This chapter provides the information on the approach about how the research was conducted. The components of this chapter include the research design and framework, the target population for the research and data collection approaches, the instruments used, and data analysis approach. The instruments and reliability of the research construct were adapted.
A two set of the same questions were developed online and distributed to some friends to hear their views about which of the designs is more respondent-friendly and easier to understand based on such criteria, the questionnaire design was adopted and will be send to the target population.
This study will explore quantitative research approach to provide a credible and reliable group of public sector workers in The Gambia.
Research Framework
This study was conducted using an online questionnaire and a hard copy of the research questions which was sent to public sector workers in The Gambia. In order to reach out to a broad group of workers (public), the researcher distributed the questions to a network of friends in The Gambia.
The study was conducted with a background of the literature review that was done as a guiding principle to this study. The periphery of the study was perceived person-organizational fit, organizational commitment and job satisfaction and how the variables relate to each other among public sector workers in The Gambia. See Figure 3.1
The independent variable for this study is person-organizational fit. Furthermore, person-organization Fit will serve as a mediator variable between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. The research framework on Figure 3.1 above tries to establish the relationship among person-organizational fit, organizational commitment and job satisfaction which emerged after a review of literatures for this study.
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Figure 3.1. Research framework
Research Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1. Person-organization fit is correlated to employees’ job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 2. Person-organization fit is correlated to organizational commitment.
Hypothesis 3. Organizational commitment is correlated to job satisfaction.
Hypothesis 4. Organizational commitment has a mediating effect on person-organization fit and job satisfaction.
Research Procedure
In this study, a research procedure was followed. Below is a description of the stages that has been followed. See also figure 3.2. In order to comprehend work that have been done on the research variables, a thorough review of the available academic resources was done. The first step helps the researcher in the process of building background knowledge of the topic. A research topic was identified after a comprehensive literature review in consultation with the researcher’s advisor. Following the review of the literature and the identification of the research topic, the research purpose and questions were developed. From the research purpose, the target population was identified. A research framework was developed from the variables of the study. A quantitative research method was adapted for this study. An online questionnaire was designed to reach to the targeted population for the research. The questionnaire was split into four parts of the three research variables and the fourth being the demographic information. A reference to the research instrument has been adapted from previous research correlated to the variables used in this study with a high reliability. The questionnaires were sent to employees
H3
Person-Organization Fit Job Satisfaction
Organizational Commitment
H1 H2
H4
19 working in the public sector and for them to share it their co-workers and anyone who fits the criteria of the target population. The second way of collecting the data was sending the questionnaires to social media friends to forwards to the target population of the research. Upon writing chapters one to three, the researcher presented a proposal to a committee of academic researchers and professionals in the present of the advisor. The collected data was coded and analyse using IBM SPSS as the statistical tool. A conclusion of the research was made including a compilation of the findings. The descriptive statistics was used to present the findings in this study. A final presentation was made to the committee to about the overall findings of the research, including but not limited to research findings, recommendations, limitations and a conclusion.
Review Literature
Identify Research Topic
Develop Research Purpose and Questions
Develop Research Framework and Hypotheses
Conduct Pilot Test
Collect Data
Conduct Pilot Test
Analyze Data
Conclude Research Findings
Figure 3.2. Research procedure
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Participants and Data Collection
In this study, person-organization fit was adopted as the independent variable. While organizational commitment serves as the mediator between perceived person-organization Fit and job satisfaction. Job satisfaction was the dependant variable. The demographic information included in this study is the participant’s gender, age, marital status, educational level, tenure, and the organization they represent including the department and position they work in and their compatibility between their education and work.
The population of this study was public sector workers of The Gambia. For sampling the appropriate participants of the study, a sample criteria were set: to be eligible as a participant for this study, the respondent had to meet the following criteria:
Firstly, must be an employee working within the public sector of The Gambia (private sector workers) are not eligible for this research.
Secondly, must be a full time employee part-time employees are not qualified to take part in this research. This criterion is chosen to narrow down the scope of study in order to specify the result. A total of 327 valid responses was collected for this study.
Qusai-experimental approach was used in this study using survey questionnaires to collect and self-report data from the research population. The questionnaire for this research were forwarded to a team of research assistants in The Gambia for onward submission to the target population. For collecting data, hard copy and online version of the questionnaire were made and used.
For the online questionnaires, the researcher used snowball sampling by using a network of friends through online. The online version of the questionnaire was forwarded to qualified population of the study who have access to internet for taking part in the research.
Unfortunately, only a few were collected through online. The majority of the data were collected through hardcopies.
The questionnaire was set into four segments: The first part of the questionnaire comprises questions about person-organization fit. The second part of the questionnaire comprises questions about organizational commitment. The third part contain questions about job satisfaction. The fourth part of the questionnaire contains the demographic data.
Completed questionnaires were send back to the researcher for analysis. The online questionnaire was compiled with the hard copies for a collective analysis for the study.
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Measurement
A quantitative research approach was used in this study to collect data and examine the relationship between and among the research variables. The measurement of the constructs in this study was followed by the development of a research questionnaire that comprises of multiple items and using a 5-point Likert Scale.
Person-Organisation Fit
Person-Organisation Fit is broadly defined as the compatibility between individuals and the organisations they work for (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Kristof, 1996; Verquer et al., 2003). Person-organization fit emphases on how fit a person is with an all-inclusive organisation rather than a specific job, vocation, group or supervisor (Kristof, 1996; Verquer et al., 2003).
The concept of person-organization fit has been defined either as complementary fit which is describe as a fit an individual has with the organisation and his/her contribution to the fulfilment of the needs of the other), or supplementary fit which is describe as a fit in which an individual and an organisation sharing similar characteristics. Kristof-Brown et al. (2005), complementary fit can further be divided into needs supplies fit (an organisation fulfils the needs of an individual) and demands-abilities fit (the characteristics of the individual fulfil the needs of the organisation). This study adopted a supplementary fit perspective because previous studies have shown that supplementary fit has higher correlations with outcomes than complementary fit (e.g. Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Cable & DeRue, 2002).
Chatman (1989), Lauver and Kristof-Brown’s (2001) person-organization fit three item scale is adopted for this study. The measure uses a 5-point response scale (1= strongly disagree 5 = strongly agree). The Cronbach's alpha value of person- organization fit scale was 0.73.
Organizational Commitment
It is generally believed that commitment is the driving force that binds an employee with his or her organization, but there is disagreement concerning the dimension of organizational commitment. Meyer and Allen (1991) is one of the most researched multidimensional form of organizational commitment used. A three-component organizational commitment questionnaire by Natalie Allen and John Meyer is adapted for this study. The measure uses a 5-point response scale (1= strongly disagree 5 = strongly agree).
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Job Satisfaction
This study is adapting Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire (MSQ) short form Weiss (1967), which included 20-items to measure employee job satisfaction which is a dependent variable for this study. The MSQ-short version items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 “very dissatisfied with this aspect of my job”, 2 “dissatisfied with this aspect of my job”, 3 “can’t decide if I’m satisfied or dissatisfied with this aspect of my job”, 4 “satisfied with this aspect of my job” and 5 “very satisfied with this aspect of my job”). Cronbach’s alphas value from previous studies that uses this measurement reported a value range between 0.85 and 0.91 (Fields, 2002).
Control Variables
The control variable in this research is a variable which is constant and unchanged in the course of the study. These variables are position, education and tenure which was used to test the relative relationships of the dependent and independent variables. Control variables in its self is not a primary interest of this study.
Many theoretical and empirical studies have demonstrated that job characteristics are the primary factor affecting employee job satisfaction (e.g., Hackman & Oldham, 1975, 1980;
Loher et al., 1985; Tumer & Lawrence, 1965). For example, Tumer and Lawrence summarized six types of requisite task attributes (variety, autonomy, required interaction, optional interaction, responsibility, knowledge and skill required) for 47 job types that had a positive relationship with employee job satisfaction.
Studies have shown that the more educated employees are the lower the job satisfaction (Clark & Oswald, 1996). Prolonged contact with the educational complex may condition workers to expect greater rewards from their employment (Mortimer, 1979) in that higher levels of nonmaterial intrinsic rewards (e.g., interest, autonomy, skill utilization) are needed to satisfy highly educated workers (Seybolt, 1976). Higher educational attainment puts workers at a competitive advantage in competing for jobs with more material extrinsic rewards (e.g., pay and fringe benefits).
Job experience models (e.g., Katz, 1981) propose that the determinants of job satisfaction are likely to vary systematically with tenure. These models thus suggest that employee reactions (e.g. job satisfaction) are not only job specific, but time dependent. The main theme guiding job experience models is that tenure (variously defined) affects the manner in which work environment features combine to influence job satisfaction.
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Pilot Study
A pilot study was conducted for this study as a preliminary measure for this research.
A pilot study was conducted for this study which is important to be done before a formal research was conducted. The sample for this study was 15. The data was mainly collected through the internet (online survey questionnaire). Convenience sampling was used due to the lack of sampling frame. But the results for the online were not easy to collect the final study uses hardcopies. Due to the small number of sample, other statistical procedures were not done.
See Table 3.1 for more details.
Table 3.1
Demographic Results of the Pilot Study
Variable Description Frequency Percentage
Age 18~25
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Cronbach’s Alpha Results of the Pilot Study (N=15)
Variable Name Cronbach’s Alpha
Organizational Culture .914
Person-Organization Fit .868
Organizational Commitment .640
Job Satisfaction .908
Note: Organizational culture was dropped for the main research.
Peer and Expert Review
A routine peer review was conducted for this study. Recommendations and suggestions given were taken into account and necessary adjustments were made.
Given the nature of the topic, the researcher invited workers termed as experts working in different public sectors of The Gambia to serve as expert reviewers for this study. In this research, expert review was conducted using convenience sampling to collect data, this is done to understand the suitability of the language accuracy, and to understand the degree to which respondents view the meaning of each question. This was done by sending the questionnaires to the experts to assess the overall questions and hear their opinions about the questions. During the review process, some adjustments were made to best suit the research population and purpose.
Table 3.1. (continued)
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Reliability Analysis
A reliability test was conducted to determine the degree at which the Cronbach Alpha value for each of the variables used in this study. This is to determine the internal consistency and reliability for all the dimensions of the variables. See Tables 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 for details.
A reliability analysis was done after collecting data from a sample of 327 to ensure that the quality of the questionnaire was good.
The independent variable of this study (person-organizational fit) has 12 questions with a Cronbach alpha value of 0.678. These questions were rated on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 of Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5). See Table 3.3 for more details.
Table 3.3.
Reliability Scale: Person-Organization Fit (N=327)
Scale Component (Items) Cronbach α
Person-Organization Fit POF1, POF2, POF3, POF4, POF5, POF6, POF7, POF8, POF9, POF10, POF11, POF12
.678
The mediating variable of organizational commitment has 13 questions with a Cronbach alpha value of 0.719. The questions were rated on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5). See Table 3.4 for more details.
Table 3.4.
Reliability Scale: Organizational Commitment (N=327)
Scale Component (Items) Cronbach α
Organizational Commitment OC1, OC2, OC3, OC4, OC5, OC6, OC7, OC8, OC9, OC10, OC11, OC12, OC13
0.719
The dependent variable of job satisfaction uses the short version of Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire with 20 questions with a Cronbach alpha value of 0.744. The questions were rated on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).
See Table 3.5 for more details.
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Reliability Scale: Job Satisfaction (N=327)
Scale Component (Items) Cronbach α
Job Satisfaction JS1, JS2, JS3, JS4, JS5, JS6, JS6, JS7, JS8, JS9, JS10, JS11, JS12, JS13, JS14, JS15, JS16, JS17, JS18, JS19, JS20
0.744
Methods of Data Analysis
The researcher for this study uses statistical software IBM SPSS version 23 for the analysis of the research results. Descriptive statistics was applied to show the distribution of the data in order to get a clear picture of sample characteristics. The descriptive data was used to analyse the frequency and distribution of the different variable items. For the descriptive statistics, the researcher will use it to describe and summarize the data collected for the study.
By so doing, the researcher organizes data in a more comprehensive and meaningful way by calculating numerical indexes which includes means and standard deviation, allowing for easier interpretation of collected data. The statistical analysis procedures included in descriptive analysis and Chi-squared test. Pearson’s correlation analysis was conducted to examine the linear relationship among organizational commitment, person-organization fit and job satisfaction. Chi-squared test was conducted to test the normal items of the study.
Correlation Analysis
The
Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the direct and linear relationship between the variables of the study. The correlation will be utilized to comprehend the relationship between the variables. Linear, multiple and hierarchical regressions will be used to test the influence of the variables. For this study, a coefficient of -1 means there is a negative correlation between two variables while +1, means there is a positive correlation between two variables.27