Research 1

Course aim

The course aims to provide a Masters level of study for students seeking to widen their knowledge in one of the specialist areas and to expose students to both the substantive theory and practice of research in the field of Finance and of their specialisation. The course provides graduates with the training necessary to conduct independent quality research in financial institutions, cultivates analytical and critical skills, and an awareness of emerging developments in financial sector and closely related fields.

Course content

Defining research; Purpose of applied research in finance; Scientific investigation; Hallmarks of scientific research; Value of business research; Finance research as a global activity; Types of research; Research process; Motivation in doing research; Research paradigms; Role of the theory in research; Scientific method; Research questions; Hypotheses development; Determining the research design; Ethical issues in finance and/or other business related research fields; Strategies for reading the literature; Critical literature review of financial research; Strategies for writing research reports; Strategies for oral presentation; Efficient use of technology and computers for preparing research in finance; Financial data collection, initial filtering and storage; Research design; First look at financial data – descriptive summary statistics & graphical representations.

Textbook(s)

Zikmund, WG, Babin, BJ, Carr JC & Griffin, M 2012, Business research methods, 9th edn, South-Western, Cengage Learning

Prerequisite(s)

Students will normally have completed 36 units of their program before undertaking Research 1.

Corequisite(s)

Nil

Teaching method

Component	Duration
INTERNAL, CITY WEST
Seminar	3 hours x 13 weeks
EXTERNAL, CITY WEST, ONLINE
External	3 hours equiv x 13 weeks

Note: These components may or may not be scheduled in every study period. Please refer to the timetable for further details.

Assessment

Critical Research Review, Group assignment, Research proposal

Fees

EFTSL*: 0.125
Commonwealth Supported program (Band 3)
To determine the fee for this course as part of a Commonwealth Supported program, go to:
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Fee-paying program for domestic and international students
International students and students undertaking this course as part of a postgraduate fee paying program must refer to the relevant program home page to determine the cost for undertaking this course.

Non-award enrolment
Non-award tuition fees are set by the university. To determine the cost of this course, go to:
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Not all courses are available on all of the above bases, and students must check to ensure that they are permitted to enrol in a particular course.

* Equivalent Full Time Study Load. Please note: all EFTSL values are published and calculated at ten decimal places. Values are displayed to three decimal places for ease of interpretation.