Methods and Methodologies in Accounting and Management - Essay Example

?Running Head: Research Methods Research Methods [Institute’s Research Methods Positivist Research Methodology Positivists believe that reality is present in an objective manner and the researcher or the finder may use measureable properties to define that reality. Furthermore, they also believe that those measureable properties and the instruments used by the researcher are independent of the researcher that implies that there is no subjectivity (Phillimore & Goodson, pp. 209-211, 2004; Creswell, pp. 235-236, 2009). August Comte was the philosopher, which coined the term positivism and linked it with empiricism, which believes that authentic knowledge can only be gained with the help of our senses, human experience, and verification. Positivist researchers aimed at creating mechanisms with which they could develop hypothesis, test them in a manner, which helps them to predict the future occurrences or behavior (Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006; Cohen, pp. 124-125, 2007). The positivist research approach is also known as the scientific approach where the logical of inquiry is based on reason, facts, and experiences. Holding knowledge of anything, which is beyond the human experience or which cannot be observed or measured, is impossible (Eriksson & Kovalainen, pp. 89-91, 2008). For example, in his research and studies, the focus of B. F. Skinner was on observing the predicting the positive and negative reinforces of behavior and he went on to avoid all other cultural, human and social factors which can impact the process since it is not possible to observe, measure and predict them (Phillimore & Goodson, pp. 209-211, 2004). Moreover, positivist researcher avoid the subjective state of individuals because they think that humans are passive and reactive to the external stimuli, which makes their thinking and behavior predictable and unworthy of attention. This not only dehumanizes the human beings but also makes them unworthy of free will (Zalan & Lewis, pp. 507-508, 2004). Positivist researchers go on to believe that the entire universe is working on specific principles of cause and effect. Moreover, in order to uncover the truth, the researcher should try to find those cause and effect link and use that to predict the future events, occurrences, and behaviors (McNiff & Whitehead, pp. 10-12, 2000; Creswell, pp. 235-236, 2009). Positivist research methods include experimental research and descriptive research. As the name suggests, experimental research occurs when the researchers deliberately manipulate certain factors under highly controlled and monitored conditions (Johnson & Christensen, pp. 346-347, 2010; Cohen, pp. 124-125, 2007). Quite understandably, the purpose remains to highlight links between variables while manipulating different factors. Under the umbrella of descriptive research, researchers use surveys, case studies, developmental studies, corelational studies, trend studies, and others (Eriksson & Kovalainen, pp. 89-91, 2008; Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006). Critical Research Methodology On the other hand, critical researchers hold the belief that social reality has its roots in history and although, people may try to change themselves and their reality but in the process of the doing so they find themselves faced with various social, economic, cultural and political barriers. It was Jurgen Habermas, one of the leading German philosophers of the 21st century, who deserves the credit for developing and nurturing this approach in the field of social sciences and research in order to explore the historical forces, which have the power of restrict the human freedom and justice in the society (Creswell, pp. 235-236, 2009). Karl Marx, Georg Hegel, Paulo Freire, and others have also played an important role in development of this theory (Eriksson & Kovalainen, pp. 89-91, 2008; Zalan & Lewis, pp. 507-508, 2004). Like the interpretativists, critical researchers also address and acknowledge the fact that the element of subjectivity is present in observations but they also go a step further to challenge the subjectivity and perceptions in order to bring about a constructive social change in the society (Phillimore & Goodson, pp. 209-211, 2004). This is why many critics of Critical research methodology label it as political ideology rather than a pure research methodology. In other words, critical theorists believe that the purpose of inquiry should be to remove injustices in the society and make an attempt at making world a better place (Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006; Yin, pp. 85-86, 2003). Critical theorists believe in two kinds of research methodologies which are action research and ideology critique. Examples of critical research topics could be “a study of educational development in United States of America during colonial rule” and “a study exploring the causes and dynamics of absenteeism amongst the employees of an organization” (Goddard & Melville, pp. 65-66, 2004; Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006; Weinberg, pp. 52-53, 2002). Interpretative Research Methodology Unlike positivist research, interpretative studies assume that people will more likely fail in uncovering reality or truth of objectives in world or this reality or truth may differ from person to person since people associate their own subjective meaning or “interpretations” to their observations of the world (How, pp. 361-362, 2003; Blaikie, pp. 26-27, 2009; Silverman, pp 63-64, 2004). Therefore, the focus in interpretative studies remains on finding those meanings that people associate to those objects (Lindlof & Taylor, pp. 206-207, 2010; Silverman, pp. 103-109, 2001). Therefore, the data that is available at our disposal, according to the interpretative studies, is actually the face that the objective data has taken place after being polluted and corrupted by the constructions, predispositions and mindsets of the ones that have involved in the chain of reporting and processing that data (Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006). Therefore, the existence of purely objective data is impossible. Even if there were any uncorrupted and first hand information, data or knowledge available, during the process of acquiring the knowledge, the subject would corrupt and distort the objective reality in light of the context, his predispositions, presumptions, language and others (Weinberg, pp. 52-53, 2002). The researcher is actually the vehicle by which reality comes onto the scene and more importantly, this “reality” is a social construction of the researcher or observer (Pervez & Gronhaug, pp. 46, 2005; Phillimore & Goodson, pp. 209-211, 2004). Important here to understand is interpretative research methodology is best option for exploring the reasons behind senior women managers of gender discrimination is because of the fact that interpretative research methodology will not try to answer questions such as “how many” and “how many”. Instead, it will attempt to dig down deep to explore the answers of “how” and “why” questions which, quite understandably, are the prime requirements for the research (Johnson & Christensen, pp. 346-347, 2010). Gender discrimination is a not a robotic process or as straightforward as a chemical equation where the input can determine the output in moles, grams and numbers (Hesse-Biber, pp. 4-74-75, 2010; How, pp. 361-362, 2003). Instead, it a process where humans, their backgrounds, ethnicities, beliefs, cultures, thoughts, feelings, emotions, biases and others human related variables are involved, both on the receiving and giving end, which go on to determine and shape the entire process. Quite understandably, while exploring experiences, researchers will have to either form or will have to use case study method because experiences of each manager would itself be a case study requiring in-depth analysis. In addition, as mentioned earlier, in-depth case study analysis is an interpretative research tool (Goddard & Melville, pp. 65-66, 2004; Pervez & Gronhaug, pp. 46, 2005; Silverman, pp. 103-109, 2001). Furthermore, in order to gain a deeper and clearly understanding of the experiences of female managers, the researcher will not only have to be involved in the data collection and analysis process, as it would have been the case in positivist research. However, the researcher would have to take up the role of passionate participant, which is in line with the Interpretative Research ideology (Andrade, pp. 49, 2009; Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006). Only the interpretative research methodology would allow the researcher to take into account the unique, conditions, and situations of the each participant Consider that there are five different manager included in the research (Weinberg, pp. 52-53, 2002). The first women manager is an African American, which means that there are chances that the discrimination, which she is facing, is not only rooted in gender but also due to her ethnicity (Hair, pp. 157-159, 2007; Blaikie, pp. 26-27, 2009). The second women manager is a below average performer and appears in the bottom 20 percent of the employees of the company. She feels threatened and feels great deal of insecurity about her job. Therefore, over the years, due to constant pressure, she has started disliking the company and that factor needs to be taken into account before examining her responses (Hesse-Biber, pp. 4-74-75, 2010). The third female manager comes from a background where daughters where not welcomed in the family at all, therefore, she has a lot unresolved issues regarding gender discrimination may come into action while she reacts to such issues at the workplace (McNiff & Whitehead, pp. 10-12, 2000). The fourth female manager comes from a high-income family and a comparatively very liberal background where instances of gender discrimination are rare and even if they are present, that female manager avoids it (How, pp. 361-362, 2003). As compared to the other four female managers, the fifth female manager has worked for the organization for less than three months whereas all other managers have spent at least four years working for the company (Scott & Morrison, pp. 314-316, 2006; Yin, pp. 85-86, 2003). The point here is that neither critical research methodology nor positivist research methodology can help the researcher in capturing the crucial insights in the research. One cannot simply make these five women manager stand in the same considering their cultural differences and possible biasness. Assigning the same weightage to their responses or treating their responses in the absence of any background knowledge would be the biggest possible injustice to the research (Andrade, pp. 49, 2009; Pervez & Gronhaug, pp. 46, 2005; Hair, pp. 157-159, 2007). References Andrade, Antonio Diaz. 2009. “Interpretive Research Aiming at Theory Building: Adopting and Adapting the Case Study Design.” The Qualitative Report. Volume 14, Issue 1, pp. 42-60. Blaikie, Norman. 2009. Designing Social Research. Polity. Cohen, Louis. 2007. Research methods in education. Routledge. Creswell, John. W. 2009. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications. Eriksson, P., & Kovalainen, A. 2008. Qualitative Methods in Business Research. Sage Publications. Goddard, W., & Melville, S. 2004. Research Methodology: An Introduction. Juta and Company Ltd. Hair, Joseph F. 2007. Research methods for business. John Wiley & Sons. Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy. 2010. Mixed Methods Research: Merging Theory with Practice. New York, Guilford Press. How, Alan. 2003. Critical theory. Palgrave Macmillan. Johnson, Burke, & Christensen, Larry. 2010. Educational Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Approaches. SAGE. Lindlof, Thomas R., & Taylor, Bryan C. 2010. Qualitative Communication Research Methods. SAGE. McNiff, Jean, & Whitehead, Jack. 2000. Action research in organizations. Routledge. Pervez, N., & Gronhaug, Kjell. 2005. Research methods in business studies: a practical guide. Financial Times Prentice Hall. Phillimore, Jenny, & Goodson, Lisa. 2004. Qualitative research in tourism: ontologies, epistemologies, and methodologies. Routledge. Scott, David, & Morrison, Marlene. 2006. Key ideas in educational research. Continuum International Publishing Group. Silverman, D. 2001. Interpreting Qualitative Data. SAGE Publications. Silverman, D. 2004. Qualitative Research, Theory, Method, and Practice. London: SAGE Publications. Weinberg, D. 2002. Qualitative Research Methods. Blackwell Publishers. Yin, Robert, K. 2003. Case Study Research. SAGE Publications. Zalan, T. & Lewis, G. 2004. Writing about Methods in Qualitative Research: Towards a More Transparent Approach. Cengage Learning. Read More