Ontology
A theory concerning the nature of social phenomena as entities that are to be admitted to a knowledge system .ontology gives an idea about the nature of reality. Ontology is concern the kinds of things that assume to exit in the world, and how those things should be viewed and studied. Ontology helps to maintain the research and helps to understand that there are different ways of viewing the world .Ontology is consists of two aspects .Those are objectivism and subjectivism. These two aspects were describe about both devotes among business and management researchers and it can be accepted as producing valid knowledge by many researchers. Objectivism is an ontological position that asserts that social entities exits in a reality external to, and independent of, social actors concerned with their existence. Subjectivism is an ontological position that asserts entitles, that is created from the perceptions and consequent actions of those social actors responsible for their creation. Smircich (1983) noted that objectives would tend to view the culture of an organisation as something that the organisation ‘has’. The subjectivist view point would be to reject as too simplistic and argue that culture is something that is created and re-created through a complex array of phenomena which include social interactions and physical factors such as office layout to which individuals attach certain meanings, rituals and myths.
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Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that studies the character of knowledge and when constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of study. The most important distinction is what they consider important in the study of the manufacturing process. The researcher who considers data on resources needed is likely to be more asking to the position of the natural scientist. This may be position of the operations management specialist who is comfortable with the collection and analysis of ‘facts’. Positivism is an epistemological position that advocates working with an observable social reality. The emphasis is on highly structured methodology to facilitate replication, and the product can be law- like generalisations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists. Realism is an epistemological position that objects exits independent of our knowledge of their existence. The essence of realism is that what the senses show us is reality, is the truth: that objects have an existence independent of the human mind. The interpretivisim is an epistemology that advocates that is necessary for the researcher to understand the difference between humans in our role as social actors.
The ontological position will be taking a subjective object approach. This is because researches viewpoint is subjective in nature. Assuming that there is relationship among different elements like motivation and experience of the employees or other factors. Therefore the researcher is of the opinion in different entities in the system interact and can have depend or relationship between them.
What do you understand by the concept of ethics in the context of a taught Masters dissertation? How may it affect your research design or methodology?
Research ethics
Research ethics is the appropriateness of the researcher’s behaviour in relation to the rights of those who become the subject of a research project, or who are affecting by it. Blumberg et al. (2005: 92) define ethics as the ‘moral principles, norms or standards of behaviour that guide moral choices about our behaviour and our relationships with others’. Therefore research ethics relates to the questions how to formulate and clarify the topic, design our research and gain access, collect data, process and store our data, analyse data and write up research findings in a moral and responsible way. Predictably, what is morally defensible behaviour, as researchers will be affected by broader social norms of behaviour (Zikmund, 2000).
The first stage of a research project is translating the business problem into a well-defined research problem. It represents the researcher’s first and best opportunity to anticipate potential ethical problems.
Ham to others: some hard thinking about the underlying problem and business objectives should suggest whether the results are likely to be harmful to other persons or organisations.
Violations of accepted research practise: the researcher has an ethical obligation to the manager to indicate whether a research project is feasible or whether the results are likely to be so tentative as to be worthless. Violations of community standards of conducts:
The manger has an ethical obligation to the researcher to disclose as fully as possible the nature of the question, decision, or problem facing the business. The main ethical problems in master’s dissertation are given below.
Privacy of possible and actual participants
Maintenance of the confidentiality of data provided by individuals or identifiable participants and anonymity
Reactions of participants to the way in which way to collect data, including embarrassment, stress, discomfort, pain and harm
To avoidance of harm can be seen as the cornerstone of the ethical issues that confront those who undertake research. The expression netiquette has been developed to provide a heading for a number of rules or guidelines about how to act ethically when using internet. Potential ethical issues should be recognised and considered from the outset of the research and be one of the criteria against which research proposal is judged. Ethical concerns are likely to occur at all stages of the research project. When seeking access, during data collection, analyse data and when it will report them. Ethical concerns are also associated with the power relationship between the researcher and those who grant access, and the researcher’s role.
Ethics is highly affecting the research work. There are mainly three kinds of ethical issues affects in surveys as well as interviews. Those are informed consent, confidentiality and anonymity and contact effects. The informed consent is important to survey and interview ethics. Respondents have right to know the content or topic of the survey and the right to refuse to participate if they object to its true purpose. Confidentiality can make sure that maintain the promise or not, ensure that data are not available to unauthorized persons and that they are not misused. Questionnaires should be kept safely locked up when not in use. Guarding respondent identities is particularly important for repeated -measure surveys. Researchers conducting personal or telephone interview have direct contact with the individuals who are ultimately the sources of data. To avoid surprise and embarrassment, interviewers must prepare respondents for the questions they are going to ask.
Research will be done based on a firm or an organisation. For doing research in a firm or in an organisation the main factor which we need is that the help and support from the employees and he managers. The research will be done by focusing the employees. The senior employees are never ready to disclose the details about their experience in their firm. The managers are not ready to disclose the details about the firm and employees working their. They are not even ready to share their experience which they get while they conduct the interview. For selecting the firm or organisation the main support and the permission for a student should be provided by the college or the university. The officials of the firm can get influenced by the performance of the person who does research in the firm and this can lead to the recruitment of the person to the firm.
Explain, compare and contrast the following terms: proposition; hypothesis; theory; model?
Propositions are of great interest in research because they may be used to gauge the truth or falsity of relationships among observable phenomena. When advance a proposition is testing, its are hypothesizing. A hypothesis describes the relationship between or among variables. A good hypothesis is one that can explain what it claim to explain what it claims to explain ,is testable , and has greater range , probability, and simplicity than its rivals. Sets of interrelated concepts, definitions and propositions that are advanced to explain and called theories. Models differ from theories in that models are analogies or representations of some aspect of a system or of the system as a whole. Models are used for description, prediction, and control.
Proposition
Proposition as a statement about observable phenomena that may be judged as true or false .when a proposition is formulated for empirical testing. It is call as hypothesis. The relationship between two or more variables, a hypothesis is of a tentative and conjectural nature (Cooper et al: 1198:43).
Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a testable proposition about the relationship between two or more events or concepts. Hypothesis is related in to different areas in research .Descriptive hypothesis is dealing with existence, size form and distribution. Relational hypothesis is type another type of hypothesis and its dealing with the research question format in less frequently. The role of hypothesis is very important in the research program. Hypothesis gives a good direction to the research study and it can identify the facts and these facts are related are relevant and those are not. The environment of this hypothesis and implications of the declaration propose that the best research design is a communication- based study, most likely a survey or interview. A strong hypothesis has three conditions like adequate for its purpose, testable and better a rival.
Theory
A theory is a set of systematically interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that are advanced to explain and predict phenomena. Theories are sound and fit for the condition is triumphant in expiations and predictions. The main challenge of the theory area is to build comprehensive and predict how modifying the product and other variables. Understanding the relationship between the variables are very important in theory. It should help to develop the researcher scientific knowledge. In a theory areas hypothesis has a good role.lt may cause confusion to differentiate between the theory and hypothesis. Theories are related to be complex, be abstract and involve multiple variables. Hypothesis on is more simple, limited-variable statements involving concrete instances.
Model
Model is defined as a representation of system that constructed to study some aspect of the system as whole. Model and theories are entirely different. The role of the theory is explanation perhaps model’s role is representation. Future and present conditions can characterize by models. It will helpful for the researchers and mangers. The main endeavour of the models the increase the understanding, predictions and to manage the complexities of the environment.
4. Give a detailed explanation and illustration, using a diagram, your anticipated research design, otherwise utilise a hypothetical research design process.
Research design:
A research design is the strategy for a study and plan by what the strategy is to be carried out. It specifies the methods and procedures for the collection, measurement, and analysis of data. Unfortunately, there is no simple classification of research designs that covers the variations found in practise. The major descriptors of design are given below.
Exploratory versus formalized
Monitoring versus communication study
Experimental versus ex post facto
Descriptive versus causal
Cross-sectional versus longitudinal
Case versus statistical
Field versus laboratory versus simulation
Subjects perceive no deviations, some deviations, or researcher -included deviations.
Exploratory research is appropriate for the total study in topic areas where the developed data are limited. In most other studies, exploration is the first stage of a project and is used to orient the researcher and the study. The objective of exploration is the development of hypotheses, not testing. Formalized studies, including descriptive and causal, are those with substantial structure, specific hypothesis to be tested, or research questions to be answered. Descriptive studies are those used to describe phenomena associated with a subject population or to estimate proportions of the population that have certain characteristics.
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Causal studies seek to discover the effect that a variable has on another or why certain outcomes are obtained. The concept of causality is grounded in the logic of hypothesis testing, which in turn, produces inductive conclusions. Such conclusions are problematic and thus can never be demonstrated with certainty. Current ideas about causality as compels processes improve our understanding over Mill’s canons, though it can never know all the relevant information necessary to prove causal linkages beyond doubt.
Research designing will mainly occur based on the causal studies. Research is mainly based on the quantative and qualitative techniques. Data for the research will be collected with the help of questionnaire and the interview conducted. Questionnaire is prepared with the help of qualitative analysis and interview is prepared based on quantative analysis. Both questionnaire and interview will help to us to do research in a proper way.
What is the role of the research question? How would you formulate a research question? (Illustrate by constructing a hypothetical research question from your possible topic area).
Research question is a specific query to be addressed by this research that sets the parameters of the project and suggests the methods to be used for data gathering and analysis .Research question is important because it determines, largely, the research methods that are used to answer it. A research question will provide the flexibility and freedom to explore a phenomenon in depth. It is not so narrow and concentrated that it excludes discovery. The research question in a qualitative study is a statement that recognises the phenomenon to be studied. It gives idea to the readers what the researcher specifically wants to know about the subject. The important thing in the research question is setting the boundaries on what will be studied. This is because researcher cannot cover the all aspects of the problem. Research question helps them to narrow the problem down to a workable size. Research questions should replicate plausible hunches, suspicions, and suggestions of those involved with or knowledgeable about the business problem. General settlement of the research problem is to set of specific research questions. (ref 1).
Research questions .research questions mainly three types.
Questions about Primary Variables
The primary variable materializes in the translation process. In this part, looking to the relationships between the key and primary variables that research is to test. For example, ” seasonal variations in sale important?”
Key Variables
It may present additional variables to be investigated. For example “Are turnover rates showing the same patter?” It may also focus alternative measures of a key variable.
Boundary Questions
It involves the research boundaries and are usually included when the researcher is unsure of the boundaries of the business problem. It may suggest other cases to be investigated or may seek to decide temporal or other boundaries of the problem. Boundary questions are the least ordinary specific research questions.
The research questions focus specific aspects of the problem to be investigated and ideas to be tested. These questions are distilled from the results of the researcher’s investigation of the business problem. The original research question and the approach in which it is phrased lead the researcher to scrutinize data from a specific perspective and to use certain data-gathering techniques and modes of data analysis. The questions set the tone for the research project and help the researcher to stay focused, even when there are masses and data. The original question in a qualitative study open is broad and open-ened.the original research question .the original research question may be suggested by a professor or college, obtain from the researcher’s experience. Whatever the source of the problem, it is important that researcher have enthusiasm for the subject because he or she will have to live with it for some time(REF).
The ability to achieve a certain degree of distance from the research materials and to represents them fairly. The capability to listen to the words of respondents and to give them voice independent of the researcher. In qualitative research, objectivity does not mean controlling the variables. Objectivity have developed some techniques to increase our responsiveness and to help us control intrusion of basis into analysis while retaining sensitivity to what is being said in the data. The first procedure is to think comparatively. Another method for gaining distance is to obtain multiple viewpoints of an event , that is, to attempt to determine how the various actors in a position view it. Also, it is important to periodically step back and ask,” what is going here?” and “does what I think I see fit the reality of the data?”. Another technique for obtaining objectivity is sustaining an attitude of scepticism. The final piece of recommendation is to follow the research procedures, it can making comparisons, asking questions, and sampling based on evolving theoretical concepts are mandatory features of the methodology. Objectivity enables the researcher to have assurance that his or her findings are a reasonable, impartial representation of a problem under investigation, whereas sensitivity enables creativity and discovery of new theory from data.
One of the main factors for the research is motivation. It depends on the work of the person. The growth of the motivation mainly depends on the work experience we have in a firm. Here, in this research, we do consider mainly two important factors, namely, service and the motivation. Questionnaires are prepared in relation to both this factors. Research is done in two ways with the help of questionnaire and interview.
Data collection & Preparation
Data collection
Design
Proposal Approved
Sampling Design
Instrument Development
Research Design Strategy
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