CHAPTER - III. Objectives, Research Methodology, Hypotheses and Data. Analysis Tools of the Study

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1 CHAPTER - III Objectives, Research Methodology, Hypotheses and Data Analysis Tools of the Study Generally the research is considered as an endeavor to arrive at answers to intellectual and practical problems through the application of scientific methods to the knowable universe. It is the movement from the known to the unknown. Research is defined by different authors; some of the definitions given by few known authors are given below (a) Clifford Woody has defined research as Research comprises defining and redefining problems, formulating hypothesis or suggested solutions, organizing, and evaluating data, making deductions and reaching conclusions and at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they fit the formulated hypothesis 1. (b) Redman and Moore have explained research as systematized effort to gain new knowledge 2. From the above definitions it can be said that research is original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge making for its advancement. It is the pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment. In short, the research for knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solutions to a problem is research. It also covers the systematic approach concerning generalization and the formulation of a theory. Different stages involved in research consists of enacting the problem, formulating a hypothesis, collecting the facts or data, solution towards

2 the concerned problem or in certain generalizations for some theoretical formulations. Research can be divided into two broad categories: 1) Scientific Research and 2) Social Research. According to P. V. Young Social Research is the systematic method of discovering new facts or verifying old facts, their sequences, interrelationships, causal explanation and the natural laws which govern them. Social research is a time, labour and money consuming affair. A question therefore arises what is the use of social research? The right answer to the question is, it gives us pleasure and satisfaction of knowing the unknown and satisfy our curiosity, though there is no immediate and material gain as such, it ultimately helps us to understand the social phenomena as such. It also helps us to open our eyes to face the social reality 3. Some of the short comings of social research are In social science research one commonly finds subjectivity. Personal prejudices and bias may distort the data and hence the conclusion. A social scientist laboratory is society or world at large and his equipment is human beings. He has no control over his equipments or factors which influence them. The results and investigation are at best generalizations Social phenomena are known as symbolically through words as welfare, tradition etc. The data obtained in social research may vary simultaneously

3 The rate of progress of social research is less due to less finance available. The current study is a social research in which the researcher had tried to discover the variation of old facts and has come up with new facts. No research is complete without a research design. Research Design is a process of making decisions before a situation arises in which the decision has to be carried out. It is a process of deliberate anticipation directed towards bringing an unexpected situation under control. General Def has defined Research Design as the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions and control variance. Prof Miller has defined research design in his book titled Designed Research as the planned sequence of the entire process involved in conducting a research study. The researcher has also tried to answer some questions related to the what, why, where and how aspects of her research in this chapter. 3.1 Introduction to the research problem As seen in the introduction Chapter the BPO industry suddenly saw a boom in India but this boom also brought a lot of employee turnover among the call centre units. Many BPO s specially the contact centers are still finding out innovative ways of retaining their employees and of capturing the attrition rate of their call center. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cause of attrition among the call centers located in Pune region and to come up with the ways of capturing the attrition rate by suggesting employee retention strategies. The researcher thought it was important to understand the opinions, feelings, attitudes and perception of the people working in the

4 call centers about attrition and the various work related factors associated with attrition in their organisation. To find out the reasons of attrition two factors were taken into consideration by the researcher. The factors considered for study are work content (Intrinsic factors of work) and work context (extrinsic factors of work). Frederick Herzberg explored the question What do people want from their jobs. He did this through asking various people about situations and events at work, when they felt exceptionally good or bad about their jobs. Herzberg s collection of information revealed that intrinsic factors like achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility at work, career development opportunity, advancement, growth are related to job satisfaction, whilst extrinsic factors like supervision, company policy, relationship with supervisor, working condition, salary, relation with peer, personal life, relation with subordinates, status, security created job dissatisfaction. In other words when people felt satisfied and happy at work the conditions present were directly affecting their inner feelings and self esteem. Yet dissatisfaction was created by the job environment people worked in and the interactions within that environment. The researcher was interested in understanding which of these factors is the common cause of attrition in the selected call centres. 3.2 The objectives of the Study The objectives of the research were as follows: 1 To survey the awareness about attrition among the employees of selected call centers located in Pune region. A general survey to understand the awareness about attrition rate prevailing in the selected call centres was

5 conducted. Responses were collected about the perception individuals have regarding attrition so as to understand if people are aware about what attrition is? and what are the costs associated with attrition. 2 To find out the attrition rate of male employees as well as female employees of selected call centers. Attrition in call centers could be the result of either employer s policy/ policies or due to the host of insecurities and vulnerabilities associated with the taking up of a career with a call center. The nature of job in a typical call center is psychologically very stressful. Thus the second objective was to figure out the attrition rate percentage of male and female employees at entry as well as managerial level to understand if attrition rate differs with the gender type. 3 To find out which of the work content (intrinsic factors of job) and work context (extrinsic factors of job) are the cause for attrition among the selected call centers. The researcher intended to find out whether the attrition is the result of work content related factors like job security, adequate salary, working conditions, respect and recognition etc; or if it is the result of work context related factors like company policy, career development and advancement, responsibility and independence in work etc. 4 To come up with opinions and suggestions for arresting and reducing the attrition rate in call centers

6 3.3 Research method consideration Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem and may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. It involves a research process, a sequential arrangement of various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them. Formally, research methodologies can be defined as an operational frame work within which the facts are placed so that their meaning may be seen more clearly. Research methodology is a procedural frame work within which the research is conducted. The social science research is about two hundred years old 4. Modern social science is a phenomenon of the twentieth century and has hundred years of experience behind it. Thus, it is necessary to explicitly define the methodology in the present study. The research method adapted for the Study was the Survey method. It is one of the well known methods in scientific studies especially in social science, where the researcher has to explore various facts by trial and error method. It simply means finding out the results after systematically exploring the facts Rationale for adapting the survey method for the research Surveys refer to a method of data collection that utilizes questionnaires or interview techniques for recording the data. Surveys and questionnaires are among the most popular data collection methods in any business / social research 5. As the survey research is systematic gathering of information from the respondents for the purpose of understanding and or predicting some aspects of the population

7 of interest. In a survey researcher sample a population. Population is any set of persons or objects that possesses at least one common characteristic. i. The Study is related to describing, recording, analyzing and interpreting the conditions that exist in the call centers located in Pune region. ii. The Study is about the relationship that exists between the conditions of work and attrition among the employees of the call centers located in Pune region hence this is a Cross-Sectional Survey. Cross-sectional surveys are used to gather information on a population at a single point in time. iii. The intention of the researcher was to find out attitudes, opinions, beliefs of the employees related to work content and work context factors of job with reference to attrition existing in the selected call centers located in Pune region. 3.4 Questionnaire as the tool for the data collection Collection of data refers to a purposive gathering of information relevant to the subject matter under study and the methods used depends mainly on the nature, purpose and scope of the inquiry to be undertaken as well as the availability of resources and time. Methods, by which a social research data can be collected, can be broadly categorized into four main groups, according to Moser and Kalton. These are: 1) Documentary Sources

8 2) Observation 3) Mail Questionnaire 4) Interviewing. Questionnaire method of data collection is quite popular, particularly in case of big enquiries. A questionnaire is a set list of questions arranged systematically and logically. It is being adopted by private individuals, research workers, private and public organizations and even by government 6. Questionnaire method of collecting primary data is a method in which information is obtained with the help of questions which are exclusively prepared for that purpose. The researcher has used questionnaires as the tool for data collection for the current study as she has collected the primary data to sought opinions, attitudes and feelings, of the employees working in the call centre for the study. These opinions, feelings or attitudes were very difficult to be observed and quantified, thus questionnaires were thought to be the proper tools Testing of the questionnaire (Pilot survey) According to Simon Buetem pre-testing of the questionnaire provides not only a test of clarity the questions and the correctness of interpretation put upon them by the respondents, but also help discover new aspects of the problem 7. This can be administered to few respondents so that its flows can be detected. Pretest should be conducted in the same manner as the final study. The researcher had conducted a pilot survey of the questionnaire formulated by circulating the questionnaire in three different call centres to 30 respondents for finding out the following:

9 Relevancy of the questions enlisted in the questionnaire Comprehension of the questionnaire by the respondents Willingness of the respondents to share information Time taken by the respondents to respond to the questionnaire and To weed out embarrassing questions, if any, in the questionnaire. The final questionnaire was formulated after receiving valuable inputs from the pilot survey respondents on the points mentioned above Finalization of the questionnaire Based on the results of the pilot survey, the questionnaire was finalized. The questionnaires were framed for three different categories of respondents as follows: Managerial Level Employee Non Managerial Level Employee Ex-Employees Questionnaire was handed over to the respondents which he/she has to fill without the help of the researcher hence due care was taken by the researcher that the questionnaire was relevant. It should be relevant both to the study s goal, to the individual respondent and relevance to the study. Care was taken to avoid double barreled questions i.e inclusion of two questions in one because they are difficult to answer and can cause frustration on the part of the respondent. It was made sure by the researcher that the questions formulated were not ambiguous but simple and matched the educational level of the respondents

10 Most of the questions asked in the questionnaire were closed ended questions having standard answers to help comparison of one person to other. Close ended questions have answers that are easy to code and analyze. Respondents find it easy to answer the close ended questions since he/ she has to merely choose a category that suits his/ her knowledge of the question. In the current study also the respondents were to choose the answers they felt most appropriate. In the close ended questions many times it is very easy for a respondent who does not know the answer to the question to guess or just randomly select from the given answer. The respondent may feel frustrated at the given options where by the rightful answer according to him / her opinion is left out. Another problem the researcher felt with regard to the close ended question was that there may be too many categories of answer to choose from such that it can cause forgetfulness, thereby leading the respondent to read again and again might lead to clerical errors on the part of the respondent in circling the wrong number unintentionally. Keeping all these disadvantages in mind the researcher used question with multiple choice answers with some space kept for answers to be written, if the respondent wanted to add something more or wanted to express something different from the choice of answers available for and something which would always come out as an afterthought. The researcher had also used in her questionnaire some questions which were open ended. Many times all the categories of answer are not known to the individual or the researcher but the responses of the respondents are important for understanding the opinion of the respondents, thus open ended questions become important. The respondents in the

11 open ended questions can answer adequately, in detail clearly with a quality answer. The researcher was aware that there are too many potential answer categories when addressing complex issues that are difficult to compress into a few categories and, to allow more opportunity for creativity or self-expression on the part of the respondent, the researcher used the open ended questions in the questionnaire. The researcher was also aware of the fact that many times the responses of the open ended questions may lead to collection of irrelevant information and the data collected is not standardized from person to person making it difficult for coding analysis statistically. Other difficulty with open ended questions is that these questions require much more of the respondent s time and effort and may consequently pose a high rate of refusal on the part of the respondent. Keeping all these disadvantages of the open ended question in mind the researcher has used very few open ended questions in her questionnaire. In the questionnaire one of the questions was about the description of the job profile of the respondent and the other was about the physical working environment of the organisation. seven point likert scale was used by the researcher to find out the main causes of attrition in the selected call centres with options like very common (when 75 % or above attrition was due to the factor in question), common (when 60 to 75% attrition was due to the factor in question), to some extent (45 to 60% attrition resulted due to the factor), not so common(30 to 45 % attrition resulted due to the factor), rare( 15 to 30 % attrition resulted due to the factor), very rare (15 % or less attrition resulted due to the factor) and not at all (0 attrition resulted due to the factor)

12 The respondents were asked to rank one of the options out of seven which they felt was the most appropriate according to them for the cause in question. As these questions required the respondent to describe the profile, ample of blank space was provided for the respondent to answer these questions. 3.5 Data collection Data collection is the prime need of a researcher. While collecting the data the researcher has to adopt different methods of data collection usually available to him / her. In this instrument questionnaire plays a vital role. Primary Data Data that is collected for the specific purpose at hand is called as primary data 8. It is customized according to the needs of the researcher and focuses exclusively on the current research problem. The collection of primary data is costly and time consuming. It is calls for greater planning and coordination. Collection of primary data requires deploying more manpower. In situations where it is impossible to use the secondary data keeping in view the requirements of the study, or in case where there is no secondary data available, the only way out is to collect the primary data. The researcher in the current study has collected the primary data through the questionnaires and the secondary data was collected through different sources. Primary Data was collected with the help of questionnaire consisting to both open ended as well as close ended questions. Data related to employee strength, period of work, job satisfaction related to factors of work content and work context,

13 current rate of attrition felt by the company was collected with the help of questionnaire. Secondary Data: Sources of secondary data can be categorized into two broad categories namely published statistics and unpublished statistics 9. It is collected and analyzed by someone else. Various sources are available for obtaining secondary data namely state and local government publications, foreign government publications, technical and trade journals, books, magazines, newspapers, business and industry publications, statistical reports etc. Unpublished statistics include information found in diaries, letters, biographies, autobiographies, scholars, research work, labour bureaus, trade associations etc. The researcher has used the following modes for collection of secondary data. 1) Data regarding BPO s and call centers located in pune region was obtained from the IT Directory of MCCIA, Pune. 2) Various websites and search engines were used on the internet to collect data related to the evolution and growth in economic sector and service industry with special reference to call center units. 3) Data was also obtained from books and News paper articles. 4) Trade magazines, Journals and online publications were also made use of for obtaining the required data. Sampling Frame and Sampling Technique:

14 The listing of the accessible population from which the researcher would draw his / her sample is called the sampling frame. The sample is the group of people who the researcher selects to be in his / her study. Sampling is the process of selecting units (e.g., people, organizations) from a population of interest so that by studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from which they were chosen. According to the information available in IT Directory published by MCCIA (Mahrattha Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture, Pune, Maharashtra, India) in the year there were more than one hundred and eighty ITES companies in Pune out of which the call centers were thirty two in number. The researcher used the internet site just Dial ( and selected randomly sixteen call centers as generated by table software for the current study. Three hundred and seventy eight individuals working in various call centers in pune region including fifty ex-employees and 18 managers were contacted using no probability accidental sampling as well as Snowball Sampling technique to collect responses to the questionnaire. Non probability sampling techniques are those methods that are not based on the concept of probability. These methods are also called as non-random sampling techniques. There is no rule no formula or method by which one can determine the chance or probability that a specific population element will get selected in a sample. This sampling does not provide a chance of selection to each population element. This sampling technique is suitable when the sample frame is not available or inadequate, some population elements are unavailable for data collection, study is of exploratory nature and there are pressing time constraints that prohibit adopting a probability sample

15 Non-probability sampling is simple, convenient and of low cost thus the researcher has used the non-probability sampling technique for this research. In non-probability sampling the researcher has used accidental and snowball sampling techniques. The accidental sampling is also referred as opportunistic sampling. Convenience of the sampler or convenient location for fieldwork or willingness to cooperate is the prime criteria in sample selection and thus the sample is totally dependent on the researcher. The method is called as accidental sampling for the mere reason that a specific element of the population is available on the spot is sufficient for its being included in the sample. Snow-balling sampling method is the one in which the initial members of the sample lead the researcher to newer sample constituents. Each of the respondents is requested to name a few more similar persons. The researcher has used both the above mentioned sampling techniques for identifying the respondents and collecting of the required data. 3.6 Hypothesis of the Study: The researcher was aware that the hypotheses are considered as the principal instruments in any research. Formulation of hypothesis is the first and foremost important step of scientific research. A hypothesis is a sensitive conclusion based on inadequate and vague data. It gives direction to the researcher to collect and process the facts and to draw specific conclusions. Prof Gopal rightly defined it as a testable statement of potential relationship between two (or more) variables 10. A hypothesis was thought as a statement that proposes a relationship between two or more variables, based on mere assumptions or some

16 suppositions, which are to be proved or disproved. The properties of a good hypothesis were contemplated to be: i. The hypothesis should be clear and precise. It must use simple terms which can be understandable by all concerned, ii. iii. iv. The hypothesis should be empirical statements about what should be and what should not be, The hypothesis should explain general phenomena and not any particular occurrences, The hypothesis should be plausible, the variables should be identified as which were dependent variables and which were independent variables The identified variables must be well defined A hypothesis is generally framed on following one or more basis: a) Facts established by previous investigation in the related areas b) Through the investigation experience and observation c) Through the investigator s reasoning, insight and logical deviation from a theory. Based on the secondary data the researcher has formulated following hypothesis H 1 Despite hefty pay packets and better working conditions, the rate of attrition continues to be high in the call centers. And H 0 Hefty pay packets and better working conditions have nothing to do with the attrition rate in the call centers

17 3.7 Data Analysis: On successful completion of data collection, the next logical step in the research process is data processing and analysis. This is one of the crucial steps in any scientific study. The researcher or experimenter tests his / her hypothesis, draws conclusions, and assesses the possibility of generalization of his / her findings and goes to give suggestions. This step in the research process involves data reduction and data analysis. To start with, data is edited, followed by data coding, classification and tabulation. Such reduced data or edited data is then subjected to various types of statistical analysis. Certain statistical measures are computed and tests are carried out to vindicate the stated hypothesis or otherwise reject them. For the current research the data collected through the questionnaire was analyzed using statistical tools after tabulation and the following steps were undertaken: 1 The data are presented as frequency distribution table wherever appropriate. 2 Spearman s Non Parametric rank correlation technique was used by the researcher for testing the hypothesis of the study. All the data analysis was performed using Statistical Package SPSS for windows XP version

18 Reference 1 Dr B. D. Kulkarni, Research Methodology Everest Publishing House, pp1 2 Moore Nice, How to do Research, 2 nd Edition, Library Association Publishing Ltd., London. 3 Ghose B.N. Scientific Methods and Social Research, Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd. 4 Tripathi. P. C, A Textbook of Research Methodology in Social Sciences, Sultan Chand and Sons, New Delhi, Wilson and Bhandarkar, Methods and Techniques of Research, Himalay Publishing House, Bombay, Simon Buetem, Basic Research Methods in Social Sciences, Random House, New York, B.V Sharma and D. R Prasad, Research Method in Social Sciences, Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd, C. R. Kothari, Research Methodology, Methods and Techniques, Wiley Eastern Ltd 9 Gutting Johan, Theory and Methods of Social Research, S. Chand and Co. Ltd, New Delhi 10 M. H. Gopal, An Introduction to Research Procedure in Social Sciences, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi