Quantitative

Versus
Qualitative methods
in
research

An approach to combine both research methods

into a useful mindset for social-scientific research

Zutphen, 5 February 2010

The Netherlands,

Joop Vinke, MBA

 CONTENT

Content................................................................................................................... 2

2. The differences..................................................................................................6

2.1 QUALITATIVE VERSUS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ...............6

2.2. DATA ..................................................................................6

2.3. RESEARCH SETTING ...........................................................7

2.4 MEANINGS VERSUS BEHAVIOUR .........................................8

2.4. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND NATURAL SCIENCE ..............9

2.5 THE USE OF HYPOTHESES ...................................................9

2.6 ACTION ..............................................................................10

2.7 PROFESSIONAL DECISION MAKING, THE REPRESENTATION OF THE CASE

AND GENERALISATION FROM CASES .......................................10

2.8 Resume .............................................................................12

3. The research.....................................................................................................13

3.1 Human resource management. Only for the ‘paid’ employees?................13

3.2 Research on the needs and wishes of volunteer in a volunteer organisation

.................................................................................................16

3.2.1 Introduction.................................................................................16

3.2.2 Motives in the literature..............................................................17

3.2.2 Research on the wishes and needs of volunteers in the literature19

3.3 Practice of the research.....................................................20

3.3.1 Interviews ..................................................................................20

3.3.2 Results interviews.......................................................................21

3.3.3 Translation to questionnaire......................................................22

3.3.4 The results of the questionnaire.................................................23

4. Conclusions......................................................................................................29

............................................................................................................................30

Used Literature:....................................................................................................31
1. INTRODUCTION
Quantitative vs. Qualitative research

This paper is made for and as a reaction on the course “Quantitative research
methods” for the study PhD at the University of West Timisoara.

The intention of this paper is not to promote a specific research method or to

value one of them

In my experiences with research I have used both approaches and would like to
point out that both quantitative and qualitative research methods can be useful.

I would like to start with some of the main difference between those two
approaches. The following different mindsets can explain that a lot:

Features of Qualitative & Quantitative Research

Qualitative Quantitative

"There's no such thing as qualitative

"All research ultimately has
data.
a qualitative grounding"
Everything is either 1 or 0"
- Donald Campbell
- Fred Kerlinger

The aim is to classify features, count

The aim is a complete, detailed them, and construct statistical models
description. in an attempt to explain what is
observed.

Researcher may only know roughly

Researcher knows clearly in advance
in advance what he/she is looking
what he/she is looking for.
for.

Recommended during earlier phases Recommended during latter phases of

of research projects. research projects.

The design emerges as the study All aspects of the study are carefully
unfolds. designed before data is collected.

Researcher uses tools, such as

Researcher is the data gathering
questionnaires or equipment to collect
instrument.
numerical data.

Data is in the form of words, Data is in the form of numbers and

pictures or objects. statistics.
Subjective - individuals’ Objective – seeks precise
interpretation of events is measurement & analysis of target
important ,e.g., uses participant concepts, e.g., uses surveys,
observation, in-depth interviews etc. questionnaires etc.

Qualitative data is more 'rich', time Quantitative data is more efficient,

consuming, and less able to be able to test hypotheses, but may miss
generalized. contextual detail.

Researcher tends to become Researcher tends to remain

subjectively immersed in the subject objectively separated from the subject
matter. matter.

(The two quotes are from Miles & Huberman (1994, p. 40). QUALITATIVE DATA
ANALYSIS

These both comparisons make clear that there can be different mindsets behind
the approach the research will be done. The main differences can be also
explains in the following points:

• Qualitative research involves analysis of data such as words (e.g., from

interviews), pictures (e.g., video), or objects (e.g., an artefact).

• Quantitative research involves analysis of numerical data.

• The strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative research

are a perennial, hot debate, especially in the social sciences. The issues
invoke classic 'paradigm war'

• The personality / thinking style of the researcher and/or the culture of the
organization are under-recognized as a key factor in preferred choice of
methods.

When focusing on the debate of "qualitative versus quantitative" frames the

methods in opposition.

I think it is important to focus more on how the techniques can be integrated,

such as in mixed methods research. More good can come of social science
researchers developing skills in both realms than debating which method is
superior.

In the next description of an earlier research done by me I would like to explain

how I used both approach in a combined way.

The qualitative approach was at the base of this research that has been done in a
volunteer organization. The outcome/ results have been translated in a
quantitative way in which I made also use of quantitative methods and of the
electronic database SPSS that gives a lot of possibilities to translate date into the
used formulas in quantitative research.
The combination of both and the translation of both methods into one overall
approach gives for social related research a good base for using both methods in
a mixed way.

Because my PhD research will be mainly social – scientific related it gives also an
example of the research methods that I will use during this PhD research.

I hope this paper will make clear that using a qualitative approach does not
mean that the quantitative approach is not useable or excluded. I intend with
this paper to make even clearer that research cannot be done without the use of
both approaches.

Zutphen, February 2010

Joop Vinke.
 2. THE DIFFERENCES

2.1 QUALITATIVE VERSUS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

As mentioned in the previous chapter, qualitative research is often contrasted

with quantitative research.

There are, what can be called 'sub schools of thought' on it. Nevertheless, there
are some critical issues in which researchers have a tendency to jump one way
or the other, depending on the set of beliefs they hold.

Personally I believe too, that some of these issues are more important to
researchers who are carrying out research for the first time, especially in when
quantitative measures such as grades have a high profile in their eyes.

Qualitative research is more interested in answering the why? Questions and

are not prepared to simply accept the quantitative answers.

I am not suggesting that the quantitative data is not important.

According to me it is just not enough on its own. I could go further and say that
when placed alongside qualitative evidence, quantitative evidence is more clear
and powerful. Unfortunately it also sometimes appears so powerful that it
overpowers the opinions of the people involved and this is a danger we have to
watch.

In addition there are still many researchers, especially the less experienced ones,
who are not prepared to 'go the extra mile' and add the extra understanding to
the figures they have collected. This paper is centered upon the qualitative
element in research and while it is not without problems qualitative research is
the major form of educational research now done.

I would like to consider the major points of contrast and debate between the
broad categories of qualitative and quantitative research. The section that follows
rests heavily upon a structure used by Hammersley [1991].

2.2. DATA

Where a quantitative researcher might seek to know what percentage of people

do one thing or another, the qualitative researcher pays much greater attention
to individual cases and the human understandings that feature in those cases.
Nevertheless, one finds the latter using terms such as 'frequently' and 'the
majority of people' and so on.
Perhaps the quantitative researcher is more precise but the response would be
that with people it is not possible to be so precise, people change and the social
situation is too complex for numerical description.

At the heart of this discussion is a point coming out. I could ask myself: "How
sure can I be about what I claim to know?"

As educator in Management I have to deal with what is sometimes called 'soft'

knowledge, as opposed to 'hard' knowledge. I see claims [not always justified]
about certainty in the natural sciences and mathematics. I as qualitative
researcher, have to be more circumspect.

As I wrote before, quantified evidence can be very powerful but it can also hide a
great deal about people, especially their understanding.

2.3. RESEARCH SETTING

Qualitative research has long been criticized by so called “laboratory based”

research as 'artificial' and noted that people react differently in other contexts.

There are also criticisms about those researched being influenced by the
researchers so that conclusions are not sound, especially when compared to
research in 'natural' settings. Responses to these arguments are criticisms about
the artificiality of structured interviews which qualitative researchers carry out.

Of course, interviews need not be structured though the central issue is about
the extent to which the research act interferes with what is researched.

In short: Are the conclusions valid? do they reflect what they believe they are
reflect or are people responding? And also to the researchers?

The scientist Hammersley argues: [p231]

"In my view this distinction between natural and artificial settings is spurious.
What happens in a school class or in a court of law, for example, is no more
natural [or artificial] than what goes on in a social psychological laboratory."

According to me this is not right. There is an enormous difference. If

Hammersley had argued that there is some form of reaction to all forms of
research I could have accepted that. He is, however, going much further in that.

In qualitative research I seek to minimize the impact of my interventions but also

recognize that there are other ways in which we do intervene.

My knowledge is much softer. I cannot be certain that practical work will always
make learning easier. I cannot prove that a person will respond positively to
using a word processor. Yet I can have a pretty good idea that these maybe
helpful to me in certain situations.

More importantly I endeavor to 'build' a theory from the ground of experience or

practice.
For me as qualitative researcher the context in which practice takes place has an
important bearing upon that practice and research should be rooted accordingly.

There are other implications of my position. One of those is how I might transfer
my research findings from one situation to another. This is called generalization
and I will discuss that below. Another is that qualitative research does not avoid
the complexity of social life. Instead great efforts are made to illuminate and
understand social situations and human feelings through immersion and detailed,
in-depth exploration.

2.4 MEANINGS VERSUS BEHAVIOUR

Where quantitative forms of research, employing questionnaires and sampling

procedures attempt to eradicate the individual, the particular and the subjective,
qualitative research gives special attention to the subjective side of life.

Rather than asking how many people in a given locality have an IQ of 90,
qualitative researchers are more likely to ask how it feels to be considered
having an IQ of 90 or what intelligence means to a given community. And what
is or is not considered to be intelligent by that community.

They focus more upon the social construction of such things as 'intelligence',
'special educational needs', 'behavior problems', and so on.

In order to find out what a given phenomenon means to people it is necessary to

ask them and to observe what they do. That is why both interview and
observation are key techniques in qualitative research.

Rather than starting with a definition of special needs, the definition 'grows' from
the data that is gathered from interview and observation. Thus theory tends to
be built from the ground of experience rather than through academic reasoning
distant from the scene of everyday experience."

Hammersley [op. cit.] accepts that qualitative researchers seek to articulate the
views of people studied but adds that qualitative researchers often analyze the
data in ways that are not suited to those studied. He also asserts that much
quantitative research concerns itself with the 'attitudes' of those studied and is
therefore grounded in the realities of people.

I still stick to my approach in this. According to me quantitative research remains

more interested in what people do without a very complete understanding of
those actions. It tends, therefore, to be concerned with behavior as an end in
itself without paying sufficient attention to understanding that behavior.

Even where 'attitudes' are explored it is usually through pre-structured

questionnaires which do not allow respondents to provide their own agenda. The
researcher decides on the important questions. One observes this sort of practice
especially amongst those who are not experienced researchers.
 2.4. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND NATURAL SCIENCE

As qualitative research I have often found myself being criticized by natural

scientists for not providing quantified conclusions and, equally, I have defended
myself and criticized quantitative work.

What has been most disconcerting is the rigidity of thought that I have
experienced when discussing qualitative research. I found out that natural
scientists sometimes place great store on what they call objective knowledge.

This is for me the knowledge which fits into a scheme that they are familiar with
and about which they claim to be certain. Unfortunately, many natural scientists
are according to me not aware that even within their disciplines there are fads
and fashions and different ways of conceptualizing the data they gather.

Different academics carry out pioneering work and come up with different terms
for describing their findings and the new terms then take over from the old ones.

At the same time some of the concepts widely used begin to change.

The view described in the paragraph above might be called the objectivist view
and we see it sewn into the heart of the national curriculum which has a clear
unquestionable framework which encompasses all of the knowledge that children
need. A different set of views are held by someone we might call a subjectivist.
Decisions made by a thorough going subjectivist rest upon whim, personal taste
or bias. Both objectivism and subjectivism can be contrasted to relativism which
is the basic idea that when we consider fundamental notions such as rationality,
truth, reality, good and so on, each is as acceptable as any other. The relativist
relates ideas to a given conceptual scheme or set of social practices or historical
era while the subjectivist relates ideas to him or herself.

2.5 THE USE OF HYPOTHESES

Another tendency among quantitative researchers is to see their studies as

centrally concerned with testing an initial hypothesis. It is rarer but not unknown
among qualitative researchers.

One important contrast drawn in this respect is that between explanation and
understanding. Quantitative research seeks to explain an initial hypothesis but
the qualitative researcher strives to understand the views of the 'actors'.

I have experienced that initial hypotheses tend to be poorly informed and that
after a period of 'immersion' in a situation the researcher is better able to draw
hypotheses [mature hypotheses] which emerge from experience in a setting.
While qualitative research is more concerned with understanding then explaining
this is not always the case.

Qualitative research does aspire to an 'insider' view and this requires the
researcher to mix in some way rather than adopting a detached stance. We will
return to this question below. In addition we will suggest some ways, below, in
which researcher bias might be minimized in the 'insider' situations.
 2.6 ACTION

Qualitative research pays considerable attention to the action it seeks to bring

about. In this respect there are efforts to ensure that the gap between theory
and practice is minimized, or more commonly, that theory and practice interact.

Qualitative researchers are concerned to 'build' theory from the ground of the
experience of practitioners; to research face to face levels of interaction; to focus
on the everyday or routine. These are allied to a fundamental respect for
individual human beings, sometimes exemplified by a concentration upon the
'underdog'.

Qualitative researchers do not seek the 'detached objectivity' of the quantitative

researcher.

Rather he/she tries to engage practitioners in his/her research and to report

findings in terms which are familiar to the subjects of investigation.

Ultimately, it is this engagement which gives subjects a stake in, and an

understanding of, the research. This is considered the basis for action and
change.

2.7 PROFESSIONAL DECISION MAKING, THE REPRESENTATION OF

THE CASE AND GENERALISATION FROM CASES

Decisions are made all the time, often with hardly a thought given to how the
decision was made. When asked, we might say 'I drew upon my experience'.
That implies that something about the present situation raises an echo of
previous similar situations. The reasoning may be: 'If I did 'x' on previous similar
situations, then I should the same in this situation as for example in learning
theories. In schematic form this can be expressed in simplified format as follows:
The shown diagram is an example that was inspired by a discussion between a
group of health professionals who were reflecting upon how they came to
decisions.

They were in agreement that no matter how similar one situation may be to a
past situation, no case is identical. Thus it is always important not only to
recognize the similarities but also to identify the differences. Over the years a
professional develops a rich repertoire of cases together with their similarities
and differences. This enables sophisticated modifications in courses of action as
cases are monitored for their variations.

This process is an example of generalization across cases to formulate general

principles, categories of explanation and theories as a basis for organizing
experiences about immediate cases.

By studying cases, considerable sophistication can be brought to bear upon the

analysis of each new instance of previous similar cases. I, as teacher, for
example, may have find behaviorist strategies to train a student based on
behavior effective in the past. Thus when confronted by behavior defined by me
as 'undesirable', it is likely to adapt the same strategies that worked previously.

Through practice, I may become increasingly sophisticated in the application of

those behaviorist principles. I become a behavioral technician. This is the kind of
approach that can be criticized. The student behavior is now only seen as the
'problem to be solved'. However, a wider vision can be developed. To do this I
must move to another level of analysis. The student must be seen in context.
There is the immediate context of the student which relates to his or her own
biography, local community and family experiences.

Then there is the context of the classroom with its particular style of learning
management, teacher control and so on. Then there is the school, its ethos, its
values, its style of management, its levels of resourcing and so on. And so on.
This is represented in the following diagram:
Rather than focusing on the student as the source of 'the problem', I now apply a
professional critique to the context within which the student, I, and other staff
are operating.

This kind of analysis can be applied to any situation: the health service, business
management, or even the analysis of domestic life.

As increasingly sophisticated analyses of the social situation are made, then the
evidence base upon which the professional decision maker draws is going to be
expanded to include information not previously considered. This will have an
effect on the quality of decision making. In representing this case, it is
insufficient to focus on a single instance such as a particular student without
seeing that student within a greater context. Even the notion of a student makes
no real sense without setting the concept 'student' within the history of the
emergence of 'studentship' as a social category.

2.8 RESUME

By allowing theories to form through what people say and do, qualitative
research cannot be easily accused of imposing its theories upon people.

Equally by keeping detailed records of what is said and of what happens

qualitative research does not reduce the complexity of social life to easily
manipulated equations.

Rather than skating on the surface of everyday life, its close contact and detailed
recording allows the research to glimpse beneath the polished rhetoric, or the
plausible deceits; it is able to take more time to focus upon the smaller yet
powerful processes which other methods gloss over or ignore. For example,
many so called objective facts of everyday life are revealed as being socially
constructed. That is to say, if a target group is categorized as having 'special
needs', that can either be treated as an objective fact which requires no further
investigation; or, it can be treated as a social process requiring explanation.

If it is simply an objective fact, then the only practical consequence is to find the
right 'treatment' for the target group.

If it is seen as a social process, then the consequence is to inquire into the social
functions served by labeling some people as having special needs. It may be
found that some social classes or ethnic groups are more likely to be categorized
as having special needs than others. If this is the case, then the objective fact
'special needs' is being de-constructed to reveal how it was constructed; in this
fictitious example, constructed through processes of social discrimination.

To illustrate this and to show the relation and combining of the relation between
quantitative and qualitative research I will us the following example:
 3. THE RESEARCH

3.1 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. ONLY FOR THE ‘PAID’

EMPLOYEES?

A research for practising human resource management in a welfare organisation

with ‘unpaid’ employees in Zutphen. (Stichting Ouderenwerk Zutphen)

Some years ago I confronted the fact that a year is marked as the ‘International
year of the volunteer’. That was a reason for my interest in this “special way” of
organising people, work and ideal goals. This organising can be found in welfare
organisations, particular that organisations that mostly work with unpaid
employees. (Volunteers) I personally was interested in the question if the
modern human resource management has possibilities for these special kinds of
employees.

My interest in these organisations also became greater with the request of the
director of a welfare organisation in Zutphen. He asked me to give advice about
personnel management in his organisation.

This organisation, the “Stichting Ouderenwerk Zutphen” (STOW) is one of those

welfare-organisations with idealistic goals, work and volunteers. It is an
organisation with nine ‘paid’ employees and about hundred volunteers. The
‘STOW’ gives facilities and services to older people in Zutphen.

In the last years, the organisation discovers developments in the commitment of

the volunteers. They observe a decreasing amount of volunteers. There is also
speaking of ageing from the volunteers and the quality of the service seems to
decrease. In several conversations with the management of the organisation, we
made a formulation of the problem. This problem is about which measures the
organisation has to take to insure a qualified amount of volunteers for the future.
The result of this is to insure the strategic targets of the organisation and
therefore the continue to exists

First, I made a (theoretic) analysis of the organisation. For making this analyses
I have used the method of the SWOT-analysis (Strength and Weakness versus
Opportunities and Threats).

After this, I translated the results to another method, known as “TOWS-

strategies’.

The result of this translation was an outcome of several partial strategies as

shown in figure 3.1.1

Using volunteers for technologic improvements en then training other employee.

Improving of the communication in the organisation

Professionalizing of the volunteers-management

 Integrated use of HR-instruments

New employees select on the base of competences

Aiming the strategy of the organisation on new markets

Coaching the employees on their new roll

Figure 3.1.1

After this analysis with the results as shown in the figure, I developed a special
research-method in which I tried to find out which wishes and needs volunteers
themselves have. The goal of this research was to get insight of the support
there is by the present volunteers of the organisation for introducing and
implementing the partial strategies from the analyses. The results of this
research also could give insight in the way HR-policies can be formed and
implemented in this organisation.

To take use from the experience of other scientists I studied the literature about
research on volunteers. Particular have I looked at the experience with research
in volunteer organisations and the introducing of policies for volunteers and the
thesis’s on that subject.

In beginning of the research, I gathered information via interviews with some

key persons in the organisation. From this information, I made themes, as shown
in fig. 3.1.2, which I translated to measurable hypotheses.

The attention of the organisation for the volunteers

Visible and latent needs and wishes of attention of the volunteers

The needs for attention in the future of the volunteers

The way that the attention of the organisation should be given

The need for professionalizing of the volunteer policy

The relation between the motif to participate and the affinity with the kind of work
of the volunteer

Figure 3.1.2

With hypotheses from the themes in fig 3.1.2, I held a questionnaire with the
present volunteers of the organisation. The result of this research explains that
there is enough support by the present volunteers for introduction of a new HR-
policy and several new HR-instruments. In addition, it became clear that the
partial strategies from the analysis make a perfect connection with the wishes
and needs of the volunteers. A clear example for this is the wish of interviewed
volunteers to professionalize the management of volunteers with a professional
HR-policy and HR-instruments. Eighty-five percent of the respondents agreed
with this.
The results of both researches therefore was a good base for making a strategic
and integrated HR-policy, in which was given special attention for the unpaid
volunteers. This policy however still misses a careful and for this special
organisation made method to become successful.

I found this method in the developed ‘HR-scorecard’ by Becker, Huselid and

Ulrich. (2001) the writers of this method have made this in principal to give a
complementary method to the ‘balanced scorecard’ by Kaplan and Norton. With
the use of this method, it was possible for me to make a concrete HR-policy for
this organisation that aims on the strategic behaviour of its employees.

By developing a so-called “chain of creations’ for the organisation it seemed

possible to make visible what the ‘performance powers’ are. These powers
deliver their share – and therefore their ‘values’ – to the targets of the
organisation.

The speciality of this method is that it works with a principal of ‘system-thinking’.

The base of this is that every activity of each employee a ‘creation of value’ is, as
long as it is a part of the total chain of values. This chain of values is the total
process (system) of creating values in the organisation.

By making these ‘performance powers’ visible and measurable with progress-

indicators it will become clear for everyone that, and how each employee a
creator of value for the organisation is.

One of the important hypotheses of this research is that the (unpaid) employee
often participates from his or her own motif. These motifs are different. When
organisations try to see and recognize these motifs to participate as a
‘performance power’ in the ‘chain of value’ of the organisation, it will be clear
that it is important to make this visible and measurable.

Within the ‘system thinking’, this means that employees can get a clear insight of
their own share in the value creation of the organisation. This gives an answer to
their motifs; it namely gives them satisfaction and therefore a strong ‘reward’.

That is one of the reasons why I used a grouping of motifs in function, as

presented by the scientists Clary and Snyder. (1991)The reason of using this
grouping in the research was that I believe it is necessary to give attention to
this performance power. It is one of the important values in the chain of values
form the organisation. People have needs for rewards or attentions to satisfy
them and to make them give their share to organisations in helping them to
receive the strategic goals. That may be the reason why employees are the most
important shareholders of the organisation! Employees do not only want to be
‘motivated’ by external stimulators like financial rewards or attention by others.
By giving attention to the performance power they deliver, they will get the
stimulants in employing their own (intrinsic) creation of value. In doing this,
there will exists a new reward system, in particular for organisations with
volunteers

In the method of the HR-scorecard, the writers call this the ‘HR structure’. This
structure relies on the use of HR-instruments as ‘possible-makers’ for creating
value. With the introduction of this HR-structure, I will give an answer on the
problem of the organisation.

This seems a simple conclusion, but it is not only a way of changing strategy and
structure, it also asks for a big changing of the culture in the organisation.

In this research and the result of the translation to a HR-scorecard, I asked for a
high level of abstraction. That is the reason why I made a plan for this
organisation how they can introduce the HR-scorecard. In a concrete plan I have
given recommends how to take the steps to make the abstraction concrete. With
this plan, it must be possible to make a successful introduction of the new HR-
structure and HR-policies in the organisation.

I think that In that way the experience from this research is giving a surplus
value to the human resource management. On the one side, it proofs that the
modern human resource management has possibilities for practicing in
organisations with volunteers. On the other side, it shows that these
organisations have some special sights that give them opportunities to increase
the use of the ‘human capital’. By rewarding the motifs of employees, just by
giving it attention within a HR-structure, employees can be stimulated to give
their contribution in the creation of value. That is the reason for the sentence I
gave in the header of the researchpaper:

“Do not try to motivate employees. Just try to reward their motifs!”

With the result of this, research and final project will be that the “Stichting
Ouderenwerk Zutphen” with the introduction of this HR-structure will receive its
targets in the future; I think that this ‘Year of the volunteer’ has given a clear
surplus of value.

To elaborate for this paper on the used research method during this research I
will go deeper in this part.

3.2 RESEARCH ON THE NEEDS AND WISHES OF VOLUNTEER IN A

VOLUNTEER ORGANISATION

3.2.1 INTRODUCTION

The research question for this part of the research I have done is based on the
problem definition and sub questions. During the organizational analyses I have
chosen to look at the problem definition from a theoretical point and from the
view of the organization and the interest of the organization as a whole. For this
part of the research in which I have done a research on the needs and wishes of
the volunteers I have formulated a different research target:

“Getting the insight on the acceptation level of the volunteers for the theoretical
strategies that came out of the organizational analyses. Beside that my second
target is to get an insight on the differences when implementing those strategies
for the volunteers and the paid employees.
On that ground I have in this part looked from the sight and interest of the
volunteer. The reason for this is to get a good insight on the acceptance level
and the form it can be rewarding for the volunteers when implementing the
strategies. The next research question will give for this the needed information:

Which needs and wishes do the volunteers in the organization have concerning
the policy the organization uses for them?

The choice for this, research question is based on preliminary literature study.
The ground for this I will describe; Special attention is given to the motive of the
persons that want to participate in volunteers work en there is also given
attention to the way and form that volunteers can be rewarded

An important hypothesis in this is that the motive to participate in the volunteer

work gives an important insight for the acceptability for a policy and the way the
rewarding and valuing has to be done.

3.2.2 MOTIVES IN THE LITERATURE

The “Why” question of participating by people in volunteer work is already for

ages an important research objective. In the past year different structures and
models have been made to give an indication for dividing and measuring. One of
those differentiations is given by the Dutch researcher Klandermans. (1983)1 on
the base of expectations of the participant.

In a research on participation of people in divers’ social activities he divided three

different motives:

• A collective motif;

(Certain expectations about the social value of the collective wanted goal)

• A social motif;

(Certain expectations regarding new contacts, getting appreciations from

others ... etc.)

• A material motif:

(Making decisions between the expected material costs and benefits)

Another researcher named Verloo (1992) put another motif to these three,
named:

• A solidarity motif;

1 Klandermans, P.G.. Participatie in een sociale beweging. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 1983.
 (The expectation that with more people also more can be done the non its
own... so out of solidarity for each other)

Verloo made as researcher during his researches use of a structure given by

Kanter (1972) who did research in the seventies on participation in communes.
Kanter made a difference in motives based on dimensions of involvement of
individuals with this organisation structure2:

• An instrumental dimension

• An affective dimension (belonging to a group)

• A moral dimension (creating new values).

(Also see: Leijenaar and Niemöller 1994b)3

These two important theoretical views in motives and dimensions show that
there are several perspectives to look at motives. Though to put a relation
between rewarding and valuing for a volunteer I have chosen for a different
perspective as given by the researchers Clary en Snyder (1991)4.

They made a structure and model for motives based on the function that
volunteer work for the participant scan have, as shown in fig. 3.1.

Value-expressive functions

(participation to show social and humanitarian involvement)

Social adapting functions

(participating to meet new people or to get social appreciation)

knowledge functions

(participating to get new knowledge and skills)

ego-defensive functions

(searching for compensation) (cited in Willems 1994: 1915 )

This last function that is more focused on own satisfaction to compensate several
parts for the person: feeling guilty, useful time spending etc...

Fig. 3.2.1 Model for dividing motives in functions. Clary and Snyder (1991)

2 Kanter, R.M., Commitment and community. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 1972.

3 Leijenaar, M.H en B. Niemöller. Participatie in maatschappelijke organisaties. In: P. Dekker (red.).Civil society. Rijswijk/Den

Haag: SCP/VUGA, 1994.

4 Clary, E.G en Snyder, M. . A functional analysis of altruism and pro-social behavior. In: M.S. Clark (red.). Prosocial behavior.

London: Sage, 1991.

5 Willems, L; Burgerzin en vrijwillige zorg. In: P. Dekker (red.). Civil society. Rijswijk/Den Haag:SCP/VUGA, 1994.
This model gave a good starting point for the research The translation to
function of the motive gives a better and moiré clear insight of the value that a
volunteer wants to give then the dividing in dimensions and motifs. This choice
makes it easier to translate the outcome to a rewarding and valuing system.

3.2.2 RESEARCH ON THE WISHES AND NEEDS OF VOLUNTEERS IN THE

LITERATURE

The research question has as mentioned before, a relation with the wishes and
needs of volunteers regarding the policy that the organization uses concerning
their volunteers.

Starting from the point that the motif is a basis for participating in volunteer
work is qualitative approach

The literature shows many problems that arise with that kind of research en it is
even a specific problem.

When answering the questions in questionnaires and interviews there will always
be a subjective approach from the volunteer, coming from that specific motive to
participate in the volunteer work. This will constantly lead to the question if there
can be an "objective’ measuring or these wishes and needs. To make a
responsible decision in this I considered the existing literature on this and looked
for experiences of early researches

In fact this research can be defined as a so called ‘social-scientific’ research.

Important methods to get the needed data in this kind of research are:
observations, analyses of texts and holding interviews. On the base of a model
for this kind of research, give by Leijenaar en Niemöller6 (1994) I used the
following methods;

a. Orientation via observation and text analysis

As a fundamental part to understand the culture in the organisation I have been

regularly present in the organisation. I have had talks with volunteers and
employees and in those talks I oriented myself on the shared values and norms.
During the introduction and implementing of several HR instruments as job-
description, health and safety regulations, etc. I have had several talks with
volunteers and employees.

To get more insight in the used terms and language in volunteer work and the
defined model I have done orienting literature study en studied the existing
papers and policies in the organisation.

By doing this observation and text analysis I had an orienting preparation for the
research method of interviewing and questionnaires. These parts Ii will mention
separate in specific research parts.

6 Uit: Leijenaar, M.H en B. Niemöller. Participatie in maatschappelijke organisaties. In: P. Dekker (red.).Civil society. Rijswijk/Den Haag:

SCP/VUGA, 1994.
 b. Interview

As a preparation for my research I had depth interviews with some key persons
in the organisation. My goal was to develop themes and measurable hypothesis
as a base for a standardised questionnaire for all volunteers in the organisation

These interviews with the key persons have been done in the form of a so called
open-end interview, in which I asked eight formulated and arranged open
“questions to the respondent.

Three important thought were the basic of this approach:

• The importance of the defining of the situation as given by the respondent

self;

• The stimulating of the respondent to give an own structure in opinions

facts, attitude, priorities et\c...

• Till a certain degree letting the respondent decide self which is relevant

The, from these interview coming results I translated all in specific themes. From
these themes I have formulated standardized closed questions in a careful and
uniform way and put into a specific order. In the attachment I explained the
translation from the separate questions in themes and questions

By this approach the answers of a questionnaire for all volunteers within the
given themes were pointed out before. In this kind of questionnaire the
respondents can only give answers within the before, by the key figures given
references frame.

3.3 PRACTICE OF THE RESEARCH

3.3.1 INTERVIEWS

Six different key figures in the organisation were interviewed in separate

interviews that lasted about 230 minutes.

Before the interviews were, as mentioned before eight open question formulated
from the problem definition. These questions were all related to the policy and
the attention that the organization gave to their volunteers.

Every interviewee got these eight questions I a descriptive order on with every
question was make operational with an aspect from the theoretical concept of the
research question. In this way I tried to bring a structure from the past to the
present en after that to the future, in which the respondent the policy and
attention of the volunteers could describe.
To all interviewed persons is before the interview told that the goal of the
interview was aimed at the getting of data for themes and measurable
hypotheses for a questionnaire to the volunteers of the organisation.

In the interviews I tried by in depth questions to get more insight in the wishes
and needs of the volunteers. By making use of this method I got a clear in-depth
sight. Beside that I also got insight in the way the volunteers would like to get
attention from the organisation

3.3.2 RESULTS INTERVIEWS

The answers from all respondents in the interviews are put into a framework
from with. By me the following hypotheses were formulated:

• Attention to the volunteers

In the past is, according to the respondents not enough attention given to the
volunteers.

• Visible and latent needs of the volunteers

There is at the moment according to the respondents less visible needs from
the volunteers for more attention of the organisation for the volunteers.

• The need for attention in the future for the volunteers from the
organisation

Volunteers will need more attention in the future according to the

respondents.

• The way in which that attention from the organisation has to be

given

Volunteers will need, according to the interviewees attention from the

organisation in the form of appreciations, involvement and participation in
talking about the developments in the organisation.

• Need for professionalising of the volunteer policy

Volunteer work can, according to the interviewees been professionalised with

the use of HR instruments and a more structured volunteers policy.

• Relation between motive to participate in the work and the kind of

work the volunteer does

Respondents remark that there are several kinds of type of volunteers and
the kind of work they are participating in.

The cause of this difference is according to the interviewees related with the
motive of the volunteers to participate and the affinity with the work they do.

Before mentioned themes are to be translated into variables put together and
brought into a framework as given in fig.3.3.
 The majority of the present volunteers of the organisation agree that the
organisation at this moment gives enough attention to their volunteers.

The majority of the present volunteers of the organisation agrees that in

the future the organisation have to give more attention to the volunteers

The majority of the present volunteers in the organisation understand

under “professionalising “of the volunteer work the use of using HR
instruments as it also is done for paid employees

The assessment of this hypothesis will be done on the base of the next
hypotheses

• The majority of the present volunteers agrees that there have to

be given other rewards then financial rewards to the volunteers

• The majority of the present volunteers agrees that a Financial

reward for a volunteer is not a good rewarding system

• The majority of the present volunteer agrees that the organisation

can make use of the following (separate_ management
instruments: Individual talks (performance appraisals )Job / task
description;“volunteer contract’ (form of labour contract);
Responsibility and task dividing; Rules and regulations

There is a visible relation between the motive of the volunteer to

participate in the volunteer work and the kind of work the volunteer does
in the organisation.

Fig. 3.3.1 Hypothesis for questionnaire.

Remarks:

Possible difference I will make visible by using a structure in the questionnaire in

which the respondent can make a choice in fact questions about the sort of work
he/ she does and will use this as an independent variable in the assessment of
the opinion question.

The relation between motive and the affinity with the sort of work of the
volunteer I will research by using a structure to dive the motifs. In this way I can
find relations with other facts, used in the opinion questions.

The last mentioned theme 4 about the relation between motif and participation
seems to be hard to measure in a questionnaire. Probably this needs more in
depth research in, for instant in-depth interviews. The goal of putting it in the
questionnaire is to research if there is a visible relation between the motif and
the rewarding. If this is the case I can use this to find a system to implement the
planned theoretical strategies that I got from the organizational analysis. Further
in depth research has to be done and is advisable.

3.3.3 TRANSLATION TO QUESTIONNAIRE

The hypotheses from fig. 3.3.1 are for review in put into a questionnaire for the
present volunteers of the organisation. While dividing the themes and the
measurable hypotheses in the questions I made use of a scheme (see appendix
4c) in which the relation is visible between the theme and the question. The
questionnaire consist of 43 parts, of which three parts are consisting of closed
questions with multiple choice possibilities and one part with open questions

A. Fact questions

The first part consist of fact questions in which, if possible I used independent
variable on which base I can make relations. The last question of this part
consists the dividing in functions for motives as I have described before in fig.
3.1. To pretend that this last theoretical dividing will lead to understanding
problems by the respondents I have chosen to simplify the definitions. Beside
that I gave a possibility to the respondents to mention another category then as
mentioned in the four choices if the respondent could not agree with one of
themes. The translation of this last part.

B. Opinion questions

In this part of the questionnaire the hypothesis from fig 3.3 are showed in two
parts and twenty hypotheses as opinion questions. The respondents are able with
the use of a so called “likert scale” to show in which way they agree with the
hypothesis. I have consciously chosen for a 9 points scale to give the respondent
a free approach to bring in an own level of agreement base don own assumption
and in that way diminishing the chance that the respondent will choose to make
a so called “neutral” choice in between.

C. Personal questions

The hypotheses are as mentioned before, divided into two parts. The first global
part B gives the respondents the possibility to give an opinion about the
hypothesis within the common understanding “The organization and her
volunteers” The second part C is mainly aimed at the understanding of “The
organization and you as volunteer. In this last part the respondent can react
from personal interest and willingness to participate in activities.

D. End questions

The questionnaire ends with three open questions in which the respondent gets
the opportunity to give remarks about the questionnaire or other objectives in
the organisation that not were mentioned in the questionnaire. Then results of
this part will, where necessary be mentioned in a separate meeting with the
management of the organization and in that meeting it can be decided which
attention has to be given to those mentioned remarks or subjects.

3.3.4 THE RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaire is, with a recommendation from the director of the

organisation, an explanation and a return envelope send to the 90 volunteers of
the organisation. In total there have been 61 filled in and useable forms send
back. This makes a response of 67%.

The answers of the respondents are anonymous put in the electronic database
SPSS as variables. While bringing in the date in the database a re-coding of the
results has taken place: For the input of the results of the opinion questions in
part B and C there was an original dividing into 9 variables as shown below:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Totally Totally

agree disagree

This dividing from 1 till 9 has been re-coded to 3 answer categories:

1 - 4 = agree,

5 = neutral

Purpose of this recoding 6 - 9 = disagree.

was to get a more visible
overview. The results of the opinion questions are showed in percentage of the
total number of respondents.

I have made an interconnection between the hypotheses that had a relation with
the implementation of the management instruments (theme 4). This concerns
the questions 8, 11, 12 and 14. These questions correlate with the next given
data:
R E L I A B I L I T Y A N A L Y S I S - S C A L E (A L
P H A)

1. QV8 Rules and regulations

2. Q11 individual talks

3. Q12 getting a mentor

4. Q14 make a written agreement

Correlation Matrix

Q8 Q11 Q12 Q14

QV8 1,0000

Q11 ,3840 1,0000

Q12 ,1935 ,4801 1,0000

Q14 ,3899 ,2823 ,1636 1,0000

N of Cases = 59, 0

By this Reliability Coefficients 4 items

Alpha = , 6188 Standardized item alpha = , 6484

interconnection there has become an overview of the opinions of the respondents

on the implementing of the HR policy with the use of those HR instruments.
The missing values in some of the questionnaires are, where possible mentioned.
When not mentioned they are left out of the counting. There has been not made
any use of averages. The question about the motive in functions (Q7) is, in 4
cases with the use of the definition translated from the given opportunity into
one of the 4 choices.

In fact question 5 is asked to the respondents in which volunteer work the

respondent was participating. This so called ‘multi response’ question showed
afterwards to lead to unclear definitions. To pretend wrong calculations on the
results in which more answers were given I have decided to put these in a
separate part as shown as “more “in the results.

Resuming the answers and remarks in part D of the questionnaire are not taken
into account in this research to measure further. On the average these remarks
were more remarks for the organization; these remarks are put into a separate
file which is presented to the management of the organization with the request
to do further research on those. The complete output of the results of the
questionnaire is showed in a separate appendix, which is not included in this
paper.

Most important results

The most important results from the questionnaire are given below:

Hypothesis 1

The majority of the present volunteers agree that the organisation at this
moment gives enough attention to her volunteers.

2. The organisation has to give more attention to the

volunteers in the future.

60
50
40
30
20
10
in % 0
mee neutr mee
eens aal onee
ns
2. De Stichting moet in de
toekomst meer aandacht
geven aan haar 52.5 16.4 27.9
vrijwilligers.

Fig. 3.3.3a results hypothesis 1.

The majority of the respondents (70, 5 %) shows to agree with the hypothesis
and therefore gives the base for this hypothesis

Hypothesis 2
The majority of the present volunteers agree that there has to be in the future
more attention of the organisation for the volunteers.

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
in %0
mee eens neutraal mee
oneens
3. Vrijwilligers zijn
onbetaalde
medewerkers van de
Stichting en hebben
daarom recht op 77 6.6 11.5
dezelfde aandacht als
de betaalde
medewerkers.

Fig. 3.3.3b results hypothesis 2

In the answering of this hypothesis 52, 5 % of the respondents show to agree

with it.

The zero- hypothesis that the present volunteers agree that there is enough
attention for the volunteers at the moment is agreed in the 1st question. In this
hypothesis it has to be stated that a small majority agrees with this statement.
There is no sign of a significant majority

Hypothesis 3

The present volunteers understand for ‘professionalising of the volunteer work:

the use of professional HR instruments as they are also fused for paid
employees.
 Samenvoeging van alle stellingen over de inzet van HR-instrumenten.

mee oneens

neutraal

mee eens

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

mee eens neutraal mee oneens

Samenvoeging van alle stellingen over
de inzet van HR-instrumenten. 83.6 6.6 8.2

percentage

Fig. 3.3.3c result interconnection of the use of management (HR)-

instruments.

As shown the opinions of the respondents on the separate questions related with
the implementation of professional management instruments for volunteers is
high. The interconnection is made on the base of the part shown in figure 3.3.

In total 85% of the respondents showed to agree with the value of these
instruments. Noticing the statistic correlation of...6484 between those
hypotheses it is shown that the majority of the respondents agrees with the
implementation of those instruments in the organisation. In this way this
hypothesis is confirmed.

Hypothesis 4

There is a relation visible between the motive to participate for the volunteer and
the work he does.

First of all I have looked at the fact questions to the most important motive as
mentioned by the respondent to participate in the volunteer work.
 tijdsinvulling

nieuwe dingen

mensen kennen

ouderen helpen

0 10 20 30 40 50

ouderen helpen mensen kennen nieuwe dingen tijdsinvulling

7. Wat is voor u de belangrijkste
reden geweest om te kiezen voor
45.9 3.3 3.3 45.9
vrijwilligerswerk bij de Stichting
Ouderenwerk?

Fig. 3.3.3d results fact questions 5 (dividing in motives)

From the results of the response on this question it shows that almost 94 % of
the respondents choose for the value-expressive function (ouderen willen helpen)
or the ego-defensive function. (Useful spending of time) The dividing of these
functions is exactly equal. Only 6% of the respondents answers o none of the
other possibilities as motive. On the base of these data I research which relation
there is with question 5, in which the respondents mention which kind of work
they are doing in the organisation.

On the base of statistic data it shows that the measured ‘reliability’ between both
responses is low. (Alpha = .1611) beside that it shows in comparing it in a cross
table with the so called “Pearson chi-square test’, that this give a value of .841.

hi-Square Tests

Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-

sided)

Pearson Chi-Square .834(a) 3 .841 |

Likelihood Ratio .842 3 .840

Linear-by-Linear Association .350 1 .554

N of Valid Cases 54

a. 2 cells (25.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum

expected count is 1.44.

Fig. 3.3.4 Result after making a cross table for Q5 and Q7.
On the base of these results I can conclude that at the moment there is a low
relation between the motive why the respondents participate in volunteer work
and the kind of work they are doing in the organisation. The hypothesis can
herby be confirmed. Two reactions of the respondents on the hypotheses are
notable:

• First, concerning the answers on the hypothesis (Q#) that volunteers have
the same rights as paid employees of the organisation. 81% of the
respondents agreed on that statement.

• Secondly the answers on the statement that volunteers also have to be

pointed at their responsibilities. In this case even 95% of the respondents
pointed out to agree with this statement.

From those both responses it can be related that the respondents see themselves
as fully employees and want to be treated that way. Special is also to announce
that the relation between the answers of the respondents and the opinion
questions in part B and C. Especially concerning the active taking part of a
training or education as volunteer gave a score of 55% en 73% of the
respondents in which they say that this is n0ot the case on themselves. Beside
that 65% of the respondents answers to want to participate in talking about the
policy and with other volunteers to improve the volunteer work.

With these results I have got insight in the needs and wanting of the present
volunteers of the organisation. Looking at the responses it can be said that there
is a case of a representing result in amount of reactions. The goal of this
research is in that way for the greatest part reached and gives enough points to
be worked out in concrete recommendations and actions for the organisation

4. CONCLUSIONS.

The before mentioned theories and approaches show that there are differences in
mindset that can be used in doing research. In using the research methods I
conclude that using pure quantitative methods in the PhD discipline Management
is not a good approach. The theoretical explanation I use in Chapter 2 shows that
it even for me seems to be contradicting to the meaning of management studies
and research in this discipline.

The use of qualitative methods would be more suitable and advised. Studying
this subject and teaching this would, according to me be of more added value for
the PhD study in this discipline management.

Of course this does not exclude the use of Quantitative methods in research.
Moreover the use of this method can be of a great added value for research done
in the discipline management.
If combined in the way as shown in the example I gave I think it can be an
approach that will lead to better and more scientific based research within the
discipline Management

To make use of this it is important that there will not be a contradicting mindset
in which both methods will be seen as opposite. This requires a change of
mindset from student and teachers, but also from researchers themselves

Quantitative and Qualitative methods in research are meant to make research

better.

I agree that my paper is biased in the way that I approach the subject from a
mindset that relates to qualitative research and is seen from a subjective
approach.

It is, as stated in the beginning, not meant to divide both into separate
disciplines. It is meant to build the bridge between both and to combine them
into a useful approach to make research better

My conclusion could be put in one sentence which makes this clear:

Quantitative and qualitative methods are useful for research and they
can both be made of better use if they are combined when that is
needed.
 USED LITERATURE:

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