CHAPTER THREE
B. F. Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory
4.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
4.2.5 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
Akindele et al (2008) argued that the data collection methods must identify and describe all the instruments and devices used in collecting the data relevant to the study. This research utilized
‘multiple operationism’ which Webb, et al (1966) defined as the combination of a collection of methods in order to avoid sharing the same weaknesses. Also, both primary (empirical) and secondary data were collected for this study to ensure credible validity and reliability.
Primary Data: The primary data were gathered mainly through the administration of questionnaires. This method enhanced the respondents confidence because of the anonymity associated with it that afforded them a degree of openness and expression that did not bring them under any form of duress. The questionnaire was comprised of five sections (See Appendix A).
Section A covered the bio-data of the respondents including their ages, years of service, local government areas of origin, tribes, designations and their ministries or departments. Section B was comprised of statements assessing the effects of the motivational tools posited by the content and process organizational motivation theories on the motivation of the Plateau state
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civil service employees. Statements in section C evaluated the administrative criteria for example the reforms, etc. present in the work place environment while Section D included statements that to a large extent, captured the non-administrative criteria present in the external environment of the employees. These were intended to elicit responses that enabled the researcher effectively gather data with regard to the relationship, if any, between the research variables. The statements in Section E assessed the effects of organizational socialization on the socio-cultural orientations of the employees to determine if exposure overtime to the demands and culture of the workplace in the Plateau state civil service had in any way influenced or changed the beliefs and conduct to which they might have been previously predisposed.
These statements were basically close-ended with designated responses. The close-ended questionnaire was also chosen by the researcher for convenience in consideration of the tight work schedules of the respondents though there were a total of three open ended statements eliciting information that the respondents deemed relevant to the research. Each close-ended statement had an option of five responsesthat ranged from Strongly Agree (SA) to Strongly Disagree (SD) based on a 5-point Likert-scalein order to allow as much latitude as possible for the respondents to give their views on the subject matter. It was also to enable the researcher effectively evaluate the degree to which the respondents are affected by the variables under study.
Other primary data collection methods that were utilized were key informant in-depth interviews and unstructured observation.Chowdhury and Chowdhury (2011) evaluated interviews as one of the most common methods of data collection in qualitative research. They describe it as similar to questionnaires because respondents are asked specific questions with the difference being that they are conducted by the interviewer personally and with single
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respondents. They further described interviews as having provisions that guide the interviewer towards specific research goals by allowing for instant follow-up questions deriving from responses obtained. Pickard (2007) assessed in-depth interviews as relevant to the interviewer gaining a holistic understanding of the perceptions of the interviewee with regard to the phenomena under study. In the instant research, the interviews were conducted with twenty-one (21) staff. Apart from ensuring that the staffs were representative of the seventeen (17) local government areas of the state, all of them were picked randomly from across the cadres in the civil service. The interview instrument contained thirty-seven (37) questions that were drawn up in a manner that enabled the effective coverage of the research questions, objectives and the hypotheses (See Appendix B). In essence, they were made to reflect the key postulations of the content and process organizational motivation theories and factors within the employees immediate and outside-work-environments.
The unstructured observation method was adopted as an‘unobstrusive’ measure (Webb, et. al, 1966) which enabled the researcher observe unspecified, involuntary activities and phenomena among the Plateau State civil servants as unbeknownst to them as possible. Lee (2000) asserted that unobtrusive methods are valuable because they encourage playful and creative approaches to data, undermining the tendency of researchers to rely on particular research methods because they are familiar or routine rather than that they are appropriate to the problem in hand. Unobstrusive methods imply an eclectic, non-ecumenical, stance towards data collection that Webb et al. (1966) contend, should be part of the normal methodological repertoire of the social scientist (Lee, 2000). The observation schedule should contain a list of items like a checklist that is monitored and recorded as the items listed occur (Maseh, 2015).
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In this research, the checklist did not contain many items since the focus of the research was largely on the effect of the non-administrative criteria within Nigeria’s public administrative environment on employee motivation. The researcher was constrained by the fact that only phenomena tending toward the non-administrative criteria and which occurred within the work environment could be assessed since there was no way to keep tabs on the employees once they were outside the official premises.
The use of the three data collection instruments was to enable the cross-validation of the responses. Also, the combination of the methods allowed the minimization or elimination of variations likely to arise from the researcher’s perceptions of the situations (Denscombe, 2007).
Furthermore, it was to ensure the dependability of the data collected since the quality of information gathered may have been tainted by the fact that the interviewees and the respondents were conscious of the presence of the researcher and perhaps, other colleagues. Osuala (2005) buttressed this point by pointing out that the very presence of the interviewer, with all that he represents in the mind of the respondents, affects the responses he obtains. The primary data from the questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 20) while the data from the interviews were analyzed using thematic content analyses.
B. Secondary Data: The secondary data were sourced from documents, information archived in