Data analysis procedures

Responses were transcribed verbatim for content analysis. NVivo software was used to process and manage the data. To ensure that all transcripts were generated systematically, the transcripts included mispronounciations, slang, grammatical errors and nonverbal sounds (McLellan et al. 2003).

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Reliability and validity of the interview data

According to Denzin and Lincoln (2011), interviewing is a robust qualitative method which aims at a clear description of individual experiences. Validity concerns the soundness, legitimacy and relevance of a research theory and its investigations or practice (Kitchin & Tate 2000). In optimising the validity of this study, much effort was made to ensure that the elements and sample were sufficiently representative to produce valid conclusions. Data were collected from three sub-sectors of the financial sector. The data were coded following suggestions by Miles and Huberman (1984) to ensure intra-code reliability. This required the researcher to code some segments of data at two different periods to confirm that the coding of data from the first round was similar to the coding during the second round.

Specifically, the interview content was coded to develop rubrics in the light of the insights specific to the topic of this research. Theoretical saturation (Corbin & Strauss 2008) was reached early in the process, as there was no need to adapt the major themes after half the analysis had been done. For each of the themes identified, example quotes were chosen from the transcripts to illustrate the points made and to facilitate clearer insights (Figure 4.3). In respect to comprehensiveness, it should be noted that the interviews were conducted in both Malay and English according to the comfort of the interviewees. As English is the second language of Malaysia, many interviewees were quite comfortable in answering the questions in both English and Malay.

Method of analysis

The reliability and validity of the data were further enhanced by an appropriate process adapted from Miles and Huberman (1984) and Gioia and Thomas (1996). As suggested by these authors, the analysis process was based on categorisation and themes which utilised three major phases. The first phase involved repeated reading of all the transcripts. Descriptive codes that originated from key areas of the study’s interest were used to group segments of the texts. The main categories were leadership issues, HR issues and personal resources. In the second phase, the main categories were segmented to identify themes for the second-order group. The first-order groups were repeatedly visited and grouped into new segments. For example, transcripts that involved leadership issues were further grouped into different categories such as

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coaching, participative decision making, showing concern. The final phase assembled the second-order group into the major themes of the study. Figure 4.3 illustrates the different phases of the analysis.

Figure 4.3: Phases of categorical analysis for the study

Source: Adapted from Gioia and Thomas (1996)

Second-Order Codes Categories

Coaching First-Order Codes

Leadership: ‘He does show concern and quite fatherly as well as patient.’

Leadership:‘He is a good leader because he always guide me and forever willing to help.’

HR Practices: ‘The training is internally and externally implemented, depending on the course.’

Personal resource: .I work because it is part of my worship to God.’

HR Practices: .Our KPI is closely tied to performance.’

Personal resource: ‘I feel more energised to participate after attending religious programs prepared by my employer.’ Showing concern Training Appraisal Moral obligation Being proactive Empowering leadership behaviour HPWP Religiosity

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Reflexivity

Studies that involve qualitative approaches require the researcher to explore a phenomenon that occurs in the ‘real world’ without excluding its intricacies. This suggests that it is important to acknowledge the researcher’s role in the construction of interview participants’ presentations of their experiences. Patton (2002) argued that reflexivity requires qualitative enquirers to be attentive to and conscious of the cultural, political, social, linguistic and ideological origins of their own initiatives and voices as well as the voices and perspectives of those they interview and report on. In a multi-racial country such as Malaysia, the researcher’s personal creed and colour may have influenced what the employees chose to tell in the interviews. The researcher’s presence as a Malay was received better by organisations headed by a Malay than by organisations headed by a non-Malay – hence the large number of Malay participants compared to other ethnicities. This issue seems not to be a crucial matter since one of the major objectives of the study was to explore the religiosity of the Malay Muslim’s experience at work.

Further, due to the researcher’s identical ethnicity and religiosity to the participants, it was relatively easy to ‘break the ice’, particularly when the researcher began the introduction in the Malay language. Generally, the participants were very open in sharing their personal information and opinions about their experiences and were quite often blunt and sincere in discussing their responses to these experiences. Had it been another researcher of a different ethnicity and religion conducting the interviews, these participants may have disclosed less information about their personal experiences and instead focused more on the concrete details of their job.

It is also necessary to acknowledge the possible influence of the researcher’s background on the way the data have been interpreted. The organisation of knowledge and discussions certainly occurs from the point of view of a researcher’s personal experiences, social contexts, academic training and theoretical preferences, and this can well influence the research outcomes (Cunliffe 2003). But as Weick (1995) argued, ontological uncertainties are a necessary part of sense-making because, in acting within multiple realities, no one can be an ontological purist. As shown in Appendix D, all the questions asked were in reference to the general subjects of

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leadership behaviour, HR practices and personal resources. For example, in terms of personal resources, the researcher did not asked specifically whether employees were engaged due to religiosity but the issue was raised genuinely by the participants themselves. Thus, while the researcher feels that her background and identity may have influenced the findings, she is confident that the way the data were collected avoided bias or partiality and that the discussions are a valid representation of the data.