Methodology

Introduction
Research is one of the most important parts of a dissertation that cannot be avoided. In

fact, a dissertation is incomplete if a proper research is not included. The research helps in

collecting in-depth information regarding the topic of the dissertation and also helps in seeking

the solutions to the problems that the dissertation aims to address. Every dissertation is aimed to

address a certain problem and its solutions are being sought from the literature available at the

researcher’s disposal. The literature helps in validating the findings that are made during the

course of the research. The purpose of the dissertation is to provide new information related to

the topic, help the reader understand the topic with more depth and provide authenticate

knowledge to the field. This can only be one when the research is carried out using a valid

research methodology that is being designed after thorough study of the aims and objectives of

the study (Wilson, 2009).

The process of designing a methodology for the research is said to be the stepping stone

for the research (Amaratunga et al., 2002). It acts as a roadmap for the researcher and the

research is being conducted according to the route defined by the methodology. This helps in

addressing the research questions and the research objectives in a way that the research yields

valid results that help in authenticating the overall dissertation.

The reason for conducting the research in the current dissertation was that this

dissertation was aimed to collect information regarding employee motivation and retention by

the introduction of reward schemes. Furthermore, the dissertation also aimed to collect

information regarding the various reward schemes that are being used by various firms in order

to motivate their employees and evaluate these schemes to assess which scheme best serve the
purpose. This required detailed information about what reward schemes are currently used and

the way these schemes have been helpful for the firms in increasing the motivation level of the

employees. The research was also aimed to collect information about which reward scheme,

amongst the mostly used, is the most appropriate for the purpose. It was also aimed to collect

data about whether the selection of salary is beneficial or the selection of a complete package.

The primary data for the research was collected by using two important means. First, the

employees of the firm were asked to fill a custom-made questionnaire that was based on open-

ended questions and involved some basic questions that were supposed to help in collecting

valuable information from a relatively large sample. Then, interviews were used to collect more

information from some employees of the selected firms.

Secondary data was also included in the research in order to increase the validation of the

overall research and provide extra information related to the topic.

 Figure 1: The Process Onion (Source: Saunders et al., 2003)

Designing of a research methodology is a step by step process. It is necessary that all the

steps are being followed in sequence, in order to design a valid methodology that would help in

collecting authentic data related to the topic. In order to facilitate the process of designing the

methodology, Saunders et al. (2001) proposed a figure in which they provided all the steps that

are involved in the process.

Methodology
Research Philosophy
The selection of a philosophy is the very first step that is involved in the process of

designing a research methodology. There are many research philosophies that can be used

depending upon the requirements of the research. Saunders et al. (2001) have stated the names of

various theories in the first circle of the proposed figure. Two of these theories are most

commonly used because of their wide acceptance; these philosophies are Positivism and

Interpretivism.

Positivism philosophy recommends having a strong theory as a base of the research

which is then tested during the course of the research. While using Positivism, the researcher has

to create hypotheses and then test them using various research methods (Remenyi et al. 1998).

The hypotheses are formed by using the research questions that are and a thorough study of the

research objectives. Further, existing theories of some well known scholars that are accepted by

the masses and are found to be relevant to the research requirements, along with the related facts

are used for the development of statements that are then converted into hypotheses.

Interpretivism on the other hand, is based on the facts and figures that lead the building of

the research. The end results obtained are used to form statements that are capable of
representing the findings. Interpretivism is used when the research is aimed at addressing a

particular issue and therefore, the results obtained from such researches cannot be generalized

(Easterby-Smith, 1991).

Both the philosophies have some restrictions that might affect the completeness of

information that is required for the current research and therefore, a philosophy that is called

‘Post-Positivism’ will be used as it will ensure the quality of the results and that the findings are

aligned with the requirements.

The Post-Positivism Philosophy allows the researcher to have some statements as the

base of the research and also accepting any additional information that would help in addressing

the requirements of the research.

The reason to use Post-Positivism philosophy is that the employees of the firm, who are

the sample for the research, might propose more than one idea that is found to be helpful in

addressing the research requirements. Ignoring these facts would affect the validity of the

research.

Research Approach
The second step involved in designing the methodology involves the selection of research

approach for the collection of data. There are two approaches that can be used by the researcher,

Inductive approach and Deductive approach. Using these approaches in the research allow the

research in adding new information to the field that it belongs (Hyde, 2000).

The need to use the Inductive approach arises when the research is expected to yield data

in the form of statements and words. Such data is usually obtained when Inductivism is used.

The tools that are usually used in such researchers are interviews, questionnaires with open-

ended questions, etc.

 Deductive approach is used when the research is expected to yield data in the form of

numbers or replies that are countable. This usually occurs when Positivism is being followed.

For such researches, a wide variety of tools can be used like questionnaires with close-ended

questions, survey questionnaires, etc.

The current research involves the perceptions of the respondents regarding the effects on

motivation and retention of employees through the introduction of reward schemes that a firm

offers. The respondents were required to share their experiences and perceptions regarding such

schemes and explain how these schemes have helped in increasing the motivation of employees

and have helped the firms in retaining them.

Research Technique
The third step in the creation of a valid research methodology is the selection of a

technique. This process too, involves thorough study of the requirements of the research along

with the data that is expected to be collected from the research. It can be said that the selection of

a technique relies on the selection of the research approach and the philosophy that is used as

these techniques further support the first two steps. There are two techniques that can be used in

any research, Qualitative and Quantitative.

Qualitative techniques are used when the data is expected to be in the form of words,

sentences, expressions, etc. These techniques are mostly used with the Inductive approach. These

techniques help in the treatment of data that is collected. The data is being treated to form

statements that represent the majority of the replies and cover all the important information

discussed in the data.

Quantitative techniques are used when the data collected from the research is in the form

of numbers or are the replies of the respondents that countable. These techniques are mostly used
in combination with the deductive approach as the data under deductive approach is usually

found to be in the form of numbers or is countable.

The current research involved the study of perceptions of the people along with the facts

and figures related to the topic. Therefore, Qualitative approach for the processing of data was

used. The reason being the fact that the data was in the form of sentences and was in descriptive

form. The use of qualitative techniques for the treatment of data helped in bringing clarity to the

data and converting it into useful information.

Research Resources
Many researches have been conducted in order to know about the factors that help the

firms in increasing the motivation of their employees and retaining them with the firm for a

longer term. The data for this research can therefore be available in abundance as every firm in

the world tend to reduce turnover and keep the employees motivated in order to maintain their

operations and keep them optimized.

The selection of appropriate channels for the collection of data is crucial because of the

wide choices available at the disposal of the researcher. The data for the current research was

collected from many sources that were considered to provide important information that would

help in addressing the research questions and ultimately, helping in serving the purpose of the

research. These included primary as well as secondary sources.

Primary Sources
Primary sources serve as important means for the collection of data for any research.

Primary data is the one that is obtained by the researcher directly from the respondents and is

considered to be fresh (Dennis & Harris, 2002). Such data have the capability to address the

research questions directly as it is collected by considering the research objectives, aims of the

research and the research questions.

Instruments for Data collection
In order to collect data that serves the requirements of the research and tends to

incorporate completeness, two instruments will be used in this research. One of them is a survey

questionnaire and the other is interview.

Survey questionnaires are one of the most commonly used tool for data collection in the

human resource management (Jonassen, et al., 2008). The questionnaire consisted of open-ended

questions that facilitated the respondents in explaining their ideas and feelings along with their

experiences regarding the issues. Open-ended questions allow the respondent to explain their

perceptions in detail while survey allows the researcher to collect data from a comparatively

large sample size.

Interviews are another important source for collection of data. It is a process that involves

the exchange of ideas between two persons and the topic is of interest of both the parties (Iorio,

2004). It helps the researcher in explaining his requirements clearly to the respondents and also

observe their body language. The use of tool is time consuming and requires more effort from

the researcher as compared to other tools and can be conducted with a comparatively smaller

sample.

Sample
A sample is a subset of the total population. The reason for dividing the overall

population into small pieces is to create an accessible portion with which the research can easily

be conducted as collecting data from the whole of the population is literally impossible for the

researcher.

The selection of a sample from the overall population is a critical process that involves a

thorough study of the population. The sample must be a representative of the overall population.
 The sample that was selected for the current research consisted of people aged between

18 and 65, both males and females, working for [name of firm]. This sample was selected for the

survey. The interviews were conducted with the human resource managers of five firms. Five

employees from the surveys were also selected for interviews.

The reason to conduct the survey with the employees was to know their perception

regarding the use of reward schemes for increasing the motivation and job satisfaction. On the

other hand, the human resource managers were interviewed in order to get information regarding

how they see things at their end and how effective these policies prove.

Secondary Data
Secondary data consists of the observations and findings of other people usually in the

works of scholars that is found to be related to the topic that would help in addressing the

research questions (Groenewald, 2004). The secondary data, in most cases is found to be

addressing most of the research requirements but is not able to address them completely as the

researches were aimed to address the particular problems of other researches (Crowther &

Lancaster, 2008).

The secondary data for the current research was collected from many sources that

included various books, journal articles, websites, etc. The following are some of the examples

of the sources that were used for the collection of data:

Books
 Strategic Human Resource Management

 Organization Change: A Comprehensive Reader

 International HRM: A Cross-Cultural Approach

 Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text and Cases, etc.

Journals
 Human Resource Management Journal

 International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal

 The International Journal of Accounting Information Systems

 The International Journal of Innovation and Learning, etc.

Nature of data
The data that was collected from different sources for the research was in descriptive

form as it consisted of facts related to the experiences of people present in the sample.

Summary
The methodology plays an important part of the overall research as it acts as a roadmap

for the researcher. It helps the reader in understanding the procedures that were used for the

collection of data. The philosophy that was selected for the research was Post-Positivism as it

was considered to serve the purpose of the research in the most appropriate manner. The

approach that was selected was Inductive because the data collected during the course of the

research was in descriptive form. The data was then treated using Qualitative techniques.

The collection of data was done using two tools at the same time. Survey questionnaires

and interviews that were conducted with some of the employees of the selected firm and with

five human resource managers who were accessible by the researcher.

The secondary data was collected from various sources that included books, journals,

websites, etc. It was made sure that the data that was collecte4d was relevant to the research

objectives and helped in addressing the research questions and in validating the research

findings.
References
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