Methodology
Research Design
The review of literature indicates that the hazardous work environment can be in all industries, and in both blue- and white-collar jobs. The review of literature identifies that the environments are the result of psychological, biological, chemical, and physical agents (Reeve, 2005). The search for studies on hazardous environments leads to the manufacturing, mining, engineering, and scientific industries and discuss chemical, biological, and physical hazards. Therefore, this research will investigate the factors that cause hazardous environments in organizations within the white-collar sector, this is firms not associated with manufacturing or engineering. The goal is to identify how the factors make the workplace hazardous for the staff, and how the hazardous environment affects the employees’ work rate, performance, and job satisfaction. Therefore, the research will try to answer the following research questions to solve the problem:
1. What factors do employees in the organization identify as causing a hazardous or hostile work environment?
2. To what extent does the hazardous environment due to identified factors affect their work rate, job performance, and job satisfaction?
3. Are there hazardous awareness information provided by the employer? If yes, to what extent does the management effect safety and health measures to reduce hazards?
4. Are there policies to guide employees on how to handle hazardous factors or events? If, yes, how effective are the policies in preventing and responding to hazards?
Instrumentation
The interview will be the primary data collection instrument since it offers the researcher a chance to obtain the meaning to the research problem from the interviewee’s point of view (Kvale, 1996). Interviews offer primary data from the respondents’ point of view, as they make interpretations of their comprehension of the problem (Kvale, 1996). For the interview to produce valid and credible data, the researcher will ask a set of uniform questions to all participants. For credibility, the interview questions will be modeled around the research questions and objectives (Kvale, 1996). The interviews will cut across the organizational hierarchy, with both staff and management participating. Interviews will be in the form of face-to-face interviews. However, for respondents the interviewer cannot meet, the research will make use of telephone interviews.
Data Collection Plan
The research will first interview the sample population, with an introductory letter to explain the importance and reason for the interview. The interviews should take up to six weeks, to enable the researcher reach a wider sample population. Following the collection of data, the research will then organize, interpret, infer, and store the data, by writing a report of the findings.
Research Methodology
Qualitative research places emphasis on the processes and meaning over the rigorously measured data in terms of intensity, amount, quantity, or frequency (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994). Noor (2008) identifies that qualitative research method necessary in certain instances, especially in social sciences, when researchers are interested in discovery, insight, and interpretation of meaning rather than the testing of hypothesis. Qualitative research is a fluid and flexible research method as compared to the quantitative research, since it puts emphasis on discovery of findings and opportunities of research in response to occurrences (Bryman, 2006). This research method is applicable for this study since it makes use of the qualitative research’s philosophical paradigm of interpretivism. This implies that the study will make sense of the data by making interpretations of reality, in this case the observations and response of interviews.
In this case, the research will follow a subjective method as the research seeks an understanding of the phenomena, “factors causing hazardous environments.” The advantage of the subjective method is it leads the research to adopt a dynamic view as the researcher looks at all points of view to the research problem. The dynamic view is necessary given the numerous research questions to be answered to identify determine the factors the cause hazardous environments in the workplace.
Sample Population
To answer these questions the research will make use of qualitative research method that will make use of the collection, observations, and anecdotes to solutions from interviews with 100 employees from IT, retail/business, and service industries. The primary question the research will ask the respondents centers on their experience with factors they associate with a hazardous work environment, and how the environment affects their overall job performance.
Research Design: Proposed Data Collection and Data Analysis Method
The interviews are to be preceded by introductory letters that are aimed at explaining to potential respondents the importance of the research. Following this, the researcher will use personal interviews to collect data primary data from respondents. For those the research cannot access for the personal interviews, telephone interviews are applicable. The first stage is planned to take up six weeks. The next step will be the organization and storage of the data received from the data collections methods. Data in the research process is purely qualitative, in this case the analysis method applicable is a qualitative analysis. Therefore, the research will carry out an in depth interpretation of information collected from the interviews. In addition, the data analysis approach will make use of discussions to make interpretation of information by linking findings with the review of literature.
Proposed Analysis of Data
The research expects to elicit from the sample population the various factors, elements, and situations in the workplace they consider to cause a hazardous work environment. The research expects that the research method will elicit various factors identified in the literature review, and will also make new discoveries of factors not identified in the literature review. The expectation is that the interview should reveal data on factors like stress, management’s commitment to safety and health, vibrations, temperature, lighting, and toxic chemicals, among others. The research analysis will gather all factors identified by the respondents and broadly group them into categories identified as physical, biological, psychological, organizational, social, and chemical agents to hazardous environments. The research also expects to reveal information from the interviews on the ways the hazardous environments reduce an employee’s rate at work, productivity level, motivation, job satisfaction, and willingness to participate in teamwork.
This is a purely qualitative analysis, where the independent variables are the agents to hazardous environments like physical, biological, psychological, organizational, social, and chemical agents. The research expects these factors that are manipulated by the researcher, or are the factors that can be manipulated within the work environment by the organization, employer, employees, or any stakeholder. The dependent variable is the “hazardous work environment.” This is the resultant effect of the independent variable. In addition, other dependent variables are employee’s rate at work, productivity level, motivation, job satisfaction, and willingness to participate in teamwork. These are also the observable results of the independent variable, hazardous work environment.
To have valid results, the research will use uniformity in the interviews by having similar questions asked to every participant. Validity and credibility is realized by the use of philosophical considerations of ontology, axiology, and epistemology to get rid of any underlying assumptions, beliefs, and perceptions, political, social, cultural and religious ideologies that may influence the direction of the research (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008). This is because with personal interviews and qualitative research methods it is easy for the researcher’s assumptions and beliefs to interfere with the data and data analysis approach. Therefore, for credible and valid results, the research will eliminate beliefs, perception, assumptions, and nature of reality in the research, by considering philosophical paradigms (Easterby-Smith et al., 2008). The paradigm of choice is the positivist paradigm associated with qualitative research methods. The positivist paradigm will assist the research to base information on deductive evaluation of observed realities based on facts found in theory and ignore data from personal perception (Flowers, 2009). Since personal views and experiences interfere with information, this research will seek an interpretivist paradigm, in order to have a dynamic view of literature viewed (Flowers, 2009). The research will also make use of inductive element of the realist paradigm since its analyzes data from interviews and links with information from the literature review, to make interpretations of information.
References
Bryman, A. (2006). Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Research: How is it Done? Qualitative Research, Sage publications, 6(1), 97-113.
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (1994). Handbook of qualitative Research. California, USA: Sage publications, 3-5.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2008), Management Research, 3rd ed., SAGE Publications Ltd., London.
Flowers, P. (2009). Research Philosophies-Importance and Relevance. leading learning and change Cranfield school of management, 1(Jan’09).
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: introduction to Qualitative research Interviews. California: Sage publications, London.
Noor, K.B.M. (2008). Case Study: A Strategy Research Methodology. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 5(11), 1602-1604.
