Electronic Data Interchange, Essay Example

Introduction

The qualitative research plan being developed for this course seeks to develop a theory on retention dynamics of sales personnel. Specifically, the research question that it intends to answer include findings out what the qualities of workplaces are that seem to inspire loyalty among sales employees. In this assignment, a sampling strategy and sampling size is recommended for the study based on these and other specifications.

Sampling Strategy and justification

According to Creswell (2007), qualitative researchers regardless of what tradition they follow should select a type of purposeful sampling strategy. This is as opposed to selecting a random sampling strategy, which is used for quantitative studies. This makes sense since the assumptions made by the two broad types of researches as discussed in (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 2008) are very different. Whereas quantitative methodologies assume that only the general view of a population as derived from a valid sample of it is the truth that a research seeks to find, qualitative studies consider that every member of the population has some truth to share, and so there is no harm in virtually selecting anyone from the population so long as the characteristics of the sample are well documented. As such, a type of purposely sampling strategy should be adopted for the qualitative research plan.

However as shown in Creswell (2007), there are so many purposive sampling strategies to choose from. With regard to this, Creswell (2007) tied in some of the sampling strategies with the specific traditions for which they may be most applicable. For the specific qualitative study being developed, the grounded theory approach had previously been selected as the most appropriate tradition. In grounded theory, Creswell (2007) recommended the theoretical sampling strategy. Creswell (2007) explained that what were traditionally studied were different individuals who have chosen to respond to a specific action, or have participated in some part of the process of the main topic that is being investigated. For example, in exploring a theory on how women cope with marital abuse, different people who are involved in the phenomenon have different views to share which may all be important to the topic investigated, such as the abused women themselves, support groups that attend to them, or even such women’s abusive spouses. Correspondingly for this study, it is necessary to draw a sample that is involved in different aspects of the topic. As such, the sample that is sought to be selected should be composed of different people who are involved in sales workplaces wherein workers are known to remain loyal. This sample can include sales persons, their managers, even customers who interact with people in sales. Each of these groups of people may provide useful information for the study. The second concern in sampling for a grounded theory qualitative research project is the need to find a homogenous sample. In grounded theory, it is important to determine the concepts that are relevant to what will be investigated at the start of the study.  This means that the individuals sampled should come from some common background that represents what the study is investigating. Applied the qualitative research project, this means that the respondents selected should come from sales workplaces where in can be said that sales employees have developed a high sense of loyalty. This may purposively be selected by reviewing the human resources records of some companies, and choosing companies wherein employee turnover rates are low. The turnover rate refers to the number of employees who have left the company divided by the average total number of employees in the company over a calendar year (Testa, 2008). As explained by Testa (2008), the turnover rate is one the primary ways that companies test how long they are able to maintain the satisfaction of people in their workplace. By selecting only companies that have low turnover rates, a homogenous frame is developed in which the investigation can be conducted. This is very important in selecting the grounded theory approach, as it is necessary to determine appropriate bounds for the theory that is to be developed. For example, the reasons and considerations that people who work for companies with high turnover rates have for still persisting to stay in the company may be very different from the reasons that people in companies with low turnover rates have for staying. As such, a theory developed through the grounded theory approach for one setting may not be appropriate for the other setting. This is why it is important for homogeneity to be established. However within this homogenous frame, there is a diversity of sources of information to draw from. As previously explained, different groups of people in different positions in such a homogenous setting can contribute different perspectives to the study, which can verify or dispute findings from other groups within the same homogenous setting. As such, the sampling technique described in best for qualitative studies using the grounded theory approach because a theory needs to be developed within known constraints yet needs to be able to extensive enough so that it can be considered credible within the given constraints. It would enable the study to focus on the topic of investigation, developing a theory that is specifically applicable to the desired setting.

Sampling Size and justification

As for sampling size, a review conducted of different studies that have made use of the grounded theory approach in the field of business show no consensus with regard to a definite number of participants required (Crook & Kumar, 1998; Farias, Nataraajan, & Kovacs, 2009; de Chernatony & Cottam, 2009). However as examined by Mason (2010), qualitative studies in general make use of an average of 31 respondents per study. Still, Mason (2010) pointed out that what is the most important concern with regard to sampling size in qualitative studies is saturation. That is, the point where further sampling no longer yields any previously unknown data. Based on this, an initial sampling size of 31 is selected for this study. The rationale for this sampling size is that it is the average number of participants used for qualitative research, and that it is similar in number to the number of participants used in grounded theory studies reviewed within the business field. However, this is only a preliminary size. The possibility is acknowledged that upon coding the responses of participants from the sample, the resulting responses are so diverse as to require further sampling, in order to be able to find out if there are other pieces of data about the topic that have not yet been gathered. Thus, the sample size may be increased later on in the study, up to a point where samples selected are no longer able to give any new information for the study. At this point, sampling shall be discontinued. The flexibility of the sampling size ensures that the research would not be limited to its initial selection of participants. The researcher may review what these initial participants have to say, and based from this seek out other potential participants within the set constraints who can add more detail and greater credibility to the theory being developed.

In this assignment, it was found that the most appropriate sampling strategy given the selection of the grounded theory approach is the theoretical sampling strategy. This sampling strategy ensures that all possible sources of data are exhausted, while at the same time keeping true to a homogenous frame of investigation. It was also found to be appropriate to have an initial sample size of 31 respondents, composed of different relevant participants in low turnover sales workplaces.

References

Crook, C., and Kumar, R. (1998). Electronic data interchange: a multi-industry investigation using grounded theory. Information & Management, 34(2): 75-89.

de Chernatony, L., and Cottam, S. (2009).  Interacting contributions of different departments to brand success. Journal of Business Research, 62(3): 297-304.

Farias, S., Nataraajan, R., and Kovacs, E. (2009). Global business partnering among family-owned enterprises, Journal of Business Research, 62(6): 667-672.

Frankfort-Nachmias, C., & Nachmias, D. (2008). Research methods in the social sciences (7th ed.). New York: Worth.

Glaser, B., and Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago, Aldine Publishing Company.

Mason, M. (2010). Sample Size and Saturation in PhD Studies Using Qualitative Interviews. Forum of Qualitative Research, 11(3): 8-15.

Testa, B. (2008). Early Engagement, Long Relationship? Workforce Management, 87(15), 27-31.