Introduction

This handbook deals with fieldwork by business or management students. Such fieldwork can be carried out in the context of a specific course, but can also be done as a graduation project at the end of a course programme to further develop the student's competences and to produce a ‘masterpiece' – that is, a project report that proves that the student did indeed master the desired competences.

The approach chosen for a graduation project depends on the research paradigm of the school, the supervisors for the student fieldwork and the student's own preferences. As is discussed in more detail in Section 5.2, there are two main research paradigms to be used in student fieldwork in business or management, namely the explanatory paradigm and the design science paradigm. The explanatory paradigm is the research paradigm of mainstream research in most social sciences; the design science paradigm is the research paradigm of professional schools, such as medical schools, engineering schools and, increasingly, business schools.

A student project according to the explanatory paradigm aims to produce descriptive and explanatory knowledge. Such a project may follow the empirical cycle. A student project according to the design science paradigm aims to produce solutions to field problems, and may follow the problem solving cycle.