06-05-2013, 03:31 PM
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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INTRODUCTION
This chapter details out the research methodology for the present study. It explains the research objectives and a suitable methodology to achieve those objectives. The objectives of this study were to identify and explore the project specific risk dimensions affecting the software projects in India. This involved an exhaustive study of the demographic characteristics and details of the projects handled by the respondents; exploration of the risk dimensions, and then comparison of these dimensions across the various personal and project characteristics. Second, was the identification and exploration of the organizational climate dimensions that are present in the Indian software companies. This was done by detecting the factors through field survey and comparing them across the demographics and project characteristics. Third, the moderating effect of demographic characteristics and organizational climate factors on the project specific risk factors was studied through regression analysis. In addition the study also assessed the impact of risk factors and organizational climate factors on the success and the three performance constructs of success namely budget, schedule and quality separately. This was followed by model validation through four case studies involving post-mortem analysis of the projects undertaken by the Indian software companies. The research methodology has to be robust in order to minimize errors in data collection and analysis. Owing to this, various methodologies namely survey, interview (telephonic, structured and unstructured) and case study were chosen for data collection. This chapter describes the pilot study, participants of the study, instrumentation done for the study, data collection, and data analysis procedures of the entire study.
PILOT STUDY
The pilot study formed the pedestal for the research. It was conducted on 40 software project managers working in various software companies in NCR region. They were asked to list down the various risks that they have faced during the Software Development Lifecycle while executing the project. Through, the pilot survey, a list of 23 project specific risk items were identified and used for the study. Furthermore, the project managers were also asked to identify and rate the organizational climate factors which they perceive were present during the execution of the software projects and based on their perception, a list of 17 items of organizational climate was obtained and used for the survey. Based on the findings of this pilot study, the survey instrument was designed. The detailed description of the instrument is discussed in section 3.4.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The exploratory and descriptive research design was adopted due to the nature of the study. Exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. Exploratory research is a type of research conducted because a problem has not been clearly defined. Exploratory research helps to determine the best research design, data collection method and selection of subjects. While descriptive research, also known as statistical research, describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. Descriptive research answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. Thus, on the basis of the above, the two research designs were appropriate for the present study as it was important to gauge the various project specific risks that impact the software projects and also understand the dynamics of organization’s climate on these software projects.
INSTRUMENTATION
For effective and flawless data collection, survey, interview and case study methods were extensively used. Survey method is the most extensively used technique for data collection, especially in behavioral sciences [198], while interviews are an appropriate method to use when exploring practitioners perspectives due to the qualitative nature of the information [199]. Case study methods are used for an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or an event. It provides a systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the results [200]. Thus, these methods have been widely used to extract the most relevant information and help in better analysis of the data.
DATA COLLECTION
The study aimed at employees working in the software and service companies in India. For the data collection 32 companies were selected randomly from the four major IT hubs of India viz. NCR (Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad), Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, eight from each hub through random sampling. A total of 900 questionnaires were sent to these 32 companies with a request to get these filled from the software professionals having an experience of more than 4 years of handling software projects (preferably project managers and above). First reminder was sent after 15 days of the first email followed by second reminder with the gap of 15 days. Some of the companies were very helpful and distributed the questionnaire to all the project lead, managers and directors. While for other companies emails and telephone was extensively used to make them understand the purpose of the research and assure them that the data so provided will be used only for academic research. Information was finally gathered through questionnaire and telephonic interviews were also held in order to substantiate the data gathered. Senior project managers and Directors of some of the companies were also contacted individually to build rapport and gauge their understanding about project specific risks and organizational climate. Only 340 filled in questionnaires were received out of which only 300 were found to be fully filled in, the rest 40 were discarded due to incomplete information. Thus, with the unconditional assistance of various associates, data was collected comfortably from the respondents working in the selected software companies.
DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 was religiously used for the statistical analyses. Coding of variables in quantitative research is very critical for better interpretation of results. Age, total experience, designation, team size, total duration and total value of the project were all coded and were entered in to the computer. The questions and responses were coded and entered in the computer using Microsoft Excel software. Required analysis was done with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences 17.0 Version. Certain statistical methods were applied on the data to get the results which were analyzed. The procedures used for the analysis of the research questions of this study are described below.