Research Methods

Discuss about the Qualitative Approaches To Criminal Justice.

Impact of shift work on employee satisfaction

The research methodology outlines every component of the research from the introduction; research methods; methodology; population, sampling techniques, population sample; data collection; data analysis; ethical considerations; and the limitation of the research.

This study employed a qualitative research design. In-depth interviews were held with five-star hotel employees to determine the impact of shift work on employee satisfaction in the hotel industry in Australia (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The descriptive method was used since the researcher sought to describe the perception of hotel staff on the impact that shift work has on their job satisfaction. Purposive sampling was used. Observation, transcription and interview were used for the collection of praimary data. The data was then analysed using  open coding and axial coding.

The study was conducted in Sydney, Australia. The study sampled five-star hotels in Sydney. The management at the hotels was approached, and their consent sought to interview them and some of the middle and lower level employees.  A population sample was determined from the popluation of employees through stratified random sampling.  Even though the population was large, the selected ssample comprized of 36 respondents. Due to time constraints, some of the respondents were interviewed using phone calls and email. Five respondents were interviewed each day for about 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Data from the questionnaire and observations were collected and stored for analysis.

The study used qualitative approaches to answer the research questions. Qualitative research was used because of its appropriateness in handling small samples, though its findings are not quantifiable (Spradley, 2016). The advantage of the qualitative research is that it allows the researcher to carry out a complete description and analysis of the subjects under study, without limits in the scope of the study and how participants respond to the interview questions (Zikmund, Babin, Carr, & Griffin, 2013).

Research methodology is the systematic approach of data collection and analysis. The methodology describes the research philosophy, the research approach and the research design. For a qualitative research, interviews of the relevant cadres and individuals are vital (Pogrebin, 2003). Interviews allow the researcher to collect valuable information that will impact the findings and conclusion of the study.

Research philosophy highlights the process of information gathering and systematic analysis. Philosophy is important in understanding the research questions to choose the right research methods and strategy. This research used the positivism since it supports the acquisition of knowledge through scientific analysis of findings (Chiang & Hsieh, 2012). Positivism relates the findings of the study to the conclusion and gives no chance to manipulation of data. Valid analysis is achieved when the respondents can be successfully associated with their responses.

Methodology

The research approach describes the theoretical patterns of data analysis. The approach of the research is influenced by the research questions and objectives of the study (Spradley, 2003). The theoretical framework and how the variables influence each other determine the approach of research. Inductive approach helped the approach used in this research to achieve its goals in identifying important theories and observation.

This study used the descriptive survey design. According to Zikmund et al. (2013), the goal of descriptive survey is to describe the characteristics of the variables under study. It tries to address the questions on what, when, what, where, and how.  As such, descriptive studies are conducted for three primary reasons, the first being to help identify the gaps in research, to support the researcher in planning and allocating resources for the study and to provide informal information about a given variable. Descriptive research can help reveal connections and patterns that would otherwise go unnoticed (Pogrebin, 2003).  The descriptive study design was critical in trying to understand the causal relationship between variables, in the hospitality industry in Australia.

Zikmund and his colleagues described the population in research as “any complete group…that shares some common set of characteristics.”  These characteristics must be of interest to the study. About the definition, the population can be said to be referring to the community under study. Consequently, the population in this study refers to the community from which the respondents for the interviews were derived.  

This study focused on the employees of five-star hotels in Australia. The interest of the research was in hotels with a functional human resource department because it is the department with the mandate to oversee the welfare of employees. Given that many hotels in Australia do not have a formal system of human resource management; it was not prudent to research all the five-star hotels. Hence the population of the study was generated from three five-star hotels in Sydney.

Hotel	Management staff	Middle-level staff	Lower level staff	Total
Hotel One	3	12	20	35
Hotel Two	3	10	24	37
Hotel Three	5	15	35	55
Total	11	37	79	127

“Sampling is the process by which a relatively small number of individuals, object or event is selected and analyzed to find out something about the entire population from which they were selected” (Spradley, 2016). Zikmund et al. (2013), define the population sample size as the selected representative of the population. The sample size was 36, representing 30% of the total population, according to Patton’s (2002) suggestion that descriptive studies require 10% – 30% ratio of the sample population. The sample is heterogeneous because it was represents all the staff cadres. The study employed purposive sampling technique. Purposive sampling allowed the researcher to choose the sample depending on the objective of the study. Consequently, participants from three levels were selected, that is, management staff, middle-level staff, and lower level staff. Table 3.2 illustrates the sample size

Hotel	Management staff	Middle-level staff	Lower level staff	Total
Hotel One	1	3	6	10
Hotel Two	1	3	7	11
Hotel Three	1	4	10	15
Total	3	10	23	36

Population and Sampling

Data collection procedures are the instruments that are used in obtaining data from the participants. Our study used observation, interview, and transcription to gather data from the participants, about the research objectives.  Both primary and secondary data were collected during the survey. Face-to-face, telephone and email interviews were conducted during the first two months of the research. Face-to-face interviews allowed the researcher to make observations. Phone call interviews were recorded for transcription. Interview is a vital instrument for collecting useful data; it allows  respondents to voice their opinions about the research question (Pogrebin, 2003). Information obtained from interviews is unbiased (Spradley, 2003).  Secondary data was gathered from published sources explaining theories on diversity management.

A The interview is a written paper with questions requiring the respondent to fill out the answers (Kothari, 2004). A interview can be completed either orally or in writing. The researcher may read out the qestions and record the responses of each participant independently. In our study, the researcher developed a list of questions in for the interview and disbursed it to the respondents. The questions were precise to avoid ambiguity. The researcher conducted the interview physically to the respondents who were then given ample time to respond accordingly. A pilot study was conducted on seven members of staff in Hotel One, to determine the points of weakness before the actual study was done (Sekaram & Bougie, 2010).

Once all the interviews had been conducted, the answers were edited for completeness and consistency (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The data from the intereviews was coded to allow grouping to data into themes. Open coding was used to group the data into themes to develop summaries of the data. Open coding creates labels that summarize observations. Examples of the respondents’ words and properties of each code are tabulated. Axial coding was then used to relate the coded data. Axial coding identifies relationships in the open codes Tabulation is the systematic arrangement of data into tables (Zikmund et al., 2013).The tabulated data was arranged logically into rows and columns. Tabulation prepared the study for interpretation and analysis

Data analysis examines the information collected during the survey to make inferences and deductions (Bryman & Bell, 2015). During data analysis responses were assigned numerical values. However, since our data was qualitative, it was analyzed systematically to deduce logical conclusions and recommendations. Percentage distribution and frequencies were calculated where appropriate.

This study was subject to several ethical concerns.  At the earlier stage of the study, the participants signed a written acceptance confirming that they would participate in the research by signing the consent and briefing letter.  At the same time, the respondents signed the debriefing and withdrawal letters and were assured that their participation is voluntary and that they can withdraw from the study at any stage of the research. 

Data Collection

At the same time, the participants familiarized themselves with the objectives of the study and were assured that whatever information they gave was private and confidential; and, would not be used for any other purpose other than academic and research purposes. At the end of the study, it was evident that research had not caused any harm or abuse, either psychological or physical during its course.  

As is common in all studies, this research was characterized by the following limitations:

The researcher experienced financial challenges during the study; the study required the researcher to travel between the hotels; essential logistics like stationaries were too high; and, the time was also limited because of commitments. These challenges prevented the researcher from covering a larger sample.

The study was only capable of studying three organizations which may not give adequate facts regarding the topic. Similarly, the conclusion may not be strong enough to address the goal of the study.  Also, some organizations were reluctant to give the researcher the go-ahead to assess some their policies; which was contrary to the expectations of the researcher. Though the research had created a rapport with the respondents, some were mostly unpredictable which implied that some respondent were sometimes hesitant to give information.

The literature on employee satisfaction in the hospitality industry was scarce, yet this project aimed to contribute to the existing literature in employee satisfaction and the impact of related cost on the hotels. Still, these limitations did not affect the validity of the findings of this study, since the research was independent and timely.

References

Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.

Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Age International.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury, CA: SAGE Publications.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, C.A.: SAGE Publications.

Pogrebin, M. (2003). Qualitative Approaches to Criminal Justice: Perspectives from the Field. SAGE.

Sekaram, U., & Bougie, R. (2010). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Spradley, J. P. (2003). Qualitative Approaches to Criminal Justice: Perspectives from the Field. Thousand Oaks, C.A: SAGE.

Spradley, J. P. (2016). The ethnographic interview. Waveland Press.

Zikmund, W. G., Babin, B. J., Carr, J. C., & Griffin, M. (2013). Business Research Methods (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.