Quantitative approach

The quantitative approach implies the application of a measurement or numerical approach to the nature of the issue under investigation as well as to the gathering and analysis of data. Quantitative research is usually concerned with hypothesis testing and theory generation. The final study of this piece of research examines several parameters with the concept of OSH climate as the focus is to investigate the implementation of the OSH legislation and policies in HK from an organisational perspective. A survey is conducted with HK teachers in order to achieve the aims of the study. Field research in occupational settings requires measures which not only meet the psychometric requirements of internal consistency, reliability, and validity but are also relatively short, readily understood, quick to administer, perceived to be relevant by the individuals concerned, and free from response bias effects.

In the design of questionnaires, the researcher should choose the survey method as a balance between different factors and where some degree of compromise is necessary (Jackson & Furnham, 2000). For instance, the total time of the questionnaire represents a

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trade-off between using more measures, which increases the amount of information obtained; and using more items in each, measures which increases reliability. Also, the complexity of the measure and the time taken for administration are also concerns especially when the number of items and formats of the Likert-response influence the internal consistency of the questionnaires. Different methods of administering the questionnaire survey may also affect the response rate as well as the information obtained, for example: there are differences between traditional paper-pen administration and internet administration of questionnaire survey. Therefore, when research is carried out in field settings, it is necessary to balance psychometric and practical considerations.

The balance of different considerations is widely relevant to this study. The used of standard questionnaires with long questions and numerous items maybe more acceptable in clinical practice but it might be intrusive or unacceptable to employees with tight schedules, like teachers. The length of the questionnaires will also affect participants‟ attitude and behaviour and pushes more of them over a threshold beyond that they will no longer cooperate (Bogen, 1996). In order to obtain reliable information, care needs to be taken to ensure that test materials are seen to be relevant and appropriate by respondents, and that policies relating to the confidentiality of individual data are clearly communicated to all concerned. In study three, one major concern was that teachers might be reluctant to fill in questionnaires on stress and occupational health related research, because most of them have been participating in different survey studies since the education reform (see Chapter One - Introduction). To counter this problem and to obtain as wide a sample as possible, a short version of standard questionnaires with good internal reliability were used.

In addition, teachers are invited to complete in either the online-version or the paper-version of the questionnaires. The administration of questionnaires via the Internet compared to pen- and-paper administration has been debated among researchers for awhile. There are studies showing that Internet administration of questionnaires have lower completion rates but less missing data compared to paper-pen administration of questionnaires (Kongsved et al., 2007). In contrast, some studies show that Internet administration provides similar participant

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responses as pen-and-paper administration. They appear to generate similar results in measuring quality-of-life measures in adolescents (Raat et al., 2007), health-related

questionnaires completed by Internet volunteers (Ritter P et al., 2004), and trauma survey in healthy college volunteers (Fortson et al., 2006). With concerns relating to long working hours and busy work schedules of HK teachers, the availability of both online and paper questionnaires encouraged them to participate in the study and allowed them to have more time and careful consideration to their answers. The major results of the online and paper questionnaires will be compared by t-tests to check whether the two types of questionnaires are comparable in terms of the results.

A potential disadvantage of self-administered questionnaires is that they could be filled in carelessly and if they are returned anonymously, the researcher is unable to refer back to the respondent, and guarantee the quality of the answer. According to Oppenheim (1966), if a person has little interest in the subject, he/she is unlikely to complete the questionnaire, or may produce a poor response. This could be overcome by the distribution of more

questionnaires but this involves the possibility of bias and unrepresentativeness of the sample compared to the whole population. However, in this study, the respondents‟ anonymity is ensured and it was clearly emphasised that the participation was completely voluntary.

Also, there might be potential disadvantages in using self-reported data, for example: teachers might report higher level of psychological distress due to their discontent with the education policy. However, the validity of using self administered questionnaires is supported by Spector et al. (1988)‟s study on stress-inducing job conditions. They compared the self reports from job incumbents with data from the supervisors, and who found convergent and discriminate validities for several stressors. The literature on self reports and physiological measures in workplaces is reviewed by (Pennebaker & Watson, 1988). They mentioned that self ratings represented an important source of information from which we can assume that there will be some behavioural implications. Meanwhile, from HKPTU (2005)‟s study on teachers‟ sickness absenteeism, the results found that some teachers on sick leave did not apply for medical sick leave because of the heavy workload and pressure from upper

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management. Therefore, in the case of teachers, self-reported data may be a better

representative than the official record. With the results of the previous stage of qualitative study and the literature review, there were some emerging factors, which are potentially related to each other and influence teachers‟ OSH outcomes as a model. A representative number of responses from the population of HK teachers are needed to test the relationships of these variables, as well as to increase the generalisability of the study. Therefore, it seems that the most feasible and appropriate method for this part of the research is self report questionnaire. The choice of methodology is thus driven by practical, as well as theoretical, considerations.

In document The implementation of occupational safety and health legislation and policies in Hong Kong schools (Page 85-88)