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RESEARCH METHODS Nick Lee and Lings Ian, Doing Business Research: A Guide to Theory and Practice, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2010, xxiii+423pp, Price not mentioned, Soft.
It may not be an exaggeration to say that there can be no development without research. Research requires painstaking efforts. Research goes beyond charts, tables and rudimentary statistics. Research requires gathering the right data and detailed analysis of the data sets. Research is also understood to follow a certain structural process which may of course vary depending upon the subject of research and the researcher. For those wanting to do a crash course in the methodology to be followed for doing scholarly research, Doing Business Research by Nick Lee and Ian Lings is an excellent place to start. The book has been written in an essay format, keeping the audience in consideration. Nonetheless it is imperative to read the chapters in the sequence in which they have been laid as each of them builds on the preceding chapter. The beauty of this book is lucid language that proves helpful for readers to get holistic picture of various techniques for carrying out influential qualitative and quantitative research. They are also mandatory for understanding the subtle nuances linked with research methods.
The book is appropriately planned, superbly executed exposition of the research process and has a novel and consistent approach. Every chapter has a section bearing the caption Supervisor's View, a section bearing the caption View from the Trenches, and a section Why is it Important to Know this Stuff? These sections provide interesting and practical insights imperative for conducting a meaningful research. The chapters also contain two different type of boxes; one box deals with Alternate Views which shows that there are indeed different ways to look at a topic and also contains pointers which helps the reader...