Reflective Report: Research Methods Project on HR Services

This reflective report details a student's experience conducting research on HR services and employee retention. The report covers the student's learning as a researcher, including insights gained and challenges faced, such as time constraints. It explores the student's personality traits, specifically their inquisitive nature and enthusiasm for research. The report also delves into the student's philosophical outlook, adopting a positivist approach to analyze data, and reflects on ethical considerations, such as proper referencing and voluntary participation. The student found the project exciting and believes that with more resources and time, more could be uncovered on the subject of HR and employee retention. The assignment was part of the BS4S14 Research Methods module.

Running head: REFLECTIVE REPORT
Reflective Report
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE REPORT
Table of Contents
1. What I Learnt as a Researcher..................................................................................................2
2. What I discovered about my Personality..................................................................................3
3. Challenges that I Faced............................................................................................................3
4. Philosophical Outlook..............................................................................................................3
5. Ethical Considerations Made....................................................................................................4

2REFLECTIVE REPORT
1. What I Learnt as a Researcher
Conducting an investigation on the subject of HR services and the act of employee retention
was quite an enlightening experience for me. This is a subject that had previously been quite
unfamiliar to me, and it took me a lot of reading and researching to gain a thorough
understanding of it. I had to browse through plenty of books, journal articles and edited volumes
to do my background research and the actual experience of taking interviews and conducting
participant observation was challenging and a great learning experience for me at the same time.
This research has me to transform as a learner. There are lots of new insights that I have gained
as part of the learning and researching process. From being completely unaware about HR
related managers, I achieved a proper and scholarly understanding of the subject towards the end
of my project. To engage in this project was exhilarating to say the least. I got to meet a lot of
interesting people, and there was a lot of personal interaction that I had to take part in for the
research to be done in a fulfilling manner; interactions that have left me more knowledgeable and
confident as a researcher. I was proactive throughout the learning process and I was open to
combating all the challenges that came my way when conducting the study, be it engaging in
participant observation or doing the intensive library work that was so necessary in order for this
research to be done in a fulfilling manner.
2. What I discovered about my Personality
What I discovered about my personality is that I have quite an inquisitive nature. I
discovered that I as a person am quite eager to learn about new things and that it gives me a lot

3REFLECTIVE REPORT
of thrill to engage in research. To uncover and to find out facts that have previously not been
discovered or known before is something that gave me a lot of boost, and I was able to undertake
the project with the confidence and the competence that was necessary. I can say with a lot of
surety that research is something that I am quite well suited for, given how easily I was able to
go about this project in spite of the many challenges that came my way. The very process of
uncovering new facts and information and the scope to speak and engage with people in order to
be able to do the same, is what kept going throughout the entire process.
3. Challenges that I Faced
With respect to challenges that came in my way I must say that the fact that this project
had to be undertaken in a limited or fixed period of time is what proved to be the biggest
challenge for me. I had to get my reading done as soon as possible after which I had to prepare
for the primary research process. In other words, I had to undertake a lot of preparation and do a
lot of homework in order to get this project off the ground, and the fact that I had do this in
limited time proved to be the biggest problem. Had I more time at my disposal, I would have
been able to do a more thorough job of this project.
4. Philosophical Outlook
It is safe to say that the project that I undertook is one that had a huge impact on my
philosophical outlook, not only towards research but towards life in general. The research
philosophy that I adopted for this specific project is the research philosophy of positivism, a
perspective that made it possible to analyze figures, and factual information in the greatest
possible detail. The positivist research philosophy is one that is literally capable of making a

4REFLECTIVE REPORT
researcher optimistic and hopeful about the research process, and it is one that I really liked
adopting for conducting this investigation of mine. It helped me to gauge a thorough
understanding of the subject matter of the research. Every possible detail associated with the
subject of HR services and employee retention I was able to study and analyze in the manner that
is expected, by putting this particular research philosophy to use and regularly at that.
My stance before and after the project, was one that focused on the use of a descriptive or
analytical design as it is commonly known. I wanted to be descriptive about the way by which I
was interpreting the facts that I stumbled upon in the course of my study, be it through primary
or secondary research. The research design that I adopted was one I believe that was well chosen
and it helped me to navigate through the various processes that are intrinsic of research projects,
helping me to pull this project off with the success desired.
5. Ethical Considerations Made
Finally, there are a number of ethical issues that I had to combat when I was doing this
project. I had to first and foremost make sure that the secondary sources which I made use of for
this project were properly cited and referenced using the Harvard referencing style. The Harvard
referencing style is one of the most acceptable citation styles which I why I decided to opt for.
When it came to the primary research that I conducted, there was a lot of care that I took to make
the scope and the outcome of the project known to the members of the respondent. They were
told why their participation was being coveted and what ulterior purpose the project was going to
serve. I also let them know that the research was going to be voluntary in nature. I did not coerce
any of the members of the respondent population into taking part in the research and they had the
freedom to opt out of the process as and when they wanted to. I also made sure of the fact that

5REFLECTIVE REPORT
the questions that were being asked as part of the research process were questions that would not
make the participants uncomfortable in any given way.
Thus, while the ethical issues that I had to combat in order to do this project are many in
number, I do not regret the challenges that I faced in the process of doing this project. All of the
challenges and hurdles that came my way have helped to make me a better researcher than what I
was before, and I am now well poised to take on all types of research projects as and when these
come my way. No doubt this was one of the most exciting projects that I have taken part in and
with more resources and definitely more time at hand, I personally believe that I can uncover a
lot more on the subject matter. HRM or human resource management is a great subject of study
and research and there is a lot of research potential associated with this subject as a whole.