Prakash Sexual Harassment Research Proposal PDF

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Contents Research Design...................................................................................................................1 Research Topic.................................................................................................................1 Research Background........................................................................................................1 Research aims..................................................................................................................1 Research Objectives..........................................................................................................1 Research Questions...........................................................................................................2 Contribution to knowledge................................................................................................2 Research Philosophy.........................................................................................................3 Research Paradigm...........................................................................................................3 Research Reasoning..........................................................................................................4 Research Approach...........................................................................................................4 Data Collection Method....................................................................................................5 Validity of the data collected..............................................................................................6 Ethics and access of the research........................................................................................6 Limitations of the research................................................................................................6 Timeframe of the research.................................................................................................7 References.......................................................................................................................7

Research Design Research Topic Presence of sexual harassment at workplace and its impact on business operations: a critical analysis on airlines industry of the UK

Research Background Organizations deal and run with people from different background with different attitudes. Sexual harassment has become a buzzword in the current business world since employees in different industries often claim to be sexually abused (Ysseldyk, et al, 2009). According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sexual harassment can be defined as the unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature (Salvatore and Shelton, 2007). Sexual harassment can affect the physical and mental condition of the employees, according to (Willness, et al, 2007). By affecting the employees of the firm, it may affect the operational smoothness of the firm. Sexual harassment is very common with the globalization process since it allows lots of people to get involved in productive works. In all industries, sexual harassment can be observed but probably the most acute case is in the airlines industry (Thompson, 2014). In this research project, the researcher wants to conduct the researcher to identify the presence of sexual harassment at workplaces in the airlines industry. At part of the research, the researcher will also assess the effects on the act on the employees as well as the firms within the industry.

Research aims The aim of the project is to identify the level of sexual harassment at workplace of different firms within the airlines industry and the issue’s impact on the business operation of the firm.

Research Objectives The objectives that the researcher would like to achieve by conducting the research are: 

To conduct a critical review of the literature on sexual harassment at workplace and its impact on the organizational operations

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To understand the current condition at different firms regarding the presence of sexual harassment

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To know about the impact of sexual harassment at workplace

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To identify the managerial actions different firms within the airlines industry take to ensure an workplace free of sexual harassment

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To have a clear understanding about the importance of training to remove sexual harassment at workplace

Research Questions The research questions that the researcher is intended to answer are given below: 1. What is sexual harassment and how does it affect an organization and its employees? 2. How does sexual harassment can be reduced/ removed from a business environment? 3. What managerial policies a firm can take to reduce/ remove sexual harassment? 4. How training can help a firm reducing/ removing the sexual harassment at workplace?

Contribution to knowledge In 2014, CNN reported that 27% of flight attendants are sexually harassed while on duty in flights. The same study revealed that 59% of the sexual harassment comes from customers whereas 41% from the fellow workers (Thomspon, 2014). Sexual harassment acts have no provisions regarding the actions to be taken against the customers when being harassed physically or mentally. Sexual harassment at workplace in the airlines industry is most common and the employees, both males and females, are exposed to the behaviour (Settles, et al, 2011). Sexual harassment can affect the organizational effectiveness and efficiency by affecting the employee’s efficiency and effectiveness. This research is going to be conducted with a view to exploring the current scenario in the airlines industry regarding the presence of sexual harassment. Since conducting a research on the whole industry is not possible with the time limit, the case of airlines industry is considered here to estimate the industry condition. With the help of conducting the research, the airlines industry can get some insider information regarding the current condition of sexual harassment at workplaces and how it is affecting their very own firm’s productivity and proficiency. Some recommendations will also be made based on the findings of the research. These

recommendations are helpful (Creswell, 2009) since it can be used by the firms in the airlines industry in order to ensure a workplace free from sexual harassment.

Research Philosophy Under the positivism research philosophy a researcher tries to obtain quantifiable observations in order to do the research (Kumar, 2013). It is an epistemological technique whereby a researcher wants to describe the phenomenon from experiments and observations. Post-positivism research philosophy does not test hypothesis rather focuses on generating hypotheses through inductive reasoning, according to Gill and Johnson (2010). In order to conduct a research based on this philosophy, researchers focus on quantifiable values as well as investigate the numbers for statistical analysis. Interpretivist research philosophy focuses on only phenomenon by ignoring the numbers. In this research, the researcher wants to follow the interpretivist research philosophy since only qualitative data are expected to be used. Both the positivism and post-positivism research philosophies deal with quantitative figures in order to conduct the research. Since the researcher plans to use both the data available from the employees within the airlines industry and different secondary sources, both qualitative and quantitative data will be used. Hence, this research will follow the interpretivism research philosophy by avoiding the positivism and post-positivism philosophies.

Research Paradigm Epistemology research paradigm and ontology research paradigm are two perceptions that researchers use in conducting research. In case of epistemology research paradigm, a researcher creates perceptions regarding the knowledge whereas perceptions towards reality are the case for ontology, according to Gill and Johnson (2010). When a researcher makes personal judgments regarding the research issue it is subjective judgement and when no personal judgments are made rather practical issues are considered, then the research becomes objective. Epistemology research paradigm, perceptions towards knowledge, is objective in this research. Since the researcher has accumulated some information regarding the presence of sexual harassment at the workplace in the airlines industry, the perceptions towards knowledge are objective. In case of ontology research paradigm, perceptions toward the reality, the researcher is

subjective. The researcher assumes that there may be some degree of sexual harassment at the workplace of different firms in the airlines industry. The researcher aims at identifying the issue of sexual harassment at the workplaces of airlines industry by making subjective judgments regarding the reality within the workplace (Yeung, 2008).

Research Reasoning Inductive research reasoning is highly focused on observation and building hypothesis. On the contrary to inductive research reasoning, deductive research reasoning aims at validating the hypothesis made during the initial period of the research, according to Gill and Johnson (2010). In this research, the researcher wants to follow the inductive research reasoning by trying to know the presence of sexual harassment at the workplace of differ. The researcher has not made a hypothesis before conducting the research regarding the degree of sexual harassment at the workplace of BA; hence there is no scope of validating the hypothesis.

Research Approach Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed pragmatism are three research approaches most researchers follow in order to conduct research. In time of qualitative research approach, according to Creswell (2012), a researcher attempts to collect qualitative data whereas in case of quantitative research approach a research goes for collecting quantifiable data. Qualitative data can be collected from a wide range of sources whereas quantitative data scope is limited, according to Gray and Guppy (2007). A new approach most researchers use in time of conducting research is mixed approach whereby both the qualitative and quantitative data are used (Bell, 2010). This research is going to be conducted based on the qualitative research approach. . In time of collecting data the researcher wants to visit the airports. Based on the responses of the employees, the research paper will be made. The perceptions of the employees toward the sexual harassment and their exposure to the issue will be assessed. In time of collecting secondary data the researcher wants to go through different secondary sources like journals, books, yearly publications, news, etc. Based on these data collected from different secondary sources, the research paper will be made. In this research, the researcher will not follow the quantitative approach since the researcher may not find the truly quantifiable data.

Data Collection Method The scope of the research is very limited since the researcher will collect data from a specific firm and some secondary sources and thus estimate the scenario in the whole industry. This research is aimed at identifying the level of sexual harassment at the workplaces of airlines industry and how does it affect an organization. The researcher wants to collect data from the current employees and some secondary sources. The primary data will be collected from the employees with the help of a questionnaire. Collecting data through a questionnaire is quick and less costly as compared to their other methods of data collection (Yeung, 2008). The questionnaire will include both open ended and closed ended questions. With the inclusion of both types of questions, the researcher can identify the judgment of the employees as well as collect the specific data regarding the issue, according to Gray and Guppy (2007). The use of both types of questions will thus help the researcher to add new dimension since open ended questions can add value to the research, as stressed by Creswell (2009). In order to collect data from the employees within the airlines industry, the researcher wants to take a sample. The number of employees that the researcher wants to survey is 80. Due to the business of the employees as well as time limitation of the research, the researcher may not collect data from more than 80 employees. Besides this, the researcher thinks that based on the responses of the 80 employees the whole scenario can be presented. Sampling method the researcher intends to use in this research is random stratified sampling. The researcher aims at collecting data from the employees with more than 1 year of service. Besides this, stratification will take another dimension. 50 female employees and 30 male employees will be requested to answer the questions. The use of this sampling method will help the researcher to collect actual and trustworthy data since with the 1 year of service the employees can understand the practices and customs within the firm, as claimed by Bell (2010). To collect data the researcher wants to meet the employees during their leisure time. The employees will be requested to answer the questions.

In order to collect secondary data, the research wants to go through different secondary sources like books, journals, etc. To collect data the researcher wants to surf different websites. Besides this the researcher would like to collect data from different books from the academic library.

Validity of the data collected The researcher intends to repeat some questions to check the validity of the responses. This will help the researcher to collect even more trustworthy data, according to Gray and Guppy (2007) (Creswell, 2012). To ensure the validity of the secondary data collected, the researcher will not go for different blogs since many of those are biased. This will help the researcher to collect even more trustworthy data, according to Gray and Guppy (2007). In order to collect data regarding the policies and initiatives that different firms have been implemented to reduce the sexual harassment at the workplace, the researcher wants to go through the reports and financial statements published by the respective firms (Creswell, 2012).

Ethics and access of the research The privacy of the respondents will be ensured first. The respondents may provide wrong information with the fear of being exposed to firing or retaliation. The researcher also wants to collect data in a very modest way. Respondents who are willing to provide information welcomed to help in doing research. The researcher also wants to ensure no plagiarism whereby the data collection sources will be referred properly (Bell, 2010).

Limitations of the research A research needs to be conducted with higher focus on quality and trustworthiness of the results. In this case, a researcher wants to conduct the research with the adequate funds and times to ensure the collection and analysis of relevant data. This research is going to be conducted with limited fund which is the first limitation of the research. At the same time, limited timeframe to conduct the research can be considered as a major drawback. The researcher also lacks the required knowledge and experience to conduct a research of such importance (Gill and Johnson, 2010).

Timeframe of the research The researcher wants to conduct different activities of the research within the following timeframe. Particulars

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Introduction Literature review Collection of data Analysis of data Final documentatio n and presentation

References 1. Bell, J., (2010). Doing your research project, 5th edition (Open University Press, 2010). ISBN 0335235824 2. Creswell, J., W., (2009). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage 3. Creswell, J., W., (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five traditions (3rd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage 4. Gill, G., and Johnson, P., (2010). Research methods for managers, 4th Edition. Sage Publications, 2010 ISBN: 1847870945 5. Gray, G., and Guppy, N., (2007). Successful surveys: research methods and practice (4th Ed.) Toronto: Harcourt Canada 6. Kumar, R. (2013), Research Methodology: a step-by-step guide for beginners 4th ed. Sage Publications Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1446269978

Week 9

7. Settles, I. H., Buchanan, N. T., &Colar, B. K. (2011), The impact of race and rank on the sexual harassment of Black and White men in the military. Psychology of Men and Masculinity Manuscript submitted for publication. 8. Thompson, C., (2014), Report: 27% of flight attendants sexually harassed CNN [Online] Available

at:

Accessed: 10th November, 2015 9. Yeung,

R.,

(2008).

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