Research methodology.research methods - Dissertation Example

?Research Methodology Introduction There are different styles of research which are in practice, including the document study which is exploratory one, the questionnaire study which is analytical and the interview study which is based on theoretical observations. Document study is about collecting facts, while interview and questionnaire methods are to understand individuals’ perceptions in the descriptive and theoretical manner (Bell, 2010). Interview research uses non-numerical and unstructured data, more than this, it has research questions which are more general at the start, and get specific as the study progresses (Teddlie, 2009). This chapter introduces three methods of research; the interview, the questionnaire, and the document research methods. Furthermore, the strengths and weaknesses of each of the method will be highlighted. The chapter also discusses the ethical code of conduct of the study. Introducing the Research Methods (Interview, Document and Questionnaire) Document Method (Strengths and Weaknesses) First method is the document research which is based on analysis of primary and secondary documents. The primary documents may include the experimental data, such as responses’ data of a particular company or organization. Secondary documents may include books, periodicals, journal articles and scholarly abstracts which assist the researcher to collect secondary-theoretical information on the study (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). There are two main sources of data collection in document research: secondary and primary documents (Guest, 2011). Further, the document research applies two approaches: source-oriented document research and problem-oriented document research. The source-oriented research means collection of the secondary documents which is to build the ground of the research - the subject. On the other hand, problem oriented research refers to collection of the primary documents which aim is to identify the problem, objective and purpose of research (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). One weaknesses of document research is that it entails a large set of data from documents, which needs to be filtered out for conducting the research. Apart that, document method applies to the HRM subjective studies and therefore provides the reason to the researcher to get it adapted for its research (Teddlie, 2009). The Questionnaire Method (Strengths and Weaknesses) The second common research method is the questionnaire which is based on a designed set of closed-ended questions (Griffith & Layne, 1999). The researchers had to have a certain aim before they apply the questionnaire method. As the method requires certain objectives, they limit the method with its purpose of application. Moreover, as the questionnaire is designed on the basis of close-ended questions, it cannot produce the effective descriptive information on the study which is the most essential to conduct a research. The responses collected through questionnaire are fixed and not changing, they are more specific and less detailed (Griffith & Layne, 1999). Interpretation and findings in questionnaire are entirely based on statistical elaboration. The more effective the statistical analysis of the study is, the more useful and effective the information will be in the questionnaire to get used as findings or interpretation. The Interview Method (Strengths and Weaknesses) The third adaptive method is the interview, which is based on formation of thematic questions and questions to be deployed on interviewees for thematic answers. The interview is in a way similar to questionnaire method, as it details questions; but still it differs as it brings descriptive information from the respondents (Griffith & Layne, 1999). The interview guideline based on a set of thematic questions can generate productive information for research. It can bring changing perception of individuals and also changing opinions of respondents on a particular subject or theme, which a questionnaire cannot do (Griffith & Layne, 1999). As the interview method is based on set of open-ended questions, it brings a more diversified and comprehensive information on research. This is how the interview method is adaptive and objective in nature. It can be designed according to the idea and theme of researcher. It can be designed on the basis of certain objective to cover up (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). Adapted Research Method (Interview and Document Research) Usually, there are three methodologies of research which are common in adaptation. The methods are document, interview and questionnaire (Teddlie, 2009). Each methodology upholds its prime importance for conducting a research, but the purpose of research and research aims decide on which method is appropriate to adapt. In the field of social science and specifically in the subject of human resource management, most of the studies have used the experimental and analytical style of study - the questionnaire based research method. But the most successful studies, such as of Xiao (2010) and Ghauri (2012), have made the decisive use of mixed research method - interview plus document research methods (Teddlie, 2009). Mixed approach is the pragmatic approach that gives the researcher both the inductive and deductive basis of research (Xiao, 2010). As the pragmatic research method has been adapted in several studies in HRM, it provides the reason to the researcher to adapt the same effective method: interview plus document (Ghauri, 2012). To make the study achieve its research goals, the researcher has applied pragmatic research methodology in a case study format. The case was taken from China’s one of the top food companies based in Hohhot (The Enterprise Corporation). The reason for using the case study format was to make the research purposeful, objective and directional (Teddlie, 2009). The Research Perspective After analyzing the literature, it was understood that performance appraisal system is the most important system of human resource management function. From performance appraisal the manpower in the organization gets evolved and sustained. For managing the human resource, performance appraisal has a significant part to play. Realizing the importance of performance appraisal and its key features, the aim of the study was to find out how performance appraisal is effective for managers, employees and the entire organization. To achieve this core objective, the researcher picked the case of The Enterprise Corporation - a foodservice company based in Hohhot China. Keeping in view the research aim, the identified themes of the literature and the literature itself the following hypothesis got constructed: Hypothesis Hypothesis H1: There is a positive and significant relationship between organizational performance and employee performance. H 1(a): Employee performance is brought by effective performance appraisal system which works in the area of employee satisfaction and motivation. H 1 (b): An affective performance appraisal includes effective features (training of employees, sufficient incentives, and valuable promotions). The above constructed hypothesis gave the direction to the researcher for testing it in the analysis part of the study. In this way, the hypothesis built the route of findings, results and conclusion of the study. Sampling Method The sampling method used by the researcher was the stratified sampling. With the stratified sampling, the researcher was able to derive the subgroups from the main population. Each subgroup came out as a stratum - a group of distinctive and differentiating characteristic (Johnson & Christensen, 2010, p.227). A total sample population of 25 respondents was taken for the study and was divided in subgroups of managers and employees working in the Enterprise Corporation limited. A stratum sample of 20 subordinates and 5 managers was selected for analysis (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). Data Collection – Primary and Secondary Research Using the pragmatic research methodology, the researcher required both theoretical and empirical grounds of research. For theoretical analysis, the researcher used secondary resources of scholarly abstracts, books, journals and case studies. From the secondary sources, the literature of HRM and performance appraisal was analyzed and constructed (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). The primary research was conducted on the basis of self observation and analysis of the case of the The Enterprise Corporation China. The analysis of the case provided the empirical evidence and the primary ground of research. So, by conducting integrated research- the primary and secondary research, the researcher was able to bring effective findings on the study (Teddlie, 2009). The respondents in the The Enterprise Corporation came out as the primary source of data, as they collected the responses’ data which was essential for primary research and findings. The collected data was combined from both primary and secondary data sources (Teddlie, 2009). Thematic Analysis The thematic analysis was done on the basis of interview results which were received from the managers’ group responses. This resulted in the subjective findings of the study, as it identified the themes first and then analyzed them comparatively with respect to the themes (Guest, 2011). The themes identified in the literature were adjusted to the interview guidelines, and therefore responses from managers were descriptive and were according to the hypothesis derived from the literature (Guest, 2011). The HRM studies of Xiao (2010) and Ghauri (2012) have made the decisive use of themes and thematic analysis. Additionally, the studies have made the use of statistical analysis. This justified the reason of why the researcher used both analytical techniques (Xiao, 2010). Regression and Correlation Testing Regression analysis is a further technique which the researcher adapted in the study. The technique analyzed the reliability and variance of the data. It determined the correlation between dependant variable Y (organizational performance) and independent variable X (performance appraisal or employee performance). This is how conducting regression gave the correlation between two of the variables identified in the interviewees’ responses (Griffith & Layne, 1999). Interview Design Before the actual conduct of the study, the researcher had performed a pilot study on HRM. The study was based on general observations collected from the general public in the food services. The study provided the ground of research and the reason to assess performance appraisal as an effective tool of HRM (Guest, 2011). To derive the conclusions and hypothetical statements of the research, the interview guideline was significant. Via the interview the researcher was able to deduce the explorative part of the research (Guest, 2011). To conduct the qualitative part of the research, the researcher devised an interview guideline based on multiple opened-ended questions. 6 managers from the managers’ group of The Enterprise Corporation were selected as respondents of the interview. The descriptive responses were collected through Skype audio teleconferencing, which was the most reasonable and convenient way to collect the conversational responses (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). The responses collected from the interview guideline were brought into useful thematic analysis. This helped the researcher to complete the inductive part of the study (Teddlie, 2009). (Look for the Appendix section for interview design). Ethical Considerations Ethics considerations are primarily important in research. Conducting a research means that ethics are part of the study and research. The same ethical rules have been implied by the researcher in the study (Griffith & Layne, 1999). The researcher has taken institutional permissions to attain information of the selected organization. Only the important and the most relevant information has been attained by the researcher to meet the purpose of the study (Guest, 2011). The Avoided Bias Bringing all ethical principles into consideration, the researcher aimed to avoid partiality and biasness in the research (Teddlie, 2009). The interview design avoided the biasness factor. It avoided any differences between employees and managers, making the research highly ethical and principled. Avoiding the bias, the study was significantly improvised by means of ethic and high human morals (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). The Reliability Factor To make a research authentic, it is necessary that the data on which the research is being conducted is reliable and validated. Often, when a research is conducted on a certain organization or company, the organization wants to keep its practices confidential (Teddlie, 2009). The confidentiality of organization brings unreal information and hence makes the research unreliable and based on unreal data. To make the research authenticate it is important that real picture of organization is brought into its data. The genuine the information presented by the organization, the more testified the research and its findings will be (Griffith & Layne, 1999). Considering the reliability factor, the researcher approached a realistic organization based in China - the Enterprise Corporation of the food sector (Ghauri, 2012). The data obtained from the organization was highly confidential but allowed the researcher to get it used for research implication. Considering the reliability factor, the researcher was able to meet the research aims and objectives. The purpose of the research was met as the data availed was highly authentic and real to address the problem of the research (Guest, 2011). Appendix Interview Questions Employees’ Group What is your position? What do you think about the performance appraisal? Is it effective to you? In which aspect it should be improved in your opinion? What is the relationship between your payment and appraisal? Is your payment effective after performance appraisal? What do you think about it? High performances get high payment; workers think the policy is fairness and enhance the positivity of workers. What is your task, and do you think your task completion is effective in performance appraisal? What kind of training do you have, and what is its aim? To what extent it is helpful in your task? What do you think about the promotion chances? Are they fair to everybody? Could you please tell me your experience? Have you made your career planning? What is it? Managers’ Group What is your position, and what do you think about the performance appraisal in your company? How is it effective to you? In which aspect should it be improved in your opinion? What is the objective in your company, and what target is set to workers? Do you think it will be achieved? What is the role of performance appraisal? Is it effective to your target achievement? What is the policy of training? Could you explain the process and aspect of the employees’ training? To what extent training is useful, and could you give me an example? Is there train gap? How to deal with it? How about the performance in the past? Could you compare it with current condition? How about the level of workplace, and what is the policy of promotion? Could you describe the process and promotion chances? Is there any standard you depend on? Could you tell me the policy of payment, and what is the relationship between payment and performance appraisal? Is the performance appraisal effective to the company’s development? What are the obstacles to progress? Do you have any plan for the future? List of References Ghauri, E., 2012. Improving Performance Appraisal Practices. Research Report. Brisbane: Southern Cross University. Griffith, D.A. & Layne, L.J., 1999. A Casebook for Spatial Statistical Data Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guest, G., 2011. Applied Thematic Analysis. New Delhi: SAGE Publications. Johnson, B. & Christensen, L., 2010. Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches. London: SAGE. Teddlie, C., 2009. Foundations of Mixed Methods Research: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. New Delhi: SAGE Publications Inc. Xiao, Y., 2010. The importance of staff training in the hotel industry. Research Report. Vaasan University of Applied Sciences. Read More