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Methodological approaches to researching work-based problems/issues
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Every organization faces work based issues and hence, it is the duty of top level management to opt for adequate practices so that its impact on the functioning can be reduced to the minimum. Bournemouth City Colleges (BCC) is involved in promoting knowledge at international level. The main objective of this organization is to provide excellent environment that motivates students to learn English in their summer breaks. It inspires the culture of English and make its students well versed (English courses at Bournemouth City College, 2017). It also provides accommodation to them for that duration.
Since, BCC is involved in delivering knowledge regarding particularly one language, in that case, there are higher chances of evolvement of issues at the workplace. The main issue faced is regarding cultural barrier as various clients may not be satisfied due to their lower level of understanding to the teaching language (Brinkmann, 2014). Another issue is that it is difficult to keep attracting new clients to the organization when the competition is quite high in the market. Various other issues are also faced by accommodation staff at BCC includes, payment of rent, Accommodation changes and faults in reporting, etc. There are various other types of issues that are faced by BCC. It includes, language barrier, as majority of the customers belong to different country and it becomes difficult to communicate with them in a common language, that is, English. It tends to create communication gap. Another issue faced by them is viewing of availability, it is because the office remains open at office hours when it is difficult to enquire during that time of the day. Another issue is, moving requests, where the clients wants to shift to other rooms within the available building. In the last, the issue faced by them is related to rent payments, where it becomes difficult for them to pay their fees during those hours, as they themselves are working during that period of the day. It is important for the management to opt for appropriate strategies to solve these issues. To effectively understand these problems, research methods can adequately be used by them. The research will be able to create adequate understanding regarding research approach, philosophy and data collection methods so that the issue can be researched in a well defined manner.
Research approach is an important aspect where it helps in understanding and considering all the elements that can further help in effective outcome (Silverman, 2016). In the present research regarding BCC and different issues faced by it at the workplace, deductive and inductive both approaches can be used by the researcher. In the deductive approach, the individual can be put in different environment to understand the intensity of the issues and assess which environment happens to be suitable for them and can reduce the issue to the minimum. However, in case of inductive approach, which helps in development of new theories, changes can be brought in the functioning after taking suggestion from people whose direct impact can be borne by them. Hence, adoption of inductive approach research methods can prove to be effective for BCC in solving out the issues as new approaches and theories can be developed through the research that can further be applied on the organization.
It is important for the organization to opt for appropriate research techniques as its direct impact can be noticed on collecting, analysing and summarizing the information. There can be two types of research techniques. These are, quantitative and qualitative. Qualitative approach helps in establishing in-depth knowledge regarding the subject matter (Flick, 2015). However, quantitative approach happens to use statistical tool to analyse the collected data and reach to an effective conclusion. In the present research, where the scholar is involved in finding out regarding issues faced by BCC, qualitative method will be used. It will help in understanding the issues involved in it in the most effective manner. It can help in understanding various methods that can be used by the organization in marketing and advertising policies so that maximum clients can be attracted towards it.
Type of study is another important aspect of the research. There are basically two types of study. These are, primary and secondary. In primary research, first hand data is collected. However, in secondary research, already published articles and reports are utilized (Lewis, 2015). In the present research, both primary and secondary data will be collected. Primary data will directly be collected from the clients so that their perspective can be understood in effective manner. Further, secondary data will also be used where policies and procedures adopted by other organization having similar interest can be studied for better formation of policies for BCC. Secondary data can be collected through journals, online sources etc (Berger, 2015). The main advantage of collecting data through secondary source is that the researcher gets information that has already been researcher by some other scholar, However, the disadvantage is that some of the websites are restricted to be accessed in that case, secondary information collected by the researcher get narrowed down.
Another important aspect of any research is to use effective method of data collection. Appropriate method can help in adequate collection of data that can finally leads to a well-defined output (Mackey and Gass, 2015). There are various methods of data collection, such as, interview, questionnaire and survey, observations, focus groups, case studies, document and records etc. The main advantage of collecting data through interview is that queries with respect to the answer can be resolved then and there. However, the disadvantage is that it is a time taking process and hence an interview cannot be conducted on a large sample. In order to understand various cultural issues faced by the clients due to cultural and language barrier, in that case, interview method will be an effective tool. Another method that can be used in the research is questionnaire method. The main advantage of this method is that it is easy to collect data from large sample and effective data can be collected if the questionnaire has been designed appropriately. However, the disadvantage is that it is difficult to rely upon the answers as some people do not even go through the questions when they are given any survey form. Further, forming marketing and advertising strategies that can be implemented to attract large chunk of clients can be assessed through questionnaire format. It can help in finding out exact methods which can attract majority of potential clients. Further, data regarding issues faced in payment of rent, accommodation issues, can also be gathered through questionnaire format. Specific answers gathered through it help in understanding core factors of issue. In that case, better solutions can be provided to BCC considering all the important aspects of the problem being identified by top level management.
While following deductive approach of research. The clients that are already associated to the organization can be put in different situation and changes noticed through it can help in building better understanding of the problem (Bryman, 2015). Prevailing cultural issues can be observed by changing lecturers of the class and its impact on the clients can be ascertained. Based upon the suitability of the client and with the aim to reduce the issues being faced by them to the minimum, actions can be taken by the top-level management of BCC. Moreover, administration related issues can be sort out by changing office policies and extending the time in evening hours. It will help in addressing working hours related issue. Further, the temporary change can be brought to permanent of it is able to sort out the issues being faced by the organization (Corbin, Strauss and Strauss, 2014).
Hence, it can be concluded that, adoption of appropriate research strategies can help BBC in understanding the core of issues being faced by it. It can help in suggesting better solutions to the top-level management.
References
Books and journals
Online
English courses at Bournemouth City College. 2017. [Online]. Available through < http://www.bournemouthcitycollege.com/>.
