CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter is focused on framework or blueprint of research designed, selection of the

most appropriate research method as it affects conclusion from collected data. The
methods of data collection to collect data from target population of LIS professionals in
university libraries of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab are also decided at this stage. At this
moment, techniques for scientific investigation and accurate analysis with useful
interpretation of collected data are also defined.
3.1 SCOPE OF STUDY
While deciding the scope of study, due consideration was paid to certain factors such
as the time and the available resources otherwise handling and manageability of data
would have become too diverse to arrive at any significant conclusion. First of all,
research sites were confined to specific places in north India proportionally to larger
scale. Secondly, university libraries in different disciplines with varied area of
specialization were selected to delimit the diversity of libraries. Finally, to overcome
effects of startup problems, scope of the study is restricted to university libraries, using
library professionalism at an advanced stage .
 Present research is delimited to the university libraries in Delhi, Punjab and
Haryana states of India. There are 21 state and central universities rendering
their services in the respective three states.
 The list of university libraries chosen for the study is given below:
State Central University State University
Delhi 4 5
Haryana 1 5
Punjab 1 5

Central University
1 Delhi University, Delhi (Central University)
2 Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (Central University)
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3 Jamia Mallia Islamia University, New Delhi (Central University)
4 Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (Central University)
5 Central University of Haryana
6 Central University of Punjab
State University-NCT of Delhi
1 Guru Gobind Singh IndraprasthaVishwavidyalaya, Delhi
2 Ambedakar University
3 Delhi Technological University
4 National Law University
5 Inderprastha Institute of Information Institute
Haryana
1 Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa
2 ChaudharyCharan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar
3 Guru Jhambeshwar University, Hisar
4 Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
5 Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak
Punjab
1 Baba Farid University of Health & Medical Sciences, Kotkapura, Faridkot
2 Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
3 Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
4 Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar
5 Punjabi University, Patiala
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
The aim of the present study is to investigate relevance of change to ensure library‟s
survival in the digital age and the extent to which change management techniques have
been used to shape the expected change in order to attain desired results. More
specifically, the research aimed to describe what motivational measures are being used
during change for transformation of university libraries in the present era. Both primary
and secondary data sources are used in order to get views of university library
professionals on role of change and motivational factors. Objectives of this research is
two-fold, first to find out how change in library effects its existence in rapidly changing
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digitized environment, workers' motivation at work, and second it benefits library
managers in steering motivated employees towards a common goal of introduced
change. This research strives to find how change impacts different personalities in order
for management to come up with clear solutions to improve working conditions and
thereby better performance to achieve the objectives of the anticipated change. It also
gives opportunity to the management to get acquainted with workers‟ views regarding
acceptance or resistance to change and indicates how to overcome possible problems
and develop skills to have employees' motivation better.
The goal of the theoretical part is to study the nature and kinds of change, what change
management is and different management approaches towards change. Also it tries to
study the impact of change on employees' motivation; how changes in employees'
motivation affect their daily work and some suggestions for library managers to help
workers stay motivated during change. Theoretical part of thesis relies on many
secondary sources gathered from literature review i.e. books, articles and other reliable
online sources.
This study uses realism as the main research philosophy, but some interpretive approach
is not out of question. It has inductive approach which is descriptive in nature.
The empirical part concentrates on finding out the current situation of university
libraries of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab and gives suggestions on how to improve them.
Information is gathered from two categories, the one consisting of librarians, deputy
librarians and assistant librarians responsible for core management and administrative
functions and the other consisting of professionals and semi-professionals working in
different sections of library responsible for actual implementation of framed action
plans.
3.3 SAMPLING
The sample of present study consists of nearly two hundred seventy nine university LIS
professionals belonging to different genders, different job status and varied experience
level. The sample was selected from a common data pool created by the researcher on
the basis of information available from universities websites on internet. The convenient
sampling method was adopted to collect the data from two hundred seventy nine
professionals of which two hundred eighteen can be contacted over a period of fifteen
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months fully devoted to data collection process. Of these thirty one professionals did
not fill given questionnaire at all or filled it very casually having only extreme values.
Hence, these professionals were dropped and one hundred eighty seven respondents
were found valid for research purpose.
3.4 RESEARCH DATA AND DATA COLLECTION
As Ghauri and Gronhaug (2002) mention research is a process of planning and
investigating the answers to specific questions. Research methods are used in specific
manners to get answers to research questions based on that information.
Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered by means of survey and personal
interviews. Quantitative data can be presented numerically or classified by assigned
numerical value, while qualitative data is in form of descriptive account of observation
or data which is classified by type. (Ghosh and Chopra, 2003)
Survey was chosen as one of the main methods to collect data from the respondents,
because it makes an accurate, impartial collection as well as presentation of facts and
gives result of careful observation and not of hearsay.
The biggest advantage of quantitative survey is being in form of numbers, which can be
easily analyzed using standard statistical techniques. It also allows collection and
analysis of large amounts of data more efficiently than qualitative method. It includes
some open-ended questions where respondents can freely express their opinions in their
own language. Quantitative method is not enough for this research, because quantitative
method looks for facts; it does not cover understanding behavior of people in certain
situations. Feelings and behavior cannot come in numbers; and quantitative method is
limited to obstructive and controlled measurements. It cannot include uncontrolled
observations, which are very helpful in study of behavior. Adding open questions to
survey data collection allows gathering not only quantitative data, but also valuable
qualitative information for thorough analysis. In addition to survey, observation of
professionals working at different job status and providing services to different sections
of university libraries was also used for studying present working conditions, the kinds
of changes that have been introduced in various house-keeping activities of library and
attitude of professional towards introduced or anticipated changes and the shift in level
of motivation.
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 Interview of library managers was selected as another method of data collection. The
method gives an opportunity to precisely study subject in its natural environment
(Karisson, 2002). It is an invincible weapon of survey and is one of the most important,
efficient and effective method of collecting facts for surveys. Interview has theme
which proceeds within chosen topic, but during the interview there is a high chance of
further discussion of the topic to gain better understanding of the situation. .Lahtinen et
al (1995) stated that one of the strengths of the theme interview is possibility to
carefully prepare questions beforehand but there still is a strong element of discovery. It
proves more effective tool in eliciting facts or data and other relevant information.
Main reason for choosing both survey and interview as research methods enables to
compare results of survey and interview with the library professionals to find out if they
both are steering to the same direction, what change management practices work best to
keep employees' motivation positive during change, finding out gaps if they exist to
take remedial measures for future.
3.5 RESEARCH PROCEDURES
The present investigation was designed keeping in mind quantitative research theories.
The main aim of survey is to find out whether workers' motivation has changed during
change, what caused certain changes and reactions in their behavior, what keeps them
motivated or demotivated during change as well as how to develop further strategies in
helping employees interested and enthusiastic, actively participate in actual
implementation of required action plans during change. Theoretical background rests on
the viewpoints of change management and employees motivation/reaction during
change.
Survey was carried out by using questionnaires. Questions in questionnaire were
arranged in logical order to keep respondents interested. In survey categorical response
format and metric response format were used to make it simple and easy to understand.
Multiple choice questions were added to give respondents options to choose from. Each
question's structure and wording was carefully examined to avoid positive and negative
emotions as well as strong expectations.
Target group for survey was two hundred seventy nine professionals of university
libraries in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. Questionnaires were delivered by personally
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visiting the respective university library, explaining the professionals about the purpose
of research and requesting them to fill the questionnaires. Some professional filled
given questionnaire within short period same day, some kept it and returned the same
next day after filling it while some professionals sent the filled questionnaires through
mail or by post. Questionnaire was also sent/available on Google form hence; many
professional sent their response through Google form/ e-mails. Participation was
voluntary.
Respondents were also explained the nature of study and earnest need of their
participation to make this research relevant one. They were informed about the
necessary material sent to them through mail/post. Moreover, professionals were
assured that their responses would be kept full confidential by the researcher and a
summary of final results would be sent to them later on. All this was done to ensure
maximum participation of university library professionals in the study to get more
authentic and reliable results.
Research procedures also included interviews with library professionals on the theme of
changes introduced in their working environment, their techniques to handle required
changes, leadership and communication issues during change implementation and so
on. Most primarily, interview was conducted to find out what approaches were taken in
motivating manpower going through change and whether these approaches were
approved by employees. Hence, in addition to structured questionnaire, efforts were
made to get qualitative response and spontaneous reactions also so as finding can be
interpreted in the light of respondents‟ personal experiences also.
Generally speaking, interviews and surveys were linked together to find out
professionals‟ response to change and to know if library managers/professionals were
effectively managing them. Interviews also aimed at finding out what management
styles have helped managers to stay motivated during change for transformation of
library and information services in the present technical era.
3.6 QUESTIONNAIRE
Adequate questionnaire is critical to the success of a survey.
It is a series of questions asked to target set of individuals to obtain statistically useful
information about the selected topic of research. When properly constructed and
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responsibly administered, questionnaire becomes a vital instrument by which statements
can be made about specific groups, or people, or entire population. It is a valuable
method of collecting a wide range of information from a large number of individuals,
often referred to as respondents who have to answer the questions on their own.
Advantages of questionnaire method are
i) Questionnaire is easy to administer when the universe is large and is widely spread
geographically.
ii) It is free from biasness of interviewer as respondents are free to answer in their own
words.
iii) Respondents have sufficient time to give well thought response.
iv) Samples can be made large to get more dependable and reliable results.
3.7 QUESTIONNAIRE DEVELOPMENT
For the purpose of study, a structured questionnaire containing variety of questions
regarding lifestyle or demographic characteristics of library professionals, their
behavior, attitudes, intentions, change strategy, level of motivation was designed so as
to achieve the pre-determined research objectives.
For the purpose of present study a questionnaire (Appendix) related to trends of change,
change management practices and motivational approaches adopted by library
managers to keep employees motivated during change is developed. It is designed to
measure the attitude (open or resistance) of library managers/professionals towards
change, their first reaction to change, communication / leadership issues during change
and motivational factors for transformation of library and information services in
present era. Both closed-ended (Yes/No options, MCQ and Likert scaled) questions
with open-ended questions were asked to get the maximum outcome from the
respondents. In close-ended questions, each question had fixed alternatives. Respondent
had to select one of the alternatives which he/she felt close to the accurate answer.
Questionnaire asks the professionals to respond on a scale by using five-point Likert
scale i.e. strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree. The questions
were arranged in systematic order to make purpose of research study more clear to
concerned respondents.

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Full consideration is paid to the types of questions, wording of questions to make them
easily understandable, correct ordering of questions, proper scaling and appropriate
format of the questionnaire so that it can accurately reflect the views and opinions of the
participants. To check and making sure that questionnaire is accurately capturing the
intended information, it was pretested among a smaller subset of target respondents and
the feedback was used to refine its final format . The final questionnaire consisted of
thirty six questions, some with subsections.
In questionnaire, the questions were grouped around four basic sections. Section one
consists of demographic data aiming to depict the personal profile of the respondents
pertaining to their age, gender, qualification (both academic and professional), job
status and working experience. Section two of the questionnaire consists of questions
that could help identifying the nature of introduced change, change pattern, factors
responsible for library environmental and leadership changes, change management
practices being followed in that particular university library. It aims to examine
librarians‟ view towards the forthcoming change in their library. Part three of the
questionnaire could help in identifying librarians‟ perceptions on the use of change
management principles and the motivational approaches in libraries in general. It is
aimed to investigate the degree to which change management approaches and
motivation theories being followed by the librarians in running and managing work
force during change. Questions asked in questionnaire try to trace the importance of
various motivational factors being part of change management. It also tries to determine
the different factors that demotivate professionals and hence give resistance to change.
Section four consists of three questions. It aimed to investigate methods and techniques
used to measure the degree of accomplishment of desired results from implemented
change and remedial actions for better performance in future by systematic revision and
adaptation of change. The last question in form of general comments is an open-ended
question gives a chance to professionals to present their opinions regarding importance
of change and change management principles for survival of libraries in competitive
world and the various approaches to adapt to introduce changes.
Respondents were informed about confidential and anonymous character of the survey.
The results obtained are intended to be presented for the consideration of library
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managers to enhance organization as well as management of change, its successful
adaptation to ensure library survival in digital age and level of motivation of library
professionals during introduction of desired changes.
3.8 PILOT STUDY
Before using the developed questionnaire on target group of university library
professionals, a pilot study (pilot survey) was conducted to test the questionnaire. Pilot
survey is in fact the replica or rehearsal of the main survey hence, the significance of
pre-testing questionnaire through pilot study was felt before actual survey.
About thirty questionnaires were distributed among professionals of academic libraries
working at different cadre in district Kurukshetra. Researcher visited the concerned
library, informed professionals about purpose of study and requested them to fill the
questionnaire. Respondents were also asked to give remarks at the end of questionnaire.
Most of respondents didn‟t face any kind of problem in understanding the correct
meaning of questions and felt comfortable in filling the questionnaire. Comments at the
end helped a lot in bringing to the light the weaknesses of the questionnaire and also of
the survey techniques. From the experiences gained through pilot study, required
improvements were made in the final structure of questionnaire.
3.9 DATA PREPARATION
After collecting data by means of both quantitative and qualitative measures, data
preparation began by checking or logging the data in, checking the collected
questionnaires regarding their completeness and accuracy to do a comprehensive data
analysis and processing. Poor quality analysis and processing may result in unreliable
and incorrect data results, hence data preparation is necessary for successful data
interpretation.
As a part of data preparation, efforts were made to get answers to several questions such
as:
 Are all questions answered?
 Are the responses readable?
 Are the responses complete?
It primarily involves entering the gathered data into computer through Microsoft excel
sheets so as to integrate the various measures by developing and documenting a
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database structure. At this time researcher developed a database by using standard
statistical programs to assess at any time what data was already in and what was still
outstanding. To maintain higher accuracy rate, stress was given on discarding
incomplete responses, desecration of assumptions regarding data analysis techniques for
interpretation of results.
3.10 DATA ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS
After the data was collected, standard statistical tools and techniques with help of
computer were used to drive important information to come to a conclusion. Responses
to variables of different questions in questionnaire were obtained on Likert-Scale and
were rated with numerical value 1 to 5. The variables were analyzed through descriptive
statistics techniques such as mean, mode, median, range, standard deviation etc. The
formulated hypothesis were tested by statistical software SPSS (Statistical Package for
Social Sciences) and MS Excel using Statistical techniques like frequency distribution
(Histogram in Excel), correlation, coefficient of variation, ANOVA(Analysis of
Variance), F-test etc. Significance value is compared with p value (probability value), if
p-value lies less than 0.05 it shows significant difference in variables and it results into
rejection of the formulated hypothesis whereas if p-value comes higher than 0.05 it
leads to acceptance of respective hypothesis with no difference in variables .
3.10 (i) Frequency Distribution (Histogram in Excel)
Frequency distribution is a simple data analysis technique to get a big view of the
collected data. It allows to reveal how frequently specific value is obtained and what is
its percentage for the same variable. For instance, frequency distribution can be used for
variable „age‟ to figure out how many people in the survey are aged 18-25 and how
many are aged 26-33 etc. It is a great tool in Excel to identify frequency distribution.
3.10 (ii) Descriptive Statistics
Frequency of the observed values can be obtained by frequency distribution but
measures of central tendency and dispersion are used to learn more about the data for
the same variable. Mean, mode and median are three measures of central tendency.
Mean is an average of the total scores of each variable to describe the characteristic of
the entire population and is the most popular statistical technique. Median is a middle
value when number of observations is odd or is the average of two observations in the
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middle when the number of observations is even. Mode is most occurring value and is
useful to find most popular item of survey.
Range and standard deviation are the two measures of dispersion. Range is the
difference between highest and lowest value of the variable. The bigger the range, the
bigger is standard deviation and the values of variable are more dispersed. Standard
deviation shows the variation of values from mean. Variance is average of squared
difference from mean and standard deviation is the square root of variance.
3.10 (iii) ANOVA test
ANOVA (analysis of variance) test was developed by Ronald Fisher in 1918 as an
extension of t-test and z-test to test the variance among more than two variables at a
time. ANOVA enables to test several null hypotheses at the same time. These ANOVA
is being used in many ways by the researchers such as one way ANOVA, two way
ANOVA and N way Multivariate ANOVA. It also helps in testing several assumptions
made by researcher regarding characteristics of sample. These days researchers have
extended ANOVA in MANOVA (multivariate analysis of variance) and
ANCOVA (Analysis of co -variance). In the present study, for data analysis
purpose ANOVA test was employed to test null hypothesis.
3.10 (iv) Chi-square (χ2) Test
Chi-square test is a simple and most widely used non-parametric test in statistical work.
Chi-square tests are actually used on actual numbers and not on percentage, mean,
proportion etc. It is intended to compare observed data with the data one likes to obtain
according to the formulated hypothesis. Chi-square test helps to find that the difference
between observed and expected values is significant or they arise due to fluctuations of
sampling. It identifies „goodness of fit‟ between observed and expected i.e. the
deviation (difference between observed and expected) is the result of chance or due to
some other factors. Chi-square test always checks null hypothesis, which states that
there is no significant difference between observed and expected result. It is the sum of
squared difference between observed (o) and expected (e) frequencies divided by the
expected frequencies. χ2 test is used mainly to find whether two attributes are associated
or not i.e. whether one attribute is independent of other. It is also useful for testing
homogeneity i.e. to determine whether different sample come from same population and
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further it is used for testing whether given population variance is acceptable on the basis
of sample drawn from population.

3.11 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

There are obvious some limitations in the present study also.
 Due to constraints of limited resources and time, the scope of study was
confined to only central and state university libraries of Delhi, Haryana and
Punjab.
 Though change is an essential element for survival of every kind of library yet
special libraries, school libraries, college libraries and public libraries were not
included.
 While designing the research, researcher decided to deal with library
professionals up to the professional assistant cadre.
Notwithstanding these limitations, present study does have much relevant
significance. Indeed, it introduces scholars to change management issues and
role of motivational factors being introduced by libraries in the modern dynamic
information environment.

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3.12 REFERENCES
Ghauri, Pervez N., and Kjell Grønhaug. Research Methods in Business Studies: A
Practical Guide. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002.

Ghosh, B. N., and Parvesh K. Chopra. A Dictionary of Research Methods. Leeds,

England: Wisdom House, 2003.

Karisson, C. Special issue on research methodology in operations management.

Emerald group publishing, 2002.

Lahtinen, Jukka, and Antti Isoviita. Customer Relationship Marketing. Tampere:

Avaintulos, 1994.

Maddock, Richard C. Motivation, Emotions, and Leadership: The Silent Side of

Management. Westport, Conn: Quorum, 1998.

Pugh, Lyndon. Change Management in Information Services. Aldershot, Hampshire,

England: Ashgate, 2007.

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