Week2 Summary of Qualitative Research Article
Topic: Enhancing Cyber Security In Healthcare -With The Help Of Machine Learning (topic from week1)
Overview: We will focus on writing a scholarly summary of a qualitative journal. More information about writing a summary can be found via the web resource “Writing Scholarly Abstracts.” Since the purpose of this summary is to summarize, there should not be any direct copying and pasting from the original article.
Directions:
– Create a 2 page single-spaced Analysis of Research summary published qualitative scholarly article related to your mock dissertation topic/research question from week 1.
– Brevity and being concise are important as this analysis is intended to be a brief summation of the research.
- Use of proper APA formatting and citations. If supporting evidence from outside resources is used those must be properly cited.
– A minimum of two scholarly journal articles.
– Writing should use exceptional language that skillfully communicates meaning to the readers with clarity and fluency and is virtually error-free.
Each summary must therefore consist of the following in this order:
1. Bibliographic Citation – use the correctly formatted APA style citation for the work as the title of your abstract, displaying the full citation in bold font.
2. Author Qualifications – name and qualification of each author conducting the research
3. Research Concern – one paragraph summary of the reason for the overall research topic
4. Research Purpose Statement AND Research Questions or Hypotheses – specific focus of the research
5. Precedent Literature – key literature used in proposing the needed research (not the full bibliography or reference list)
6. Research Methodology – description of the population, sample, and data gathering techniques used in the research
7. Instrumentation – description of the tools used to gather data (surveys, tests, interviews, etc.)
8. Findings – summation of what the research discovered and the types of analysis that were used to describe the findings (tables, figures, and statistical measures)
Sample document – attached for reference
Note: plagiarism check required, APA7 format, include References, within 8hrs
QUALITATIVE ABSTRACT ASSIGNMENT 2.2 1
Bibliographic Citation
Barnes, L.L., & Spangenburg, J.M. (2018). When leadership fails: A view from the lens of
four employees. American Journal of Business Education, 11(3), 49-54.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1185098
Authors
Dr. Laurie Barnes, Liberty University, Professor of Business Management, Leadership, and
Psychology; Dr. Janice Spangenburg, Liberty University, Administration.
Research Concern
This study seeks to determine what occurs when leaders in an organization are abusive or
neglectful of their employees. Often leadership changes happen rapidly in organizations and
when those leaders do not develop styles or qualities that show they value the hard work, loyalty,
and happiness of their employees, it can lead to a breakdown in the organization over time.
Employees discuss the impact poor leadership has had on their job satisfaction and, conversely,
how developing a positive culture in an organization can create an encouraging work
environment. Though there is much research available on leadership styles and qualities, this
study seeks to look at it from the perspective of employees via interviews and posits that perhaps
the best judges of what makes a great organizational leader are the employees who will be being
led.
Research Purpose Statement
A negative work environment does not just impact the efficacy of an organization, it can also
have a significant impact on the professional and personal lives of the employees who work for
incompetent or abusive leaders. Researchers have been working for years to prove the
correlation between poor leadership and poor organizational structure. Theoretical studies show
that leaders who do not represent and display the mission and values of the companies they
serve, will drive employees away. The reality is that many employees will continue to work
even in the worst of situations because they often don’t have as many choices as people often
assume. The unfortunate effects that can often come from these situations is that employees will
feel undervalued, unsuccessful, unhappy, and unfulfilled. In an organization that has poor
leadership and unhappy employees, it is impossible for the organization to ultimately be
successful. With the information gained from this study, the researchers hoped to answer the
following questions:
1. How does abusive leader behavior impact an employee’s happiness or efficiency?
2. How does an employee’s experiences impact their perceptions of the organization as a
whole?
3. What specific changes in leader behavior would best benefit the employees of a
company?
QUALITATIVE ABSTRACT ASSIGNMENT 2.2 2
Precedent Literature
Much of the literature that exists about how employers treat employees is written around the
aspect of justice and fairness, and there is plenty out there. Certainly, employees would be the
most relevant arbiters of whether or not they are treated fairly at work, but often employees do
not have the same experiences (Joseph, 2022). That is what lies at the heart of justice and
fairness research, that employers should treat their employees in the most fair and just ways.
When an employer is abusive to an employee, however, it might not actually mean the employer
is always abusive or abusive to all employees (Smith, 2020; Anklin, 2019). To have that kind of
situation, it only actually requires the employer and one employee to experience an adverse
scenario. Every employee has an immediate supervisor, and if that leader abuses their
employees, it can have far-reaching impacts on multiple levels of the organization (Anklin,
2019). Abuse can also be subtle and happen in varying degrees, so it is not always recognizable
except by the employee to whom it is actually happening (Vary, 2023; Janson, 2022, Foresight,
2020). The preponderance of the literature bears out that the major contributing factor to
employee happiness and organizational efficiency is directly related to the ability of the leaders
to be good leaders.
Methodology
The process started with emails sent to 156 employees in three different companies that represent
three different industries. The emails were sent only to employees – no persons who held
supervisory roles were included. The employees were guaranteed anonymity and were asked to
reply to the email if they had ever experienced a situation where they felt a supervisor had been
abusive to them. Of the 156 employees, emailed, 84 responded, and only 10 indicated that they
had experienced abusive treatment at the hands of a supervisor in their company. Of those 10
employees, four were interviewed to gain more detailed responses. They were asked the
following five questions:
1. Describe the scenario in which you perceived that you were the victim of abusive
leadership, including the actions of the leader.
2. Did this change your perception of your leader and/or the organization? Explain.
3. How did you respond to the situation?
4. Have things improved since this scenario? Explain
5. From your perspective, what changes in leader behavior would have been most helpful?
(p. 51)
Instrumentation
Once the four employees who had consented to be interviewed were identified, the researchers
met with each one to ask the interview questions. They were told that their responses would be
kept completely confidential and that they could give as little or as much detail as they wished.
The researchers then wrote up their findings in summary form based on the transcripts from the
interviews.
QUALITATIVE ABSTRACT ASSIGNMENT 2.2 3
Findings
The four respondents reported incidents where they were deliberately excluded, lied to,
humiliated, and intimidated by their supervisors. In each case, the employee spoke about not
being able to trust their leaders. Most of them had been with their organizations far longer than
the supervisors who had abused them. Each of them still works for the organization in question,
as well, but their trust has been eroded. For the most part the employees who had been
deliberately left out of meetings had found ways around the abuse, but the employee who was
essentially stalked and spied upon is still dealing with issues of feeling “beaten down” and has a
strong dislike for the supervisor. Each of these situations led to the employees feeling treated
very abusively by their supervisors, and though they have stayed with the companies, it mostly
arises from a desire to continue to work with their co-workers or because they still believe in the
overarching mission/vision of the company.
Conclusions
Employees in any organization are looking for their work to feel meaningful and relevant to the
organization, but abusive leaders can cause employees to feel unworthy, unsuccessful, and
unnecessarily stressed. As research continues to be conducted in this field, it is important to
understand that employee satisfaction should be part of any company’s mission and vision.
Unfortunately, abusive leaders exist in every organization across all different types of
companies. The hope is that by continuing to tell these stories and give the employees’ a voice,
the awareness can effect change in what is acceptable and appropriate for leaders in any
organization. Organizations must take a proactive role in hiring or training leaders who will treat
their employees well.
Suggestions for Further Research
This was a very short research project, and it was definitely agreed that more research is needed,
especially as it pertains to learning from employees about their perceptions and experiences of
their supervisors. Other research about leadership styles, especially as it regards to just, ethical,
and authentic leadership as opposed to authoritative leadership and how each of those leadership
styles will affect the employee satisfaction.