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CHAPTER ELEVEN
RESEARCH DIARY EXERCISES

DEVELOPING IDEAS FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT

You can generate ideas for research projects from:

• everything you have studied so far in your work toward your qualification

• everything you have seen, watched and experienced in your work

• everything that interests or intrigues you about the business world

• every person that you have encountered in the business world.

The problem should not be one of having no ideas; the problem should be in

deciding on which idea to focus for your research project.

Think about what you have studied so far in your work for your

qualification(s). Are there any thoughts that come to you straightaway about

ideas for research projects? If there are, jot them down in your research diary; try

to capture them right away, before you forget them. Think about the subjects and

topics you studied that really interested you, and the subjects you did well in, and

jot them down. Now think about any issues, or unanswered questions, or outright

problems, which you came across in your reading for your subjects. Was there

anything that particularly interested you? Was there anything that you think would

be worth thinking about in more detail? If there is, write it down in your research

diary.

Now, develop two spidergrams, one for each of the two best ideas you have

for a research project. Use the spidergrams in this chapter as models.

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USE YOUR RESEARCH DIARY TO HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR LITERATIRE

REVIEW

QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO THE LITERATURE IN THE AREA OR FIELD

OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH

• Is there anything written about this issue or topic (is there any literature,

any published research, on this research or topic)? There may be a great

deal, there may not. If there is little literature on the topic, you should seek

advice as to whether or not you should continue with the topic. It is likely

that you will be advised against continuing if there is little literature.

• Who has been writing on this topic? When did they write on this topic?

Recently?

• Where is the topic being written about? In journals? In newspapers?

Online?

• What is being written about the topic?

• If the topic has been or is being written about in journal articles, this is

really useful. This means that the topic has been addressed and

developed theoretically. This would be particularly helpful for a beginner

researcher working within an academic institution.

• Try to locate the journal articles online.

• Make a file on your computer and in that file save copies of the journal

articles you have found on this topic.

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By Christina Quinlan
ISBN 9781473760356 © 2019 Cengage Learning
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• When you have saved the journal articles to your computer, scan them

quickly and then read them closely. Record the thoughts and ideas that

come to you as you read in your research diary.

• What are the authors of those journal articles saying about the topic?

What is known about the topic? What issues and aspects have been

thoroughly explored? What issues, aspects, questions do the authors of

the journal articles recommend for further research? What issues are yet

to be explored?

• Is there any issue among those issues that you would/could/should

explore?

USE YOUR RESEARCH DIARY TO HELP YOU DEVELOP THE RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY FOR YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT

QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO RESEARCH MEHTODOLOGY AND

METHODS FOR PROPOSED RESEARCH

• What methodologies did the researchers in the literature you’ve read use

in their study of this issue/phenomenon?

• Did they study human populations? If so, what populations did they work

with? Were they big populations or small? Did the researchers encounter

any particular problems in working with these populations?

• What kind of data collection methods did they use?

• If you were to conduct research on this topic, where would you conduct

the research? Do you have access to a site, an organization, a population,

where or with whom you could conduct your research on this topic?

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By Christina Quinlan
ISBN 9781473760356 © 2019 Cengage Learning
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• What kind of data would you look for in order to produce some new

knowledge in this field?

• Where are these data? Are they, for example, in records and reports? Are

they, for example, in the testimony of people which you might gather

through interviews or focus groups?

• How would you go about gathering the data?

• Why would you gather the data in that manner? Why is that the best way

to gather the data?

Try to answer these questions. Scribble your notes in response to these bullet

points, statements and questions into your research diary. Then, in your research

diary, quickly organize your notes. Think about the ideas and insights you have

had during this exercise. Using more scribbles, arrange them and rearrange

them. Are more ideas coming to you through this process? Now try to put your

thoughts, ideas and insights into some kind of order.

Now quickly analyze your notes. What are they telling you about this possible

research project? Is there potential in your notes for more than one idea for a

research project or does one idea stand out? How does this idea strike you?

Does it seem reasonable and do-able? As you think about it, is this research

project becoming more and more interesting? Perhaps your notes are warning

you in some way about this research project. What do you now feel about this

research project? Do you think that this is something on which you would like to

spend some more time, or should you move onto another idea? If your instincts

are telling you that this is not the way to go with your research project, then

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By Christina Quinlan
ISBN 9781473760356 © 2019 Cengage Learning
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perhaps you should listen to your instincts. Do not be afraid to ask for advice.

Talk to your research supervisor or your lecturer in research methods and air

your ideas. You may have an opportunity to run your idea very quickly by your

lecturer at the end of a lecture. If there is a major issue or problem with your idea,

they may be able to spot it right away. If they do, this can save you a lot of time

and bother.

Answer:
State research Literature Review
Begin with an idea Specific aim and
statement/question in one
Refine that idea objectives
sentence

Select methodology
Complete/write-up
of thesis/report

Gather data Analyse data Draw Devise data collection

conclusions method

Begin with an idea Refine that idea: Transformational leadership style affects employee
loyalty and the impact of factors on import and export
 Reason for choosing idea 1: Ease of data collection, ease of access, urgency
important to promote work efficiency and not choose Idea 2: Difficult data to
collect, qualitative research method , difficult to survey in exporting enterprises
State research statement/question in one sentence:

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By Christina Quinlan
ISBN 9781473760356 © 2019 Cengage Learning
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Specific aim and objective:

- Analysis of the factors constituting the characteristics of transformational
leadership styles in enterprises in Can Tho City.
- Research on the impact of using transformational leadership style on the
loyalty of employees of enterprises in Can Tho City.
- Proposing solutions to improve employee loyalty by using transformational
leadership in businesses in Can Tho City.
- Study the impact of the factors constituting the transformational leadership
style on the loyalty of employees at enterprises in Can Tho City.
Literature Review:
- Nasir, J., Ibrahim, R. M., & Sarwar, M. A. (2020). A conceptual study on
investigating the effect of innovation, transformational leadership and work
stressor on employee performance of SMEs in Pakistan. Journal of
Management Info, 7(4), 259-281.
- Pratama, G. (2016). Effect of Transformational Leadership Towards
Employee's Performance Through Satisfaction and Moderated by Culture.
Jurnal Ekonomi Universitas Esa Unggul, 7(2), 77826.
- Anjam, M., & Ali, T. Y. (2016). Impact of leadership style on employee's
loyalty. Gulf-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 1(2), 164-177.
- Danso, s. A., Quansah, p. E., Obeng, a. F., Madzikanda, b., & Komla, z. I.
(2020). Transformational leadership and employee loyalty in the ghanaian
banking sector: assessing the mediating role of affective commitment and the
moderating role of reward.
- Preko, A., & Adjetey, J. (2013). A study on the concept of employee loyalty
and engagement on the performance of sales executives of commercial banks
in Ghana. International Journal of Business Research and Management
(IJBRM), 4(2), 51-62.
 The majority of articles demonstrate the impact of the relationship
between transformational leadership style on work performance, employee
loyalty.
 Limited in some articles only research in 1 field of the company and the
number of surveys in some articles is relatively small, so it is not possible
to clarify the exact impact.
Select methodology: Reaseach by 2 method: EFA and SEM
Devise data collection method:

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By Christina Quinlan
ISBN 9781473760356 © 2019 Cengage Learning
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- The most commonly used data collection method is the Likert 5 .

- Reasons for choosing likert 5: easy survey, low cost, many surveys, easy data
presentation and analysis
Draw conclusions:
- Primary data: Collected by surveying employees in enterprises in Can Tho city
- Secondary data: Data on the development of enterprises in Can Tho
Analyse data: Regarding the topic of my choice of research on small and medium-sized
enterprises in the city of CT, the object of the research is the impact of the factors of ld cd
style on employee loyalty.
Gather data
Complete/write-up of thesis/report: Human resources are critical in any organization,
especially in today's fiercely competitive industry. Attracting talent from competitors is
essential, and how to make the company's employees stay for a long time and remain
loyal to the firm is an issue that businesses must always tackle immediately. Businesses
are currently confronted with substantial problems in terms of sustaining and growing
internal human resources, as well as boosting employee happiness. Many studies have
found that certain elements can improve employee satisfaction. As a result,
transformational leadership is a common style used in today's firms and plays an essential
part in human resource management by bringing employee happiness, which leads to
increased dedication and loyalty to the business. According to the findings of the
preceding studies, transformational leadership has an intimate and close relationship with
employee loyalty, as demonstrated by the research models presented above. As a result,
the study was carried out to investigate the impact of the variables that comprise the
transformational leadership style on employee loyalty at firms in Can Tho City.

For use with Business Research Methods

By Christina Quinlan
ISBN 9781473760356 © 2019 Cengage Learning