A Review of Research Methods in Online and Blended Business Education: 2000-2009

A Review of Research Methods in Online and Blended Business Education: 2000-2009

J. B. Arbaugh, Alvin Hwang, Birgit Leisen Pollack
Copyright: © 2011 |Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-615-2.ch003
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Abstract

This review of the online teaching and learning literature in business education found growing sophistication in analytical approaches over the last 10 years. The authors of this chapter believe researchers are uncovering important findings from the large number of predictors, control variables, and criterion variables examined. Scholars are employing appropriate and increasingly sophisticated techniques such as structural equation models in recent studies (16) within a field setting. To increase methodological rigor, researchers need to consciously incorporate control variables that are known to influence criterion variables of interest so as to clearly partial out the influence of their predictor variables of interest. This will help address shortcomings arising from the inability to convince sample respondents such as instructors, institutional administrators, and graduate business students on the benefits versus the cost of a fully randomized design approach.
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Main Focus Of The Chapter

The purpose of this chapter is to examine and assess the state of research methods used in studies of online and blended learning in the business disciplines with the intent of assessing the field, recommending adjustments to current research approaches and identifying opportunities for meaningful future research. We review research from the business disciplines of Accounting, Economics, Finance, Information Systems (IS), Management, Marketing, and Operations/Supply Chain Management over the first decade of the 21st century. It is our hope that the review will help those interested in evidence-based course design and delivery identify exemplary studies and help future scholars raise the overall quality of this research in the business disciplines. We also hope that online teaching and learning scholars in other disciplines might use our approach to conduct methods reviews in their respective fields, thereby helping to inform the broader research community of appropriate research design and conduct.

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