Dwayne Cargill Lecturer Colbourne College March 13, 2017

1. Unit 6: Managing a Successful Business ProjectUnit 4: Research ProjectUnit 18: Researching Current Issues in Aviation Dwayne Cargill Lecturer Colbourne College March 13, 2017

2. Content • Learning Outcome 3: • LO3 Present the project and communicate appropriate recommendations based on meaningful conclusions drawn from the evidence findings and/or analysis • AC: 3.1 use appropriate research evaluation techniques • AC: 3.2 interpret and analyze the results in terms of the original research specification • AC: 3.3 make recommendations and justify areas for further consideration

3. Learning Objectives • At the end of this session, Learners should be able to: • M3 Evaluate the selection of appropriate tools and techniques for accuracy and authenticity to support and justify recommendations

4. Introduction • It is important that as a researcher, the information that you present is accurate, authentic and do not mislead the reader. The information you collect, need to be treated in a scientific manner so that the conclusions and recommendations are useful. • Misleading information can lead to misguided recommendations which can have significant effect on the business/aviation industry if these faulty recommendations are implemented. • We now look at evaluating these processes of collecting and processing our information.

5. Criteria of Measurement Quality • In order to the success of your measurement of viabilities, research need to consider the issues of reliability and validity (Bobbie, 2004). • Precision and Accuracy: this is concerned with the fineness of distinctions made between the attributes that compose a variable. The description of a man as (25 years old” is more precise than “in his twenties.” Saying a company’s profit was “20.5 million” is more precise that “about 21 million.” • Precise is not always possible nor require so the researcher must be guided in part by an understanding of what precision is required.

6. Reliability • This is another term for consistency or repeatability overtime (Greener and Marteli, 2015). Reliability is required of research studies and so one must try to design research which is auditable i.e. transparent and clear so that the reader can either undertake the same method themselves and produce the same results, or at least the method is clear enough to instil confidence in the reader that the results were not fudges in any way. • According to Babbie (2004) that quality of measurement method that suggests that the same data would have been collected each time in repeated observations of the same phenomenon. In a survey we would expect that the question “Did you arrive at work early everyday last week” would have higher reliability than “About how many times were you late last month?”

7. Reliability • Reliability like precision has some issues as well as the issue of bias can creep in. Say we are studying morale of two groups of employees, we will look for certain things in their behaviour. However, our observation can be coloured by how we feel at the time as well as we can misinterpret what we see. If we were however, to observe the same workers over several days, our conclusion may be different. • Another way to measure morale is to check the company’s records to see how many grievances has been filed. If we count up the grievances over and over, we should arrive at the same number. This measure would therefore appear more reliable.

8. Validity • A term describing a measure that accurately reflects the concept it is intended to measure(Bobbie, 2004). For example, you IQ would seem a more valid measure of your intelligence than would the number of hours you spend in the library. • Face validity – the quality of an indicator that makes it seem a reasonable measure of some variable. We may agree about the about the adequacy of the number of grievances lodge as a measure of morale but we would all agree that the number of grievances lodge has something to do with morale. • Criterion-related validity/predictive validity: the degree to which a measure relates to some external criterion. The validity of a driver’s test is determined in a sense, by the relationship between the scores people get and their subsequent driving records. • What would be the criterion-related validity for these: • Is very religious • Support equality of men and women

9. Validity • Construct Validity: the degree to which a measure relates to other variables as expected within a system of theoretical relationship. • Content validity: refers to how much a measure covers the range of meanings included within a concept. For example, a test of mathematical ability could not only test addition but would need to include subtraction, multiplication, division, and so forth. • There is a tension between reliability and validity which forces researchers to make a trade-off between both.

10. Ways to improve validity • According to Phelan and Wren (2006) some ways to improve validity includes: • Make sure your goals and objectives are clearly defined and operationalized.  Expectations of subjects should be written down. • Match your assessment measure to your goals and objectives. Additionally, have the instruments reviewed by others to obtain feedback from an outside party who is less invested in the instrument. • Get the subject involve; do a pilot testing to look over the assessment for troublesome wording, or other difficulties. • If possible, compare your measure with other measures, or data that may be available.

11. Pitfalls to look out for • Greener and Martelli (2015) indicates that the concepts of participant error, participant bias, observer bias are factors which can affect reliability and validity of collecting data and information in survey and experimental research. Researchers therefore want to guard against these. • Selection bias arises when the study population is not a random selection from the target population for which a statement is to be made. Hammer, du Prel and Blettber, 2009). Individuals are then recruited in such a way that they are not representative of the target population.

12. Pitfalls to look out for • Information bias according to Hammer, du Prel and Blettber (2009) results from wrong or inexact recording of individual factors, either risk factors or the disease being studied. • In addition, faulty or imprecise measurements can lead to problems. For example, systematic measurement errors can arise from wrongly calibrated instruments. Random, "classical" measurement errors arise from imprecision of the instrument, measurement procedure, or human investigator. Even subsequent categorization of an originally continuous variable cannot eliminate measurement errors and should be avoided. • Read more at: https://explorable.com/research-bias

13. Ethical Condition • Research that involves human subjects or participants raises unique and complex ethical, legal, social and political issues (Nancy, n.d.). • Research ethics is specifically interested in the analysis of ethical issues that are raised when people are involved as participants in research.

14. Ethical Condition • There are three objectives in research ethics: • The first and broadest objective is to protect human participants. • The second objective is to ensure that research is conducted in a way that serves interests of individuals, groups and/or society as a whole. • Finally, the third objective is to examine specific research activities and projects for their ethical soundness, looking at issues such as the management of risk, protection of confidentiality and the process of informed consent.

15. Ethical Issues • According to Resnik (2008) fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism in research can erode the community’s sense of trust and increase the public’s fear. • According to the “stressful” or “imperfect” environment theory, misconduct occurs because various institutional pressures, incentives, and constraints encourage people to commit misconduct (Resnik, 2008). • Often cited here pressures to publish or obtain grants or contracts, career ambitions, the pursuit of profit or fame, poor supervision of students and trainees, and poor oversight of researchers.

16. Conclusion • Research projects must be implemented in accordance with acceptable standards and in accordance with the Proposal/Plan. This is required to maintain the professional dignity of the research field. The research must therefore be done to maintained: • Accuracy • Authenticity • This is achieved by ensuring: • The validity of the research information • The reliability of the process • Ethical standards.

17. References • Babbie, E 2004 The Practice of Social Research, 10th ed., Thompson Wadsorth, USA • Greener S. & Martelli J 2015 Introduction to Business Research Method, 2nd ed., bookboon.com • Hammer, g, du Prel, J and Blettner, M (2009) Avoiding Bias in Observational Studies retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2780010/ • Phelan, Colin and Wren, Julie (2006) Exploring Reliability in Academic Assessment retrieved from https://chfasoa.uni.edu/reliabilityandvalidity.htm • Resnik, avid (2008) What is Ethics in Research and Why is it Important retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242492652_What_is_Ethics_in_Research_Why_Is_It_Important • Walton, Nancy (n.d.) What is Research Ethics? Retreived on March 12, 2017 from https://researchethics.ca/what-is-research-ethics/