision-making comes along with challenges and requires a basic understand of statistical approaches. Therefore, this class introduces problems and key concepts of empirical research, which might be qualitative or quantitative in its nature. Concerning qualitative research, students learn how to conduct and evaluate interviews. In the area of quantitative research, they learn how to apply measurement and scaling methods and conduct experiments. In addition, basic statistical analyses like a variance analysis and how to conduct it in a standard statistical software package like SPSS are also part of the lecture. The lessons learned from the lecture will empower students to critically assess the quality and outcomes of studies published in the media and scientific journals, which might form a basis auf their decision-making. We recommend the lecture also to students without basic statistical skill, who plan to attend more advanced lectures in the field of artificial intelligence such as Marketing Analytics.
The lecture will be taught online this fall semester. Therefore, it involves group work, where students form groups in order to create small learning videos, which cover small parts of the lecture. These videos will be shown and discussed in the online lecture and will make up 30% of the final grade. Part of this assignment will be the evaluation of videos from other students. The preparation of the videos will also prepare students for the final exam. In addition to that, there will be some non-mandatory online exercises as an additional opportunity to prepare for the exam.
LiteraturLiterature and readings will be announced. For a basic undertanding we recommend the Handbook of Good Research by Jürgen Brock and Florian von Wangenheim.
Voraussetzungen / BesonderesThe course includes out-of-class assignments and projects to give students some hands-on experience in conducting empirical research in management. Projects will focus on one particular aspect of empirical research, like the formulation of a research question or the design of a study. Students will form groups and create a learning video regarding one specific topic. Assignments will be graded and need to be turned-in on time as they will be shown and discussed in class. Students will also have to evaluate the videos of other student groups.
Online class participation is encouraged and can greatly improve students' learning. In this spirit, students are expected to attend class regularly and come to class prepared.