Influence of Stress Factors at the Working Place - Research Proposal Example

Research Problem Area Stress at Work in UK organization and culture Research Question What are the current day stress factors in the work culture of UK organization? And Does working for long hours one among them? And how stress management is observed under UK HR guidelines. Research Objectives The main objectives of the research is to identify the Nature of stress in UK Workplaces Types of stress factors in the work place in UK organizations Relation between the stress factors Types & Outcomes of workplace stress Stress management in theory Stress management standards in UK Research Philosophy People love to work for their desired goals. They enjoy meeting workplace targets and challenges within the allowed parameters like, time, effort, physical fit, intellectual and mental abilities. However, generally a renouncing word called ‘burnout rate’ or ‘fatigue’ replaces the workplace motives to perform the desired goals of individuals and organizations. So it becomes necessary for the organizations to identify the stress factors that hinder the growth as well their combination and their level of effect. Also UK is the country known for long working hours from generations and produced many workaholics. But burnout and stress is a common phenomenon that operates globally irrespective of the locality and country. Hence, the current research intends to observe the factors that are causing the workplace stress in UK amidst of the hanging scenario of globalization activities. Whether, the working culture of UK for long hours still dominates the work motivation of the employees or not is the key area of observation. Outcomes of the stress and the risk levels of stress is proposed to be analyzed parallel. Stress management aspects like stress reduction techniques, stress control policies, employee workplace facilities etc., will be closely observed. And the conceptual frame work of UK to manage the stress at workplace will be closely observed to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented guidelines and the current status of the stress management in workplaces. The outcome of the study should propose to have more knowledge and management methods on the work stress in UK. Research Strategy The research is proposed to observe a hybrid methodology that includes both quantitative as well as qualitative methods. The study is proposed to use quantitative research methodology to prove the hypothesis as it facilitates the researcher to collect the primary data from a big population of employees on the factors of stress at work. And the qualitative research method is proposed to observe the UK framework to address the stress at work and impact or effect of the local organization with those guidelines. The literature review is proposed to observe different illustrations and opinions of experts on industry facts. Qualitative Method: Qualitative method is proposed to collect the secondary data to evaluate the preliminary facts of the employment details and policies. Qualitative research methods can be described as naturalistic, anthropological, and ethnographic and can be used through interpretivism paradigm in the current research. As per definition of Byrne’s definition (cited in Rob O Neil), qualitative research is about ‘inquiries of knowledge that are outside the framework prescribed by the scientific method, as well as assumptions of inferential statistics’, the current study inquires the facts of the UK employment. Though, qualitative study is assumed as ‘vague’ (Byrne) and ‘loosely defined category of research designs or models (Preissle). The same authors again confirm that qualitative method is a tool that “elicit verbal, visual, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory data as descriptive narratives like field notes, recordings, or other transcriptions from audio and videotapes and other written records and pictures or films” (Preissle 2002 cited in Rob O Neil). Qualitative research methodology includes the types like, action research, case study research, Delphi studies, grounded theory, life histories, content analysis, hermeneutics, or general narrative enquiry or participant observer research. Qualitative methods are the most certainly appropriate option when in need of researching patterns and trends in the industry and to understand the depth of the environment around the research point, the cultural characteristics that influence the industry especially when the research is adopting new areas of identification. Qualitative research is ‘mainly concerned with the properties, the state and the character’, (Labuschagne 2003 cited in Rob O Neil). Qualitative research also gives the flexibility of driving the research according to the scope. This aspect is very helpful where the research area is very vast and the scope of the research needs to go in particular direction. That’s why qualitative methods are being preferred in studying the sensitive subjects. The personal skills of the researcher bring out the quality in answering the questions of hypothesis. However the personal skills of the researcher may also become hindrances to elicit the exact answers from the responders as it may be influenced by the gender and ethnicity of the researcher. Qualitative methods allow openness in conducting the research and help to generate new theories. ‘It certainly seems reasonable to suggest that one may have a better understanding of a community member situation by reading a descriptive passage than just looking at demographic statistics’, (Kruger, 2003). Qualitative results are difficult to total and are difficult even to replicate due to the lack of structured design and standardized procedures. However, the qualitative study gives a greater depth in understanding the entire scenario of employment in UK. But as primary method the study intends to follow the Quantitative research methodology as this is ideally suited to find out what and why. As in this particular study, it is required to find out the factors that cause stress in work place which may differ from organization to organization and employee to employee. As quantitative research is more easily defined as the collection of numerical and statistical data, the study through this method can easily follow the statistical analysis of the data resulting the causing factors and their relationship with working conditions etc., As the current study needs data that can be sorted, classified, measured in a strictly “objective” way that can be accurately described by a set of rules or formulae or strict procedures, the quantitative study is proposed. So it is proposed to employ survey method of research in finding the hypothesis, to avoid unambiguous and independent subjective judgments. Also as the study needs to find out the correspondence between the two variables like long working hours and the stress factors, it is assumed that there is a special type of relationship that holds the two variables together that are not only in correspondence, but that one causes the other. In the current study it is assumed that the presence of long working hours will cause stress at work place. Hence a correlation relationship study is proposed to prove the hypothesis assuming that the variables are correlated. Proposed Research Approach: As the study proposes to formulate tentative hypotheses to explore further and finally end up developing the general conclusions or theories on the workplace stress, it can be said as adopting inductive approach. This can be explained further as the current study first tries to observe the facts and the specific factors underlying the stress at workplace and then escalates to a broader generalizations in identifying the impact of guidelines. This can also be termed as "bottom up" approach. Here the current study is proposed to begin with the specific literature observations and survey results and then begin to detect patterns, working styles and methods that are in support to reduce the stress levels in work place. Time horizon: The research is proposed to follow the Cross Sectional pattern of time horizon, analyzing the implementation of stress management methods from time to time in the historical perspective of the UK organizations. Proposed Data collection method(s): The Data collection is proposed to follow in two ways. Obtaining the results by using survey questionnaire can be observed as the primary method of data collection. And as secondary method of data collection, observation of secondary data is proposed with literature reviews, journals, documents, articles, news collection and statistical reports etc., Proposed Sampling: The current study proposes to conduct a survey with 200-250 sample population involving employees from different organization in UK. There should be a random sampling in choosing the population, to include observations, which are selected form the normal employee population so that every member of the population has a known chance participating and giving opinion on the work stress. In order to have a good opinion poll, the study should be conducted with a total sample size of 200-250, by considering only those respondents who are willing to participate in the study. Proposed analysis The test results should be collected manually to record the mental attitude of the employee towards work profile and working conditions against the stress factors and then coded on to computer using Excel Software. As the current hypothesis involves the results in the form of numerical data which is huge as an outcome of survey a correlation analysis is proposed to conduct on the data to prove the study objectives. The correlation analysis of the study should be conducted using excel or SPSS software. The resulted data should then put to ANOVA test to find out the variance levels. It is proposed that results of survey for stress factors against the dependent variables should be considered for statistical analyses; ANOVA is proposed to test the impact of different activity levels on performance levels of the employees. Ethics: As the method is proposed to intimate the purpose and process of the survey method to the participants well before, the study maintains the ethical practice of research Proposed Time Scale of the Research: The proposed time to complete the research project is shown in the form of following Gantt chart. Project timelines can be framed through Gant Chart, which is a graphical representation of tasks as segments on a time scale. These charts help in plan and monitor project development or resource allocation. Usually, the left hand side of the Gant chart is a column contains the lists of activities. And on the horizontal axis is a time scale, the relative time can be represented. In the present Gant chart, each activity takes up one row. Dates are represented at the top in increments of months. Rows of bars in the Gant chart show the start and end dates of each activity in the project. The activities are shown running sequentially, in parallel or overlapping. Gantt Chart Task Week-1 Week-2 Week-3 Week-4 Week-5 Week-6 Week-7 Week-8 Week-9 1. Literature review 2. Scope development 3. Questionnaire preparation 4. Data collection 5. Data coding 6. Data Analysis 7. Findings & Discussion write up 8 Dissertation Presentations Limitations of the proposed research method As the current data involves too many parameters to identify the stress levels and the employee performance in job, the study seems to be a bit complicated one in identifying the relation of each single variable on its dependent. However a careful execution of experiment and data coding will eliminate the limitation. A further investigation into the literature may also bring out some base to the study. Also as the proposed research method observes a controlled setting of study, the results may or may not vary in natural environment giving a further scope to identify the results in other settings. References: Deduction & Induction, Deductive and Inductive Thinking, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Management standards for work-related stress, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Rob ONeill, The advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative research methods, Retrieved from retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from http://www.roboneill.co.uk/papers/research_methods.htm Stress: recent research, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Tim Newton, Jocelyn, Managing stress: Emotion and Power at Work, THE SEQUENCING OF CONTENT:INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE APPROACHES, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Thelma Agnew, the workplace stress epidemic, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from WORK-RELATED STRESS:A GUIDE: Implementing a European Social Partner agreement, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Work-related stress, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Work Stress - Long Work Hours Are Not the Culprit, retrieved on 12th May, 2008, from Read More