Methodology例文

3.1IntroductionThepurposeofthischapteristoprovidethereaderwithanunderstandingofthemethodologyandrelevantresearchapproachesadoptedinourresearch.Inthischapter,weexplaintheresearchphilosophy,approachesandstrategies,andwhythemethodologyhasbeenadopted,atthesametime,theconstraintsassociatedwithdatacollectionandthelimitationstotheworkwillalsobediscussed.Theresearchaimforthisdissertationistoinvestigatethecurrenthumanresourcemanagementpracticesofsmallandmedium-sizedenterprises(SMEs)inChina.Obtainingeffectivedataandinformationisofvitalconcerntobuildanaccuratepictureoftheissuebeingstudied.Toalargeextent,methodologydeterminestheoutcomesofanyresearch.Therefore,itiscrucialtochooseappropriateresearchmethodsandconductthemeffectivelyinordertoanswertheresearchquestionandmeettheresearchobjectiveswell.3.2DiscussionofMethodologyTheory3.2.1留学生论文网ResearchPhilosophyThefirstquestionthatanyresearchershouldraisebeforeconductingarealresearchprojectiswhatresearchphilosophyyouwilladopt,thisisveryfundamentalstepandgenerallyspeaking,therearethreeviewsabouttheresearchphilosophythatdominatetheliterature:positivism,interpretivismandrealism(Saundersetal.,2003).Thekeyideaofpositivismisthatthesocialworldexistsexternal,anditspropertiesshouldbemeasuredthroughobjectivemethods,ratherthanbeinginferredsubjectivelythroughsensation,reflectionorintuition(Smithetal,1991).Ifyourresearchphilosophyispositivism,youwillassumetheroleofanobjectiveanalyst,makedetachedinterpretationsaboutdatacollectedinavalue-freemannerandemphasizeonahighlystructuredmethodologytofacilitatereplication(GillandJohnson,1997)andquantifiableobservationsthatleadthemselvestostatisticalanalysis.Bycontrastwithpositivism,interpretivismisoftenassociatedwiththetermsocialconstructionismwhichiscriticalofpositivismandarguesthatrichinsightsintothiscomplexworldareneeded.Theroleoftheinterpretivististoseektounderstandthesubjectiverealityofthosethattheystudyinordertobeabletomakesenseofandunderstandtheirmotives,actionsandintention(Saundersetal.,2003).Inotherwords,socialconstructionismoffersthatrealityissubjectiveanditissociallyconstructedandgivenmeaningbypeople(Seddighi,2005).Finally,realismrecognizestheimportanceofunderstandingpeople’ssociallyconstructedinterpretationsandmeanings,orsubjectivereality,withinthecontextofseekingtounderstandbroadersocialforces,structuresorprocessesthatinfluence,andperhapsconstrain,thenatureofpeople’sviewsandbehaviors(Saundersetal.,2003).(责任编辑：留学生论文网)Basedonthedifferencesofthreephilosophies,thisresearchisofanexploratorynaturewhichisakindofsocialconstructionism.AsCooperandSchindler(1998,p.131)statethat,“exploratorystudiestendtowardloosestructurewithobjectiveofdiscoveringfutureresearchtasks”.Besides,MacDanielandGates(1999,p.63)claimthat“exploratoryresearchisusuallysmall-scaleresearchundertakentodefinetheexactnatureoftheproblemandgainabetterunderstandingoftheenvironmentwithinwhichtheproblemoccurred”.Allofthesefitwellwiththeobjectivesandotherconditionsofmyresearchproject.Therefore,weadopttheinterpretivismphilosophyofanexploratorynatureinthisstudy.3.2.2ResearchApproachInductiveanddeductiveapproachesTherearetwobasicresearchapproachesavailablewhenconductingbusinessresearchincludingdeductiveandinductivemethods(Saundersetal.,2000).Theircharacteristicsaredescribedinthefollowingtable:Table3.1ComparisonofDeductiveandInductiveResearchApproachInductionemphasizesDeductionemphasizes-gaininganunderstandingofthemeaningshumansattachtoevents-scientificprinciples-acloseunderstandingoftheresearchcontext-movingfromtheorytodata-thecollectionofqualitativedata-theneedtoexplaincausalrelationshipsbetweenvariables-amoreflexiblestructuretopermitchangesofresearchemphasisastheresearchprogresses-thecollectionofquantitativedataresearcherindependenceofwhatisbeingresearched-arealizationthattheresearcherispartoftheresearchprocesstheapplicationofcontrolstoensurevalidityofdata-lessconcernwiththeneedtogeneralize-theoperationalisationofconceptstoensureclarityofdefinition-ahighlystructuredapproach-thenecessitytoselectsamplesofsufficientsizeinordertogeneralizeconclusions(Saundersetal.,2003)Thedeductiveapproachisusuallyregardedasaneffectivewaytotesttheories,wherepeopledevelopatheoryandahypothesis(orhypotheses)anddesignaresearchstrategytotestthetheory(Saundersetal.,2000).Thefocusisonwhetherornotthesuggestedtheoryfits,andisappropriatefortheorganization(Saundersetal.,2000;Seddighi,2000).Thedeductiontoresearchowesmuchtowhatwewouldthinkofascientificresearch,inwhichyoudevelopatheoryandhypothesisanddesignaresearchstrategytotestthehypothesis(Saundersetal.,2003).Ontheotherhand,inductiveapproachisusuallyusedtobuildtheories,inpractice,peopleneedtocollectdataanddeveloptheoryasaresultofdataanalysis.Nevertheless,thetwomethodologiesarenotmutuallyexclusive,inreality;theyareoftenusedjointlyinbusinessandmanagementstudies(Seddighi,2000).However,itisimportanttopointoutthatthechoicesofresearchapproachshouldbaseontheresearchquestionandresearchobjectives.(责任编辑：留学生论文网)Therefore,thereisnoquestionthattheinductiveapproachisappropriateforthisp