The methodology chapter provides a rationale and details for the research. The study investigates the reasons why customers-facing employees decide to leave or move to another employer or different sector altogether. This section elaborates the research philosophy, instruments, demographics, population, data analysis, and ethical guidelines for the research work.
3.1. Research Philosophy and Approach
The research used quantitative and qualitative approaches and specifically, both positivist underpinning. The reason for using quantitative research is as it deals with the incidences of the findings by using the samples collected from the questionnaire. These findings are quantifiable, and they will help in making informed decisions about the impacts of future developments (Morgan, 2013). The qualitative approach involved restaurant employees with wide range experience, and thus their diversity bolsters the quantitative survey. The quantitate methods used was online quantitative survey (questionnaire) which ensured that the research had a wider geographical coverage. Another advantage of online surveys is that it uses larger sample sizes, and it also includes general questions which generate statistical data that can be easily analysed (Creswell, 2014). On the other hand, online surveys also have some disadvantages, for example, it would be difficult to test individuals who cannot access the Internet. The fundamental difference is that qualitative approach finds out the number of employees and customers who thought the business met their expectations. The online qualitative survey (questionnaire) was efficient because the research was conducted at the fraction of the usual costs. Moreover, time span needed to complete the survey project was substantially shorter that most traditional research methods (Hammersley, 2012; Chamberlain, 2015).
This research uses positivist underpinning because the study focuses on scientific quantitative data collection and analysis. Bryman (2015, p. 2) elaborated that “the positivist tradition stresses the importance of doing quantitative research such as large scale surveys in order to get an overview of society as a whole and to uncover social trends, such as the relationship between educational achievement and social class. This type of sociology is more interested in trends and patterns rather than individuals.” For the case of this study on why customers-facing employees decide to leave or move to another employer, a positivist philosophy could be linked to the study by helping the researcher to understand relationships between perceptions of the employees and societal constraints that may result to their transfer. Therefore, a positivist philosophical approach would be more efficient compared to others such as interpretivism, which concentrate on humanistic and individualistic qualitative data.
Additionally, the study work has employed the use of deductive research, and, therefore, it allows the new hypothesis to be tested during the research work. Specific data collected from the study has been collected, and it forms the basis of the hypothesis testing (Punch & Punch, 2003). The benefit of this approach is the high possibility of explaining causal relationship between employees’ working conditions and the employer terms, as well the other variables. Moreover, it enhances the possibility of measuring the concepts quantitatively, and it also generalizes research findings within the certain extent (Olaniran, 2010).
3.2. Population and Sample
The target population in the study was customer-facing employees whose intention was to leave a bar or restaurant for another sector. The survey was carried using the questionnaire involving a 10 minute online survey. This study was conducted on 5th of March 2018 by asking the respondents to answer online questions at will. The respondents were required to mark only one oval in a yes/No close-ended question as well multiple choice questions. Altogether, there are 33 questions targeting employees of all the ages which are based on age, gender, current work status, first job, average working hours, promotions, work-life balance, and the pay. Section 2 required responses about the respondent’s first job, work, and study schedule, nature of work conditions, reasons for leaving and choosing an employer the among other reasons.
3.3 Procedures
The sample was selected using snowballing effect on Facebook and Instagram. Questionnaire also used Google forms, and if respondents ticked ‘yes’ for the second question, then they had some experience in the restaurant industry. Therefore, they would continue with answering the rest of the questions. If not, they would exit the questionnaire. The length of the questions meant that respondents took between 10 to 15 minutes to complete (Czaja & Blair, 2013). The reason for using this sampling approach is that it covers an expansive geographical scope and also targets the hard-to-reach populations. The only condition was that these employees must have had some kind of previous experience in a bar or restaurant. The questionnaire was administered online social media and designed to address most of the probable issues that could have contributed to the exit of the employees from one firm to another. For example, important aspects such as satisfaction on salaries, relationship with co-workers and the employer, desired working conditions and terms of reference among others that were discussed in the literature review. The decision to use social media for the survey was because social media has a massive pool of potential respondents, and it would be easier for respondents to refer other since the snowballing was employed.
3.4 Instruments
The use of focus groups was the most relevant instrument in this research work. Data of responses were collected from male and female employees who are currently working in the bar and those who had previously worked in these settings. Data on relevant demographic characteristics include age and current work status (Kretzschmar & Schneider, 2006). Information collected is used in decision making and data analysis. Pilot testing was also carried out when the first primary data was collected. Thereafter, a format research instrument was developed to attract respondents on Facebook and Instagram. The study also employed psychological tools such as laddering questions and Rorschach-like tests. Laddering questions probe deeper on the perspective and opinion of the respondents (Wang, 2015).
3.5 Data Analysis
There were 46 responses received. The individuals were confident in answering the questionnaire because the snowball sampling technique allowed participants to invite their colleagues in the same industry. To test the validity of the hypothesis, virtual methods were designed using Instagram and Facebook anlaytics. A characteristic of this population is that the virtual response rate was higher than traditional snowballing techniques (Lavrakas, 2011). There was quality in information received because there was no duplication of cases. The analysis made use of descriptive and statistical approaches in interpreting the data. To deduce the data, SPSS software was used. Descriptive statistics were used to describe data relating to central tendencies, measures of dispersion and relative standings between variables. The technique summarises and presents basic insights of the data collected (Fowler, 2009). The software connects more than one Facebook/instagram tool and manages them using one dashboard. Also, Union metrics social analytics platform was used to check-up looks for the past one month. The software uses paid-tool algorithm to interpret data (Poynter, 2010).
3.6 Ethical
Before conducting the survey, it was necessary to request permission from the HR department. The purpose of it is to eliminate any attachment and personal bias. Ethical approval from the university was also imperative. One of the most important ethical concerns of respondents is their identity especially when a study is done online. The researcher assured respondents that their identity was protected because they were not to give any personal contacts or sensitive information that could identify them. They were also assured that the purpose of the study was only to conduct understand their views and the researcher was to present them for academic purposes. A clear consent form was signed and agreed upon and participants were allowed to skip questions that they would feel uncomfortable to answer as asserted by Buchanan (2014). Adherence to the code of conduct in research, which includes respect, integrity, professionalism, and honesty when dealing with the respondents, was observed. Respondents were given the contents and objective of the study for them to make informed judgements on whether to partake in the survey or not. Full disclosure was important with regard to exact wording and sequencing of the questions (Yardley & Marks, 2013).
Limitation
Firstly, it is hard to distinguish the authentication and reliability of information from the respondents. Secondly, the actual target population of the study is not definite. There is also the problem of loss of respondents due to equipment challenges, inaccuracy of responses, and inadequate representativeness in samples of online users. Lastly, there is some limitation of ethics and legality of web tracking (Fielding, Lee, & Blank, 2017).
References
Bryman, A. (2015). Social research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Buchanan, E. A. (2014). Readings in virtual research ethics: Issues and controversies. Hershey: Information Science Publ.
Chamberlain, J. M. (2015). Theory in context: An introduction. New York: Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
Czaja, R., & Blair, J. (2013). Designing Surveys: A Guide to decisions and procedures. New York: Thousand Oaks [etc.: Pine Forge Press
Fielding, N., Lee, R. M., & Blank, G. (2017). The SAGE handbook of online research methods. New York: Routledge.
Fowler, F. J. (2009). Survey research methods. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
Hammersley, M. (2012). What is qualitative research? London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Kretzschmar, W. A., & Schneider, E. W. (2006). Introduction to quantitative analysis of linguistic survey data: An atlas by the numbers. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Lavrakas, P. J. (2011). Encyclopedia of survey research methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Publications.
Morgan, D. L. (2013). Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: A pragmatic approach.
Olaniran, B. A. (2010). Cases on successful E-learning practices in the developed and developing world: Methods for the global information economy. Hershey, Pa: IGI Global.
Poynter, R. (2010). The handbook of online and social media research: tools and techniques for market researchers. Chichester: Wiley.
Punch, K., & Punch, K. (2003). Survey research: The basics. London: Sage Publications.
Wang, V. C. X. (2015). Handbook of research on scholarly publishing and research methods.
Yardley, L., & Marks, D. F. (2003). Research methods for clinical and health psychology. London: Sage.
