PSM403: Analyzing Study Designs, Ethics, and Research Limitations

This report analyzes two studies investigating the dynamics between majority and minority groups and their impact on job satisfaction and attitudes. Study 1 employs a non-experimental correlational design, while Study 2 uses an experimental ANOVA approach. The findings reveal that the nature of contact between groups influences job satisfaction, with positive contact increasing satisfaction in the majority group, and negative contact decreasing it. Ethical considerations, including consent and avoiding discrimination, are emphasized, particularly due to the study's focus on religious and racial divisions. The report discusses the suitability of qualitative versus quantitative methodologies, favoring the latter to avoid bias, and highlights limitations such as gender imbalance, restricted age range, and a focus on the finance area. Recommendations include broadening the scope of research, incorporating variables like job performance, and exploring the roles of individuals within both groups to better understand workplace dynamics and promote inclusivity. The report underscores the importance of considering factors like job performance, career development, and stakeholder support for both groups to determine their level of job performance and career development.

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Design statements for the studies
Study 1
The study is a non-experimental design that uses correlational research - survey study
involving the comparison of two variables and in this case the dynamics between the majority
and minority groups. The interaction of these variables is aimed at understanding the
dynamics and how they influence job attitude and job satisfaction.
Study 2
The study is an experimental design that uses Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) which
involves the use of variance among and between groups. Thus, the difference within the
majority group is analyzed as well as the variance within the minority group. Also, the
deviation between the two groups is also examined.
Summary of the results for a non-expert audience
The variables under investigation are the contact type, job satisfaction, and interaction.
Results showed that the nature of contact between the majority and minority groups had an
impact on the level of job satisfaction based on the variance observed between and among the
groups. The majority group showed that they had more job satisfaction compared to the
minority groups upon positive contact. Conversely, it also showed that the majority group
had a lesser level of job satisfaction upon negative contact with the minority group. Another
factor to be noted is the fact that their attitude toward their job was also influenced by the
nature of how they imagined interacting with the minority group. If they imagined positive
contact their attitude toward their work environment and colleagues was more favorable
compared to if they had imagined having negative contact with the minority group.
Regarding how the minority group felt about their job attitude upon negative or positive
contact, their attitudes were less affected by the nature of the connection, whether negative or
positive, with the majority group. Thus, it shows less group variability within the minority
group.
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Ethical consideration and importance for this study
Like any other field of life, moral consideration is critical in research. The ethical concern is
subjective which means that there is not a clear distinction between what is right and wrong
due to a different interpretation of right and wrong in different societies and among
researchers, but all researchers agree on the importance of ethics while conducting research.
The ethical considerations like consent of participant, discrimination, restricting data
manipulation, trust, accountability, conflict of interest, compliance of the law, copyright
guidelines and human rights are critical while conducting any research (Mazur, 2007).
As it is discussed above that ethical consideration is a vital element for the success of any
study. The importance of ethical concern is even more in studies which have the aspect of
religion, ethnicity, gender and racial division among the participants of the study. The current
study is based on the interaction between two different groups and its impact on job
satisfaction of each group. The division of two groups as the majority and minority groups is
based on religion so greater care is needed in this scenario to avoid any religious
discrimination, data manipulation, conflict of interest and compliance of the law.
Discuss how Qualitative study would be designed for this question and
discuss whether qualitative or quantitative methodology would be most
appropriate.
The qualitative research is one of the oldest scientific method available with the study to
investigate any issue or to find a solution especially related to an opinion, human behavior,
motivations, and theme. The research design of the qualitative study is most flexible among
the experimental techniques because qualitative research has various recognized and accepted
methods of conducting the study. For the question under consideration, the qualitative
research can be developed by collecting a required data through interviews which helps the
researchers in obtaining the more significant amount of data which is vital for the success and
validity of the study (Explorable, 2018). Instead of using structured questionnaire, the
feedback or response from the respondent can be collected through direct interviews which
enables the researcher in getting more data through personal observation which is not
possible in case of quantitative study. The element of bias of the researcher is critical in
qualitative research. The researcher should continuously ensure a bias-free collection of data
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and interpretation. Again, in studies which involves religion and racism more care is needed
to avoid bias and understand the sensitivity of the issue (Denscombe, 2010).
Usually qualitative and quantitative techniques are used together in various studies depending
upon the nature of the study. The decision to choose either qualitative or quantitative is
subjective so for current question quantitative research is appropriate to avoid bias of the
researcher towards any group. The sensitivity of the issue also favors the quantitative
approach which ensures the impartiality and acceptability of the research by both groups who
participated in the study.
The potential limitations of the study and recommendations to complement
the studies
The fact that most of the participants were women may have limited the soundness of the
research, and thus, a gender balance should have been factored in the equation. Gender
perceptions of their work environment and job description differ across various cultures.
Besides, it would limit the ethical issue of not respecting the gender rule especially in a work
environment setting where gender balance is a core policy of professional codes and ethical
considerations. The non-employed but previously employed should have participated in the
research to have a tracking of the temporal profile of that work environment. Variables such
as job performance and career development should have been included to exemplify
dynamics between the two groups (Rahi, 2017). The age of the participants could be factored
as another limitation. They were all around the same age group. Also, all the research was
restricted to the finance area. Broadening the area of research would help in getting more
realistic data.
The job satisfaction and attitudes of the workers were featured in the study, but it does not
mean that it directly correlates with how they perform at the workplace and if they have made
strides at the workplace. The support from the various stakeholders at the work environment
including addressing the welfare issues of both groups determines their level of job
performance and career development and should be explored in subsequent studies. The roles
of the various individuals within both the majority and minority groups regarding how they
treat their colleagues from both groups should also be explored in follow up studies as it will
shed light on how hierarchies at the work environment influence the perceptions, attitudes
and job satisfaction. Also, it will show whether there is a similarity or difference in the
dynamics at the horizontal and vertical levels of employee interaction at the workplace.
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Stratification of these observations under the minority and majority groups will further show
the role of group diversity in influencing job perception, job performance, staff attitude and
interactions in the work environment (Bowling, Khazon, Meyer & Burrus, 2015).
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