POSITIVISTIC METHODOLOGIES

SURVEYS Surveys involve selecting a representative and unbiased sample of subjects drawn from the group you wish to study. The main methods of asking questions are by face-to-face or telephone interviews, by using questionnaires or a mixture of the two. There are two main types of survey: a descriptive survey: concerned with identifying & counting the frequency of a particular response among the survey group, or an analytical survey: to analyse the relationship between different elements (variables) in a sample group. EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES Experimental studies are done in carefully controlled and structured environments and enable the causal relationships of phenomena to be identified and analysed. The variables can be manipulated or controlled to observe the effects on the subjects studied. For example, sound, light, heat, volume of work levels etc can be managed to observe the effects.Studies done in laboratories tend to offer the best opportunities for controlling the variables in a rigorous way, although field studies can be done in a more ‘real world’ environment. LONGITUDINAL STUDIES These are studies over an extended period to observe the effect that time has on the situation under observation and to collect primary data (data collected at first hand) of these changes. Longitudinal studies are often conducted over several years, which make them unsuitable for most relatively short taught post-graduate courses. However, it is possible to base short time scale research on primary data collected in longitudinal studies by, for example, government agencies, and focusing research on a close analysis of one or more aspect or elements of this data. CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES This is a study involving different organisations or groups of people to look at similarities or differences between them at any one particular time, e.g. a survey of the IT skills of managers in one or a number of organisations at any particular time. Cross-sectional studies are done when time or resources for more extended research, e.g. longitudinal studies, are limited. It involves a close analysis of a situation at one particular point in time to give a ‘snap-shot’ result. PHENOMENOLOGICAL METHODOLOGIES CASE STUDIES A case study offers an opportunity to study a particular subject, e.g. one organisation, in depth, or a group of people, and usually involves gathering and analysing information; information that may be both qualitative and quantitative. Case studies can be used to formulate theories, or be: Descriptive (e.g. where current practice is described in detail) Illustrative (e.g. where the case studies illustrate new practices adopted by an organisation Experimental (e.g. where difficulties in adopting new practices or procedures are examined) Researchers are increasingly using autobiography as a means of collecting information from small groups of respondents to seek patterns, underlying issues and life concerns. This method could be used, for example, to trace the influences of variables, such as social class, gender and educational experiences on career development and career progression, or lack of it, within an organisation. It can be, however a time consuming process as it requires trust to be built between researcher and the people concerned. ACTION RESEARCH Action research involves an intervention by a researcher to influence change in any given situation and to monitor and evaluate the results. The researcher, working with a client, identifies a particular objective, e.g. ways of improving telephone responses to ‘difficult’ clients, and explores ways this might be done. The researcher enters into the situation, e.g. by introducing new techniques, and monitors the results. This research requires active co-operation between researcher and client and a continual process of adjustment to the intervention in the light of new information and responses to it from respondents. ETHNOGRAPHY (PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION) This form of research evolved from anthropology and the close study of societies. Ethnography is more usually described as participant observation, and this is where the researcher becomes a working member of the group or situation to be observed. The aim is to understand the situation from the inside: from the viewpoints of the people in the situation. The researcher shares the same experiences as the subjects, and this form of research can be particularly effective in the study of small groups/small firms.Participant observation can be overt (everyone knows it is happening) or covert (when the subject(s) being observed for research purposes are unaware it is happening). PARTICIPATIVE ENQUIRY This is about research within one’s own group or organisation and involves the active involvement and co-operation of people who you would normally work and associate with on a daily basis. The whole group may be involved in the research and the emphasis is on sharing, agreeing, cooperating and making the research process as open and equal as possible.Clearly this type of research can work when the student is already an active and known member of any organisation and may therefore be a particularly suitable approach for part-time employed students in their own workplaces. FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES Research, from a feminist perspective, focuses on knowledge grounded in female experiences and is of benefit to everyone, but particularly women. In a business context, for example, research might centre on the role of women in an organisation and on their views, roles, influence and concerns. Feminist research perspectives have a number of common starting points. First, that women and their contributions to social and cultural life have been marginalized and that this is reflected in past research practice. Second, that men and male perspectives or norms have dominated previous research. And third, that gender, as a significant factor in understanding the world, has been absent from understandings and interpretations of social phenomena, in favour of other categories, e.g. social class. Feminist perspectives draw attention therefore, to how women or women’s concerns may in previous research have been excluded, ignored or relegated to the periphery. It also raises questions therefore about why some forms of knowledge become or are perceived as more valid than others. GROUNDED THEORY Grounded theory reverses approaches in research that collected data in order to test the validity of theoretical propositions, in favour of an approach that emphasises the generation of theory from data.Theory is generated from observations made, rather than being decided before the study. This approach seeks to challenge research approaches that unwittingly or wittingly look for evidence in the data to confirm or deny established theories or practices; the feeling behind this is that you will often find out in research what you are looking for! But if an open mind is kept, new ways of perceiving a subject or new ways of categorising or applying data gathered may be discovered or advanced. The aim of grounded theory is then, to approach research with no preconceived ideas about what might be discovered or learned. Silverman (1993) summarises the main features and stages of grounded theory: 1. An attempt to develop categories which derive from the data; 2. Attempting then to give as many examples as possible in the categories developed in order to demonstrate their importance 3. Then developing these categories into more general and broader analytical frameworks (or theories) with relevance to other situations outside the research subject.