Research design on the effect of employee turnover on performance:
A case study of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture
Creswell (2013: 11) defines research design “as types of inquiry within qualitative,
quantitative, and mixed methods approach that provide specific direction for procedures in a
research design”. Research design illustrates in detail the plan of how the research study shall
be conducted. There are distinctive sorts of research designs, namely, descriptive,
exploratory, explanatory, case study, causal, cohort, and cross-sectional design. The
application of each research design depends on the type and size of the problem being
examined. To decisively describe the impact employee turnover has on organisational
performance at the KZN Department of Arts and Culture; this study utilised exploratory as
well as descriptive research design to assist in generating both qualitative and quantitative
data (Mixed methods research).
Quantitative research method
According to Punch (2013), quantitative method is utilised to assess objective data
comprising of numerals with the objective of attaining high levels of reliability in relation to
the analysis of data. Furthermore, Bryman (2012:35) defined quantitative research as, “a
research strategy that emphasises quantification in the collection and analysis of data”.
Quantitative method is mainly beneficial when conducting a large-scale study. Rahman
(2016) has identified the following below as advantages and disadvantages of quantitative
research;
Advantages of quantitative research
Data can be generalised to a whole population because of a large sample selected.
Analysing data is less time-consuming.
The result are generally quantifiable and objective.
Disadvantages of quantitative research
Large samples are time-consuming when it is time to collect data.
The quantitative data ignores the human element.
Qualitative research fails to determine underlying meanings and explanations
Qualitative research method
According to Hesse-Biber & Burke Johnson (2015), qualitative research method is imperative
in attaining certain information about the values, behaviours, opinions and social setting of
certain populations. Punch (2013) further expresses that qualitative research may be in the
form of observations, interviews, focus groups, surveys, etc. Rahman (2016) has identified
the following below as advantages and disadvantages of qualitative research.
Advantages of qualitative research
Provides a detailed description of respondents’ sentiments, ideas and infers the
meanings of their action.
Requires a small sample size.
Direct interaction with the respondents of the study.
Disadvantages
There is a low credibility to the results from this approach.
Difficulties in interpreting and analysing data.
Due to a small sample size, the results cannot be generalised to a large population.
Mixed methods
Creswell, Vicki & Plano Clark (2013:4) define mixed methods research as “the type of
research in which a researcher or a team of researchers combines elements of quantitative and
qualitative research approaches for the purpose of breadth and depth of understanding and
corroboration”. In mixed research methods, the researcher
gathers and examines convincingly and meticulously both quantitative and qualitative
data
integrates quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously by merging and embedding
one within the other
giving prime concern to one or both forms of data in relation to what the research
highlights
and utilises these methods in a single study
The researcher’s motive for using the mixed methods is that both quantitative and qualitative
research when mixed together provide a better understanding of the research problem, than
just utilising one approach alone. The qualitative research method enables the researcher to
comprehend better the difficulty of a phenomenon and the quantitative research method
offers an objective measure of reality. Nonetheless, the researcher utilised more of the
quantitative approach than the qualitative approach. The reason the researcher utilised more
of the quantitative approach than the qualitative approach, is because the quantitative method
allowed the researcher to examine the relationship between employee turnover and
performance
The study site
The study was conducted at the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture. KZNDAC
(2017) furthermore asserts that the Department of Arts and Culture promotes, supports,
advances and protects the arts, culture and heritage of the province. The participants of the
study were selected from the head office in Pietermaritzburg and Regional offices located in
Durban, Ladysmith and Ulundi. The Department of Arts and Culture is divided into different
units that offer a number of services to the public such as Library Services, Museum Services,
Archives Services, Language Services and Arts and Culture Services. The Museum Services’
Unit aim is to promote the preservation of South Africa’s cultural heritage by assisting in the
development of local museums in KwaZulu-Natal. The Archives Unit is the custodian of
documents, oral history maps and photographs that tell the province’s history. The Library
Services Unit provides services and support to affiliated public libraries throughout the
province of KwaZulu-Natal. The Language Services Unit fosters respect for linguistic rights.
The Head Office Directorates are responsible for Policy-making while the Regions are
responsible for Policy-implementing functions.
Target population
According to Hair (2015), target population refers to an entire group of people having shared
observable characteristics. The study target population consisted of all the employees at the
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture that amount to 470 (KZNDAC Annual report
2015/16). The study population consist of senior managers, directors, head of
department/chief executive office, risk management and security services, secretaries,
information technology personnel, human resources and organizational development
personnel, clerks, language practitioners, interpreters, legal related, librarians, logistical
support personnel, clerks, administrative policy and related officers, finance management
personnel, administrators and communication personnel and related professionals. All these
employees are under different chief directorates in the organisation. The chief directorates are
a subdivision of the organisation in which the employees operate, and they are as follows
cultural affairs, corporate governance, administration services, financial management,
libraries, and information and archives service directorates and regional offices.
The population mentioned above is acquainted with the day-to-day running of the department
and are able to provide the researcher with more information in relation to the effect of
employee turnover on performance through the structured questionnaires that were
distributed. The KZN Department of Arts and Culture employees are categorised below on
Table 3.1.
Total population of KZN Department of Arts and Culture
Category Total Population
Level 1-5 (Junior employees) 109
Level 6-8 (Supervisory employees) 133
Level 9-12 (Middle Management employees) 179
Level 13-16 (Senior Management) 49
470
Source: KZNDAC Annual Report (2015/2016)
Sample and Sampling techniques
Sampling is the procedure of selecting a smaller and more sensible number of individuals to
participate in the research and generalise the outcomes to the entire populace of the research
(Hair, 2015). Furthermore, May (2011:98) defines a sample “as a portion or a subset of a
larger group called a population”. This study used employees at the KZN Department of Arts
and Culture in Pietermaritzburg, Durban, Ulundi and Ladysmith who is responsible for the
day to day running of the organisation. The employees were divided into different strata’s
from level 1-5 (Junior employees), level 6-8 (Supervisory employees) and level 9-12 (Middle
Management employees) from all the chief directorates. The Chief Directorates are as
follows; Cultural Affairs, Corporate Governance, Administration Services, Financial
Management, Libraries, and Information and Archives Service Directorates and Regional
offices. The reason the researcher has excluded the employees from level 13-16 (Senior
Management employees), is because some of these employees sign contracts for five years
and others are permanent. Furthermore, Senior management employees are known to be very
busy individuals and having access to them becomes difficult due to their busy schedules and
also that the department has a number of managers who are in level 9-12 (Middle
Management employees) who would have similar responses as to the senior management.
The Sample size of KZN Department of Arts and Culture is shown below in Table 3.2.
Sample size of KZN Department of Arts and Culture
Total Number of
in the Directorates
employees Sample size
participants
selected
(30%)
to
of
be
Level 1-5
(Junior employees)
109 33
Level 6-8
(Supervisory employees)
133 40
Level 9-12
(Middle Management employees
179 54
Total 421 127
The sampling strategy that the researcher utilised is the stratified random sample (Probability
sampling) technique, which is used to divide the population into smaller groups, called strata.
According to Kuada (2012) Stratified random sampling is dividing the populace into
numerous smaller groups that are individually identical than the total and afterwards
individuals are selected from each stratum to create a sample.
The different strata’s consist of employees from Level 1-5 (junior employees), Level 6-8
(Supervisory employees) and Level 9-12 (Middle management employees). Random samples
were taken from each stratum for the identification of the participants for the questionnaire.
Kumar (2014) random sampling means that every combination of sampling units has an equal
chance of being selected depending on their availability for the study. According to Kothari
(2004) suggests that researchers can make use of 30% of their study population as a sample
size and it will be acknowledged as a representative sample.
Data collection instrument and procedures
This section deliberates on the research instrument that was used in the collection of data and
will discuss the following; the questionnaire, administration and distribution of the
questionnaire, forms of questions in the questionnaire and the response rate.
The instrument
In this study, the researcher has made use of both secondary and primary data. The
questionnaire that was formulated was used as the main primary data collection instrument
because by utilising this method the researcher was able to get original information from the
field that addressed the research problem under the study. Secondary data was utilised in the
writing of the literature review, whereby articles, reports, books, journals, etc. served as
reference material.
The questionnaire
According to Neelankavil (2015:160), defines questionnaire “as a series of questions on a
specific topic, based on specific information needs or research goals, which a respondent
answers”. A questionnaire could either be structured which is prearranged or unstructured
which is not prearranged. The main objective of a questionnaire is that it translates the
research objectives into specific questions that respondents must answer. This instrument is
utilised as a source of survey data for assessing the effect of employee turnover on
performance at the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture.
Jones (2014) identified the following advantages of utilising a questionnaire in a research
study; they are not costly; potential reduction in bias; allows anonymity, and may improve
the validity of responses in certain cases; increased time for the respondents and its time
efficient.
Forms of questions
A semi-structured questionnaire that comprised of close and open-ended questions was
utilised to collect data, which was divided into three Sections; Section A, B, and C. This
approach was considered suitable for the research study because the respondents that were
reached could read and write autonomously. The questionnaire was comprised of 40
questions, which took the respondents 20 minutes to answer.
The questionnaire consisted of the following sections:
Section A of the questionnaire collected demographic information of employees;
Section B consisted of general questions in relation to employee turnover, and
Section C consisted of questions about the causes of employee turnover in the
department and its impact on performance.
The questionnaire (Annexure D) was structured in a 5-point Likert scale format and included
dichotomous questions. According to Monette, Sullivan & DeJong (2010:354), “a Likert
scale consist of a series of statements, with each statement followed by a number of ordered
response alternatives”. A highly-structured question format allows for the use of closed
questions that require the respondent to choose from a predetermined set of responses or scale
points. The Likert scale requested the respondents to show the degree to which they agree or
disagree from a series of statements, with the scale assigned as (1) Strongly agree, (2) Agree,
(3) Neutral, (4) Disagree and (5) Strongly disagree. The reason for selecting the 5-point
Linkert scale is because it facilitates robust statistical analysis. Dichotomous questions in
terms of Yes/No about the robustness of employee turnover in their organisation was
included in the questionnaire.
Administration and distribution of the questionnaire
The researcher personally administered the questionnaires to participants (Annexure D). The
researcher requested that all the participants return the completed questionnaire as soon as
possible. After one week, the researcher and research assistants collected most of the
questionnaires from the participants.
Pilot Testing
Pilot testing took place and tested the appropriateness of the items in the research instrument
(Questionnaire) to the respondents, with the end goal of improving the reliability and validity
of the instrument. The pilot testing assisted in rectifying the questionnaire, augmenting its
readableness and lessening the odds of misunderstanding of the questions. The questionnaire
was administered for testing to two (2) junior level employee, two (2) supervisory employee
and two (2) middle management employee. The pilot testing of the questionnaire prompted
the following remarks from respondents: the time allocated to complete the questionnaire was
inadequate. The language of the questionnaire was understood by most of the respondents.
Some respondents argued that the questionnaire was too long. The researcher attended to this
remarks and corrected them.
Validity of the questionnaire
According to Yezina (2014:54), “validity refers to the extent to which a test measures what
we wish to measure”. Validity is the accuracy and reasonability of data. Oliver (2010)
deliberates validity to be an essential prerequisite for all the different types of research
studies. Two types of validity were obtained in this study, namely, face and content validity.
Soni (2015) asserts that face validity occurs by examining an instrument, then a researcher
will determine whether it is valid. Face validity is guaranteed in this study, because the
instrument evidently appears to be measuring employee turnover and performance. This was
also confirmed from the pilot test with employees of KZNDAC who did not have any
problems with the measurement of the main constructs used in the study. Soni (2015) is of
the view that if an instrument represents all the components of a variable to be measured, it
has content validity. Content validity was attained by assessing the face validity of the
questionnaire through a series of discussion with the supervisor and experts in human
resource management and based on their response, a small number of questions were re-
phased. Therefore, the design of the instrument enjoyed high content validity, and a pilot
study was carried out to make sure that the instrument measured what it intended to measure.
The precision of data collected was mostly depended on the questionnaire in relation to
validity. A good questionnaire should measure what the researcher has intended it to
measure.
Reliability of the questionnaire
According to Yezina (2014:54), “reliability has to do with the accuracy and precision of a
measurement procedure”. The researcher used the test-retest method to establish the
reliability of the questionnaire. The test-retest method involved testing the questionnaire with
two (2) junior level employee, one (2) supervisory employee and one (2) middle management
employee who were part of the population under study. The responses received from the test-
retest were analysed utilising frequencies, graphs and percentages to obtain a score to assist in
checking if the two processes yielded the same results. If the inconsistency in scores
concerning the two tests is high, it means that the questionnaire has yield data that has high
test-retest reliability.
Table 3.3 Reliability Statistics
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardised Items N of Items
.825 .813 31
Table 3.3 above shows the reliability and stability of the study that is established at .825.
Cronbach’s Alpha was utilised to quantify the reliability of the study for clarification if
whether the questions in the questionnaire were all were all reliable to measure the same
underlying variable. Cronbach’s Alpha based on Standardised Items is .813, making the items
more reliable. Therefore, this is acceptable since Alpha more than .70 is considered reliable
(Matker, 2012).
Data analysis
Since the research study was a mixed-method methodology, it meant that different
approaches to analysing data were utilised. Descriptive statistics analysed the quantitative
data, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Monette (2013) depicts
data analysis as data, which is analysed statistically. The researcher gathered and counted all
the questionnaires distributed to make sure that all the respondents completed the form in the
correct manner. The questionnaires that were received by the researcher were coded and
captured on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Quantitative data was analysed using the software
for statistics called SPSS (Version 23). The reason the SPSS (Version 23) software was
utilised is that it diminished the time and energy in the construction of graphs or tables. The
statistics used in descriptive analysis are frequency distributions and percentage distributions.
Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data of the study. Ngcobo (2014:33)
expresses that thematic approach “involves taking one piece of data, for example, one
interview, and constantly comparing it to others with the aim of conceptualising possible
relationships between the different data sets”. The researcher coded the data through
Microsoft word and the code validation took place through the supervisor in order to ensure
the integrity of the codes. From the codebook the researcher identified themes and sub-
themes and they were clearly defined.
