Research Methodology

Literature review

For this research proposal, firstly, the title seems feasible or appropriate enough in a sense that �Workplace discrimination in Malaysia’ is likely to be something that the student is capable of doing. The title is something which will be related to several theories.

Apart from that, there seems to be some evidence of compare and contrasting done by student. This is good as it is part of an approach towards critical analysis. The student also managed to identify key authors for the topic of workplace discrimination such as Brian H. Kleiner who are well experienced in this. Nevertheless, there did not seem to be much linkage to the retail context of Malaysia. All of the theories which were provided by the authors presented in the research proposal were mainly authors from the West while the research title is based on a study in Malaysia. The student should perhaps link searches from Malaysia from authors such as Marina Mahathir who has commented much on issues regarding sex discrimination and the works (The Star, 2007).

Furthermore, even though work by key authors were presented, the student did not manage to provide further or in-depth analysis on workplace discrimination. Issues such as the definitions of workplace discrimination in Malaysia in comparison with other countries such as Hong Kong or the United States and also the types of workplace discrimination which employees are open to, such as sex, race or age discrimination; may it be indirect or direct discrimination, interpersonal mistreatment or organizational forms were not presented.

Also in regard to critical writing, the student did not manage to provide empirical evidence to further substantiate the literature review section of the proposal. There was no hard evidence showing trends of workplace discrimination in Malaysia or any sort of data which could show the significance of the issue of workplace discrimination in the Malaysian context. Without the significance of the study being presented in a manner appropriate, the student might fail to arouse the interest of readers as she presents her report later in. Perhaps the student should include some statistical information on workplace discrimination in Malaysia.

Also, the references cited in the text were inaccurately presented in a sense that �et al.’ should not have dots at the end of �et’. The sources which this student used were also out of date. The student is encouraged to search for sources which are of at least from the year 2000 and onwards. Instead of using books, she should also provide a longer list of references to further strengthen the student’s judgement or analysis and this may be retrieved through the search of reliable sources such as journals, magazines and newspapers. Lastly, there was also no full referencing for the authors in which this student has cited for her literature review. The student should provide a full reference list of the author’s name, his or her initials including the year of publication and its title, the journal type and of course, the volume, issue and page numbers.

Last but not least, in order to allow for more organized work throughout the student’s research, she should provide a framework of what and how the study is to be conducted.

Overarching Principles

Project/dissertation

On the whole, the research title and the research objectives do not entirely match apart from being insufficient and incomprehensive enough for a research study. The research objectives also seem to be not feasible. For instance, it is good that the student is aware that she should be researching to find out of the factors or causes to workplace discrimination in Malaysia, nevertheless, the search for unreported cases of harassment in Malaysia may be undoable considering the student’s time and costs constraint. This is because looking out for victims of unreported cases may be hard to find. Instead of this, the student should perhaps come up with not only a longer number of research objectives but also those which cover a wider range of the topic. The first objective, which is to cover the causes of workplace discrimination may remain. The second objective should cover the impact of workplace discrimination in Malaysia and of course, the research objectives should also cover the strategies or effectiveness of the law or policies enacted in Malaysia for workplace discrimination. Apart from this, the student may also integrate personal research objectives. For instance, if the student is interested in statistical analysis software, she may include a personal objective of learning to use the SPSS analysis software package through this study.

Apart from that, the student also failed to mention a time frame for her studies. In this case, considering that she is a student and would have logistical and resource limitations, the student should therefore take on a cross-sectional study.

The research proposal was presented in a proper sequence, which is good as it shows that the student is aware of what should comes first and the next. The contents beneath every sub-title also matches with its headings, nonetheless, the methodology was only briefly gone through as there was no in-depth explanation on how was she to go about doing the research since the methodology should clearly explain the whole process of the research.

Reliability

There was no discussion on the reliability of her data collection techniques and data analysis procedures. For example, there was no introduction to the threats to the reliability of her findings in the research proposal such as subject or participant bias. For instance, if the data collection process is to take place in the office whereby the boss of the company is nearby, this could easily affect the results of what the participant mentions. Also part of threats to reliability is observer error whereby questions directed towards participant A may differ from participant B. To eliminate this, a structured data collection procedure would be most suitable to increase reliability. Also, it may also be possible that the observer or researcher may be biased in the way in which he or she interprets the answers given by participants. This may in turn also affect reliability and again, a structured method towards collecting data would thus eliminate the problem of reliability.

Apart from that, reliability to this student’s findings are also questionable as she is relying on the use of secondary data. For one, access might pose a problem to this student. Furthermore, the findings of secondary data could be inconsistent in a sense