Sample Research Proposal on Housing Associations in the United Kingdom

Statement of the Problem             It is said that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either perceived as social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting. Hence, the validity of these perceptions must be investigated and lessons must be learned and derived from this study. Purpose of the Study This study will be conducted in order to determine the validity of the perceptions that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting, and provide meaningful lessons such as learning their effective roles.             This study will also aim to increase the awareness and provide a better understanding of the issues and problems concerning most housing associations in the United Kingdom in order to contribute an effective approach in addressing their problems. Significance of the Study If the validity of the perceptions that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting will be determined, this study will be a benefit to other housing associations experiencing problems gaining ground. Also, if effectiveness is supported, this study will be significant in developing underachieving housing associations and organizations as productive and effective entities in the future. Research Questions Specifically this study will address the following questions: 1.      What arguments concerning the validity of the perceptions that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting were determined? 2.      What specific alternatives or measures can be done to help improve the performance of underachieving housing associations in the United Kingdom? Assumptions The research will be based on the following assumptions: (a) all participants will be utilizing the correct procedures as outlined in the guidelines for the specific methodology employed, and (b) all participants will answer questions honestly to the best of their ability. Limitations Time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which could hinder long-term outcome objectives. Environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, will not be controlled, and this could create many variables within the research. As this study will utilize a small sample of respondents, the results may not effectively represent the general population.   Conceptual Framework Arguments concerning the validity of the perceptions that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting Inputs                 Analysis of Data gathered through Interviews using a Structured Questionnaire Process                       Learning / alternatives or measures to help improve the performance of housing associations in the United Kingdom Output               REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The notion that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either perceived as social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting are terms that are used interchangeably in practice, although the former has a slightly wider remit than the latter, including those who are concerned to provide advice to management on how housing associations in the United Kingdom should be designed and operated.             Housing associations in the United Kingdom are normally perceived as structures of action and have approaches which focus on the circumstances determining the actions of people in finding and searching for their settlements. A great deal of housing associations in the United Kingdom have been criticized for their normative (in this case pro-managerial) bias; for their individualistic analysis of the beneficiaries of their services (that is, for being more informed by psychological, than by sociological perspectives); and for embodying an inadequate analysis of how wider relations of power and control in the UK society affect and are affected by housing associations (in other words for concentrating mainly on the internal exercise of managerial authority and attempts to subvert it) (Vale, 1995).             Housing associations in the United Kingdom are shaped by their culture, which include assumptions, values, norms, organization members, and their behaviors. They are also shaped by characteristics, which include strategies, technologies, structures, and processes. Where there are people and technologies, there are housing associations. There are four key elements that define the housing associations in the United Kingdom: (a) people and their roles within the organization; (b) the purpose of the organization; (c) the work activities; and (d) a person's working relationship with the organization (Gallent, 2005). Everyday the lives of the UK people are touched by some element of the housing associations in the United Kingdom.             The world that housing associations in the United Kingdom seek to analyze and describe has changed in some important ways. Four of the more significant changes are (a) the increasing externalization of the housing service relation and the development of the "new housing services," (b) a change in the size distribution of housing associations in the United Kingdom, with a comparative growth in the proportion of smaller organizations, (c) the increasing influence of external capital markets on governance and decision making in housing associations in the United Kingdom, and (d) increasing service inequality within housing associations in the United Kingdom, compared both to the past and to other industrialized nations (Jacobs, 2005).             This age dependence of mortality of housing associations in the United Kingdom holds even when size is controlled--it is not the case that age dependence occurs simply because new organizations also tend to be smaller and smaller organizations disappear more frequently, although there is a liability of smallness. Smaller housing organizations in the UK have more difficulty raising capital, face diseconomies of scale in dealing with government regulations, and face problems in attracting labor in competition with larger organizations, because they cannot offer the career prospects and stability of larger organizations. Control has been a major theme in housing associations in the United Kingdom since it began more than 100 years ago and continues to be prominent in numerous literatures relevant to organizations, including culture and socialization, rewards and incentives, and leadership. Control has a hierarchical emphasis to it, but many of the decisions in housing associations in the United Kingdom occur through processes of interpersonal influence that rely on power and negotiation rather than on formal systems and authority (Oxley, 1996).             Control in housing associations in the United Kingdom is also exercised through individual, interpersonal influence, in which those in roles of authority motivate and direct others to act as they would like. This interpersonal influence is often called leadership.             Housing associations in the United Kingdom are of course composed of individuals who are working interdependently to produce some quality housing services. Even holding aside issues of incentives and motivation, the very fact of interdependence requires coordination to ensure that activity results in the efficient production of the organization's output. What would happen in a housing project if there were no social controls of any kind to determine when people would start work and what they would do? Almost certainly there would be chaos. Coordination and control are necessary, and how to achieve these ends efficiently and, in some formulations, humanely, are fundamental issues among housing associations in the United Kingdom (Golland, 2003).             The control process begins with recruiting and selection, in which housing associations in the United Kingdom try to find individuals who already possess necessary skills and attitudes that make them good prospects for being productive (Golland, 2003). Uncovering who is a good employment prospect and possesses the requisite qualities is inevitably an uncertain undertaking. One cannot always directly observe motivation, diligence, or intelligence. Consequently, in the recruiting process, organizations frequently rely on signals or proxies for the underlying quality being sought. METHODOLOGY               This study will be conducted in order to determine the validity of the perceptions that housing associations in the United Kingdom are either social enterprises or private businesses in a social setting. In this study, the interview method of data gathering will be utilized. Methods of Research to be Used               For this study, the descriptive method will be utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study will use the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study.  To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) guided the researcher. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study. To come up with pertinent findings and provide credible recommendations, this study will utilize two sources of research: primary and secondary.  Primary research data will be obtained through this new research study. Questionnaire survey and in-depth interview will be conducted. On the other hand, the secondary research data will be obtained from previous studies on the same topic.  The Research Design             In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies for this study, the research process "onion" will be undertaken. This is because conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study. Saunders et al (2003) said that while it is not unusual for a researcher to first think of his research undertaking by considering whether one should, for instance, administer a questionnaire or conduct interviews, thoughts on this question should belong to the centre of the research 'onion'. That is, in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the data needed to answer one's research questions, there are important layers of the onion that need to be peeled away: the first layer raises the question of the research philosophy to adopt, the second considers the subject of research approach that flows from the research philosophy, the third examines the research strategy most applicable, the fourth layer refers to the time horizon a researcher applies to his research, and the fifth layer is the data collection methods to be used.             Figure 1 shows how the researcher conceptualized the research approach to be applied in this study by Saunder et al (2003), in order to come up with the pertinent data needed to answer the research questions stated in the first chapter, as well as to arrive to the fulfillment of this research undertaking's objectives.            Then again, the research philosophy that is reflected in this study is positivism. With this research philosophy, a researcher prefers to work with an observable social reality in order to come up with law-like generalizations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists (Remenyi et al, 1998), and in this tradition, the researcher becomes an objective analyst, coolly making detached interpretations about those data that have been collected in an apparently value-free manner (Saunders et al, 2003). In addition, the emphasis is on a highly structured methodology to facilitate replication (Gill & Johnson, 1997) and on quantifiable observations that lend themselves to statistical analysis (Saunders et al, 2003). In here, the assumption is that the researcher is independent of and neither affects nor is affected by the subject of the research (Remenyi et al, 1998; Saunders et al, 1998).             Meanwhile, the second layer shows that this study has undertaken a deductive approach. Accordingly, this approach has five sequential stages: deducing a hypothesis; expressing the hypothesis in operational terms; testing this operational hypothesis; examining the specific outcome of the inquiry to either confirm the theory or indicate the need for its modification; and finally, modifying the theory in the light of the findings (if necessary) (Robson, 1993, p. 19).             Further, the deductive approach has a number of important characteristics. First, this approach is a search to explain causal relationships between variables, which consequently leading to the development of a hypothesis. Second, it involves the collection of a quantitative data (although it can, as well, use qualitative data), and these data are important to test a hypothesis that has been previously developed. The third characteristic of a deductive approach is that it controls to allow the testing of hypothesis. However, one must remember that with this approach, it is important that the researcher is independent of what is being observed—that is, the researcher should be objective and not subjective—so that the principle of scientific strictness will be pursued, as this approach emphasizes scientific principles. (Saunders et al, 2003)           Also, it is important that concepts are operationalized, which will enable facts to be measured quantitatively. Finally, the deductive approach is generalization (e.g., to be able to generalize about regularities in human social behavior, one must be able to select a sufficient numerical size of samples). (Saunders et al, 2003) Instruments to be used A self-administered questionnaire, or the type of questionnaire that is usually completed by respondents (Saunders et al, 2003), had been constructed by the researcher to gather the needed data. To further enhance the study on the customer satisfaction, the researcher prepared a survey-questionnaire wherein the respondents graded each statement. Every statement constituted of four levels of responses namely very satisfied, quite satisfied, quite dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. The equivalent weights for the answers were:             Range                                                Interpretation                          3.50 – 4.00                                       Very Satisfied             2.50 – 3.49                                        Quite Satisfied             1.50 – 2.49                                        Quite Dissatisfied                               0.00 – 1.49                                        Very Dissatisfied             The decision was made to use a questionnaire for the data collection for this project due to the sensitivity of the information being obtained.  It is important for the respondents to be open and honest in their responses. The use of the questionnaire provides the researcher with the ability to test the views and attitudes of the respondents.             The survey-questionnaires also will use open-ended questions to obtain as much information as possible about how the interviewee feels about the research topic.  Interviews will take between one and two hours. The questions that will be used during the interview will be based on the research questions for this project; they have been reviewed, refined and approved by the project supervisor. The researcher designed a semi-structured interview. Here, the researcher will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements and to further elaborate on brief comments. The interviewer did not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. Validation and Administration of the Instrument For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the initial survey will be conducted.  After the questions are answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument.  Afterwards, the researcher again will examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers then will exclude irrelevant questions and change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms. The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the responses in the provided interview questions.             Apparently, there have been issues on the validation on using self-assessment as against an observer rating. The use of either one will significantly change the result of the findings. This study will opt to use both. While there are strengths of the approach, scholars have also presented future impediments and limitations of using this type of methodology.             Furthermore, the researcher will adopt the three-stage process devised by Saunders et al (2003, p. 205): The first stage is assessing the overall suitability of data to research questions and objectives. During this stage, the researcher will pay particular attention to measurement validity (measuring / estimating whether the secondary data will result to a valid answer to the research questions and objectives) and coverage (this includes ensuring whether or not the data is wanted and can be included, as well as making sure that sufficient data remain for analyses to be undertaken once unwanted data have been excluded). The second stage is evaluating precisely the suitability of data for analyses needed to answer and meet the research questions and objectives. In this stage, the researcher will make sure of the validity and reliability of the secondary data by assessing how it was previously gathered, who are its sources, and the likes. Also, the researcher will be cautious not to commit measurement bias (which can occur due to deliberate distortion of data or changes in the way data are collected). Finally, the researcher will judge whether to use data based on an assessment of costs and benefits in comparison with alternative sources. Data collection method There were 2 types of data collection methods involved and used in this research; primary and secondary data collection methods. Primary data, as the name implies, is the data collected for the sole purpose of the research topic, by the researcher. Moreover, collecting the primary data in this research would be to have face to face interviews, telephone calls and also through self-designed questionnaires. In the face to face interviews, the researcher intends to take notes when there is a response by the interviewee.   Also used during the interview process, was a voice recorder in order to remember and facilitated the note taking and also improved the flow and communication of the interview process. Regular visits and phone calls were made to the housing organizations in UK that the researcher wishes to do the research on. In the housing organizations the researcher chooses to target, the questionnaires were distributed. A pilot study was first conducted prior to the main study in order to test the questionnaire design. Data Analysis The type of testing used in this case was parametric testing. All the data gathered from the interview and questionnaires were tabulated and coded so that parametric testing would be executed. Parametric tests are more powerful than nonparametric tests given the sample size, and assume the variable(s) being measured is/are normally distributed among the population. Criteria other than sample size must, of course, be met before parametric tests can be used.   There were also be low responses from housing organizations in UK, which could be due to (a) their lack of time, (b) their lack of interest in the questionnaire, which also might be a supplementary to the comment card owned by the hotel, (c) lack of commitment on the housing organizations' part, concerning the collection of the questionnaires and the administration.               Based on the use of the thesis design and method, which utilizes the qualitative and the descriptive methods, this study focuses mostly on the report of the researcher and the interaction of the researcher and the respondents who are the subject of the study. Because the information gathered for the research focuses on the observation of the behaviors of the respondents in accordance to the performance of the housing organizations, one of the best ways that this can be achieved is through analyzing the responses form the given survey questionnaire.               As such, the processing of the data and their analysis will focus mostly on the different methods that the researcher will be able to interpret the answers of the respondents to the questions.               Actually, when all the needed and pertinent data are gathered, the researcher will employ on them the documentary analysis technique, which is more commonly known as content analysis to come up with the findings needed for the fulfillment of the objectives of this research undertaking.   Apparently, the researcher also performed the content analysis. Like other research techniques, content analysis must be objective. There should be no bias involved in the selection and classification of content to be analyzed, in its sampling design and in its interpretation of results. To be objective, the researcher make sure that as much as possible, all items and aspects in the content to be analyzed were placed under appropriate categories. And in this, the perception of the researcher was not influenced by factors other than the true outcomes or the true frequency counts of the variables the inquired.             In line with this, the data were analyzed based on the descriptive statistics performed in data processing. What's more, the content analysis of documentary materials in this study was quantitative because the interpretations and conclusions from the findings depend almost entirely on the output in processing the frequency counts of the perceptions of the respondents. So, the occurrences of the perception of the respondents were tallied one by one, upon the frequency of the occurrences depends the analysis and interpretation. To further enhance the perception of the respondents, they were also given time for an interview that is subjected to their respective insight to the topics. The interview results were then used to justify their answers.         Conducting the Semi-structured Interview             During the interview, the interviewer will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. More importantly, the interviewer will be objective and will not attempt, in any way, to influence the interviewer's statements. In order to do this, the interviewer will not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. Also, the questions that will be thrown at the interviewees will be phrased clearly, so that interviewees can understand them, and they will be delivered in neutral tone of voice. The researcher will also avoid long questions, or those that are really made up of two or more questions, because as Robson (2002) said, by asking long-questions, the tendency to obtain a response for each aspect a researcher wants to explore will be lost. The researcher will also avoid too many theoretical concepts or jargons, as the researcher's understanding of such terms may vary from that of the interviewees. Also, during the interview, the researcher will be determined to establish trust by not being too assertive and by being attentive to the interviewees' responses. Finally, the researcher will make sure that the interview will not last too long and will not consume much of the respondents' time, as this may instigate uncooperativeness from the respondents. Data Representative and Reliability             To ensure the reliability of interview results, a test-retest will be conducted, or the administration of the same test to the same set of interviewees on two different occasions will be conducted.  This approach assumes that there is no substantial change in the construct being measured between the two occasions.  Thus, two tests will also be conducted: a pretest or a pilot test shall be done and a post-test.  Interviewees will be questioned twice themselves. Furthermore, the proposed approaches, structured interview and telephone questionnaire will be interview-administered in mode.  This part will encourage credibility and accuracy in the interviews. Description of the Data that will be Used in the Study             The study will also utilize secondary data. Secondary data include raw data and published summaries, as well as both quantitative and qualitative data. Saunders et al (2003) deduced that secondary data fall into three main subgroups documentary data, interview-based data, and those compiled from different sources.      Documentary secondary data, accordingly, are the ones often used in research projects that also use primary data collection data methods, although such data can also be used on their own or be combined with other secondary data. Meanwhile, interview-based secondary data are those data collected by questionnaires that have already been analyzed for their original purpose; usually, such data refer to organizations, people or households and are made available as compiled data tables or as a computer-readable matrix of raw data. Ethical Considerations             In keeping with the procedures and in the interest of maintaining the integrity of the proposed research, the researcher will make every effort to ensure that the ethical guidelines of the medical profession will be strictly followed.  All data collected from the sites will be kept in a secure location. The names of the medical workers and their scores will not be revealed. The appropriate measures of the data will be obtained with the statistical instruments selected, and all results will be revealed in the study.