Outline how your study (is/will) apply at least three research standards that represent “good” qualitative research, which also can be used for readers to assess the quality of your work and your final product. Speak with and through citations.
Worthy topic
Tracy writes that "Good qualitative research is relevant, timely, significant, interesting, or evocative. Worthy topics often emerge from disciplinary priorities and, therefore, are theoretically or conceptually compelling" (p. 840). PO Fit theory is an established and relevant theory that has been in use for years, yet is not well known in recruiting departments within the community that I support. The community suffers from a high turnover rate, and little to no retention among new employees, and many transitions within the organization even for older, more experienced workers. Including information on PO fit or any “values fit” theory could help recruiters support a more mature recruiting and retention methodology and help the community keep more workers in the organizations where they began their careers. There is an established link between retention and seniority and improved safety records, so using PO Fit to improve recruiting and retention could have benefits for the community in terms of safety as well as in reducing recruiting costs.
Rich rigor
The study I am working on is deep in terms of its rigor and research. Very few studies of this kind have been performed by researchers or trainers in the community we serve. In general, the philosophy is a “learn by doing” model, and finding research opportunities or researcher who can explore new ways of doing things and research and analyze findings is quite rare. Qualitative research is unknown in the community I support and it will be worthwhile to help this community understand the capabilities of this type of research.
Significant contribution
Whether or not there are significant findings from this study, this research, due to its uniqueness within the community we support, will make a significant contribution to the community. Positive findings that can help move PO Fit into the community and help support more effective recruiting would be a good, and worthwhile result, but even without this, improving the understanding of the PO Fit theory and “values fit” theory within the community’s recruiting network should have positive effects for organizations within the community, for the community in general and for the individual workers. Tracy (2010) writes of research that makes a significant contribution that "at its most basic, research may provide a theoretical contribution by examining how existing theory or concepts make sense in a new and different context" (p. 846). PO fit is established in many other contexts but is rarely used in the community I support so it will make a significant contribution regardless of whether or not there are positive effects of PO Fit on the participants and their organizations.
Meaningful coherence
Since PO Fit is such a new concept, there is a lack of understanding from those who may read the research and the participants of the interviews into what PO Fit means or can mean for recruiting and retention. Despite this lack of understanding or clarity of the subject matter, the interviews should help both the participants understand the importance of PO Fit, and the article provides an in-depth understanding of PO Fit that should help any reader, even those without any experience with “values fit” understand the benefits and the capabilities of using this type of perspective in recruiting and retention efforts.
Describe at least two ethical considerations relevant to study methodology? How are/will you address these considerations?
Ethical Consideration - Perspectives and Voice
AREA (2006) states, "The issues of power involved in whose versions of events are privileged and who decides which events or aspects are included and/or omitted should be acknowledged. It should be clear how participants’ perspectives were respected and honored" (p. 486). This research has issues regarding privilege and power in terms of the researcher's experience vs the participants. There is a gulf between the researcher's position in the community and the participant's position. The researcher has worked in or around the industrial contracting community for over 20 years. During that time, I have only worked with three different contractors. This is rare. I am conducting this research at the tail end of my career. The sample pool for participants for this research was deliberately selected for their relative inexperience and “newness” within the community. This could create challenges in the interview process, the coding, and the analysis of the data that is obtained. Although this is discussed in the article, the challenge and the disparity are a part of the research that could affect the interviews and analysis. Future studies of this sort may want to include researchers who are more “like” the participants, meaning new the community and to the type of dynamic this study is focused on.
Ethical Consideration – Bias
The researcher is presuming that retention would be a net positive for the community both in terms of lowering costs for individual organizations who hire new workers, but also in terms of safety. This idea of creating higher retention rates may not be a net benefit nor have a direct benefit for individual workers. AERA (2006) states that "an important characteristic of much humanities-oriented research in education is that it directly takes on questions related to values, morals, and ideals based on the assumption that no research (and no researcher) is neutral when it comes to values" (p. 486). This is an issue when the research for this proposed article is seen from the lens of the worker vs that of the researcher. Workers usually jump from one contracting organization to another due to pay increases that usually accompany those jumps. Workers can leverage their skill and experience to obtain new jobs at other organizations and work their way through a career ladder that incorporates multiple organizations. The research for this article, and the idea of PO Fit and “values fit” does not take into account the idea of using transitions between organizations in this manner. Although PO Fit theory and “values fit” theory are explained in detail in this article, and the benefits are highlighted, the benefits to workers in terms of pay and career growth through transitioning through organizations as described above are not well known to workers in the industry. Future work may want to approach educating both organizations and workers on the benefits of PO Fit and “values fit” for the community.
References
AERA. (2006). Standards for reporting on empirical social science research in AERA publications. Educational Researcher, 35(6), 33–40. doi:10.3102/0013189X035006033
Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative inquiry, 16(10), 837-851.
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