BSBRES801: Applied Research on Training and Employee Morale

This assignment presents a comprehensive applied research project focused on the impact of training and development on employee morale within an organization, specifically the Ethiopian Press Agency. It outlines the research purpose, questions, and hypotheses, detailing the geographical, cultural, social, and ethical contexts of the study. The research methodology includes data collection via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and surveys, employing descriptive statistics and SPSS for data analysis. Factors affecting research integrity, validity, and reliability are considered, alongside limitations of the research. The project further explores applied research methods like action research and case studies, data collection techniques, and the design and review of data collecting tools. Ultimately, the research aims to provide insights into the relationship between training, development, and employee morale, with implications for organizational practices. Desklib offers a platform to access this and other solved assignments.

BSBRES801
INITIATE AND LEAD APPLIED RESEARCH
STUDENT’S NAME
COURSE
UNIVERSITY
DATE

Table of Contents
Assessment 1.............................................................................................................................3
Introduction:.............................................................................................................................3
Research purpose:....................................................................................................................3
Research questions:..................................................................................................................3
Hypothesis being investigated:................................................................................................4
Context within which the research will be carried out:........................................................4
Geographical Context:.............................................................................................................4
Cultural Context:.................................................................................................................4
Social or institutional Context:...........................................................................................4
Ethical requirements relevant to the context of research:...................................................5
Research Methodology:.......................................................................................................6
Data collection:.........................................................................................................................6
Evidence of consideration of a range of available research tools, resources and
techniques appropriate to the context....................................................................................6
Data analysis methods:............................................................................................................7
Data storing, methods:.............................................................................................................7
Population or sample size:.......................................................................................................7
Factors affecting the integrity, validity and reliability of the research:.............................8
Research tools, resources and techniques used (appropriate to the context).....................8
Limitations of the research......................................................................................................9
Assessment 2...........................................................................................................................10
Applied research methods (at least two)..............................................................................10
Action research...................................................................................................................10
Case study...........................................................................................................................10
Data collection techniques (at least three)...........................................................................10

Methods and techniques selected to optimise the collection of useful data for the
research topic:........................................................................................................................11
Justification for methods and techniques selected:.............................................................11
Design, use and review three data collecting tools:.............................................................12
Peer review/feedback from experts used to test the tools:..................................................13
Modifications made after feedback and why these were made..........................................13
Assessment 3...........................................................................................................................14
Data collection techniques.............................................................................................14
Research aims.........................................................................................................................14
Who initiated the research and who it was for?..................................................................14
Ideological context:................................................................................................................15
Research strategy used and why:..........................................................................................15
Data analysis and findings including any threats to the integrity of the data, trends and
challenges:...............................................................................................................................16
Implications of the research for practice.............................................................................16
The extent to which the research findings can be generalized:.........................................16
Further research required:...................................................................................................16
Conclusion:.............................................................................................................................17
References...............................................................................................................................18

Assessment 1
Introduction:
Employee training is very crucial for the success of any organization within the competitive
business environment (Ahmad & Din, 2017). Employees who have been effectively trained
perform better than those who have not been trained. This is because training results to high
morale among the employees at the work place due to performance of tasks which they are
well acquainted. This research shall focus on the impact of training and development on the
morale of the employees at Ethiopian Press Agency (Bartel, 2014). This is one of the media
organizations and it is the only governmental printed media in the country. Its main vision is
to be the most preferred media in Africa. This vision can only be achieved through an
effective investment on the human resources through training and development which inturns
results to high morale among the workforce hence the achievement of the organizational
goals and objectives.
Research purpose:
The research purposes to establish the impact of training and development on the morale of
the employees at Ethiopian Press agency. This shall send signal to other organizations to
implement training and development policies in their organizations.
Research questions:
a) How can the Ethiopian Press Agency prepare training for all employees?
b) What training methods are used for conduct training and development?
c) To what extent does training and development influence employees’
performance?

Hypothesis being investigated:
In addition to the research questions stated above, the following hypotheses are also stated:
 HA: Training and development has no any contribution on employees’ morale in an
organization.
 Ho: Training and development has clear contribution on employees’ morale in an
organization.
Context within which the research will be carried out:
Geographical Context:
This research shall be carried out on Ethiopian Press Agency in Addis Ababa. There
might be many press agencies in the country but the researcher is only interested in
Ethiopian Press Agency.
Cultural Context:
The research shall focus on the organizational culture of employee training. Ethiopian
Press Agency has incorporated employee training into its culture hence the research
shall focus on this aspect.
Social or institutional Context:
The research shall mainly focus on the employees and their performance within the
organization. The researcher shall evaluate the impact of training and development on
their morale which is usually directly proportional to their performance in Ethiopian
Press Agency.

Ethical requirements relevant to the context of research:
According to Blanchard and Nick (2016) research, as a scientific process and activity, has
got its own basic ethical conducts that shouldn’t be compromised at any levels.
Research ethics are very vital for the success of any research by the researcher. The
researcher should adhere to the following ethical requirements during research:
a) The researcher should ensure that the participants are not subjected to any harm when
giving the information in relation to the impact of training and development on their
performance.
b) The researcher should respect the dignity of the participants because they are his
important source of information
c) The researcher should not share the confidential information of the participants with
the third party. The privacy of information should highly be adhered to by the
researcher during data collection from the organization.
d) The researcher should give accurate data to avoid misleading other researchers who
might rely on the information provided by him.
e) The researcher should ensure the voluntary participation of the correspondents
especially when filling the questionnaires.
f) For instance, any source that is quoted and written as used as essential part of the
study should be mentioned by the researcher.

Research Methodology:
It includes the research approach and design, the geographical area where the study was
undertaken, description of the respondents of the study selected by the researcher, tools and
methods of data collection, variables studied, pilot study and the statistical techniques used
for analysis and interpretation of the data
Data collection:
Use of Questionnaires
The semi-structured questionnaires shall be designed by the researcher to enhance efficient
data collection which shall be very efficient for the formulation of the research findings by
the researcher.
Semi structured Interviews
A semi-structured interview shall be conducted with the selected executive members and
heads of departments. The interview will be conducted because; it is an important source of
gathering data for the study at the Ethiopian Press Agency. The questions for the interview
shall not follow a specific order despite of being predetermined by the researcher.
Surveys
The researcher can be able to obtain relevant information for the research through conducting
a survey through various blogs.
Evidence of consideration of a range of available research tools, resources and
techniques appropriate to the context.
The researcher has used various tools, resources and techniques for research during the study.
He has made use of the questionnaires, field work, surveys and focus group discussions to
collect efficient data for the research.

Data analysis methods:
The researcher shall adopt descriptive statistics method in the analysis of the data collected
via interviews and surveys (Choo & Bowley, 2017).The researcher shall also use a statistical
tool and a software called SPSS in the analysis of data collected through questionnaires. The
collected data will clearly presented by using tables which are expressed in the form of
frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. To examine the relationship between
manpower training and development in employee morale, the correlation has been used.
Moreover, multiple regressions may also be used to identify the most important effect of
measuring manpower training and development which brings employee morale in an
organization.
Data storing, methods:
The collected data shall be stored in CD- drives for future reference by the
researcher.
Population or sample size:
The study will focus all the employees of EPA. The total population of the employees is
approximately 400. However, members of the staff with less than one year work experience
in the agency won’t be included. Therefore the purposive sampling method would be the
researcher’s target to use here.

Factors affecting the integrity, validity and reliability of the research:
Such factors include the:
Sample size
Type of survey used especially in the comparison of types and methods to
increase validity.
The capacity to general the findings across the entire population
Having an access to the appropriate personnel for data collection
Research tools, resources and techniques used (appropriate to the context)
Some of the research techniques that can be used are statistical methods, field
study, and observation

Limitations of the research
Although the research has reached its aims, there were some unavoidable limitations .First,
because of the time limit, this research was conducted only on a small size of employees who
were the supervisors so it won’t be accurate since people have different opinions .Therefore
to generalize the results for larger groups ,the study should have involved more participants at
different levels of the organization .Second ,the questionnaires designed to determine
employees views on the impact of training and development may have been filled
inaccurately and even not all the employees did have access to questionnaires. There might
be other factors that might have led to employee increased morale among the employees at
Ethiopian Press Agency but this study inclined on training and development as the key factor.
This study is limited to the effect of man power training and development on employee’s
morale in an organization. Ethiopian press Agency is the only federal print public media in
Ethiopia. The researcher will focus only on employees of Ethiopian Press Agency, so as the
study will be limited to EPA only. EPA is found in Addis Ababa and there are many private
and public print media in the city but the researcher will take EPA only for accuracy.
How the research meet the needs of the target group
The research has clearly outlined the significance of employee training and development
making it clear for the organizations which will then have to implement various training and
development programs in their organizations.

Assessment 2
Applied research methods (at least two)
The researcher shall use the following applied method in research
Action research
This research usually aims to solve an immediate problem in a given organization. According
to Jones and Wright, (2012) the researcher tend to obtain relevant data in relation to the
implication of training and development on the morale of the employees so as to initiate
training and development programs in other organizations to reduce the turnover rate
experienced in many organizations today.
Case study
The researcher has used Ethiopian Press Agency as the case study to come up with the
implication of training and development on the morale of the employees.
Data collection techniques (at least three)
The researcher shall collect data during the research through:
Surveys
The researcher shall conduct a survey in relation to the impact of training and development in
the organization through which he shall be able to obtain relevant information to enhance the
research findings.
Interview
The researcher shall interview the employees through which he shall be able to obtain
relevant information to facilitate the research findings.

Focus group discussions.
The researcher shall divide the sample population into groups after which he shall
request them to give him their views of the impact of training and development on their
morale which has a direct impact on their performance within the organization (Delery
and Doty, 2016). This shall be very crucial to him in coming up with the research
findings for the study.
Methods and techniques selected to optimise the collection of useful data for the
research topic:
The researcher shall use the following the methods and techniques for optimum collection
of relevant data for the topic under study
Use of journals
The researcher shall read as many journals as possible so as to obtain more information on
the impact of training and development on the morale of employees on various organizations.
Field study
The researcher shall focus on other researcher’s work in the same field so as to fill the gaps in
knowledge for the better utilization of the human resources in the organizations (Tai,
2016).Field study shall enable him to advice various organizations on the significance of
training and development on the morale of the employees in the organization (Knoke and
Kalleberg, 2014).