Applied Research Methods Assignment Sample 2024
1. Introduction
1.1 Research Background
Fire breakout is not a common phenomenal hazard but can significantly result in injuries and fatalities. Elimination of workplace fires requires a solid prevention plan with a strong foundation. A quality plan for fire prevention involves one that prioritises anticipation and prevention of potential fire occurrences (OSM, 2021). Being prepared in advance facilitates the edge of making it easy for identifying potential workplace risks. Reducing risk of workplace incidental hazards has a significant role in securing employee engagement. Involving the workforce towards establishing safety and shared responsibility helps the organisations to ensure consistent performance and growth.
Wang and Zhou (2019) asserted that the intention of promoting a work plan following safety and following innovation practices has a positive mediating role towards safety performance. Level of preparedness for fire and safety management at workplaces leverages the edge of providing employees with peace of mind. It further instils workplace satisfaction along with enhancing strong interpersonal relationships.
1.2 Brief Synopsis
Ensuring workplace safety standards and management renders potential influence on several organisational key performance indicators (KPIs). Safe workplace environment with specific reference to fire safety entails benefits of eliminating or reducing accidents, thereby yielding fewer occupational health costs. Xia et al. (2017) opined that emotional perception of workers concerning risk assessment is influenced by rational perceptions involving severity, utility and probability. Emotional perception has a major influence on regulating safety behaviour of employees.
Taking cue of the emotional quotient, ensuring fire and safety management at workplaces enables managerial professionals to certain employee satisfaction. Besides securing satisfaction, employing fire and safety management has potential benefits of better employee retention, reduced employee downtime and low retraining time. Employees have a specific appreciation for safe working environments as a potential sign of managerial intention towards securing employee well being (IRS, 2021). This helps in enhancing scope of loyalty among the employees and thereby increasing workforce retention.
1.3 Research Rationale
Empowering employees through the approach of safety management instils the advantage of substantial organisational benefits in the long run. Integration of fire and safety management measures help in enhanced employee engagement. Successful safety management practices include consistent planning and programming for promoting proper safety by means of continuous reinforcement, education and ongoing improvements. According to Timofeev (2020), humanising management involving fire and safety standards at workplaces helps in creation of fire safety operating conditions for the employees.
This helps in harmonising relationships and implementation of fire-safety technologies and thereby instils development of a culture of fire safety. Besides employee retention, feeling safe in the working environments instil an edge for employees to enhance their productivity and performance efficiency (IRS, 2021). Elimination of workplace hazards facilitates scope for employees to maintain work investment and meet organisational objectives. This further helps organisations to obtain a satisfactory reputation in the market in addition to promising talent attraction and employer branding.
1.4 Problem Statement
The biggest challenge involving safety management by companies is their approach to preventing injuries by being bold vocal about how risky situations might arise. This tends to threaten the employees straight with no impact on keeping them encouraged for better performance and productivity. Moreover, it instils in the creation of a fear-based culture and thereby reduces employee morale and employee retention.
As per a national survey conducted, 58% of the respondents include an earning family member injured on the job and requiring medical attention (Martic, 2020). This encourages the managerial role to implement necessary practices for securing safety management and fire prevention for workplace safety and satisfaction. Employees experiencing accidental hazards at their workplaces and feeling unsafe about the safety standards can significantly look for new workplaces.
Unsafe workplaces can also yield serious financial consequences in terms of compensating for the instilled damages and additional legal obligations. Reported investment of every £1 by organisations towards safety management amounts to an ROI of £4 (Martic, 2020). Hence, approach of organisational management towards implementation of fire and safety management can potentially help in employer branding, employee satisfaction, increased morale, retention, attracting talents and rising profitability.
1.5 Key Terms
Key terms to be covered for the following research involves organisational management, employee behaviour, workplace safety management, fire and safety management, accidental hazards, employee satisfaction and employee retention.
1.6 Theoretical Framework
1.6.1 Theory of Hierarchy of Needs
Hierarchy of needs, as postulated by Maslow, has a notable emphasis on work settings and job satisfaction. Making employees experience physical and psychological safety in their working environment helps in manifesting the safety and security needs of the employees. Centred on this theoretical approach, organisational management is required to ensure integration of workplace security through fire and safety management. Besides avoiding fatalities, accounting for the need hierarchy can help in boosting employee morale and performance efficiency.
1.6.2 Job Characteristics Model
The Job Characteristics Model prioritises modification of the working environment for securing job satisfaction and encouraging intrinsically motivating features. It involves ensuring workplace satisfaction to ensure psychological stability of the employees and thereby instil high internal working motivation, quality performance and satisfaction.
Presented on this theory, implementing fire and safety management by organisations can help in protecting psychological aspects of the employees in addition to lowering absenteeism and turnover. Accounting for internal factors to help in employee satisfaction concerning safety and security can further help in employer branding and attraction of the desiring talent pool.
2. Aims and Objectives
The following research study is intended to analyse the role of organisational management towards fire and safety management at workplaces and its sequential impact on the behaviour of employees.
Project objectives based on this aim involves –
- To evaluate the importance of fire and safety management at workplaces.
- To analyse the managerial role within organisations concerning fire and safety management.
- To assess the impact of fire and safety management at workplaces on employee behaviour.
- To identify challenges preventing implementation of fire and safety management at workplaces.
- To make constructive recommendations for organisational management to ensure employee safety.
3. Methodology
3.1 Research Philosophy
Research philosophy serves as a significant aspect of research approach as it helps in portraying the assumptions of the research. Generating insight into the assumptions and mindset of the researcher helps in having a distinct view of the topic. Research philosophy can be of diverse types concerning positivism, realism, interpretation and pragmatism.
On this note, interpretivism philosophy of research involves accounting for social perceptions and subjective interpretation. Bowling (2009) posited that interpretivism research philosophy helps in integration of human interest into the concerning study. The following research will make use of interpretivism philosophy for interpretation of social reality.
3.2 Research Approaches
Research approach involves detailed planning and broader assumptions involving a collection of data followed by its analysis and interpretation. Approach of research serves as reasoning in accordance with the identified research problem or objectives. Approach of a research study can either be deductive or inductive. Deductive approach covers basing the research work on existing information. Dawson (2007) mentioned that deductive research approach helps in explaining interlinks between variables and concepts casually.
It involves the additional advantage of quantitative measurement of concepts. The research will thus deploy a deductive approach to make specific conclusions without generalisation of the research findings.
3.3 Research Strategy
Research strategy displays sequential action plans as part of the entire research conductance. This helps in systemic research execution along with production of detailed reporting and quality results. Strategy of research involves distinct possibilities on grounds of the experiment, survey, action research, archival research, case study, grounded theory and ethnography.
Depending on these, ethnography strategy is identified to maintain a subjective nature. Hammond and Wellington (2007) claimed that ethnographic research helps in identifying and analysing in-depth issues related to the concerning topic of research. The research here will integrate an ethnography strategy to uncover and analyse relevant emotions and attitudes concerning population segment.
3.4 Research Choices
Research choice sheds light on the kind of data collection and interpretation style to be adopted for research work. It further helps in highlighting authenticity of the research outcomes based on the research collection platforms accessed by the researcher. Choices of research can be mono, multi or mixed methods.
Mixed methods have the benefit of evaluating contradictions between qualitative and quantitative findings. Denscombe (2017) observed that mixed methods facilitate a voice for studying respondents along with ensuring that obtained findings are grounded with experiences of the respondents. Making use of mixed choice for the research will help in fostering scholarly interactions.
3.5 Data Collection Method
Data collection serves as pragmatic essentialism of a research concerning accessibility to quality information. It helps in making informed decisions, meeting research problems and generating in-depth insights regarding the concerning topic. Data collection can be primary, involving direct access or secondary, covering existing information. It can further be classified as a quantitative or qualitative collection.
Saunders et al. (2019) propounded that primary data collection involves the notable advantage of accessing fresh data and thereby help in suiting the preferences of the researcher. Centred on this, the research will employ qualitative collection through interviewing 3 managers of renowned clinical organisations based in UK. As part of a quantitative collection, 100 selective senior employees of the chosen organisations would be approached for an online survey. Simple random sampling will be implemented by the researcher while selecting the desiring participants.
3.6 Data Analysis Method
Data analysis helps in making a deeper plunge at an interpretation of the obtained findings. Gleaned from the mixed method research choice, the research has identified making use of both qualitative and quantitative data collection as means of data collection. Analysis of the accessed information will involve presentation in the form of percentages, tables, graphs and pie charts. Interpretation of the findings will involve linking with authentic secondary sources from authentic databases or websites.
4. Ethical Issues
Ethical research is a pivotal part of research that helps in ensuring the reliability and validity of the entire process along with the findings. It helps in promoting research aims in addition to supporting values for collaborative work. As per the views of Schwester (2020), ethical research involves informed consent, respecting confidentiality and anonymity, beneficence and respecting privacy. On this note, the ensuing research will adhere to ethical processes.
The accessed data will be maintained through adherence with the “Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48)” and “Data Protection Act 2018 (c.12)”. It will also abide by the University-based code of policies and norms for ensuring any possible breaching of ethical aspects. The research will ensure avoidance of any negative accountability concerning ethical grounds.
In light of the data collection process, the research will implement simple random sampling to avoid any biases while selecting sample size from the identified population segment. Managers of the chosen and the employees will be contacted by telephonic means or email for seeking consent. They will be thoroughly intimidated regarding the data collection process, need of the researcher and aim of the research.
They will further be informed about the patterns of questionnaire options. The researcher will maintain decent communication and avoid pressuring the participants to undergo the collection process. They will also be provided with a stipulated time for deciding on their continuation. As a means of safe data storage, all accessed data will be stored in spreadsheet software and locked folders.
Physical copies of the data will be stored in personal lockers with secure locks. Disposal will involve pulverising the physical copies and formatting all the soft copies. Besides, data will be presented in statistical patterns to secure anonymity of the participants.
5. Expected Outcome
Reached from the methodology and ethical considerations of the research, the following study can be expected to account for credibility. Obtained findings and their following interpretation can significantly help make informed decisions concerning workplace safety management. The conducting study, following ethical standards, would help ensure authentic data interpretation and thereby help in meeting the identified research objectives.
Reference List
Bowling, A, (2009). Research Methods in Health. 3rd Edition Maidenhead, Open University Press.
Dawson, C. (2007). Introduction to Research Methods. A Practical Guide for anyone undertaking a Research Project. 4th Edition. Oxford: How to Books Ltd.
Denscombe, M. (2017). The good research guide. 6th edition. Maidenhead, Open University Press.
Hammond, M. and Wellington, J. (2007). Research Methods. The Key Concepts. London and New York, Routledge.
IRS (2021). 8 Key Components of a Successful Safety Management Program. Available at: https://ireportsource.com/blog/safety-management-program/ [Accessed on: 02 June 2021]
Legislation (2021). Understanding UK Legislations. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ [Accessed on: 02 June 2021]
Martic, K. (2020).The Importance of Workplace Safety and How to Keep Employees Safe. Available at: https://blog.smarp.com/workplace-safety-importance-best-practices [Accessed on: 01 June 2021]
OSM (2021). Why You Need To Make Fire Protection In The Workplace A Priority. Available at: https://www.optimumsafetymanagement.com/blog/importance-fire-protection-workplace/ [Accessed on: 01 June 2021]
Saunders, M., Thornhill, A. and Lewis P. (2019) Methods for Business Students (8th edition). Pearson Education: London.
Schaufeli, W.B., (2017). Applying the job demands-resources model. Organizational Dynamics, 2(46), pp.120-132.
Schwester, R.W., (2020). Ethical considerations in public administration research. In Handbook of Research Methods in Public Administration, Management and Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Stewart, C., Nodoushani, O. and Stumpf, J., (2018, July). Cultivating employees using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In Competition Forum, 16(2), pp. 67-75.
Timofeev, V. D. (2020). Methods of humanization of fire safety management. Life Safety, (1), pp. 37-44.
Wang, G. and Zhou, X., (2019). Innovation in safety management: A moderated mediation model. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 47(9), pp.1-14.
Xia, N., Wang, X., Griffin, M.A., Wu, C. and Liu, B., (2017). Do we see how they perceive risk? An integrated analysis of risk perception and its effect on workplace safety behaviour. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 106, pp.234-242.
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