Apollo International College

Course Plan

Course Title: Research Methodology

Course Code: RCH 311
Credit Hours: 3
Term: Spring, 2025
Contact Hours: 45- 48 Hours (3 Hours per week)
Course Duration: 15-16 Weeks
Instructor: Deep Narayan Pathak
Email: @apollointcollege.edu.np

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of the course, student should be able to:

 Explain the fundamental concepts and principles of research methodology used

in business studies.
 Identify and formulate research problems relevant to business and management
contexts.
 Design appropriate research strategies including qualitative, quantitative, or mixed
methods.
 Develop research proposals with clear objectives, hypotheses, and a structured
methodology.
 Collect, analyze, and interpret data using basic statistical and analytical tools.
 Critically evaluate existing research literature to identify gaps and build theoretical
frameworks.
 Apply ethical considerations and academic integrity in conducting and reporting
research.
 Communicate research findings effectively through written reports and
presentations.

PRESCRIBED READINGS:
 ..
 ..

USEFUL READINGS:

1. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. Business Research Methods. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
2. Zikmund, W. G. Business Research Methods. New Delhi: Thompson.
3. Cooper, D. R. and Schindler, P. S. Business Research Methods. New Delhi: Tata
McGraw Hill.
4. Pant, P. R. Business Research Methods. Kathmandu: Buddha Academic Enterprises.
5. Flick, U. An Introduction to Qualitative Research, New Delhi: Sage South Asia
Edition.

1
 6. Sekaran, U. Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. New Delhi:
Wiley India.
7. Dev Raj Adhikari and Dhurba Lal Pandey: Business Research Methods

Note: The book mentioned in above prior reading is Dev Raj Adhikari and Dhurba Lal
Pandey: Business Research Methods.

COURSE STRUCTURE AND COURSE LOAD:

We will meet 3 hours a week as a class and complete the course over a period of 15 weeks.
Please refer to the schedule provided by the department office for class days and time.
In order to successfully complete the course, students are advised to work on their course
material independently at least 9 hours a week (approximately 140 hours a semester) besides
the supervised class hours.
 Supervised Class Hours: 45- 48 Hours
 Independent Study Hours: 140 Hours

Students are advised to regularly refer to the course plan and prepare in advance and do the
necessary readings before you come to the class hours.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Module 1

Week 1: April 15 – April 21, 2025

Contents to be covered: Introduction Class, Introduction to Research
 General Introduction of Research & its use in Management & Business Administration.
(Need, importance and use of research in the field of management, administration, policy
making, Industrial development, expansion of business or in marketing, progress, prosperity,
development, & good industrial relation with employee & employers etc. ), Relation between
societal change, research and expansion of business and entrepreneurship.

Assignment: Reviewe of paper

Week 2: April 22 – April 28, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 1: Introduction to Research
 The meaning of research;
 The nature and types of research
 Application of scientific thinking in research, scientific research - scientific research
process, characteristics of scientific research
 Emerging paradigms in research
Assignment: Topic selection and assignment 1

Week 3: April 29 – May 6, 2025

2
Contents to be covered: Unit 1: Introduction to Research
 Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research

 Business research – role, types and value quantitative and qualitative approaches to
research

 Business research – role, types and value

Assignment: Reviewe of paper and assignment 2

Week 4: May 7 – May 13, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
 Literature review - purpose and steps

 Searching, obtaining, and evaluating the literature, literature search through the
Internet, format and guidelines for presenting the literature review;

Assignment: Topic selection and Assignment 3

Module 2

Week 5: May 15 – May 21, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit:2 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
 Theoretical framework – concept and format
 Research and theory – deduction and induction.

Assignment : Conceptual Framework development and Assignment 4

Week 6: May 22 – May 28, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 3: Problem Definition and Hypothesis Formulation
 Problem definition – concept and steps in problem formulation
 Research questions
 Hypothesis - functions and types
 Criteria of good hypothesis statement.

Assignment: Research question, Objective of the study and hypothesis

Week 7: May 29 – June 4, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit:4 Research Design
 Definition; elements of a research design

 Types of research design

 Exploratory

 Descriptive (developmental and case study)

 Correlational
3
Assignment: Research methodology and Assignment 5

Week 8: June 5 – June 11, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit:4 Research Design
 Causal-comparative and experimental research designs
 Qualitative research – concept, basic assumptions, features and design.

Assignment: Research Design and Assignment 6

Week 9: June 15 – June 20, 2025

MID TERM EXAMINATION

Module 3
Week 10: June 22 – June 27, 2025
Contents to be covered: Unit 5 Measurement, Scaling and Sampling
 Variables – concept and types
 Measurement and scales, scale construction and attitude measurement
 Scales and techniques commonly used in business research

Assignment: Likert scale questionnaire preparation

Week 11: June 29 – July 4, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 5 Measurement, Scaling and Sampling
 Validity and reliability of measurement
 Sampling – concept, probability and non-probability sampling
 Sampling and non-sampling errors.

Assignment: Explain different types of sampling

Week 12: July 6 – July 11, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 6 Data Collection and Analysis
 Data and its types
 Sources of primary and secondary data
 Questionnaire – principles, components and types – format and types
Assignment: Questionnaire preparation

Week 13: June 22 – June 27, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 6 Data Collection and Analysis
 Research interviews – principles and types
 Sources of qualitative data – observation, participant observation, focus groups
 E-research using Internet and websites to collect data from individuals; web surveys,
e-mail surveys.


Assignment: Online survey questionnaire preparation

4
Week 14: June 29 – July 04, 2025
Contents to be covered: Unit 6 Data Collection and Analysis
 Getting data ready for analysis
 Data processing
 Presenting data in graphs and tables
Assignment: Editing coding and tabulation of data

Week 15: July 06 – July 11, 2025

Contents to be covered: Unit 6 Data Collection and Analysis
 Statistical analysis of data – descriptive and inferential statistics
 Hypothesis testing
 Methods of analysing qualitative data

Assignment: Explain different technique of qualitative data analysis

Week 16: July 13 – July 18, 2025
Contents to be covered: Unit 7 Writing Proposals and Project Reports
 Project work – concept, purpose and methods
 Research proposals – functions, types and components
 Features of research proposal
 Research report – concept, process, types and procedure for writing research reports

Assignment: Research Proposal

Week 17: July 20 – July 25, 2025
Contents to be covered: Unit 7 Writing Proposals and Project Reports
 Conventions of academic writing; components of the project report
 Body of the project report
 Documenting sources - APA style of citation and referencing
 Essentials of good research report.

Assignment: Citation and Referencing

Week 18: July 27 – August 1, 2025

Contents to be covered: Revision
Assignment:
Week 18: August 04- August 8, 2025
Pre –Semester Examination

Week 19: August 11 - August 15, 2025

Revision Week
****
It is imperative that the information contained below this section remain unchanged,
and all content should be directly copied and pasted without modification.
*****

5
 IMPORTANT DATES & DEADLINES
Details Dates Details Dates
Module 1 Result May 15 , 2025 Module 2 Result June 22, 2025

Module 3 Result August 5 , 205 Mid Term June 15, 2025

Examination Result
Pre-Semester August 10, 2025
Examination Result

Attendance Policy
Students are expected to attend all classes throughout the semester. Attending and
participating in class, practical sessions, and discussion sessions are essential to the learning
process. Students benefit from lectures and discussions with their teachers and classmates.
You cannot miss more than six classes in a semester.

Late Submission of Assignments

Students are expected to meet strict deadlines for all course assignments and should be
discouraged from handing in assignments late. Faculty will not accept excuses for the
submission of late work.

Final Project
The course supervisor will guide students through their final projects and offer support in
completing the pre-semester evaluation.

Module Assessment
Students are assessed throughout the semester through classwork, group work, assignments
and quizzes. Each module is assigned a weightage of 10 % towards the internal assessment.

Midterm
Mid-term examination is mandatory for all students and carries a big 25% weightage towards
the internal assessment.

6
Pre-Semester Examination
As part of the internal assessment, the college conducts a Pre-semester examination towards
the end of the semester and contains a weightage of 25%.

Make-up Exams
There will be separate make-up exams for students who failed the mid-term examination after
clearing the make-up exam fee.

INTERNAL ASSESSMENT COMPOSITION

Assessments Percentage Assigned

Module 1 Assessment 10%

Module 2 Assessment 10%

Module 3 Assessment 10%

Attendance 10%

Final Project 10%

Mid Term Examination 25%

Pre- Semester Examination 25%