Chapter 3

3.0 Methodology

This methodology section of the research report describes how the study will be conducted and the methods used to collect and analyse the data. The overall aim of this methodology section is to provide an overview on the methods employed so that a judgment can be made as to how appropriate they are and how valid the data that has been generated is. Throughout the methodology process, it is imperative to remember the question this research is aiming to answer for:

Has the Recession been a significant factor in bringing about change in the recruitment process within the public sector?

Introduction
The recession has affected many HR Processes and new strategies must be developed in order to adapt to the …show more content…

The data is collected and analysed, and as a result the hypothesis is either accepted or rejected, and as a result the theory may be revised (Bryman, 2004).
The Inductive approach starts instead with the analysis of data (Creswell, 2002). From this information, the researcher asks questions in order to identify patterns and create a theory (Creswell, 2003). This is sometimes called the "bottom up" approach (Fisher 2007). Fisher (2007) argues that the inductive approach, by its very nature, is more open-ended and exploratory, especially at the beginning.
Within this study, the purpose of the research is to assess the impact the recession has had on bringing about changes in the recruitment process in the public sector. A conclusion will derive from interviews with staff at recruitment agencies and the analysis of data gathered following the formulation of a research process. Therefore the research will adopt a deductive approach. The process begins with the review of existing knowledge on the subject and following this, a hypothesis is constructed. The research then tests this theory through the collection and analysis of relevant data. * 1.3 Research Method Choices
There are two main choices when deciding the method to collect data – quantitative and qualitative methods (Gratton & Jones, 2004). When broken down to the