LO1.Explain the values and processes used in health and social care research.

Research ethics committees have an important role to play in ensuring the ethical standards

and scientific merit of research involving human subjects. There are three important

obligations placed on the ethics committee. Firstly, and most importantly, the ethics

committee must ensure that the rights of research participants are protected. This is achieved

by ensuring that individuals receive sufficient information, which can be easily understood,

and ensuring that appropriate strategies are in place to protect participants from potential

adverse consequences of the research. Secondly, the research ethics committee has an

obligation to society which provides the resources for research and will ultimately be affected

by the results. Thirdly, the research ethics committee has an obligation to the researcher. The

research proposal should be treated with respect and consideration. The research ethics

committee should strive to meet each of these obligations. All researchers should welcome

the contribution made by research ethics committees to the research process because they

help to ensure that research meets the high ethical and scientific standards expected by

society.

Research now almost invariably requires the assent of an ethics committee, and with good

reason. Review by an ethics committee provides independent scrutiny of a proposal. Far from

being intimidated by such a prospect chaplains can view the process as an opportunity for

constructive criticism that will lead to improved and more robust research (Tinker, 2001).

Scrutiny provided by others who are independent of the proposal, including people who have

considerable research experience, can help anticipate difficulties. Amendments can save time

and anxiety later on and provide reassurance and so make the time involved in submitting a

proposal for ethical review a worthwhile investment. An unfortunate and unintended

consequence of the development of ethical codes and ethics committees is to have dulled the

ethical awareness of researchers (Valentine, 2005; Dixon-Woods et al., 2007). The focus has

shifted to meeting criteria rather than reflecting on a research proposal’s specific issues. The

letter of approval from an ethics committee does not end ethical responsibilities of a

researcher. Ethics continue to be ever present throughout the course of the study.

Furthermore, committees and codes have limitations

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Research involves many potential problems that, if they arose, would cause harm and distress

to participants. Any research involving NHS staff or patients is required to be scrutinised and

accepted by the NHS’s own ethics committee, a process that involves addressing challenging

questions. The chaplain will therefore take considerable time in thinking through how to

proceed. Codes produced by many different learned bodies might be consulted (for example

the British Sociological Association, 2002; Royal College of Nursing, 2009; and the Social

Research Association, 2003) With the growth of research governance serious consideration

has to be given by researchers and by research organisations to the use of human subjects

review committees (also known as Ethics Committees, or Institutional Review Boards

(IRB’s). In some organisations and research sites, a formal “ethical review” must have taken

place before researchers are allowed to conduct the research. Dilemmas of accountability and

independence may have to be resolved when seeking permission from ethics committees.

Ethics committees may serve more as a means of institutional protection than operating in the

interests of either subject or researcher. Over-protective and bureaucratic procedures can pose

a danger of restricting valuable, particularly innovative, social research methods. Medical or

health service ethics committees may not fully understand the checks and balances of social

research. To illustrate, there may be a difference over what precisely constitutes informed

consent. The primary function of an ethics committee is to apply the sorts of ethical standards

and principles discussed in these SRA guidelines, and to maintain some form of institutional

memory for decisions taken and permission given. One key function of an ethics committee

may be to conduct a Project Audit. Thus after approval has been given for the project to be

conducted a follow-up process will confirm whether or not the project has been completed or

abandoned or if there are any difficulties with the study which were not anticipated in the

original application. Some commentators suggest that, since ethical decision taking may

occur throughout the life of a project, ethics committees should maintain review of the

project throughout and not consider their job as merely to cast ethical judgement at the outset.

The evidence-based practice model is viewed by some as ‘top-down’, with the researcher

‘pushing’ information to the practitioner, who then systematically and rationally appraises

and applies it as appropriate (Webb 2001). Counter-arguments emphasize the potential of

evidence-based practice to empower service-users by sharing research information and

integrating service-users’ needs and practitioners’ expertise, ultimately ensuring that

interventions make a positive difference to the outcomes of those who receive them (Sheldon

2001; Gibbs & Gambrill 2002; Haynes et al. 2002). Thus, while the notion of research as

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influencing policy and practice through a linear process has been widely discredited (Howeset

al. 2003), there is a growing interest in the notion of knowledge sharing, and the importance

of building relationships with both end-point users and practitioners to strengthen the

knowledge base. Lavis et al. (2003), for instance, describe three models of knowledge

transfer and uptake:

• Researchers are responsible for transferring and facilitating the uptake of research

knowledge(producer-push model).

• Decision makers are responsible for identifying and making use of research knowledge

(user-pull model).

• Researchers and decision makers are jointly responsible for the uptake of research

knowledge (exchange model).

Another recent review assessing implications for social work of the promotion of research

use in the health sector found no evidence of powerful effects for any intervention but saw

potential benefits from ‘social marketing’ approaches tailoring interventions to specific

barriers and workers’ attitudes (Gira et al.2004)

LO2 Conduct a piece of research in health and social care

Proposed Research Title: An investigation of the effectiveness of

communication in the social care setting with respect to LEE care home

Research Background

Health communication is a vital topic for research because everyone either interacts with

health professionals, encounters health-related messages in the media, has suffered from a

serious illness, or has experienced a loved one with a life-threatening or terminal illness

(Sharf, 1993).Traditionally, health communication research has been largely quantitative and

positivist in its orientation (e.g., du Pre, 1999; Vanderford, Jenks, & Sharf,1997). Health

communication research historically has reflected a biomedical perspective that privileges the

physicians’ perspectives and puts physicians’ (not patients’) concerns at the center of the

research (Sharf,1993; Thompson, 1994)

Research Questions

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The research questions that have been posed in this study will help in achieving the primary

objective of the study which is the proposed research title. The research questions are as

follows:

What are the factors that can adversely affect the communication aspect with respect

to the Lee care homes?

Do the service users and the care staffs satisfied with the communication style in the

Lee Care Home and what are the barriers in the communication process?

What are the ways in which the Lee care home can improve it communication within

the organisation?

Research Objectives

To evaluate the factors that are responsible for influencing the communication in the

Lee care home

To know the barriers affecting the communication between the service users and the

care home staffs

To recommend appropriate solutions to improve the communication process in the

Lee care home.

Research Methodology

Adopting the right research philosophy of the research programme is essential in order to

proceed with the research or study (Saunders et al., 2007). For this study, the interpreter was

research paradigms chosen as it helps established that human behaviour is different from

person to person and can also different from organisation to organisation with respect to

consumer behaviour. The emphasis on conducting an interpretivist research ensures that the

study is subject rather than being objective(Saunders et al., 2007).

Research Approach

The research approach is adopted for the study is an exploratory inductive study in which a

theory is developed after the analysis of qualitative data. The basic underlying concept of this

study is to understand the cause-and-effect relationship as to why something is happening

(Gill & Johnson, 2002). Since the sample is not likely to be representative of the entire

population, a non-probabilistic sampling technique will be used. Additionally, since the

4

research design of this study is a case study research design, the non-probabilistic sampling

technique will perhaps be the best sampling method (Saunders et al., 2007).

In this study, a mixed-methods data connection technique will be adopted whereby both

quantitative as well as qualitative data will be collected and analysed. The reason as to why

mixed methods data collection techniques are employed in the study is to improve the

validity of the data that is collected through triangulation (Saunders et al., 2007).

Additionally, it is argued that mixed method data collection techniques provide an in depth

view (Saunders et al., 2007, p.147). The qualitative data collection method enables the

research to empathise with the costumers or the sample for the study (Gill & Johnson, 2002).

However, qualitative data is highly subjective and there may be discrepancies in the data

collected. Hence, quantitative data will also be collected for this study in the form of

questionnaire (Saunders et al., 2007).

Sample Selection and Size

Since the sample is not likely to be representative of the entire population, a non-probabilistic

sampling technique will be used. Additionally, since the research design of this study is a

case study research design, the non-probabilistic sampling technique will perhaps be the best

sampling method (Saunders et al., 2007).

The sample size that will be chosen for this study will be about 50 to 100. The respondents

are selected from the users, staffs and the family relatives within the Lee care home.

Data Collection Methods

In this study, a mixed-methods data connection technique will be adopted whereby both

quantitative as well as qualitative data will be collected and analysed. The reason as to why

mixed methods data collection techniques are employed in the study is to improve the

validity of the data that is collected through triangulation (Saunders et al., 2007).

Additionally, it is argued that mixed method data collection techniques provide an in depth

view of consumer behaviour and consumer perception (Saunders et al., 2007, p.147). The

qualitative data collection method enables the research to empathise with the consumers or

the sample for the study (Gill & Johnson, 2002). However, qualitative data is highly

subjective and there may be discrepancies in the data collected. Hence, quantitative data will

also be collected for this study in the form of questionnaire (Saunders et al., 2007). The

5

questionnaire will be distributed through email, using the ‘Survey Monkey’ website.

Qualitative data will be collected by using group interviews and focus groups.

Ethical Considerations

It has been noticed that many students fail to acknowledge the ethical considerations that

surround the research topic (Saunders et al., 2007). The most common problem for ethical

issues with respect to students is access to information from companies. In many cases it is

seen that although student may have a very good research topic and research question, it may

be impossible to get access to information from the organisation. However, in this case since

the research is based on communication aspect and approaches the organisation from an

‘outside-in’ perspective, access to information from the organisation is not required

(Saunders et al., 2007).

Additionally, the information is gathered from the sample will be kept confidential and no

personal information or contact information will be revealed to anyone. Further, the

information thus collected will be used in the study only for analysis and statistical purposes

and none of the personal information will be revealed in the research. Also, the participants in

the study will not be forced into participating and will also be given the purpose of the

research.

LO3.Analyse and present findings of the research.

The analysis of the research is done in this section. The data is analyzed with the help of the

survey questionnaire and secondary data analysis. By data analysis the researcher will try to

find out the answers to the research questions. The primary data is collected with the help of

the survey questionnaires. The survey questionnaire was administered to the service users,

staffs and management to collect the information. The survey questionnaire was consisting of

ten questions and questionnaire was used as a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was

administered to 45 respondents through the email and only 30 respondents replied back and

almost 60% of the respondents view was collected. The bar diagrams are used to interpret the

data through the data analysis section.

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4.2.1 STATEMENT (1)

The service users and the staff does not have any good communication with in the

organisation Answer 1 2 3 4 5

Strongly

Agree

Agree Strongly

Disagree

Disagree No View

TABLE (1) 15 = 50 % 6 = 20 % 4 = 13 % 3 = 10 % 2 = 7%

Strongly Agre

e

Agree

Strongly Dis-agre

e

Dis-agre

e

No Opinion

Table 1

50 20 13 10 7

51525354555 50

2013 10 7

4.2.2 STATEMENT (2)

The language and the communication style acts as a barrier in the communication

process Answer 1 2 3 4 5

7

Strongly

Agree

Agree Strongly

Disagree

Disagree No View

TABLE (2) 13 = 43 % 8 = 26 % 6 = 20 % 2 = 8 % 1 = 3%

Strongly

Agree

Agree Strongly Dis-

agree

Dis-agree

No Opin-

ion

Table 2

43 26 20 8 3

515253545 43

2620

83

The staffs have a good communication style and skill to deal with the users

Answer 1 2 3 4 5

Strongly

Agree

Agree Strongly

Disagree

Disagree No View

TABLE (2) 13 = 43 % 8 = 26 % 6 = 20 % 2 = 8 % 1 = 3%

Strongly

Agree

Agree Strongly Dis-

agree

Dis-agree

No Opin-

ion

Table 2

43 26 20 8 3

515253545 43

2620

83

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Semi structured questions

 A range of semi structured questions were asked through the interviews. The type of

communication used by the organisation, and whether the staffs have any good

communication skill in dealing with the clients and whether the patients are satisfied with the

communication process or not. The potential barriers are also discussed in this section.

Findings and recommendations

The management and the staff have a proper range of communication both through the verbal

and the nonverbal levels. But the staffs failed to communicate effectively with the patients.

The organisation has to give training to understand the staffs how to deal effectively with the

patients. The patients are not satisfied with the communication process in the care home. The

organisation has to effectively deal with the patients and to make possible ways to satisfy

their needs. The language and the style acts as a barrier in the communication process in the

organisation. The organisation have to take care of this situation and have to make ways to

mingle the carers with the patients and to make a proper communication environment in the

organisation.

According to the above research we could seen communication plays an enormous roll in

health care sector .From the research we could also seen that communication failure may

often occur due to various reasons .So it is very important for the staff to maintain a high

standard of effective communication with in the work place .In order to improve the

communication standards, the care workers should follow some key procedures and

ethics .The care worker should make sure that he always gain the full attention of the service

user before communication .If necessary the care worker can distract the service user in a

very nice manner to catch their attention for communication .Always try to minimise the

competition while communicating .The care worker should make sure that he always

explains what he is going to do on the client and for what reason he is going to do so. Care

workers meet different types of people in different age during their day today business.

According to professional ethics care worker should give equal respect to all the service users

and should make sure that the service user is not treated like a child if necessary . The staff

should always be professional and should never misbehave or abuse the client in any respect

which is against ethics .The staff should never talk over the service users head if the provider

has to talk about some illness to co worker, which the service user is struggling from they

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should do that when the client is not around .If any of the client has a disability the staff

should observe their facial expressions and actions to understand exactly what they are trying

to communicate. Allow plenty of time for the service user to pass the massage on to the staff.

While communicating the service provider should try to use simple and short sentences. Once

the staff received the massage from the client, he or she should make sure that they have

understood it correctly

LO4 Evaluate the research carried out

Adopting the right research philosophy of the research programme is essential in order to

proceed with the research or study (Saunders et al., 2007). For this study, the interpreter was

research paradigms chosen as it helps established that human behaviour is different from

person to person and can also different from organisation to organisation with respect to

consumer behaviour. The emphasis on conducting an interpretivist research ensures that the

study is subject rather than being objective(Saunders et al., 2007).

The research approach is adopted for the study is an exploratory inductive study in which a

theory is developed after the analysis of qualitative data. The basic underlying concept of this

study is to understand the cause-and-effect relationship as to why something is happening

(Gill & Johnson, 2002). Since the sample is not likely to be representative of the entire

population, a non-probabilistic sampling technique will be used. Additionally, since the

research design of this study is a case study research design, the non-probabilistic sampling

technique will perhaps be the best sampling method (Saunders et al., 2007).

In this study, a mixed-methods data connection technique will be adopted whereby both

quantitative as well as qualitative data will be collected and analysed. The reason as to why

mixed methods data collection techniques are employed in the study is to improve the

validity of the data that is collected through triangulation (Saunders et al., 2007).

Additionally, it is argued that mixed method data collection techniques provide an in depth

view (Saunders et al., 2007, p.147). The qualitative data collection method enables the

research to empathise with the costumers or the sample for the study (Gill & Johnson, 2002).

However, qualitative data is highly subjective and there may be discrepancies in the data

collected. Hence, quantitative data will also be collected for this study in the form of

questionnaire (Saunders et al., 2007).

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RESEARCH METHODS

Data are collected from different types of sources namely primary and secondary sources.

Information that is already been collected by different researcher and is readily available is

referred to as secondary information. Moreover, there are possibilities of unviable

information or the feasibility of the data gathered is not guaranteed. Data collected from

sources such as internet, company websites, journals, business hand-outs, and newspapers

falls under secondary sources of information. On the other hand information collected from

the mentioned sources are out dated it has limited scope of information leading to inaccuracy

hence the researcher will use secondary sources as an assisting data for the information

gathered through primary sources (Zikmund, 2000).

PRIMARY DATA

To carry out the research the researcher used primary sources to gather the information as the

information collected will be feasible and updated as researcher will collect data in person.

The researcher can carry out experiments, conduct surveys, interviews, case studies as well as

observations to collect information through primary sources as the data collected in more

viable, moreover the researcher will have to incur expenditure to use the mentioned data

collected methods.

INTERVIEWS

In this method, the researcher will ask questions to respondents in relation to their work place

environment as well as personal questions which will be kept confidential, wherein, all

questions will be asked considering the research questions and aims/objectives of the

research. McNiff (2001), point out interview is very useful method to collect data as the

researcher has direct contact with the respondent; moreover, there is a possibility of providing

biased information while carrying out the interview. There are several types of interview

which are as follows:-

‘’Structured Interview’’ consists of asking questions which are planned and systematically

formulated, they are to the point and are direct questions, wherein a specific set of questions

are decided prior to conducting interviews. One type of structured interview is telephonic

interview wherein the questions are pre-decided.

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‘’Semi-structured Interview’’ consists of asking question which are not previously decided

and it is subject to change while carrying out interview. Such semi structured interviews

assists the researcher to gain in immense knowledge and understanding of the data collected.

‘’Unstructured or in-depth Interview’’ consists of asking question which are not previously

formulated, moreover the interviewer asks questions on the spot as per his understanding and

need.

JUSTIFICATION FOR ADOPTING SEMI STRUCTURED INTERVIEW

Interviews are conducted to gather the primary data for this research. Interviews will assist

the researcher to gain an in-depth knowledge from various employees as well as employers

about the impact of mergers and acquisitions on their organisation, hence, acquiring different

viewpoints from different staffs. Furthermore, researcher can generalise the results obtained

from various people within the organisations. Thus researcher preferred to conduct interviews

against conducting surveys or experimenting for data collection. It enables the researcher to

gather information in more realistic manner and can attain information from shareholders

about their acceptability and adaptability in the instance of mergers. Moreover, it helps the

researcher to stay in contact touch with the changes that are occurring in organisation in the

whole process of carrying research, wherein, personal point of views as well as perceptions of

changes amongst the employees can be understood easily by the researcher. Researcher can

make necessary changes in the interview process as he is also a part of changes that are

occurring gradually within the organisations. In this research that is based on experiences,

there are several other sources for data collection as per the necessity to attain the research

objectives. Other sources which are referred to as secondary data collection are discussed

below.

SECONDARY DATA

The data which has already been collected by different expertise on the subject matter are

referred to as secondary data. Rugg & Petre (2007), stated this information will enable the

researcher to support his findings done through primary sources to carry out this research.

There are various types of secondary data namely; Documentary data which is also known as

historical data, survey data as well as multiple data sources which consist of data gathered

previously which will assist to carry out this research (Lewis, 2009). This information will be

of great useful to the researcher to interpret the data collected in regard of communication

aspect. Data collected through secondary sources consumes less time as well as it saves data

12

collection expenses and supports the primary data. On the other hand, Wegner (2010) stated

that, many a times it becomes difficult for the researcher to gather information from vast

sphere of available data.

Ethical consideration refers to the moral values that are to be considered while carrying out

the research. As stated by Saunders et al., (2007), research ethics refers to the consideration

of the rights and values of the people who are involved or are the part of the research carried

out. The researcher should appropriately consider these values and rights while carrying out

research study. Moreover, all the techniques incorporated to carry out research are connected

with ethical issues, but qualitative approach carries high ethical concerns as compared to that

of qualitative approach of research. The researcher has to follow several ethics to carry out

the study on this research subject. The information collected should be free from personal

biases as well as the analysis should be done honestly and should be according to the code of

conduct of the organisation. The information of one company should not be revealed to

competitors. To generate authentic results the data collected should be genuine and honest

with no domination of researcher. The information collected through different sources should

be genuinely presented in order to derive valid results as it will serve as base for further

decision making (Collis & Hussey, 2003).

References

Gill, J. & Johnson, P., 2002. Research Methods for Managers. 3rd ed. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd.

Gibbs, L. & Gambrill, E. (2002) Evidence-based practice: Counterarguments to objections.

Research on Social Work Practice, 12, 452–476.

Jobber, D., 2010. Principles and Practice of Marketing. 6th ed. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill

Education.

Kurtz, D.L., 2008. Contemporary Marketing. Mason: Cengage Learning.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Adrian, T., 2007. Research Methods for Business Students. 4th ed.

Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

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Haynes, R.B., Devereaux, P.J. & Guyatt, G.H. (2002) Physician’s and patients’ choices in

evidence based practice. British Medical Journal, 324, 1350.

Howes, F., Waters, E., McCormack, J., Roberts, H., Sheldon,T. & Klassen, T. (2003)

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knowledge to decision-makers? The Milbank Quarterly, 81, 221–248.

Sheldon, B. (2001) The validity of evidence-based practice in social work: a reply to Stephen

Webb. British Journal of Social Wo r k, 31, 801–809

Sharf, B. F. (1993). Reading the vital signs: Research in health care communication.

Communication Monographs, 60, 35-41

Vanderford, M. L., Jenks, E. B., & Sharf, B. F. (1997).Exploring patients’ experiences as a

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