Tom’s research on the effectiveness of employee communication development in his company is an important endeavor to improve workplace dynamics and productivity. According to Barroga and Matanguihan (2022), research objectives are essential to ensure that research is grounded and adequately framed to cover the critical precepts in the research question.
Research Objectives
In this case, as Tom seeks to operationalize his research and address the ‘how effective’ question, he should consider the following sets of research objectives to guide his study:
Set One: Assessing Current Communication Practices
The following research objectives are associated with assessing current communication practices:
- Examine the company’s existing communication methods and channels, including the key stakeholders involved in employee communication.
- To evaluate the frequency and quality of communication interactions between management and employees.
Set Two: Determining Employee Perception and Satisfaction
The following research objectives guide the research regarding the “how effective?” research question:
- To gauge employees’ perceptions of the effectiveness of current communication practices.
- To measure employee satisfaction with the communication processes and identify any gaps or areas of improvement in how employees perceive communication.
Set Three: Analyzing the Impact on Employee Engagement
The following research objective is relevant to the study regarding the relationship between employee engagement and employee communication development:
- To assess the relationship between effective communication and employee engagement
This research objective opens the potential for future research, for example, research associated with the research question: Does improved communication lead to higher job satisfaction and commitment?
Set Four: Developing Communication Strategies and Recommendations
This set of research objectives is essential in every research, and it covers the last section of the paper, where researchers seek to utilize their findings to provide a solid foundation for potent recommendations on a specific topic. In this case, the research objective associated with communication strategies and recommendations can include the following:
- To explore best practices in employee communication development from benchmark organizations.
- To provide actionable recommendations for enhancing employee communication and measuring its effectiveness over time.
Evaluation Criteria for Tom’s Study
Tom should consider the following elements to optimize the potential research outcomes in his research:
Table 1.1: Evaluation Criteria
| Evaluation Criteria | Description |
| Validity | The extent to which research methods and data collection tools accurately measure the intended constructs and research questions; for example, a pilot test and focus groups can infer the validity of Tom’s research. |
| Reliability | The consistency and stability of research results when using the same methods and tools over time or across different researchers. Tom may consider a test-retest protocol with a focus group to assess reliability scores in this case. |
| Representativeness | How well the selected sample of employees mirrors the characteristics and diversity of the entire company’s workforce. The best recommendation regarding this metric is a randomized sample selection that includes employees from various departments, levels, and locations within the company. |
| Ethical Considerations | Adherence to ethical standards in obtaining informed consent, ensuring privacy, and safeguarding participant rights during the research process; for example, How does Tom intend to enforce confidentiality for participants? |
Reliability and Validity
Reliability and validity are critical concepts in the research as they reflect the quality and trustworthiness of research findings. Reliability refers to the consistency, stability, and repeatability of research results. This assertion means that a reliability score assesses whether, should a study be replicated under similar conditions, it would produce similar results. Thus, if a research study lacks reliability, it becomes difficult to have confidence in its findings.
Based on the paragraph above, researchers need to ensure reliability in research. Researchers often use standardized instruments, carefully document procedures, and conduct pilot tests to ensure reliability in their studies. In Tom’s research on employee communication development, he can assess reliability by employing consistent data collection methods. For instance, if he uses a survey to measure employee perceptions of communication effectiveness, he should ensure that the survey questions and response scales remain the same across all data collection points.
On the other hand, validity pertains to the extent to which a research study measures what it intends to measure. This assertion infers that validity concerns whether specific research addresses the research objectives accurately. In Tom’s study, validity would involve proper instrumentation (e.g., surveys and interviews) that directly capture employee perceptions of communication effectiveness and engagement rather than measuring unrelated factors.
Limitation of Research
While a valuable tool for gaining insights and drawing conclusions, research can possess specific limitations that researchers must consider. One fundamental limitation is the generalizability of findings. Methodological problems can affect the ability to apply research findings beyond the study’s specific context. An example of this research phenomenon in Tom’s research encompasses the following aspects that could limit the generalizability:
- Subject Selection: If Tom’s sample of employees is not representative of the broader workforce or is biased in some way, it can limit the generalizability of his findings. For instance, the findings may not apply company-wide if he only surveys employees from one department or location.
References
Barroga, E., & Matanguihan, G. J. (2022). A practical guide to writing quantitative and qualitative research questions and hypotheses in scholarly articles. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 37(16).
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