Discrimination and Employee Performance Studies Report (Assessment)

What is good research and what are its characteristics?

A good research is a study that concentrates on scientific methods of establishing facts in a case. A good research should have clearly defined purpose, detailed research process, thoroughly explained design, high ethical standards, and adequate analysis. Besides, the limitations should be well addressed, conclusion justified, and the presentation should not be ambiguous with support of good credentials.

In relation to the case study, the purpose is to establish the relationship between gender-based discrimination and employee performance. The research process involves studying the perceptions of male and female employees on fairness in compensation and role allocation at place of work. The research design is primary survey research consisting of more than 800 participants expected to fill online questionnaires. The main ethical standards applied are consent letter, secrecy in identity of the respondents, and professional handling of the collected data. The analysis is carried out using different statistical tools to present a true picture in the opinions of the respondents. The limitation of the research is presented as the study being concentrated in a small geographical area. The conclusion was justified by the findings, which revealed that there is gender-base discrimination tendency on compensation and role allocation. The presentation is not ambiguous since the graphs (graph 1-1 and 1-2) were drawn to represent the true picture from the responses by the participants. The credentials of the case study are large sample space and evenly distributed data from which the study was conceptualized (Sostrin 28). The large sample space is ideal in generating data that can support effective scientific research.

What is the potential conflict between researcher and reserch user?

The potential conflict between the researcher and research user is that the study was unable to establish the direct link between different gender and level of discrimination. Therefore, a research user has to reflect on external and internal weaknesses in different employee motivation systems before embracing the study. If too much emphasis goes to emerging trends, then the research user will not learn about the fundamentals of the practice that the researcher attempted to establish (Cooper 45).

What constructs and concepts are inherent in this study?

The main concept or construct in the study is the relationship between gender-based discrimination and job performance. The main variables in the study are position satisfaction, work schedule control, compensation fairness, career advance opportunities, and satisfaction. Apparently, the findings of the study revealed that there is a relationship between each variable and job performance as influenced by gender-based discrimination.

What are the ethical considerations in this study?

The main ethical standards applied are consent letter, secrecy in identity of the respondents, and professional handling of the collected data. Each respondent was mailed a survey questionnaire with an informed consent letter highlighting different aspects of research. In the findings and analysis, the identity of each respondent was kept a secret (Yin 45).

How did research create operational definition for the constructs?

Since the research topic touched on gender-related discrimination as affecting level of employee performance and perception on the level of motivation, the research created operation definitions for the construct by exploring the aspects of position held in employment, level of satisfaction, and performance before related them to gender of each employee (Mason 23).

What should that research user include in the followup study?

After reviewing the variables and their interaction between different levels of significance, the findings indicated that gender-base discrimination exists at the organization. In the follow-up study, the research user should attempt to incorporate other factors that might lead to poor performance among women. There is need to review factors such as complexity of job, skill level, and experience before making an inclusive conclusion on the level and determinants of success for women at the organization (Andreadis 8).

What is the cross tabulation and the use of the percentage in this case?

Cross tabulation in the study is comparative analysis in the graphs between barriers to advancement and female gender (Kothari 18). The percentages used are critical in establishing the level of significance in analyzing each variable as related to another. It is important to use cross tabulation to compare and contrast the relationship between gender-based discrimination and satisfaction of the employees at the organization. The normal measure or chi square is p > 0.05. The finding for the level of significance is within this range.

What are the recommendations for the data display in exhibit 1-1 , 1-2?

From exhibit 1-1, the main barriers identified as impeding advancement of women at current firm are limited mentoring opportunities, family responsibilities, exclusion from informal networks, lack of women roles, stereotyping, lack of opportunities to take on challenging assignments, and limited management experience. Apparently, the women had higher percentage of support (60%) for these barriers as impeding their growth as compared to men (30%). In terms of perceived fairness, as indicated in exhibit 1-2, a higher percentage of men (53%) than women (41%) agreed that there is fairness in reward allocation to women. Again, more women noted that reward allocation was unfair in the organization than men.

In order to reverse the above trend, the management of the firm should address the negative perception held by women on unfairness in job allocation and reward system. The company should roll out a proactive affirmative action program to promote equality in skill training, job allocation, and reward packages to make the work environment friendly for all employees.

Works Cited

Andreadis, Nicholas. “Learning and organizational effectiveness: A systems perspective,” Performance Improvement, 48.1 (2009): 5-11. Print.

Cooper, William. Business Research Methods, California, Ca: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. 2011. Print.

Kothari, Robert. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, New Delhi, India: New Age International.

Mason, Jennifer. Designing Qualitative Research, London, UK: Sage, 2005. Print.

Sostrin, James. Beyond the Job Description. New York, NY: Macmillan, 2013. Print.

Yin, Ronald. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 2003. Print.