A number of instructors and students have asked me about resources on critical thinking, so I thought I'd throw together a short list of titles on the topic.

I'll focus on ebooks because they are easier for you all to use in our pandemic world. We do, of course, also have some great print titles on this topic! 

<Read on for a thoughtful list of ebooks on thinking!>

One of our BUS 345 sections (hi, D100!) will be doing some primary market research focused on meal kits this term.

The students have a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to choosing the research questions they want to explore, so it would be difficult to suggest specific resources and search strategies for them. Instead, I thought I'd try a different approach: 

I'll highlight just a few of the possible research questions to give you a sense of the range of research that goes into marketing (section A below). I'll aim to highlight the amount of lateral/creative thinking that a market researcher has to do, but my list won't be anywhere near as detailed as that of a real marketer.

Then I'll list the guides and blog posts that cover the sorts of resources I'd normally use to answer such questions (section B).

Finally, I'll return to the target product and talk about research resources that are specifically about meal kits (section C).

Here we go...   <Read on!>

The wealth of online data published in and about the last few decades is, of course, wonderful and has deeply changed the type and amount of research we can do.

However, that flood of data about the recent past can result in myopic research: if information is not online and in a form that's easy to integrate and analyse with other data, then it may not even be seen, producing research conclusions that miss long-term trends. We are constantly seeking ways to fill this gap in older online information.

I am very pleased to announce that SFU researchers now have access to economic and financial time series data that spans decades — centuries in many cases: GFDatabase!

<Read on for details if you need centuries of data on things like inflation and gold prices...>

Just a quick note to let you know that our special, short-term access to the Films on Demand: Master Academic Collection has been extended for another year.  You can continue relying on FoD's thousands of streaming videos remaining available for integration into your remote classes throughout 2021.

See my initial post from May 2020 about Films on Demand for its full description, as well as... 

<Read on for sample film titles and links to other streaming video resources...>

One of our marketing classes (BUS 345 E100) is going to be doing some primary research on alternative protein products & consumers again this semester.

In support of that class, I've listed some key resources, but students in other classes may also want to use this post as a case study to learn about some of the powerful market research tools available to SFU researchers.  Bon appetite!

<Read on for a menu of delicious databases! >

If I were to ask you to do some research for an essay, you'd probably assume I was referring to digging up some academic journal articles, right?  The connection between scholarly articles and essays is undeniably strong, and with good reason: the peer review process involved in publishing such articles ensures their high quality.

Nevertheless, there is a vast world of information beyond journals. For many assignments it may be acceptable to cite government reports, think tank analysis, ebook chapters, and even news articles...

<Click here to learn about non-journal info sources using Universal Basic Income as a search example...>

 

Are you contemplating a research project that involves data on Chinese publicly traded firms?  Or how about global commercial loan data? 

If so, don't procrastinate!  We have grant-funded, short-term dataset subscriptions that are perfect for both topics, and both are set to expire soon...

<Read on for info about CSMAR and DealScan!>

Our BUS 447 (Global Marketing Management) students will be working on projects that involve the amazing United Republic of Tanzania this term, with a focus on Tanzania's tourism industry.

I've compiled a brief list of relevant sources to support that class... and I thought I'd share it here in case others are interested in such topics.

<Read on!>

As you may have heard, SFU researchers now have complete access to one of the most read and most important business news sources in the world: the Financial Times.

I'm very pleased to announce that we've renewed our subscription to the Frost & Sullivan database for another year. 

For those who are new to it, F&S is our main source for market research focused on emerging technology products, markets, and strategies.  

To give you a sense of the type of content you'll find in F&S, consider these recent additions to the collection of over 50,000 reports, grouped by industry...

<Read on for examples of the great reports in this valuable database!>