Study Your Question

Use the following heuristics to generate information to design your study to guide you to do so. 

Study your question-

• What object (people, places or things) does it suggest you need to study?
• What kind of study does the question suggest (empirical–e.g., ethnography, case study, descriptive study, experimental; historical–oral or archival or both; theoretical; discourse or textual analysis, etc.)?
• What data do you need to collect? (artifacts, texts, people doing something, interviews, etc.)
• How will you analyse the data? (qualitative? quantitative? hermeneutics? discourse analysis? historical? etc.)
• Be very specific in both the data you will examine and the ways in which you will analyse it.
• Look for scholarship that is similar to the kind you wish to design to see what other researchers have identified as data and how they studied these.

The research proposal should typically include (but not limited to): a cover page; a TOC (Table of Contents); an introduction to the proposal, in your own words, that introduces what your proposal is all about; Research Question and Purpose; Methodology; Planning and organisation; Conclusion that summarises key aspects including why this research matters; Referencing using APA style.

In our working en environment, communication is one o the most important too to achieve the organisational goals. Communication at work place plays vital role in shaping up the employability skills.  Communication at workplace is technology based which includes writing, talking along with non verbal communications.

1.1Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is to whether or not there is communication gap between the supervisors and the employees within the organisations.  

• To identify the ways in which employees  usually communicate  with the supervisors
• To assess the internal communication gap between the supervisors and the employee within the workplace
• To recommend the between communication tools to bridge the gap within the workplace

1.2 Summary of proposal

The study will give an insight of work place and methods of communication use by the various supervisors in order to achieve their goals. Every individual within the organisations must be well prepared with the tools to communicate effectively.

2.1Research Problem

Poor form of communication tool used by the supervisors and managers to communicate with their employees at workplace. Some of the companies are using aggressive form of communication which is forceful communication.

2.2 Research question

• What are the several ways that is currently used by the companies to communicate with their employees?
• What are the reason for gap between the supervisors and employees within the workplace?
• What are communications methods which will help in managing communication between the employee and the supervisors?

2.3 Research Aim

The particular study will involve the gap analysis between the employees and supervisors within the organisations. The study will also aim to study the communication tool used by the various managers at the workplace for communications.  

2.4 Chosen methodology

The chosen models and tools used in this study would be process of communications importance of communications and channel of communication methods will highlight the functions of communications within the workplace.

2.5 Rationale

The basic reason or choosing the topic is to understand the importance of communication between the employee and supervisors at workplace. The concept of effective communication tools helps to influence the employees to work as per the company objectives.

2.6 Conceptual framework

It helps in categorizing the list of theories that will help in better understanding of the topic.

                                                                                             (Source: Created by author)

3.1 Process of communications

Communication is two a process where the exchange of ideas and acceptance is needed.  Some of the basic elements of the communication process are message, sender, encoding, receiver , mediums, decoding and feedback.

                                                                                            Figure 2: Communication process

The communication must be tow way not the other way around. The communications process helps to analyze the initiator of the message to receivers along with medium and channel. Lastly the channel is been decoded. The communication is not been completed without the feedback. However, most of SME supervisors within the workplace use only sending to decoding of message rather than taking feedback.

Importance of Communication in the Workplace

3.2 Barriers to communications

 Despite the importance of communications is been necessary, the quality of communications is generally poor in most of the organizations. Employees under stress are being more neglect the major message of communications which would ultimately creates barriers.  There various perception to barriers such as verbal barriers which can be occurred due to tone and volume of the voices. Apart from that, non verbal barriers which can occurred due to the facial expression, postures and body language. Some of the major barriers to the encoding process are lack of sensitivity to the receiver, lack of business communication skills by the recovery and sufficient knowledge for the subject that will not help in the feedback.

However, some of the major gap between supervisors and employer are due to language barriers, semantic barriers, physical barrier and defects in the medium of the transmitting the message by

the supervisors at the workplace.  One of the major reasons also could be the partial failure of technological equipment.

3.3 Effective communication at workplace

In order to achieve the effective communications helps to engage the choice of the best communications channel, technical know how to use the channel, presentations of information’s sends to the respective audience and skills to acknowledge the received knowledge. Some of the major steps followed to overcome the communications gap within the workplace are given below:

                                                                           Figure 3: Effective communication method at workplace

4.1Research design

 Exploratory design helps the researcher helps in acknowledge various kinds of ideas and thoughts to complete the research papers. However, the explanatory research design describes the occurrence of the events and its effects on the happenings. The chosen research design is descriptive because it is descriptive research because it helps to gaining the details as to state occurrence of events with the detail proper description of the topic.

                                                                                       Figure 1: Kinds of research design

4.2 Strength and weakness of the research design

The chosen research design is descriptive which will give a detail process involved  in the applications communications in mitigating the gap within the workplace.  Descriptive design helps in present the opportunity to infuse both the qualitative and quantitative  data  which is very much helpful for the topic. However, the chosen research design fails to maintain the confidentiality of the research.  The descriptive research can also influence bias results which would be bad for the research.

4.3 Data collection method (Primary and Secondary data)

Data will be collected with primary and secondary sources. The primary data will be collected in the field.   It will also be known as the first hand data   or raw data needs reliability and validity. The secondary form of data is collect via internet, social media, journals and the books.

Effective Communication Tools

In the present study, primary sources of data will be obtained from the offices and the companies. Apart from that, secondary sources of data will include both online and off line sources.   

4.4 Data analysis method

Data collection techniques will be both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data will obtained via primary method and will be calculated on the basis statistical data. Apart from that, data tabulation method along with descriptive statistics helps in analyzing the quantitative data.

For qualitative data analyses manager of the companies will be considered , it is will be open ended questions via online.

4.5 Sampling

Populations involved in the research are employees of the few companies across the Brisbane, Australia.  The manager of the will also be considered from the same offices for the qualitative for of questionnaire. However, the researcher cannot considers every employee so smaller representations of the populations is considered here as sample.

Sample considered here for study of business communication at workplace are smaller in number that suit the criteria for the chosen research topic.  The sample for customers was simple random probability where the selection criteria are fixed whereas for the managers, non probability sampling is been used to manage the sampling techniques. For quantitative techniques, 55 employees of the various MNC were considered. Conversely, managers were 5 in number in order to control and manage the interview sessions.

4.6 Justification of tool

The chosen tool here is statistical method along with tabulation method for the quantitative research. This will helps to arrange collected information in the tabular form which will be helpful in data calculations. statistical method will be kept in excel where the chances of  error will be less. Therefore the chosen tool is very satisfies the data collections. Lastly,  for qualitative research the no statistical tool is required because of the open ended questions.

4.7 Data collection measurement

The collected for the quantitative data will measured on the likert scale from 1 to 5 while the managers were considered for the interview as per their flexible schedule and timings.

4.8 Reliability and validity of data

For quantitative, the reliability of data addresses the consistency of your instruments measurement.  The data which will be collected will be related to degree of measurement, similarity of measurement and stability of measurement overtime. For Qualitative, study, the reliability testing can be done understating the situations   of the companies. In order to manage the reliability the research the factors called trust worthiness is very much crucial.

Validity of data is positivism attitudes.  The data collected must be real and unbiased  and must be based on the mathematical data evidence. Validity helps to analyse how truthful were the employees while answering the questions. Most of researcher is very much against the part of validity issues because of the quality of opened ended questionnaire asked to the managers.

5.1 Gap fulfilled by the study

The study will fulfill gap of the communication within the employee and the employer within the workplace. Apart from that, study will also focus on the reason for the communication gap within the workplace.

Barriers to Effective Communication

5.2 Clear planning and time lines

                                                                                          Table 1: Timeline and plannin

5.3 Proposed statistical and data analysis tool

The proposed statistical tool used here will be descriptive statistics which helps the study to show the trend, patterns of the employees changing communication needs. Apart from that tool will also give information to explain abstraction of population.

Conclusion

The present chapter described the various research tools of selection that can help in better analysis of the topic. With the help of this chapter, the researcher tried to align the nature of the study along with the available research techniques so that possibly the best research methodology is framed.

6.1 Ethical considerations

Researcher will follow the code of conduct  during the research activity such as  data application gained will be used for the study purpose not for commercial. No employee will be coerced for the feedback process.

6.2 OHS considerations

Health and safety sheet will be prepared in order to manage the emergency times. a staff members or the respondents must  not be ill or injured during the events. Electricity would be used as per the requirement and safely precaution should be taken in case of injury during the use of computer or laptop or nay other recording device.

Reference list

Books

Barrett, M., & Davidson, M. (2006). Gender and communication at work. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate Pub.

Cartwright, R. (2002). Communication. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Pub.

Picardi, R. (2001). Skills of workplace communication. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books.

Rayudu, C. (2010). Communication. Mumbai [India]: Himalaya Pub. House.

Levine, D.M. (2005). Statistics for Managers using Microsoft Excel. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bergh, D. and Ketchen, D. J. (2009) Research methodology in Strategy and Management, 1^st ed. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd

Bernard, H. R. (2011) Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 5th ed. Plymouth: Alta Mira Press.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011) Business Research Methodology. 3^rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Journals

Erbert, L. (2014). Organizational Sensemaking: Interpretations of Workplace “Strangeness”. International Journal Of Business Communication. doi:10.1177/2329488414525461

Gallo, M. (2002). Picture this: immigrant workers use photography for communication and change. Journal Of Workplace Learning, 14(2), 49-57. doi:10.1108/13665620210419293

Knippen, J., & Green, T. (1999). Clarifying communication. Journal Of Workplace Learning, 11(5), 161-163. doi:10.1108/13665629910264235

Law, S. (2009). Learning from employee communication during technological change. Journal Of Workplace Learning, 21(5), 384-397. doi:10.1108/13665620910966794

Mirchandani, K. (2012). Learning racial hierarchies. Journal Of Workplace Learning, 24(5), 338-350. doi:10.1108/13665621211239877

Shenoy-Packer, S. (2014). Immigrant Professionals, Microaggressions, and Critical Sensemaking in the U.S. Workplace. Management Communication Quarterly. doi:10.1177/0893318914562069

Teboul, J. (2005). Relationship Development and Workplace Integration: An Evolutionary Perspective. Communication Theory, 15(4), 389-413. doi:10.1093/ct/15.4.389

Cameron, R. (2009). ‘A sequential mixed model research design: design, analytical and display issues’, International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches, 3(2), 140-152

Ghani, U. and Jan, F.A., (2010). ‘An Exploratory Study of the Impulse Buying Behaviour of Urban Consumers in Peshawar’. In International Conference on Business and Economics, 1: 157-159.

Harrison, R. L. and Reilly, T. M. (2011) “Mixed methods designs in marketing research”, Qualitative Market Research: an International Journal, 14(1), pp. 7 – 26

Huxham, C. and Vangen, S. (2008) Researching organizational practice through action research: Case studies and design choices. Organizational Research Methods, 6, 383-404. 

Websites

citeseerx.ist.psu.edu,. (2015). Communication within the workplace. Retrieved 28 January 2015, from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.390.3976&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Monash.edu.au,. (2015). Health and safety considerations for event planning – OHS information sheet – Monash University. Retrieved 28 January 2015, from https://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/topics/info-sheets/event-planning.html