Pub Date : 2022-11-21DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2423
D. Remenyi, Paul Griffiths
This is a wide-ranging paper that discusses a number of issues surrounding the nature and use of data in academic research. As this is a vast subject the authors consider it a short note on this most important topic. It is a noteworthy fact that very little attention has been given to reflection on and understanding of the nature of research data. It seems to have been taken for granted that researchers would intuitively know what data is and how it should be handled. And interestingly this has not historically been an issue but in the light of the proliferation of multi-forms of data it is appropriate to reconsider the nature of research data and discuss how it is used in academic research processes. This is no trivial matter as many of the issues involved can often be used in imperfectly defined ways and thus there is a continuous propensity to ambiguity. The realisation that data is primarily a catalyst to human thought processes is an important insight to what data is really about. The main outcome of this paper provides a fresh or freshly invigorated insight leading to a novel conceptual understanding of the nature, role and potentiality of research data and this leads to emphasising the central importance of the researcher understanding what data will facilitate his/her answering the research question. The issue of the importance of data management is also emphasised as are the challenges of data interpretation. As an aid to future researchers, the paper offers a visual depiction of “The roadmap from phenomenon to idea to pursue”. The discussion in this paper is primarily philosophical although it does venture to address some of the more operational issues related to the effective use of data. The findings benefit from, and are underpinned by, the authors’ experiences over many years of practical empirical research. The authors regard this paper as an invitation to the academic community to engage in a discourse on issues underpinning this new understanding of the nature of research data.
{"title":"Data - its nature and management","authors":"D. Remenyi, Paul Griffiths","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2423","url":null,"abstract":"This is a wide-ranging paper that discusses a number of issues surrounding the nature and use of data in academic research. As this is a vast subject the authors consider it a short note on this most important topic. It is a noteworthy fact that very little attention has been given to reflection on and understanding of the nature of research data. It seems to have been taken for granted that researchers would intuitively know what data is and how it should be handled. And interestingly this has not historically been an issue but in the light of the proliferation of multi-forms of data it is appropriate to reconsider the nature of research data and discuss how it is used in academic research processes. This is no trivial matter as many of the issues involved can often be used in imperfectly defined ways and thus there is a continuous propensity to ambiguity. The realisation that data is primarily a catalyst to human thought processes is an important insight to what data is really about. The main outcome of this paper provides a fresh or freshly invigorated insight leading to a novel conceptual understanding of the nature, role and potentiality of research data and this leads to emphasising the central importance of the researcher understanding what data will facilitate his/her answering the research question. The issue of the importance of data management is also emphasised as are the challenges of data interpretation. As an aid to future researchers, the paper offers a visual depiction of “The roadmap from phenomenon to idea to pursue”. The discussion in this paper is primarily philosophical although it does venture to address some of the more operational issues related to the effective use of data. The findings benefit from, and are underpinned by, the authors’ experiences over many years of practical empirical research. The authors regard this paper as an invitation to the academic community to engage in a discourse on issues underpinning this new understanding of the nature of research data.","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41702476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-08DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2930
Margaret Mangion
Reflections emerging from what was learned from conducting online research by using an online survey administered to primary school pupils during the Covid-19 pandemic are presented in this paper. First, a brief review of relevant literature is outlined. Secondly, the advantages and limitations of conducting online research are addressed. An overview of the research process employed including the sample, measures used and procedures employed for ethics clearance are how online research was made possible during a pandemic was explored. The main challenges were: (a) parental engagement and the subsequent collection of consent forms; (b) the actual data acquisition itself. These issues and others are explored through a reflection process using the cycle outlined by Gibbs (1988). The paper also points out how the reflective process was applied throughout the project. The study is focused on how pupils aged between 9 – 11 years perceived their own creative self-concept and their wellbeing at school. In this quantitative study, five hundred and thirty pupils were recruited through their schools following the dissemination of information letters and consent forms. While various advantages emerged from conducting online research, this approach was not without problems. Finally, this study presented an opportunity for learning and growth for the author through a process of reflection and evaluation.
{"title":"Looking back on Online data Collection Through Mindful Reflection","authors":"Margaret Mangion","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2930","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2930","url":null,"abstract":"Reflections emerging from what was learned from conducting online research by using an online survey administered to primary school pupils during the Covid-19 pandemic are presented in this paper. First, a brief review of relevant literature is outlined. Secondly, the advantages and limitations of conducting online research are addressed. An overview of the research process employed including the sample, measures used and procedures employed for ethics clearance are how online research was made possible during a pandemic was explored. The main challenges were: (a) parental engagement and the subsequent collection of consent forms; (b) the actual data acquisition itself. These issues and others are explored through a reflection process using the cycle outlined by Gibbs (1988). The paper also points out how the reflective process was applied throughout the project. The study is focused on how pupils aged between 9 – 11 years perceived their own creative self-concept and their wellbeing at school. In this quantitative study, five hundred and thirty pupils were recruited through their schools following the dissemination of information letters and consent forms. While various advantages emerged from conducting online research, this approach was not without problems. Finally, this study presented an opportunity for learning and growth for the author through a process of reflection and evaluation. ","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46112375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-08DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2920
Niklas Humble, Peter Mozelius
This paper is a review of content analysis or thematic analysis which is further explored though the lens of impressions of doctoral students who attended a presentation on the subject.The long tradition of quantitative research still dominates many university courses on research methodology and data analysis. During the 20th century the field of qualitative research has had a growing need for new analysis methods that accommodate qualitative data and two frequently used methods are content analysis and thematic analysis. They have several things in common and sometimes, they have been understood by researchers to be interchangeably. It has been argued by some researchers that conventional content analysis has really the same functional approach to analysing data as an inductive thematic analysis. This study reports on two webinars on qualitative analysis involving doctoral students and facilitated by the authors. The webinars presented, discussed content analysis and thematic analysis, and gathered participants’ reflections on these methods using a Padlet (padlet.com). The aim of the study was to analyse and describe doctoral students' perceptions of content analysis and thematic analysis. The data collected has been analysed using conventional content analysis applying an abductive coding approach. The study identifies several perceived similarities and differences between the two methods, but also opportunities and challenges for applying them. Findings highlight that the two methods are perceived to be applicable to different types of research. Furthermore, they offer similar challenges to the researcher including their potential for bias and could be considered a choice between an intuitive and a practical approach to analysis. Many of the identified perceptions can be related to previous literature on content analysis and thematic analysis. However, other perceptions seems to indicates a need for more thorough and nuanced discussions on methods for qualitative analysis. The study suggest that more efforts should be made to support doctoral students in attaining a nuanced understanding of qualitative methods for analysis.
{"title":"Content Analysis or Thematic Analysis: Doctoral Students' Perceptions of Similarities and Differences","authors":"Niklas Humble, Peter Mozelius","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2920","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.3.2920","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is a review of content analysis or thematic analysis which is further explored though the lens of impressions of doctoral students who attended a presentation on the subject.The long tradition of quantitative research still dominates many university courses on research methodology and data analysis. During the 20th century the field of qualitative research has had a growing need for new analysis methods that accommodate qualitative data and two frequently used methods are content analysis and thematic analysis. They have several things in common and sometimes, they have been understood by researchers to be interchangeably. It has been argued by some researchers that conventional content analysis has really the same functional approach to analysing data as an inductive thematic analysis. This study reports on two webinars on qualitative analysis involving doctoral students and facilitated by the authors. The webinars presented, discussed content analysis and thematic analysis, and gathered participants’ reflections on these methods using a Padlet (padlet.com). The aim of the study was to analyse and describe doctoral students' perceptions of content analysis and thematic analysis. The data collected has been analysed using conventional content analysis applying an abductive coding approach. The study identifies several perceived similarities and differences between the two methods, but also opportunities and challenges for applying them. Findings highlight that the two methods are perceived to be applicable to different types of research. Furthermore, they offer similar challenges to the researcher including their potential for bias and could be considered a choice between an intuitive and a practical approach to analysis. Many of the identified perceptions can be related to previous literature on content analysis and thematic analysis. However, other perceptions seems to indicates a need for more thorough and nuanced discussions on methods for qualitative analysis. The study suggest that more efforts should be made to support doctoral students in attaining a nuanced understanding of qualitative methods for analysis.","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46222134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-30DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2246
Faies Jafar
Abstract: Engaging the Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) in International Relation (IR) studies can be a challenging choice for researchers and Ph.D. students. Considering that scholars in the IR field are familiar with certain traditional methodologies, the notion of importing a relatively unique approach such as the GTM can attract strong ontological and epistemological questions. In this article, I contend that pragmatist and constructivist versions of GTM can be a successful research methodology in IR qualitative research. Such choice, however, is constrained by a set of conditions. Guided by existing literature, these conditions were identified and discussed in the context of IR qualitative research norms and then applied in Foreign Policy (FP) decision-making process, a well-known approach in studying FP as a subdiscipline in IR. The article concludes that despite certain limitations, the methodology can be an outstanding option for IR qualitative research.
{"title":"Applicability of Grounded Theory Methodology in International Relations Studies","authors":"Faies Jafar","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2246","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2246","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: Engaging the Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM) in International Relation (IR) studies can be a challenging choice for researchers and Ph.D. students. Considering that scholars in the IR field are familiar with certain traditional methodologies, the notion of importing a relatively unique approach such as the GTM can attract strong ontological and epistemological questions. In this article, I contend that pragmatist and constructivist versions of GTM can be a successful research methodology in IR qualitative research. Such choice, however, is constrained by a set of conditions. Guided by existing literature, these conditions were identified and discussed in the context of IR qualitative research norms and then applied in Foreign Policy (FP) decision-making process, a well-known approach in studying FP as a subdiscipline in IR. The article concludes that despite certain limitations, the methodology can be an outstanding option for IR qualitative research. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49176245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-06-17DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2299
A. Alexandrov, Michael J. Tippins, Sandipan S. Sen
Network analysis of Word of Mouth (WOM) examines how customers exchange opinions within their social networks. Compared to standard survey questions, which typically measure the likelihood to recommend, the network approach provides more metrics (e.g., average path length, clustering coefficient, density, average degree) that can be used to diagnose customer chatter. Unfortunately, traditional WOM has not benefitted from network analysis, which usually is applied to online WOM due to the availability of stored data. Despite the pervasiveness of online WOM, however, recent commercial reports reveal that traditional WOM still surpasses online WOM by a large margin. Traditional WOM also is perceived as more trustworthy and persuasive than online WOM. Considering the strong standing of traditional WOM and the advances in network analysis due to online WOM, this study fills a gap by demonstrating how a network analysis can be applied to traditional WOM. Network analysis is more demanding on the researcher and the respondents, but as the study illustrates, it also is more diagnostic than a standard survey. A preliminary study confirmed that people, indeed, are more likely to share traditional WOM then online WOM. The main study utilized network analysis by using an alter-alter survey method, which was used to map the network structures of a variety of WOM networks. Specifically, we examined the WOM networks structure as a function of product type (search, experience, and credence products) and opinion valence (positive vs. negative). The results reveal that WOM is affected primarily by product type. People are most likely to share opinions about experience products, followed by opinions about search products, and least likely to talk about credence products. The effect of opinion valence is limited. Practitioners can use these findings to manage WOM primarily based on product type by including search, experience, or credence qualities in promotional messages. This is the first study to compare WOM networks to the existing social network, which can serve as a benchmark for evaluating WOM campaigns. The results reveal that for most products, people do not utilize all of their social connections for WOM, but there are exceptions, such as sharing a positive opinion about a movie, where WOM chatter can exceed the social network. The study discusses the WOM network metrics from a practical perspective and how they can be used to optimize WOM campaigns. Overall, the conclusion is that network analysis is a viable technique for studying traditional WOM, which brings new research directions.
{"title":"Network Analysis of Traditional Word of Mouth","authors":"A. Alexandrov, Michael J. Tippins, Sandipan S. Sen","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2299","url":null,"abstract":"Network analysis of Word of Mouth (WOM) examines how customers exchange opinions within their social networks. Compared to standard survey questions, which typically measure the likelihood to recommend, the network approach provides more metrics (e.g., average path length, clustering coefficient, density, average degree) that can be used to diagnose customer chatter. Unfortunately, traditional WOM has not benefitted from network analysis, which usually is applied to online WOM due to the availability of stored data. Despite the pervasiveness of online WOM, however, recent commercial reports reveal that traditional WOM still surpasses online WOM by a large margin. Traditional WOM also is perceived as more trustworthy and persuasive than online WOM. Considering the strong standing of traditional WOM and the advances in network analysis due to online WOM, this study fills a gap by demonstrating how a network analysis can be applied to traditional WOM. Network analysis is more demanding on the researcher and the respondents, but as the study illustrates, it also is more diagnostic than a standard survey. A preliminary study confirmed that people, indeed, are more likely to share traditional WOM then online WOM. The main study utilized network analysis by using an alter-alter survey method, which was used to map the network structures of a variety of WOM networks. Specifically, we examined the WOM networks structure as a function of product type (search, experience, and credence products) and opinion valence (positive vs. negative). The results reveal that WOM is affected primarily by product type. People are most likely to share opinions about experience products, followed by opinions about search products, and least likely to talk about credence products. The effect of opinion valence is limited. Practitioners can use these findings to manage WOM primarily based on product type by including search, experience, or credence qualities in promotional messages. This is the first study to compare WOM networks to the existing social network, which can serve as a benchmark for evaluating WOM campaigns. The results reveal that for most products, people do not utilize all of their social connections for WOM, but there are exceptions, such as sharing a positive opinion about a movie, where WOM chatter can exceed the social network. The study discusses the WOM network metrics from a practical perspective and how they can be used to optimize WOM campaigns. Overall, the conclusion is that network analysis is a viable technique for studying traditional WOM, which brings new research directions.","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41449156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-04-13DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2207
V. Cassar, F. Bezzina, Stéphanie Fabri
This study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to re-examine the more traditional correlational and regression models used to understand work stress and outcome relationships. Indeed, theoretical frameworks have been constructed underlying this premise and so have interventions assumed such principles. This study argues that the relationship between perception of stressors is not necessarily continuously linear and hence assessing non-linear but also more complex configurations becomes pivotal. While it is acknowledged that theory is important to simplify the explanation underlying the phenomenon of interest, likewise theory should also acknowledge new patterns that hide ‘inside’ the data and which reveal new pockets of information that explain the phenomenon better. Therefore, in line with calls for researchers to explore further new configurational patterns in the data and thus help build and refine theory, we examine potential complex associations between work-related stress and salient outcomes namely mental health, physical symptoms, presenteeism and intention to quit using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis instead of the more traditional correlational approach. Fuzzy-set methodology involves a number of parameters that include non-linearity but also equifinality and asymmetric associations. Reponses were obtained from 509 employees who volunteered to fill in a work-related stress questionnaire as part of a wider campaign related to the management of psychosocial hazards at work and the data was subject to fuzzy-set configuration analysis between stressors and outcomes. Fuzzy-set analyses revealed that specific points of high or low levels of work stress did not necessarily concur with more common regression results but revealed interesting pattern associations between work related stress and outcomes. The results imply that by adopting traditional methods, the relations observed would be either over- or under- estimated and researchers are urged to explore new research methodological approaches such as fuzzy-set methodology in the analyses of their data that may reveal new patterns and hence better inform both theory and practice.
{"title":"A Fuzzy-set Approach to Re-Exploring Work-related Stress-outcome Relationships: Implications for Research Methods, Theory and Practice","authors":"V. Cassar, F. Bezzina, Stéphanie Fabri","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.2.2207","url":null,"abstract":"This study employs fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to re-examine the more traditional correlational and regression models used to understand work stress and outcome relationships. Indeed, theoretical frameworks have been constructed underlying this premise and so have interventions assumed such principles. This study argues that the relationship between perception of stressors is not necessarily continuously linear and hence assessing non-linear but also more complex configurations becomes pivotal. While it is acknowledged that theory is important to simplify the explanation underlying the phenomenon of interest, likewise theory should also acknowledge new patterns that hide ‘inside’ the data and which reveal new pockets of information that explain the phenomenon better. Therefore, in line with calls for researchers to explore further new configurational patterns in the data and thus help build and refine theory, we examine potential complex associations between work-related stress and salient outcomes namely mental health, physical symptoms, presenteeism and intention to quit using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis instead of the more traditional correlational approach. Fuzzy-set methodology involves a number of parameters that include non-linearity but also equifinality and asymmetric associations. Reponses were obtained from 509 employees who volunteered to fill in a work-related stress questionnaire as part of a wider campaign related to the management of psychosocial hazards at work and the data was subject to fuzzy-set configuration analysis between stressors and outcomes. Fuzzy-set analyses revealed that specific points of high or low levels of work stress did not necessarily concur with more common regression results but revealed interesting pattern associations between work related stress and outcomes. The results imply that by adopting traditional methods, the relations observed would be either over- or under- estimated and researchers are urged to explore new research methodological approaches such as fuzzy-set methodology in the analyses of their data that may reveal new patterns and hence better inform both theory and practice.","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69825276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-24DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2196
Alison Wall, Marcia Simmering, Christie Fuller, Brian Waterwall
Research data collected from single respondents may raise concerns regarding common method variance (CMV), which is believed to threaten the validity of findings. The primary concern is that CMV can inflate substantive relationships, such that they appear statistically significant when they are not. Thus, understanding the nature of CMV is critical, especially when one considers the popularity—and sometimes necessity—of using self-report data. Research examining CMV has found conflicting evidence about the impact of CMV. Researchers who believe CMV influences findings have proposed solutions to combat any real or perceived potential bias, including changing survey instructions and using marker variables, but few studies have examined the efficacy of these approaches. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of these techniques and the nature of CMV using an experimental design. To conduct the experiment, multiple versions of a survey, which vary in their use of the remedial approaches, are utilized to collect data, which resulted in 1,069 usable responses. The experimental design was based on the faking literature and included instructions intended to induce or reduce the levels of CMV. Further, two different marker variables are used to determine the degree to which they create a psychological separation in substantive variables. Correlation analysis and measurement invariance are used to analyze the data. This study posits that, if CMV is a substantial concern for self-report data and these approaches are effective, then findings will differ in surveys that incorporate such approaches from surveys that do not. Results indicate few differences in experimental conditions, meaning that regardless of instructions or marker variable, substantive item correlations remained statistically similar. The results indicate this is likely due to the minimal impact of CMV, given that the proposed methods of correction did not significantly influence research findings. These findings have implications for researchers in that they do not support that CMV, or at least its proposed remedies, significantly alter findings. However, support for the null conclusions, in spite of appropriate statistical power, warrant future research examining the nature and impact of CMV.
{"title":"Manipulating Common Method Variance via Experimental Conditions","authors":"Alison Wall, Marcia Simmering, Christie Fuller, Brian Waterwall","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2196","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2196","url":null,"abstract":"Research data collected from single respondents may raise concerns regarding common method variance (CMV), which is believed to threaten the validity of findings. The primary concern is that CMV can inflate substantive relationships, such that they appear statistically significant when they are not. Thus, understanding the nature of CMV is critical, especially when one considers the popularity—and sometimes necessity—of using self-report data. Research examining CMV has found conflicting evidence about the impact of CMV. Researchers who believe CMV influences findings have proposed solutions to combat any real or perceived potential bias, including changing survey instructions and using marker variables, but few studies have examined the efficacy of these approaches. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of these techniques and the nature of CMV using an experimental design. To conduct the experiment, multiple versions of a survey, which vary in their use of the remedial approaches, are utilized to collect data, which resulted in 1,069 usable responses. The experimental design was based on the faking literature and included instructions intended to induce or reduce the levels of CMV. Further, two different marker variables are used to determine the degree to which they create a psychological separation in substantive variables. Correlation analysis and measurement invariance are used to analyze the data. This study posits that, if CMV is a substantial concern for self-report data and these approaches are effective, then findings will differ in surveys that incorporate such approaches from surveys that do not. Results indicate few differences in experimental conditions, meaning that regardless of instructions or marker variable, substantive item correlations remained statistically similar. The results indicate this is likely due to the minimal impact of CMV, given that the proposed methods of correction did not significantly influence research findings. These findings have implications for researchers in that they do not support that CMV, or at least its proposed remedies, significantly alter findings. However, support for the null conclusions, in spite of appropriate statistical power, warrant future research examining the nature and impact of CMV.","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69825208","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-02-09DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2253
B. Daniel
Postgraduate student research experience is key to understanding the quality of postgraduate education. This article presents the critical factors that can enhance postgraduate students' research experience. The research explored postgraduate students' research experiences (n=116) at a research-intensive public university in New Zealand. The aim was to inform the development of a more personalised and scalable research methodology programme. The study identified several factors that can significantly enhance the postgraduate research experience, including the quality of supervision, institutional and department support, personal investment, and financial support. Also, the study found that courses on research methodology play an essential role in improving the postgraduate experience. In particular, providing research methodology education to students during candidacy enriches postgraduate research experience and contributes to the timely completion of postgraduate education. Despite the demonstrated significance of research methodology in postgraduate education, findings revealed that students are generally dissatisfied with the design and teaching of current courses on research methods. Students said courses on research methods are pedagogically monolithic, conceptual challenging, and inflexibly adaptive to individual future career trajectories. Findings also suggest that the way research methods are taught is disengaged from practical problems, with some teaching focused on the higher level of abstraction, with less opportunity to apply what is gained from research methods courses. This research contributes to the growing need to transform the way we design and teach courses on research methods, and the importance employing a research-led approach to inform the transformation.
{"title":"The Role of Research Methodology in Enhancing Postgraduate Students Research Experience","authors":"B. Daniel","doi":"10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2253","url":null,"abstract":"Postgraduate student research experience is key to understanding the quality of postgraduate education. This article presents the critical factors that can enhance postgraduate students' research experience. The research explored postgraduate students' research experiences (n=116) at a research-intensive public university in New Zealand. The aim was to inform the development of a more personalised and scalable research methodology programme. The study identified several factors that can significantly enhance the postgraduate research experience, including the quality of supervision, institutional and department support, personal investment, and financial support. Also, the study found that courses on research methodology play an essential role in improving the postgraduate experience. In particular, providing research methodology education to students during candidacy enriches postgraduate research experience and contributes to the timely completion of postgraduate education. Despite the demonstrated significance of research methodology in postgraduate education, findings revealed that students are generally dissatisfied with the design and teaching of current courses on research methods. Students said courses on research methods are pedagogically monolithic, conceptual challenging, and inflexibly adaptive to individual future career trajectories. Findings also suggest that the way research methods are taught is disengaged from practical problems, with some teaching focused on the higher level of abstraction, with less opportunity to apply what is gained from research methods courses. This research contributes to the growing need to transform the way we design and teach courses on research methods, and the importance employing a research-led approach to inform the transformation.","PeriodicalId":38532,"journal":{"name":"Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49356163","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-01-13DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.20.1.2556
Zeta Dooly, A. Duane, Aidan O'driscoll
The collaborative European funded research and development landscape drives competitiveness among innovative organisations. Recently it has seen the rise of public private partnerships significantly impacting the dynamics of these networks. Thus, the complexity of managing research networks has intensified with the increased diversity of research network members. Additionally, the emergence of the academic entrepreneur has augmented the focus of educational institutions to include innovation and building start-up organisations. The impact of research is scalable if an optimum research network is created and managed effectively. This paper investigates network embeddedness; the nature of relationships, links and nodes within a research network, specifically their structure, configuration and quality. The contribution of this paper extends our understanding for establishing and maintaining effective collaborative research networks. The effects of network embeddedness are recognized in the literature as pertinent to innovation and the economy. Network theory literature claims that networks are essential to innovative clusters such as Silicon valley and innovation in high tech industries. The concept of embeddedness is what differentiates network theory from economic theory. This study adopts a qualitative approach and uncovers some of the challenges of multi-disciplinary research through case study insights. One challenge is competition between network members over ownership and sharing of data. The contribution of this paper recommends the establishment of scaffolding to accommodate cooperation in research networks, role appointment, and addressing contextual complexities early to avoid problem cultivation. Furthermore, it suggests recommendations in relation to network formation, incubation and operations. The network capability is enhanced by the recognition of network theory, open innovation and social exchange with the understanding that the network structure has an impact on innovation and social exchange in research networks and subsequently on research output. The research concludes that the success of collaborative research is reliant upon establishing a common language and understanding between network members to realise their research objectives.
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Pub Date : 2021-12-03DOI: 10.34190/ejbrm.19.2.2509
C. Große, P. Olausson, Susanne Wallman-Lundåsen
This paper highlights major methodological obstacles to studying and performing critical infrastructure protection (CIP) in general and CIP governance in particular. The study simultaneously examines a research project on and practice in the context of Swedish CIP. The complex planning approach of interest is called Styrel, a Swedish acronym for Steering Electricity to prioritised power consumers. It aims to identify and prioritise power consumers of societal importance, collectively referred to as critical infrastructure (CI), to provide an emergency response plan for the event of a national power shortage. Methodologically, the investigation uses material from document studies, interviews and a survey, which involved many actors from the Swedish case. For the analysis of the methodological obstacles, this study applies an abstracted research and development process that encompasses four steps: data collection, data assessment, decision-making and evaluation. The paper mutually maps the insights from the research project to the empirical evidence from the case study. Through this reflective analysis, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges that significantly impede research and practice in the context of national and international CIP, for example, insufficient information sharing and knowledge exchange among parties, a lack of integrated and advanced methods, and uncertainty in policies that induces a variety of local approaches. In addition, since empirical research on implemented CIP plans is limited, this paper addresses this gap. It reveals five general obstacles for both research and practice: a) the access to high-quality data, b) the loss of knowledge over time, c) the interpretation and evaluation of processes and methods, d) the transferability and comparability of data, results and insights; whereas all culminate in 5) a lack of collective intelligence. The accumulation of these obstacles hinders a detailed assessment of decision-making for CIP and its consequences on society. For this reason, this study emphasises the need for enhancing mutual understanding among the various parties in the area of CIP while respecting relevant security issues when inventing novel methods that facilitate collective intelligence.
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