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
Broadening a topic
• 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)
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
Example of Describing with a
diagram
Productivity
Frequency of Help
Social Status
Describing with a figure
Frequency of help influences social status
Describing results with a chart
Productivity
Social
Standing
Frequency of
help
Positive
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
Recall example of explaining with
a diagram from economist reading
Productivity
Efficiency in resource exchange
Information about others’ interests
Frequency of Help
Liking for helper
Social Status
There are different types of
explanations
• How vs. Why
• Using different types of variables
Explaining at different levels
How 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 levels
How 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 levels
How 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 understand
when helping does or does not work
Productivity
Social
Standing
Frequency of
help
Positive
One-sidedness
of help
Curvilinear
Positive
Positive
Example of framework on how
frequency of helping works
Productivity
Information about others’ interests
leads to Efficiency in resource
exchange
Frequency of Help
One-sidedness of help
Liking for helper
Social Status
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
Explaining with mediating
variables
Productivity
Efficiency in resource exchange
Information about others’ interests
Frequency of Help
Liking for helper
Social Status
Explaining with a Moderating Variable
Productivity
Frequency of Help
One-sidedness of help
Social Status
A framework has mediating &
moderating variables
Productivity
Information about others’ interests
leads to Efficiency in resource
exchange
Frequency of Help
One-sidedness of help
Liking for helper
Social Status
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
Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
FIGURE 5.8
Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
FIGURE 5.9
Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
FIGURE 5.10
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