Method
The research utilizes both secondary and primary methods of data collection. The secondary data collection methods involve a review of existing literature pertaining to the reputation of the business and corporate social responsibility CSR. The review of the literature sought to identify if there is a link between acting in line with CSR guidelines and business success. Primary collection of data utilized tools such as personal interviews and questionnaires. The participants comprise of the business managers and societal members or members of the community. Judgmental sampling, quota sampling, and snowball sampling were used to sample the study group.
The intended sample size for the research is 300 participants, 100 participants from the business community (managers and heads of departments), and 200 participants from the larger public. The questionnaire and the interview consist of a total of 15 questions each with each having 5 questions that relate to personal profile while the remaining 10 relate the perceptions of the managers, employees and community members on the CSR program. For the ten questionnaire questions regarding perceptions on CSR, under each question there is a five-point Likert scale calibrated as 1-strongly disagree, 2-disagree, 3-neutral, 4-agree, 5-strongly agree. Data collected using interviews will be recorded using audio devices while the responses provided in the questionnaires will be entered on the questionnaires sheets for computer-entering. All data will be analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (Bryman, 2012).
Limitation of your research
The research is based on phenomenological analysis of opinions even from people who may not have a clear understanding of how large entities operate or their role in community development. This may lead to responses that are highly biased or those which may not fit well to answer the research questions (Guyatt et al., 2011). Another major limitation of the study is that it relies on past literature that could potentially have been influenced by the company thus offering unreliable data. Similarly, the corporate social responsibility of a company depends on the demographic, social and economic patterns of the society within which it exists and thus there could be varying views on what CSR entails depending on these variations. Such variations tend to have a significant effect on the final results.
The research is prone to the halo effect especially from the participants. It becomes hard for the larger public to differentiate between loyalty derived from acting socially responsible and loyalty derived from the love of the products (Bryman, 2012). Therefore, biased impression is common in the research since the public does not have a perfectly equal knowledge about companies and products. On the other hand, the sample size is comparatively smaller to capture “the big picture."
Research ethics
The researcher will seek the verbal and written consent for all those who will be selected for the interviews as well as those who will be required to respond to questionnaires. In cases where the participant is an employee of a company, the research will follow the due course and inform the company of its intended interview or discussion with the individual. The literature sources used in the study will be reviewed systematically to ascertain the level of validity of their content as well as identify the credentials of the authors. Where tape recording is used, the researchers will seek the verbal consent of the respondent.
Resources
Questionnaires: These will be critical in guiding the respondents to provide the required information relevant to the study. These will be provided online through mail.
Tape recorders: Tape recorders will be used to record the interviews for further analysis of the responses. This will depend highly on the acceptability of tape recording by the individual being interviewed. SPSS: This software package will help in the analysis of qualitative data to formulate correlations among the various variables as defined by the research objectives.
References
Bryman, A, (2012), Social research methods, Oxford university press.
Guyatt, G. H., Oxman, A. D., Vist, G., Kunz, R., Brozek, J., Alonso-Coello, P., & Schünemann, H. J. (2011), GRADE guidelines: 4, Rating the quality of evidence—study limitations (risk of bias), Journal of clinical epidemiology,64(4), 407-415.
Oliver, P, (2010), The student's guide to research ethics, McGraw-Hill International.
