There are two types of research paradigms: positivism and interpretivism. While the first one is grounded in the belief that social reality is not influenced by research, the second one is quite the opposite. According to interpretivism, the investigation has a great impact on social reality (Collis & Hussey 2013). The two articles under analysis employ the interpretive paradigm since they both admit the influence made on social reality by the investigation. Saini and Budhwar (2008) analyze the issues of people management, and Şendoğdu, Kocabacak, and Güven (2013) investigate the connection between human resource management and organizational commitment.
The methodology used in Saini’s and Budhwar’s (2008) study is a case study. This method has several benefits. First of all, it allows researchers to perform a thorough investigation of the chosen issue. Also, case studies may promote new research. Finally, this method suggests new insight into the analyzed phenomena (Kin 2013). However, case studies also have some limitations. The major disadvantage of case studies is that they cannot be repeated. Thus, there is no possibility to compare results at different points. Another problem that may occur is researcher bias. Also, case studies do not present the opportunity to create a classification since their sample size is usually too small (Kin 2013).
The method employed in the article by Şendoğdu, Kocabacak, and Güven (2013) is a questionnaire. The strengths of such a method are numerous. Questionnaires are practical because they allow researchers to collect much data from many participants within a short time. Also, the questionnaires are not expensive. Another benefit is that the analysis of data gathered with the help of this method is relatively easy and inexpensive (Ang 2014). It is a good idea to use questionnaires because once the results have been analyzed, they may be compared and contrasted with the findings of other studies to assess the divergences. Finally, data obtained through questionnaires may be employed to build new theories and methods (Ang 2014). However, along with numerous advantages, questionnaires have some serious limitations. The most serious one is that such a method does not provide enough validity. Also, there is no possibility to check whether the participants are being honest while answering the questions. Another problem is that different people may understand the questions, not in the same way, which results in the inconsistency of findings. Finally, there is a danger of researchers’ bias when creating the questions since they may have some assumptions which can lead them to neglect some crucial issues (Ang 2014).
Since my research is also focused on human resource management, I could employ some of the approaches used by the authors of the analyzed articles. I think that a questionnaire is the most suitable method for my future research because it is the easiest way of finding out the opinions of many people within a short period, which will give me much information for analysis. However, I will need to be cautious regarding the ethical considerations of research (Anderson 2013). Also, I will have to think carefully about my study’s feasibility. I think that employing the questionnaire method is much easier in both organizational and financial aspects than the method of the case study. Therefore, I would rather choose a questionnaire because it has many advantages, and the limitations may be avoided if I plan the study thoroughly.
Reference List
Anderson, V 2013, Research methods in human resource management, 3rd edn, London, UK: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Ang, SH 2014, Research design for business and management, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Collis, J & Hussey, R 2013, Business research: a practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students, 4th edn, Palgrave-MacMillan, London.
Kin, RY 2013, Case study research: design and methods, 5th edn, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Saini, DS & Budhwar, PS 2008, ‘Managing the human resource in Indian SMEs: the role of indigenous realities’, Journal of World Business, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 417-434.
Şendoğdu, AA, Kocabacak, A & Güven, Ş 2013, ‘The relationship between human resource management practices and organizational commitment: a field study’, Social and Behavioral Sciences, no. 99, pp. 818-827.