Data Analysis For Qualitative Information
As is the case with most decisions in public and nonprofit management, there often is not a “right” or “correct” answer. This is the case with qualitative measurement. Variables may be measured in a variety of ways. Some variables lend themselves to numbers and quantification. Income is a perfect example of this. However, other variables are better measured with words or narrative descriptions. If you want to learn about someone’s experiences participating in a program, you may want to use open-ended questions in an interview or survey to collect this information. This data is qualitative in nature and would be entirely appropriate for your purposes.
Determine what information needs to be measured in a qualitative fashion in your evaluation of the organization’s program, problem, or policy. Consider what types of qualitative data would be appropriate for your Final Project and the tools and techniques you would use to analyze this information.
Post a description of the qualitative data and the analytical tools and techniques that would be most useful for evaluating your organization’s program, problem, or policy. Justify the use of these tools and techniques, and explain why they are the most appropriate for use in your evaluation.
Briefly describe the organization that you will use for your Final Project.
The organization selected for this project is Amazon. Amazon is the leading internet retailer in the world in terms of revenues and size. Amazon has been able to grow from a small online book store to a giant ecommerce company offering a wide selection of products, covering almost the global market (Yohn, 2020). However, Amazon has a major problem that it needs to research about to identify the cause of the problem, the impact the problem has to the company and how the problem can be solved.
Briefly describe the program, problem, or policy within that organization that might benefit from evaluation.
On several occasions, Amazon workers have complained about poor treatment. Amazon workers have even gone to the streets to protest about poor working conditions at Amazon (Yohn, 2020). The problem has seen Amazon experience high turnover as employees leave work due to poor working conditions. At fulfillment centers and in the warehouses, Amazon workers have complained of being overworked to a point where they do not get break to go the washrooms (Yohn, 2020). Evaluation of the problem will help the company to understand the impacts poor employee treatment has on the success of the company. Amazon is aware that the company treats its employees poorly based on the several complains that employees have made. In this case, the evaluation would benefit the company by understanding the negative impacts the problem has to the organisation. Research within an organization is very critical. It helps an organization uncover important information that can help it in strategic decision making and planning. Without any evolution, the company not understand if the problem is having any impacts to the company especially if they are long term. Currently, it is more likely that the company might overlook the problem because it is doing well. In addition, it might assume that since it is able to replace employee who leave work immediately and business continues as usual, the company might not understand the long-term impacts of the problem.
Develop a research question(s) that defines the purpose of the evaluation.
- What the impacts of employees’ complains regarding poor working conditions to the reputation of the company?
- How does high turnover resulting from poor working conditions affect the overall operations and revenues of the company?
- Perceptions of customers towards Amazon’s reputation.
Describe the evaluation design that is most appropriate for this program, problem, or policy, and justify your selection. Include a discussion of validity and reliability.
The company should carry out an experimental study where it would provide good working conditions as per employees’ needs for a given period and monitor if there is any change in performance, productivity, and revenues. If the experimental findings show an increase in revenues, productivity, employee motivation and satisfaction, this would imply that poor employee treatment has been negatively affecting the company (Mitchell, 2015). Another aspect that Amazon would need to research on is the amount of money spend on hiring new employees so frequently due to high turnover. The company would compare the amount spent on hiring and how much it would cost the company to implement good working conditions. Lastly, Amazon should conduct a research to understand how customers perceive its brand and also collected reviews regarding its reputation.
To ensure validity and reliability of the research, Amazon will engage a large number of participants to avoid chances of bias (Taherdoost, 2016). Also, since some of the employees might be afraid to share information regarding the company they work for, and hence limiting the amount of information collected, the evaluation design can use anonymous questionnaires so that participants are not worried about the information they give.
References
Yohn, L. D. (2020). Amazon faces a crucible moment with employees. https://www.forbes.com/sites/deniselyohn/2020/06/02/amazon-faces-a-crucible-moment- with-employees/?sh=72b074263822
Mitchell, O. (2016). Experimental research design. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781118519639.wbecpx113
Taherdoost, H. (2016). Validity and reliability of the research instrument; how to test the validation of a questionnaire/survey in a research. How to test the validation of a questionnaire/survey in a research (August 10, 2016).
