review of course activities what is research? why conduct it? what phenomenon will you study? how to...
TRANSCRIPT
Review of Course Activities
• What is research? Why conduct it?
• What phenomenon will you study?
• How to describe the phenomenon you will study?
• What designs can you use to study your chosen phenomenon?
What phenomenon will you study?• Develop a topic, research question &
hypothesis with activity “Select a research question” – Topic Choice
• If you wrote some topic words, you got an A • Why? Some exercises (e.g., in class exercises)
enable focus on skill mastery rather than performance display
Narrowing down a topic
• E.g., Narrowing down from Stress using the ‘ways to limit a topic’ framework
• Occupational stress• Does occupational stress vary from urban & rural
settings• Changes in occupational stress levels over the eras of
agriculture, industry, and computerization
• Issues with narrowing down your topic– If you used a framework other than the one your
provided, logic must be provided/obvious to me• Option of re-submitting with logic
• E.g., Goal setting appraisal systems at PWC– Goal-setting appraisal systems within financial
services institutions– HRM practices within international organizations– Not employee compensation (off topic)
• E.g., Leadership style of PM Harper– Leadership styles of Conservative vs. Liberal
leaders (or N. American vs. European leaders)– Not social behavior (too vague/broad)
Broadening a topic
Students work with research partners
• What is the topic of your research project?
• Based on the feedback you have so far, is it too narrow/too broad? How can you make it at the appropriate level?– If you used a framework other than the one
provided for narrowing down your topic, identify the logic
After choosing a topic, develop research questions
– Research question vs. Focused research question vary at level of detail
• RQ=is there a relationship between networking & career outcomes?
• FRQ=Are students who participate in networking activities before graduation more likely to be happier in their chosen careers?
– Some did not write FRQs, option to resubmit with FRQs
Students work with research partners
• What is the research question being answered by your research project?
• Based on the feedback you have so far, is it focused enough?
After choosing a research question, develop a Hypothesis
– Research question vs. hypothesis• RQ= In what ways can absenteeism be reduced? • Hypo= Employee where-about charts reduce the
amount of absenteeism
– Feedback=most did well on this question
Mid-lecture Review
• What phenomenon will you study?– Developing a hypothesis
• How to describe the phenomenon you will study?
• What designs can you use to study your chosen phenomenon?
How to describe the phenomenon you will study?
1. Find empirical research using skills learned in electronic database workshop & assignment
2. Describe empirical research on phenomenon
Finding empirical research
• Descriptiveness of keywords used– e.g., Employee Attitudes=Job satisfaction,
work (attitudes toward) commitment, job involvement, employee motivation
• ok descriptors= employee characteristics• NOT productivity/performance
– Performance on above task correlated with performance on “generating keywords” in “Selecting a Research Question” activity
• E.g., When are certain motivational tactics more effective than others?
After choosing topic, generate keywords to search for research
• E.g., Developing keywords from the research question: “In what ways can students manage their time better”– Time management (perception/estimation)– Academic stress (students)– Study habits/skills– Organizational skills
Set goals with feedback on quality of keywords generated
• Students (privately) write goals on what to do next– Did you generate good quality keywords?– If no, what should you do for generating good
keywords for your research project?
Be systematic, after generating accurate keywords
• Logic of search– Use “or” to combine keywords generated
under ‘job security’ – SEARCH 1– Use “or’ to combine keywords generated
under ‘employee attitudes’ SEARCH 2– Use “and” to combine results from searches
1 & 2– Explain effectiveness of search strategies in
terms of operators, relevance of terms used and number of hits generated
After conducting a systematic & logical search of existing research using accurate keywords identify
relevant articles
• Relevancy of articles judged on – Whether it covered both job security &
employee attitudes– Abstract was descriptive enough– Number of citations by other articles will
be used in ‘rationale’ assignment
After choosing relevant articles describe your phenomenon
• Briefly, in class
• Using worksheet (handout & online posting) on how to describe phenomenon you will study
Describe the phenomenon you will study orally
• Students work with research partners & write down answers to questions (5 min) and answer orally (5min)– Describe the phenomenon in words/in a
diagram (see example on next page)– Why you are interested in it?– How may you/others benefit from researching
it?
Adapted from Poe, 1999
Frequency of Help
Productivity
Social Status
Example of Describing with a diagram
Frequency of help influences social status
Describing with a figure
Describing results with a chart
Frequency of help
Productivity Positive
Social Standing
Positive
How to describe the phenomenon with worksheet
• Give specific, relevant & sufficient detail about sources depending on assignment
• Methodology=Measures used? N? • Rationale=Size/direction of correlation?
Differences in means? Significance level? Relevance should be obvious to reader! Beware of jargon!
Students describe articles found for own research project or
describe meta-analytic study by Kluger & DiNisi with worksheet,
copy of article & figure
After describing the phenomenon, identify research
designs you can use• Based on lectures, in-class exercises &
readings– Do you have the resources to study your
chosen phenomenon • People (at least 50 units)• Time (by Feb 2007)• Materials
Mid-lecture Review
• What phenomenon will you study?– Developing a hypothesis
• How to describe the phenomenon you will study?
• What designs can you use to study your chosen phenomenon?
• How to explain why your phenomenon may/may not occur
After describing the phenomenon, understand why
• Why does the phenomenon occur/not occur in current research– A.K.A. Will the study work? In what way
can it not work? Why would it not work? Can you think of explanations for why the counter hypothesis may be supported?
• Counter hypothesis vs. alternative hypothesis vs. null hypothesis
Hillocks, 1985; Sternberg, 1999
Frequency of Help
Productivity
Social Status
Efficiency in resource exchange
Information about others’ interests
Liking for helper
Recall example of explaining with a diagram from economist reading
There are different types of explanations
• How vs. Why
• Using different types of variables
Explaining at different levelsHow vs. Why
• E.g., Meta-analysis article by Kluger & DiNisi– Why does feedback not work in one-third
of the studies examined? (FRQ)• Narrowing down from the theoretical
framework to specific variables that operate in specific situations
– How does feedback work? (RQ)• Using multiple variables (i.e., a theoretical
framework) to understand the phenomenon
Explaining at different levelsHow vs. Why
• E.g., Frequency of helping article – Why does helping affect productivity &
social status in some situations but not in others?
– How does helping work?
One-sidedness of help determines whether helping affects social status
One-sidedness of help determines whether helping affects productivity
Explaining at different levelsHow vs. Why
• Frequency of helping article – Why does helping affect productivity in
some situations but not in others?• Generate small diagrams
– How does helping work? (RQ)• Generate Framework
Summary of both figures to understandwhen helping does or does not work
Frequency of help
One-sidedness of help
Productivity Positive Curvilinear
Social Standing
Positive Positive
Frequency of Help
Productivity
Social Status
Information about others’ interests leads to Efficiency in resource exchange
Liking for helper
Example of framework on how frequency of helping works
One-sidedness of help
There are different types of explanations
• How vs. Why
• Using different types of variables– Inner variables vs. outer variables
Explaining with different types of variables
• Inner variable that is evoked to explain why the two outer variables are linked = Mediating Variable
• Outer variable evoked to explain why the relationship between two outer variables can change = Moderating Variable
Frequency of Help
Productivity
Social Status
Efficiency in resource exchange
Information about others’ interests
Liking for helper
Explaining with mediating variables
Explaining with a Moderating Variable
Frequency of Help
Productivity
One-sidedness of help
Social Status
Frequency of Help
Productivity
Social Status
Information about others’ interests leads to Efficiency in resource exchange
Liking for helper
A framework has mediating & moderating variables
One-sidedness of help
Students apply what you learned
• Look at more examples of diagrams with mediating & moderating variables on following slides
• Generate a framework for how does feedback work?
• Develop a focused research question on why the feedback method used by instructor works in class
FIGURE 5.8Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
FIGURE 5.9Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
FIGURE 5.10Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
What you learned today• Identifying the phenomenon you will study
– Identifying a topic & developing a hypothesis
• Describing the phenomenon you will study– Identifying descriptive keywords to search for articles– Being logical in combining keywords when searching– Using worksheet to describe relevant & sufficient details
based on assignment requirements
• Explaining why the phenomenon may/may not occur– Framework vs. Mediating vs. Moderating variable
• A research question vs. a focused research question