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Purpose of field research designs Types of field studies Planning a field study Sampling plan

Field Research Designs. Purpose of field research designs Types of field studies Planning a field study Sampling plan Questionnaire design Data analysis Special concerns in field research. Purpose of Field Research. Identify areas of concern in organization Monitor long-term trends

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Purpose of field research designs Types of field studies Planning a field study Sampling plan

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  1. Field Research Designs • Purpose of field research designs • Types of field studies • Planning a field study • Sampling plan • Questionnaire design • Data analysis • Special concerns in field research

  2. Purpose of Field Research • Identify areas of concern in organization • Monitor long-term trends • Assess impact of program • Provide info for decisions • E.g., parental leave benefit plan • E.g., Job satisfaction • Student generated examples?

  3. Purpose of Field Research (cont’d) • Two-way communication channel • Conduct research • Aid in organizational change & dev • Symbolic channel of communication • Via content and conduct • E.g., parental leave benefit plan • E.g., promotion policy

  4. Types of Field Studies • Cross-sectional • Longitudinal

  5. Types of Field Studies • Cross-sectional • Relation between a set of variables at one time-point • Usually correlational • e.g., most student projects in IRE2002Y

  6. Types of Field Studies • Longitudinal • Measuring changes in variables over time • Predict how changes in one variable relate to changes in another variable • E.g., most prog evaluation studies • Issues • More cost, time & effort than cross-sectional • Some can identify cause-effect relationships (i.e., not all longitudinal studies are experimental)

  7. Types of Field Studies • Longitudinal (cont’d) • Issues • Length of interval between measurements • Depends on nature of phenomenon (e.g., training) • Number of measurements • Fatigue, demand characteristics, intrusiveness • Participant mortality • Effect of smaller sample size on power • Bias created by those who drop out (self-selection) • Maturation (e.g., experience v. training) • Instrumentation (e.g., product quality) • History (e..g, change in manufacturing material)

  8. Planning a Field Study • How? Design • Why? Objectives • What? Concepts • Who? Respondents

  9. Planning a Field Study • How? • Interview -- structured • Questionnaire • Paper-pencil • Computerized (Saks p. 78-79) • Desktop PC, Email, Web-based, Telephone • Issues to consider • Confidentiality, flexibility, time & logistics, ease of use, facilities & cost (Saks p. 82)

  10. Planning a Field Study • Why? • Determine type of information needed from questionnaire • Theory vs. problem-solving • Conduct initial interviews w/some potential participants

  11. Planning a Field Study • Why? (cont’d) • Is questionnaire needed? • Organizational members are ‘over-surveyed’ • Will questionnaire provide info needed? • Is the sample appropriate? • e.g., current vs. ex-employees to study causes of turnover • Can literature review or interviews suffice? • E.g., role of legislation and provision of EI benefits to account for usage of maternity leave, interviews w/employees w/children

  12. Planning a Field Study • Why? (cont’d) • Is questionnaire the best way to obtain information? • Will archival data, interviews, or meta analyses be better? • Superficiality concerns • Balance needs of in-depth understanding vs. getting representative data

  13. Planning a Field Study • Why? (cont’d) • Issues to consider • Ownership and access to data • Feedback to different stakeholders • Degree of feedback • Who provides feedback • Level of aggregation of results • i.e., by workgroup level, supervisory unit • Confidentiality (Ethics) • Participant expectations

  14. Planning a Field Study • What? • Translate concepts into items on questionnaire • Need clear definition of concept • E.g., defining leave, employment status • Use existing (reliable & valid) measures • E.g., see books on reserve listed in syllabus • Input from users of study results • Advantages vs. disadvantages to reliability, validity, credibility to users

  15. Planning a Field Study • Who? • Type of participants determined by variables examined (e.g., burnout) • Degree of applicability of questionnaire items to employees in different locations, functional units, levels etc. • Sample size considerations • Power to detect an effect • Is field study an intervention? • Credibility of results to employees

  16. Planning a Field Study • How? Design • Why? Objectives • What? Concepts • Who? Respondents

  17. Field Research Designs • Purpose of field research designs • Types of field studies • Planning a field study • Sampling plan • Questionnaire design • Data analysis • Special concerns in field research

  18. Generosity & Productivity article • What is the hypothesis? • What are the independent and dependent variables? • What is the method used? Justify. • Is it a cross-sectional or a longitudinal study? • What are the main findings? • What are the mediating variables? • What are the study limitations?

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