The Comparative Research Method - Essay Example

Part Contrasting research methods The comparative research method by simple definition is a technique that makes comparisons across different regions and cultures (“Comparative Research,” 2009). This methodology has strong importance in the study of social sciences and one of the major reasons for its ascent is globalization, where people wanted to explore different regions, to find out about other cultures and to measure their progress against their rivals in the global society. The advancement of Information technology and international communication systems has only made this task easier. This technique usually uses different disciplines in the study of a single subject. There is no hard and fast methodology to associate with this technique; it is vividly flexible. Correlational research methods aim to measure and express the strength of the relationship between two or more variables. Correlations can used for predicting future outcomes and can be used to determine whether evidence is consistent with the related theory or not (Graziano & Raulin, 2000). It cannot always prove a theory but it is very instrumental in negating one. It is a non-experimental, descriptive method as it does not involve directly manipulating variables to give a better understanding like it happens in experimental methods of research. Sometimes variables are manipulated to give a stronger base for research results. However, that is not allowed in comparative or correlational research methods. Correlation specially, can be used in areas where experimental methods cannot or where it is unethical to manipulate independent variables (“Correlational Research Method,” 2003). Among data collecting methods, quantitative analysis is more used than a qualitative analysis in comparative research and is the ONLY type of data collected in a correlational analysis. Secondary analysis of data is pretty common in comparative research, is usually aggregated data and tends to reflect on theories specific to a section of society and not theories relevant to the grand scheme of things (“Comparative Research,” 2009). Data collection is pretty much the same for correlational research except for the fact that various formulaes are created using the data collected. You could collect data by conducting a test, questionnaires or surveys or even use numerical historic archives. In comparative research, often data is extracted from national data sources using experts who can sift through the data, picking exactly what is required by focusing on key themes and issues (Linda Hantrais, 1995). The correlation method does not establish causation. It cannot tell if the relationship is casual or not; it can prove a systematic relation but cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship (“Correlational Research Method,” 2003). Causality refers to the way of knowing that one thing causes another. In comparative research, various types of causalities have been established which have facilitated inference of comparative research. Some of these types are: Many causes for the same effect Cause dependency on time (cause may not be same in a different era) Same cause, different outcomes Outcomes are effects of various inter-dependent causes Circular causality (the position of cause and outcome is inter-changeable) (Peter.A.Hall, 2003). Randomization is a useful tool in comparative research; statistical sampling is a common base for a lot of comparisons. However it has limited use in a correlational research as it would make little sense to find a relation between random numbers without any theory to prove or disprove. Correlation larges serves more as a statistical tool rather than a research method; it assists in providing conclusion to a research. However, comparative research stretches into numbers and qualitative terms to derive results of a research and tends to provide more in-depth explanations as to the reasons of the results that have appeared and gives an understanding with more insight than simply deriving statistical correlation. For example, correlation can be very useful if one wants to determine if violent tendencies in parents tends to result in a violent behavior towards their children. Comparative research could be used when for example; a comparison needs to be made between the increases in GDP of neighboring countries over the last 10 years and one would need a full qualitative analysis to understand the factors behind the trends. Part 2 – I/O Psychology Consultant Research Employee turnover is the process of employees leaving the organization. A high turnover rate could cause organization problems as it could suggest that their own workers have no confidence in the organization’s prospects. Although on the face of the balance sheet, assets are normally termed as machines, buildings, inventories and market investments, the main asset of every organization is its human force. When high turnover occurs, valuable talent and expertise is lost as employees leave an organization and could be picked up by rivals which itself is dangerous. The consultant has decided to conduct a survey about job satisfaction and the intent to leave the organization. The ideal research goal would be to identify all the reasons of the turnover being so uncharacteristically high this year. Job satisfaction is too vast a term to state as a sole reason for the high turnover. It encompasses a lot of problems which if not addressed and identified separately, could dilute the very purpose of using an I/O psychology consultant. The fact that turnover has been high only in this year indicates that previously job satisfaction was good and that there have been some unusual changes in the organizational environment that is responsible for the high turnover. Employees could be unsatisfied with the job description, job scope and the chance of career development. It could also be because of unhygienic operating conditions, conflicts with the management about the style of work, their attitude towards employee welfare or because of idealistic standard settings that lead to harsh reward systems and eventually lack of motivation for better performance (“Turnover,” 2009). While conducting the research, it’ll be imperative to investigate on all these accounts and not explain all the problems under the single heading of job satisfaction. Both comparative and correlation research boast merits of their use in this particular investigation. A correlational research, although does not establish causality, using information on the correlation of the cause and outcome could enlighten the problems that do not effect turnover as such. Correlation will only present a research based on statistics and numbers hence a quantitative view. This is likely to be insufficient to form a reliable conclusion on the research being carried out. Comparative research could indicate the degree of increase in discontent among employees of that organization. Using this mode of research, the consultant could find out if there are any external reasons for the high turnover. Comparisons could be made with other organizations that are similar in nature and size and if results are somewhat similar, it could be understood that the reason for high turnover could possible be because of a market-wide problem and not just a glitch in one particular organization. Employee satisfaction cannot be expressed through quantitative terms wholly. Sampling must be done on a large basis and random sampling would undermine the purpose of the research. The aim should be to extend sampling to the whole population to agree upon a reliable hypothesis. Each employee has different needs and different satisfaction levels. Human psychology is too varied to be relied on through random sampling. Comparative research is more appropriate in this situation as it applies to quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The cause of the turnover needs to be identified and a correlation research with all its formulas and methods cannot establish causality. The 5 types of causalities presented above under comparative research could give a detailed understanding of what issues are contributing to the turnover problem and to what degree. It could be that in reality, an issue might not be the driving force behind the high turnover when looked in detail through qualitative analysis rather than a correlational approach. A shift is occurring in importance away from descriptive and culture-free attitude to social phenomena. In industrial psychology, the researcher is trying to identify specificity of social forms and organizational structures in different societies and is looking for explanations by expanding the scope to a wider social arena (Linda Hantrais, 1995). The increase of emphasis on the multi-disciplinary character of the subject is another reason why comparative studies are much better suited to this case as they facilitate such an approach. It is more than likely that this unusual increase in turnover could be because of a company policy introduced in this current year as previously the turnover was not a problem. It might be that a new reward system has been introduced which is setting onerous terms for payments and rewards. Or it could be because some employees might have been hanging back due to post-employment benefits and the organization might have cut down on that scheme. Hypothetically, there could be a lot of reasons but only a detailed research would put reliability to those claims. Bibliography Comparative research. (May 22 2009) In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 4 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Graziano & Raulin (2000). Correlational and differential Research Methods[PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www.abacon.com/graziano/ch07/sld001.htm Correlational Research Method. (2003). Retrieved July 5 2009, from http://www.ancillaryresources.mrpete.net/about41.html Hantrais, L. (1995). Comparative Research Methods. Retrieved July 5 2009, from http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/SRU13.html Hall, P.A. (2003). Casual Inference in Comparative Research. Retrieved July 5 2009, from http://poli.haifa.ac.il/~levi/inference.html#d Turnover Employment. (24 May 2009). In Wikipedia. Retrieved July 5 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Read More