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PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 121

stress-free work relationships, job satisfaction, work role involvement, and other
work-related factors. Current thinking is that the concept quality of work life is
too narrow and limited to be useful for research and that the concept quality of
life is more encompassing since work and nonwork cannot be viewed as two
tightly compartmentalized aspects of an individual’s life. Current research now
takes both the work and nonwork factors (family, community, etc.) into consid-
eration while examining quality of life. This advancement of knowledge would
not have been possible without the initial exploratory studies.
Currently, exploratory studies about organizationally relevant differences in
race, ethnic, and country origins are being undertaken so that sound theories
about managing a diverse work group can be evolved for the future. Such
exploratory studies are necessary since we do not now know if there are differ-
ences in communication styles, interpretation schemas, superior–subordinate
relationship expectations, and the like, among the groups. If conflict and stress
in the system are to be reduced and productivity is to be maintained and
increased in the years to come, such understanding would be essential. The
demographics of the workplace are constantly changing, and learning to value
differences and adopting new styles of management are important to organiza-
tional success.
Exploratory studies can be done by interviewing individuals and through focus
groups. For instance, if a company manufacturing cosmetics wants to obtain a
thorough understanding of what it is that arouses emotive appeal for the prod-
uct and induces people to buy cosmetics, several focus groups can be convened
to discuss the related issues. This exploratory study will offer the needed pre-
liminary information for a full-fledged study on the matter, later. With the
advancement of technology, the Internet and videoconferencing facilities offer
the advantage of contacting focus groups online at minimal cost. An analysis of
their views would be very useful for a further in-depth study. Focus groups are
discussed further in a later chapter.
It is important to note that doing a study for the first time in a particular organi-
zation does not make the research exploratory in nature; only when knowledge is
scant and a deeper understanding is sought, does the study become exploratory.

Descriptive Study

A descriptive study is undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to describe
the characteristics of the variables of interest in a situation. For instance, a study
of a class in terms of the percentage of members who are in their senior and
junior years, sex composition, age groupings, number of semesters left until
graduation, and number of business courses taken, can be considered as descrip-
tive in nature. Quite frequently, descriptive studies are undertaken in organiza-
tions to learn about and describe the characteristics of a group of employees, as
for example, the age, educational level, job status, and length of service of His-
panics or Asians, working in the system. Descriptive studies are also undertaken
to understand the characteristics of organizations that follow certain common
practices. For example, one might want to know and be able to describe the