Researching the Workplace Assignment

Assignment

1. Choose one of the following data collection methods: interview, recording and transcription, observation, questionnaire.
(For this, I prefer you to choose Interview…)

2. Decide on project in for which this would be an appropriate method of data collection and discuss its potential strengths and weaknesses.

3. Design and pilot the method.

4. Evaluate the outcomes of the piloting, indicating what changes, if any, you would make prior to using the method in the main project.

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5. Reflect briefly on the lessons you have learned from the process.

Notes

1. In exceptional circumstances you may choose a different method, but you should clear this with the module tutor first. Note also that if you choose recording and transcription, it is likely that transcription issues will occupy most of your attention, not least because the literature on these is far more extensive than that on recording.

2. You should do no more than sketch the project in a few sentences. It might be a good idea to identify the general aim of the project (e.g. ‘The aim of the project is to evaluate the processes and procedures in place in the company for welcoming visitors from overseas and ensuring that their stay is successful’), or to specify a particular research question (e.g. ‘What are the views of middle managers regarding arrangements for overseas placements?’). It would obviously be useful if this assignment could feed into your own project, but this is not a requirement.

3. It may not be possible to replicate the conditions that will obtain in the project itself (e.g. interviewing managers, observing office behaviour, recording meetings), so allowances will be made for this. The focus in the assessment will be on the design and application of the method and compromises in terms of participants/settings etc. will be acceptable. In discussing the design and piloting, you will be expected to draw extensively on the relevant literature, as in any academic assignment. If you have chosen to design a questionnaire or conduct interviews, the questionnaire or interview plan should be included as an appendix.

4. You will not be expected to redesign the instrument, but you will need to make clear what changes you would make and why. You should include any relevant data (e.g. extract from an interview or transcript, field notes) in an appendix.

5. Your reflection can be very brief (possibly no more than a paragraph), but you should nevertheless identify what you have learned about using your chosen method.

Core Readings:

Bell, J. (2010). Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-time Researchers in Education, Health and Social Sciences. (5th edition). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Blommaert, J. and Dong, J. (2010). Ethnographic Fieldwork: A Beginner’s Guide. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters

Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (3rd edition). Los Angeles: Sage.

Muijs, D. (2004). Doing Quantitative Research in Education with SPSS. London: Sage.

Bargiela-Chiappini, F. (ed.) (2010). The Handbook of Business Discourse. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Grbich, C. (2007). Qualitative Data Analysis. An Introduction. London: Sage.

Kvale, S. (2008). Doing Interviews. London: Sage.

McCurdy, D. W., Spradley, J. P. and Shandy, D. J. (2005). The Cultural Experience: Ethnography in Complex Society (2nd edition). Long Grove ILL: Waveland Press.

Oliver, P. (2003). The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Richards, K., Ross, S. and Seedhouse, P. (2011). Research Methods in Applied Language Studies. London: Routledge.

Robson, C. (2011). Real World Research. A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. (3rd edn). Oxford: Blackwell.

Spencer-Oatey, H. and Franklin, P. (2009). Intercultural Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Intercultural Communication. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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