University Research Methods

A sequential mixed-methods design would be suitable. A survey could compare working patterns and perceived productivity across a larger employee sample, followed by interviews exploring why home and office arrangements affect focus, communication and motivation. Objective indicators such as project completion or response times should be included where firms can provide them. A major limitation is self-report bias because employees may overstate productivity. Triangulating survey responses with objective measures would reduce, although not eliminate, this weakness.

The method is a convenience sample and is likely to suffer from self-selection and coverage bias. Members of one group may share demographic or political characteristics that differ from the wider population of social-media users, so prevalence estimates would not be generalisable. The researcher should define the target population and recruit across several platforms and user groups using stratified quotas for relevant characteristics. If probability sampling is not feasible, the limitations should be reported and claims restricted to the sampled communities.

The before-and-after design cannot confidently attribute any improvement to the training because performance may also change through experience, seasonal workload or management intervention. A stronger design would compare the trained group with a similar group that does not initially receive the training, ideally using random allocation where practical. The same performance measure and observation period should be used for both groups. This would improve internal validity by separating the effect of training from other changes over time.