Research Method

LASA: Comparison and Contrast of Research Designs

Description of LASA:

Choose an industrial/organizational (I/O) topic of interest. A nonexhaustive list of research topic suggestions includes leadership, job satisfaction, organizational culture, measuring performance, work–life balance, compensation, selection, recruitment, retention, employee engagement, training, and emotional intelligence.

Once you have selected your topic, you will conduct a literature review on that topic. Locate three scholarly peer-reviewed articles (published within the last five to seven years) that have investigated your research topic:

• One of the articles needs to have employed an experimental research design.
• One of the articles needs to have employed a quasi-experimental research design.
• One of the articles needs to have employed a mixed-methods research design.

Tasks:

Read, summarize, analyze, and critique each of the articles. For each article, your analysis should:

• Summarize the results of the study.
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the research.
• Discuss the appropriateness of the research design for the study, the reliability, the validity, sampling methods, and any potential bias.
• Identify any ethical or diversity issues.

Having reviewed the same topic from a variety of research design approaches, reflect on what you have learned about the specific industrial/organizational (I/O) topic itself, as well as the impact that the research method employed had on the knowledge gained from the study. Be sure to include these reflections in the conclusion of your paper.

Write a 7- to 9-page paper based on your literature review, utilizing the three scholarly sources you review. Make sure you employ proper grammar and spelling and apply current APA standards for writing style to your work.

Use the following headings to organize your paper:

• Research design methods defined:
• Experimental
• Strengths and limitations
• Quasi-experimental
• Strengths and limitations
• Mixed methods
• Strengths and limitations
• Industrial/organizational (I/O) topic area of interest
• Experimental design study summary:
• Results
• Experimental design study analysis and critique
• Strengths and weaknesses of the study
• Ethical, legal, and/or diversity considerations
• Quasi-experimental design study summary
• Results
• Quasi-experimental design study analysis and critique
• Strengths and weaknesses of the study
• Ethical, legal, and/or diversity considerations
• Mixed-methods research design study summary:
• Results
• Mixed-methods research design study analysis and critique
• Strengths and weaknesses of the study
• Ethical, legal, and/or diversity considerations
• Conclusion
• References