Doctorate of Business Administration (DDBA) 802

Overview

This course explores how research moves from data and analysis into publications and practice. The primary purpose of this course is to help you understand and plan for the dissemination of your own research work.

The gap between research results and practice is a common discussion in social science and has taken up many lines of ink in the management disciplines for at least two decades. We will explore this discussion with a view to building the understanding of what it means (and takes) to do "good" research in terms of both relevance and rigour/theory and practice. We will also examine the role of publication and peer review in the dissemination of research. Finally, each student will revise a piece of their own writing for submission.

Athabasca University Library: Students are encouraged to browse the Library's Web site to review the Library collection of journal databases, electronic journals, and digital reference tools: http://library.athabascau.ca.

Outline

This course is divided into 10 (ten)  weeks

• Week 1: The Challenge of Conducting Exemplary and Practically Relevant Research
• Week 2: Exploring the Research Practice Gap: Which Comes First— Science or Practice? Relevance vs Rigor
• Week 3: Making Social Science Matter
• Week 4: Evidence-Based Management
• Week 5: Writing and Disseminating Research
• Week 6: Role of the Review Process
• Week 7: Presentation and Discussion of Paper Reviews
• Week 8: Role of Teaching, Journalism, and Social Media in Dissemination and Research Relevance
• Week 9: Building a Collaborative Writing Collective
• Week 10: How Do We Practice Management Research and Ensure Management Research is Relevant to Practice?

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• understand what makes “good” research and the various audiences for research
• evaluate how management research in general, and in your interest area(s) in particular, has impacted management practice
• describe the writing, journal review and publication process that support research dissemination
• develop specific ways to approach the practice of management research in order to contribute and make a difference to management practice

Evaluation

Your grade will be based on the successful completion of assignments and on your participation in moderated group discussions.

Activity	Weight
Assignment 1: Conference Paper Review	20%
Assignment 2: Part 1: First Draft of Final Paper	0%
Assignment 2: Part 2: Two peer reviews completed	20%
Participation in Discussion Forum	30%
Assignment 3: Final Paper	30%
Total	100%

To receive a passing grade in this course, you must meet this minimum standard:

receive a minimum grade of 70 %

Materials

Digital course materials

Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:

• Partington, D. (Ed.). (2002). Essential skills for management research.Sage Publications.
• Flyvbjerg, B. (2001). Making social science matter(S. Sampson, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
• Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. I. (2006). Hard facts, dangerous half-truths and total nonsense: Profiting from evidence-based management.Harvard Business Press.
• Johnson, W. B., & Mullen, C. A. (2007). Write to the top! How to become a prolific academic.Palgrave Macmillan.

Physical course materials

The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:

Frost, P. J., & Stablein, R. E. (Eds.). (1999). Doing exemplary research. Sage Publications. (Note: Book cover may be different.) 

Important links

• DBA Overview
• DBA Course Schedule