Evaluation of Methodological Choices
Introduction:
This essay will critically evaluate the methodological choices of the authors, McGovern, Hope-Hailey and Stiles (1997) used in their article, ‘Human Resource Management on the line?’. In addition, it will analyze, whether the research design meets the ontological/ epistemological underpinnings of the research, whether the data collected are valid and reliable, whether the data collection methods were appropriate. It will also take a close look at the data collection processes to identify their usefulness. The article endeavours to study the possibilities of delegating Human Resource activities like performance appraisals, recruitment and the rest, to the line managers (and to what extent), instead of leaving them solely up to the HR function. The authors aim to achieve this by reviewing the practices that are already prevalent in some successful organizations.
Methodological choice:
The authors opted for a case study approach to help answer their research problem which is, to examine to what extent can Human Resource activities be passed on to line managers. Collis and Hussey (2009) state, that a case study is a methodology used to understand an occurrence in a natural setting in order to gain in-depth knowledge about it. Yin (2003) mentions that there are three characteristics of a case study. * Not only does the research make an attempt to explore an occurrence but also tries to understand it within a specific context. * There is no particular set of questions, regarding the limitations within which the research will take place, at the onset of the research. * The research makes use of several different methods to collect data and these methods may be qualitative or quantitative.
These characteristics, according to Yin (2003), are set in an interpretivist paradigm which shows that the researchers have taken an interpretivist approach to their research. Interpretivism is based on the belief that social reality is highly
This essay will critically evaluate the methodological choices of the authors, McGovern, Hope-Hailey and Stiles (1997) used in their article, ‘Human Resource Management on the line?’. In addition, it will analyze, whether the research design meets the ontological/ epistemological underpinnings of the research, whether the data collected are valid and reliable, whether the data collection methods were appropriate. It will also take a close look at the data collection processes to identify their usefulness. The article endeavours to study the possibilities of delegating Human Resource activities like performance appraisals, recruitment and the rest, to the line managers (and to what extent), instead of leaving them solely up to the HR function. The authors aim to achieve this by reviewing the practices that are already prevalent in some successful organizations.
Methodological choice:
The authors opted for a case study approach to help answer their research problem which is, to examine to what extent can Human Resource activities be passed on to line managers. Collis and Hussey (2009) state, that a case study is a methodology used to understand an occurrence in a natural setting in order to gain in-depth knowledge about it. Yin (2003) mentions that there are three characteristics of a case study. * Not only does the research make an attempt to explore an occurrence but also tries to understand it within a specific context. * There is no particular set of questions, regarding the limitations within which the research will take place, at the onset of the research. * The research makes use of several different methods to collect data and these methods may be qualitative or quantitative.
These characteristics, according to Yin (2003), are set in an interpretivist paradigm which shows that the researchers have taken an interpretivist approach to their research. Interpretivism is based on the belief that social reality is highly
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