A Research Proposal

A Research Proposal

Remote work as an employment option for companies has experienced tremendous growth for many different industries and professions during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is an essential question that most, if not all, businesses have neglected to ask regarding the conditions of individuals engaging in remote work. Are there physical, social, environmental, emotional, mental, or psychological side effects affecting individuals that are working remotely that were lesser issues while working in person? Despite the technology that allows for remote work, the isolation of individuals who work remotely for a prolonged period can hurt one or more of the conditions mentioned above. Due to that same isolation, the potential problems or negative aspects of remote work may not be as quickly noticed by businesses that usually see trends with people due to an in-person working environment. The proposed research would attempt to shed light on these overlooked areas to help companies see them and help companies develop solutions to these problems to facilitate both a better remote working environment and trust between the companies and teleworking individuals.

Introduction

 For over two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a significant increase in the number of workplaces that have moved to either partial or total reliance on remote work to keep businesses moving forward. However, the ability to work from home is not a new actionable concept as it has existed for decades before the worldwide medical phenomenon. The purpose of this study is not to look at the impact of teleworking on businesses themselves; rather it is to find insight into its effects on the individuals that have experienced teleworking, no matter how long that may be at this point. Due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, this study could prove helpful in finding out what the strengths and weaknesses of teleworking are about the well-being of individuals moving forward. The results could also help companies improve the remote work environment and policies and procedures when addressing remote work. Since the global coronavirus pandemic is the most significant variable in a study of this nature, any results must be considered with those circumstances in mind. Though several positives can be observed when studying the influence of working from home on individual well-being, the negatives currently observed as inherent with teleworking outweigh any gains a person or business can gain from teleworking instead of working from a physical office space.

Problem Statement

 Despite the positives that have come from the large increase in teleworking capabilities, the isolation from remote work can have negative impacts on individuals that otherwise would remain unseen by businesses and potentially the individuals themselves. To bring initial clarity to this hypothesis and prove the need for this research project to gain further clarity, this proposal will do a review of past studies of some relevance, the merits, design, and potential schedule of the research, the nature and presentation of the results, and any ethical considerations, implications, and limitations to the research.

Literature Review

 Based on some formative research on the impact of remote work on the personal wellness of individuals, there are already past studies that have been done on a few of the aspects that this research study would cover. This section will cover some reviews of pertinent literature from sources worldwide as each relates to the different physical, social, environmental, emotional, mental, or psychological side effects affecting individuals in past teleworking studies.

The first section of information will be based on literature using information from before the circumstances surrounding coronavirus induced a rapid expansion of telework as an employment option. Ojala et al. (2014, p. 73) note that telework and family relations may negatively correlate due to the emotional and psychological impact of physically working from home. Since this study used data from the early twenty-first century, it is plausible that there were already noticeable signs of the various negative impacts of remote work on individuals and that, in the past twenty years, these issues could have exacerbated these issues in society as a whole. Younghwan and Gao (2020, p. 2659) state that the overall subjective well-being of individuals working remotely is impacted negatively due to the additional stress caused by telework. Since the well-being of each person is subjective due to the differences inherent in every individual, this statistic is important to recognize. In addition, Tietze and Musson (2010, p. 149-150) raise an important point when noting that issues of personal identity may also play a role in the impact of remote work on households since the concept of how paid work can be accomplished has to be redefined. Therefore, if personal identity itself not only has to be conceptually reevaluated by individuals working remotely, this would give further credence to the stress and other potentially negative effects of telework on multiple facets of life that would also affect all of the people around the individual.

In addition to the literary information on the effects of remote work on individuals during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, there has been a significant uptick in the information available for approximately two years due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Continuing the trend of the information from studies conducted before the coronavirus, Palumbo (2020, p. 773) states that “the juxtaposition of private life and work-related duties…undermine the gains of working from home in terms of work-life balance and nourish life-to-work conflicts.” The connection between private life and work life through remote work also has the potential to change the perception of job availability for individuals as, to keep their positions; people will make an extra effort to be available for work or business communication outside of work hours. Knardahl and Christensen (2022, p. 100) note a similar problem, though no concretely laid out consequences, on the side effects of extended availability for work on teleworking individuals. The result of the information from all of these studies is an escalation in the mentioned life-to-work conflicts.

Another theme in the background research for this study is the concept of isolationism that, although always present in a remote working environment, has become a much larger topic of interest due to the worldwide restrictions imposed during COVID-19. Though it is not the only theme in any of the following studies, it should be closely observed since isolation can simultaneously affect all six mentioned side effects. Akiyoshi et al. (2021, p. 2) note increased stress through presenteeism, social isolation, and marginalization caused by telework. Jämsen and Sivunen (2022, p. 2) additionally observe that though teleworking has some positives, there is a more significant challenge to forming work relationship benefits due to the isolation and decreased overall well-being. Niebuhr et al. (2022, p. 3) look at the physical health concerns of a hastily set up and unergonomic workspace, along with isolationism, stress, depression, and increased work. Perelman et al. (2021, p. 5) notice a distinct rise in feelings such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, and physical ailments like trouble sleeping from working from home full-time. These studies look at various side effects of remote work. Still, isolationism is an essential factor all four observe that can affect multiple side effects of telework on individual well-being. This concept is especially significant in COVID-19 circumstances due to the lack of choice in in-office work accommodations and the restrictions in all areas of life outside of work.

Additionally, several studies noted a lack of research on the extent of well-being in remote work, especially during the coronavirus lockdowns. Guler et al. (2021,731) states that limited studies show different types of adverse physical side effects of switching to fully remote work due to COVID-19. Graham et al. (2021, p. 939) also note that there is not a lot of research that relates to the well-being of individuals during the coronavirus pandemic. There are not a plethora of studies about the side effects of remote work on the well-being of individuals, not to mention the extent each can factor into the livelihoods and relationships of each person. This study could help bridge a gap that sorely needs to be filled to help businesses brainstorm ways to remedy some of these noticeable side effects.

These previous studies note various reasons for the side effects working from home can have on individuals. However, several also state that the full extent of these side effects are unclear due to the lack of specific data. Though there are both positives and negatives to working from home, there is no clear definition as to what these advantages and disadvantages are due to the situational overlap of teleworking with familial and societal interactions. Additionally, since COVID-19 was the catalyst for several of these studies, the data from each cannot be interpreted under normal circumstances due to the global crisis that forced the immense increase in teleworking conditions.

Importance/Benefits to the Study

The most significant benefit to conducting a study on remote work’s impact on individuals is understanding the conditions that affect people and the differences between commuting for work and teleworking. The conditions that affect people can take many forms, including physical, social, environmental, emotional, mental, and psychological. These conditions are essential since, if one or more of these are out of balance, an individual can leave a company over discontent or stop teleworking altogether due to circumstantial problems that could easily be blamed on the work environment. Since there is some overlap between a person’s occupation and the other parts of life, remote work not only allows individuals to see commonalities among others in similar work environments and personal circumstances but also gives businesses a glimpse into teleworking as a whole. When most people commute for work, it is much easier to judge the work environment due to the in-person interactions with office work. However, when telework is the primary form of intra-company interaction, the work environment and even the effects of the work on individual employees can be much harder to perceive. As a result of this research, companies can gain an understanding of how a different work environment and the perceptions that come with it could affect not only the bottom line since that is what keeps companies in business, but the potential advantages and disadvantages that remote work could have on individuals within their companies. In the end, companies can then decide what changes, if any, need to be implemented to ensure employees’ needs are met, along with the ability to sustain growth within the market they inhabit.

Research Design

There are four phases in the research design being proposed. They are as follows: planning and brainstorming, survey and observation, results and completion, and deliverables and presentation. These should encompass all of the research needs of this project.

The first step in the research design is the planning and brainstorming phase. During this phase, the research team would initially design questions for a survey that would include the six conditional attributes that affect individuals who are working remotely. Most of these questions should be either multiple choice or on a scale of approval or agreement. There should also be a few free-response questions that address issues that are not easily expressed in answers restricted by a scale or a few choices. Additionally, the research team will find industries and individual businesses with teleworkers that would welcome results from research of this nature and a web host to partner with for the survey. Though the survey should not be limited to large companies or recruiters that can place individuals in remote work roles, these types of companies are good places to start as they would potentially stand to gain much-needed insight into how teleworking may affect the brand image or business strategy. Lastly, those conducting the research in phase two must address ethical concerns that a survey of this nature could potentially have. Personal privacy is a significant concern with this type of research and should be highly prioritized in all subsequent phases of the research project. Any personally identifiable information sent through the survey should be discarded or handled cautiously.

The second step in the research design is the survey and observation phase. During this phase, the research team will connect with various businesses to ask for individual participation in the web survey and provide incentives to encourage participation. The instructions for the survey should be conveyed clearly,  and the communication should also include an invitation to acquire a written report on the results and an invitation to an oral presentation or question and answer session to further clarify the results.

The third step in the research design is the results and completion phase. During this phase, the results gleaned from the survey should be combined into usable data and readied for presentation. This phase can run in tandem with the later stages of phase two since surveys will be completed over time until the established hard stop date. After this date, the full scope of the collected survey data can be compiled into a written report for phase four.

The final step in the research design is the deliverable and presentation phase. The research project results will be delivered to the applicable personnel during this phase. Preparations will be made for virtual and live data presentations and question-and-answer sessions to expected audiences. Since the parties initially interested in the data may not be the only ones that can use the data, communication and coordination with additional audiences may also be necessary as part of this phase.

Nature and Form of Results

 Three types of general results should be measured when studying trends in answers: gender, age ranges, and single or married. There should be commonalities in the answers given by individuals in each of these three categories that should be presented to the expected audience. Commonalities between genders can be further broken down into various age ranges to show more specific trends while also looking at any commonalities shared in age groups that a general gender-only study would not have revealed. Additionally, there could be commonalities among single or married people that would not have shown in either a gender-only or age-only study. Since most of the questions sent in the online survey would either be on a scale of agreement or multiple choice, the results of those questions could be explained through bar graphs and pie charts, respectively. Any free-answer questions should have answer extrapolations and have the most common answers presented along with a few relevant examples of extremes to help understand answer possibilities and ranges among the responses.

This presentation should be sent in a written report to the applicable parties to give them reading material for improvement. However, after the written reports are sent out, the information should also be further clarified through either oral presentation or question-and-answer sessions so that companies can use both written and verbal communication to make sound judgment calls on improvements that need to be made for employee well-being and continued business growth and success.

Budget

 The majority of the budget for this research should go towards travel expenses to present the project’s findings to the various audiences that can use the information for potential telework improvements. However, since the technology does exist to present the results via video conferencing, any audience who decides that the need to be live is not necessary will cut down on any travel expenses, so during the planning and survey stages when connecting with various businesses, these expenses can be better accounted for. Since these travels could be worldwide, presentations should be conducted in the home country first and only internationally once the research is deemed worthy of recognition in other countries. For this reason, international travel funds would be difficult to budget for at this stage. However, funding from countries or international businesses may be available to make a live presentation session worthwhile.

Additionally, funds will be needed to connect with and incentivize the various businesses that have chosen to potentially participate in the survey phase and a web setup for the survey itself. If those conducting the research decide to hire an independent team to help with the planning, survey, and results stages, funding for the team will also need to be accounted for.

Schedule

Planning and brainstorming in phase one of the research process should take approximately two to three months. This phase’s timeline is based on the most estimated time it should take to be looking into and form the questions that will be asked in the survey and observation phase, along with the businesses involved with providing participants, how the data will be collected, and any ethical requirements and initial procedures that need to be formed and adhered to throughout the rest of the research process.

Phase two of the research process, survey and observation should have a hard stop date of four months. All companies and survey participants should be given at least three full months to complete the survey due to the company’s or individual’s potential busyness. Therefore, the initial time in this phase will be used to connect with companies to ask for their participation. Reminders to complete the survey should be sent biweekly until the last month when they should be sent every week.

Phase three of the research process, results, and completion should take approximately one additional month from the end of phase two. Since portions of phase three can continuously be compiled from the results of phase two, this phase should be completed in tandem with the middle and later stages of phase two. The final results and write-up should not take over a month after the survey and observation phase ends.

The final phase of the research process, deliverable and presentation, should take three to four weeks. Delivering the written results of the research should take around a week. At the same time, organizing and executing oral presentations along with question and answer sessions should initially take the full allotted time. Since there is a high probability that there will be more interested parties after the initial companies are given the results, the presentation part of this phase could extend out for another few months, depending on how large interest in the research project becomes.

Ethical Considerations

 When in the data collection phase of the research project, the questions used to gather data must ensure the individual’s privacy and be general enough not to unintentionally bias participants toward personal circumstances outside of the effects of teleworking specifically. Due to the recency of the coronavirus medical phenomenon, the circumstances of many people have changed drastically. Any data gained could be skewed by the general circumstances rather than teleworking conditions. As the study results should seek improvements in teleworking at large, the ethical concerns of unintentional large-scale data manipulation from either the wrong types of questions or information coming from personal circumstances rather than general remote working conditions could point businesses using the results in the wrong direction when seeking to improve policies and procedures. This concern alone could nullify the credibility of the study’s team and any results that come from the research, regardless of areas that may be free of circumstantial or biased information. Additionally, the nullification of this research study after its completion could potentially harm thousands of businesses trying to implement policies for remote work improvements. This harm would come in the form of lost revenue over the hours spent on ineffective improvements and the trust between employer and employee over what could be seen as a token response to concerns rather than words backed up by proper action. Every effort should be taken in the planning and brainstorming phase to ensure the least amount of circumstantial bias possible so that the results can be used to implement real change.

Implications and Considerations

An enormous implication that could be made regarding the research is that any results gained were more the result of specific circumstances and bias towards forced actions rather than a gradual shift in recent years. Although remote work has been gradually implemented over several decades, the perception of those reviewing the results may not be based on the importance of the formative decades over information and upheaval in the recent past. Another implication of the potential research results is the lack of fundamental large-scale changes that could be made to improve weak areas in teleworking conditions. Additionally, since each business model is different and the study’s results are generalized, large-scale changes that could be found may not apply to many businesses regardless of what changes could be implemented on a large scale.

One of the significant limitations of the proposed study is the potential bias that a significant worldwide event like COVID-19 has had on the rapid expansion and integration of remote work into several industries. Due to the various emotions and circumstances that the global medical phenomenon has potentially cultivated, the accuracy of data collected by any research in the near future could be based on the personal feelings and circumstances surrounding COVID-19 rather than the shift in how work is done precisely. Another limitation is the lack of information the research would contain on how various businesses implemented teleworking and what impact the scope of the coronavirus pandemic had on unemployment and temporary working conditions for people new to teleworking.

References

 Akiyoshi, S., Katsunori, Y., Yoshiki, I., Yusaku, A., & Takeshi, I. (2021). Remote Work Decreases Psychological and Physical Stress Responses, but Full-Remote Work Increases Presenteeism. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730969

Graham, M., Weale, V., Lambert, K. A., Kinsman, N., Stuckey, R., & Oakman, J. (2021).

Working at Home: The Impacts of COVID-19 on Health, Family-Work-Life Conflict, Gender, and Parental Responsibilities. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63(11), 938–943. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002337

Guler, M. A., Guler, K., Guneser Gulec, M., & Ozdoglar, E. (2021). Working From Home During a Pandemic: Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Employee Health and Productivity. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63(9), 731–741. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002277

Jämsen, R., & Sivunen, A. (2022). Employees’ perceptions of relational communication in full-time remote work in the public sector. Computers in Human Behavior, 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107240

Knardahl, S., & Christensen, J. O. (2022). Working at home and expectations of being available: Effects on the perceived work environment, turnover intentions, and health. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 48(2), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3996

Niebuhr, F., Borle, P., Börner-Zobel, F., & Voelter-Mahlknecht, S. (2022). Healthy and Happy Working from Home? Effects of Working from Home on Employee Health and Job Satisfaction. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3).

https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? vid=0&sid=7e83423b-c04b-4271-ae95-e0abc1e938ae%40redis

Ojala, S., Nätti, J., & Anttila, T. (2014). Informal overtime at home instead of telework: Increase in negative work-family interface. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 34(1–2), 69–87.

Palumbo, R. (2020). Let me go to the office! An investigation into the side effects of working from home on work-life balance. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 33(6/7), 771–790. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-06-2020-0150

Perelman, J., Serranheira, F., Barros, P. P., & Laires, P. (2021). Does working at home compromise mental health? A study on European mature adults in COVID times. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12299

Tietze, S., & Musson, G. (2010). Identity, identity work, and the experience of working from home. The Journal of Management Development, 29(2), 148–156. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711011019288

Younghwan, S., & Gao, J. (2020). Does Telework Stress Employees Out? A Study on Working at Home and Subjective Well-Being for Wage/Salary Workers. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(7), 2649–2668.

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The Research Proposal: Final Assignment

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: FINAL ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS

The purpose of the Research Proposal: Final Assignment is to ensure you appreciate the challenge of setting up an effective research plan and consider the context, research questions, sources, timeline, integrated implications, analysis, and writing required. Building a proposal will demand you work through all the research stages explored throughout the course, including:
Clarifying the research question, designing the research; reviewing relevant scholarly literature, data collection, preparation, and examination; analyzing the data; and reporting on the research. Using the Research Proposal: Topic Assignment that has been approved, build a comprehensive research proposal on that topic. The Research Proposal: Final Assignment should use the following outline/structure and follow the suggested quantity of content for each element:

· Title – clear, concise, and well-defined to explain your research question. (Employee Incentives in the Workplace)

· Executive Summary – short summary of 100-250 words that includes the research question, hypothesis of your research, the research methodology and findings.

· Introduction (>200 words) – provide a background or context related to your research problem. It should include the purpose, background, significance, issues, variables and hypothesis.

· Problem statement (< 100 words) – clearly state the specific problem down to something that is researchable. Present it in a thesis statement and a hypothesis.

Explain the management research question hierarchy for the problem.
· Literature Review (1000-1300 words) – conduct extensive background research and support your research question with ample proof from scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. credible sources and research. There is additional help on literature reviews below in the section titled Additional Help.

· Importance/Benefits of the Study (>250 words) – describe the explicit benefits

· Research Design (>400 words) – explains the phases of the research, sampling design, participants, data collection design, instruments, procedures, ethical requirements, etc.

· Nature and Form of Results (>250 words) – explain the anticipated form for the results to include the types and format of data to be presented for the expected audience.

· Budget (>150 words) – summary of costs and expenses necessary to conduct the research.

· Schedule (>150 words) – summarize the major phases, timelines, milestones and primary deliverables.

· Ethical considerations (>200 words) – must carefully consider data collection processes and participant rights.

· Implications and considerations (>200 words) – identify at least 2 implications and 2 limitations of the proposed study.

· References

BUSI 600 Page 2 of 3 Ensure the following requirements are met:

· Follow the outline, content structure and length provided in the assignment instructions

· At least 3,000 words (excluding the title page and references pages)

· Reference at least 10 scholarly (peer reviewed) research articles. For assistance on how to identify scholarly sources, refer to the Liberty University

Research Portal tutorials (see Resources section).

· Use proper grammar, current APA format and submit in MS Word format.
The Research Proposal: Final Assignment does not require an abstract