Dr. Awais e Siraj Managing Director Genzee Solutions, A Strategy, Balanced Scorecard, Scenario Planning, Competency Based Human Resource Management Consulting Company

1. Advantages
and
Disadvantages
of
the
‘Distance’
that
Quantitative
Research
Establishes
Between
the
Researcher
and
the
Researched?
By
Dr.
Awais
e
Siraj
Managing
Director
Genzee
Solutions
Islamabad
Pakistan
In
2003,
first
Beta
Interferon
was
launched
in
Pakistan
used
for
the
treatment
of
Multiple
Sclerosis.
Till
that
time,
Multiple
Sclerosis
was
not
taken
very
seriously
by
physicians
as
well
as
patients.
The
common
belief
was
that
it
does
not
exist
in
this
part
of
the
world
and
even
if
it
does,
it
is
not
possible
to
offer
a
solution.
There
was
no
market
data
as
the
‘market’
did
not
exist.
There
were
no
formal
studies
of
incidence
and
prevalence,
only
stories
and
anecdotes.
One
story
goes
like
this:
“Yasmin
was
a
great
student
of
arts
and
textile
designing.
Since
her
childhood
she
was
also
active
in
sports
and
always
won
medals
in
100
meters
and
400
meters
events.
She
represented
her
college
in
many
competitions
and
brought
name
and
fame
for
herself,
institution
and
her
parents.
On
21
August
1997,
she
started
feeling
numbness
and
loss
of
power
in
her
left
hand.
She
just
ignored
it.
Then
in
the
evening,
when
she
started
her
daily
routine
of
studies,
she
could
see
only
half
of
the
page.
The
other
half
was
blurred.
Next
day,
her
father
took
her
to
a
GP
who
prescribed
certain
multivitamins
and
described
it
as
‘exam
pressure,
you
know’.
They
came
back
and
she
recouped.
After
a
week,
right
on
the
dinner
table
she
fainted
and
had
to
be
immediately
rushed
to
the
hospital.
This
time,
she
was
lucky
to
be
seen
by
a
‘specialist’
who
performed
a
series
of
tests
and
also
got
an
MRI
scan.
He
immediately
put
her
on
steroids
for
four
days.
On
the
third
day,
he
announced
much
to
the
anxiety
and
ignorance
of
her
bamboozled
parents
that
she
has
some
signs
of
‘demyelination’
in
her
brain
and
that
she
is
suffering
from
a
disease
called
Multiple
Sclerosis
which
is
rare
in
Pakistan
but
still
exists.
She
will
have
to
use
some
kind
of
injections
called
Beta
Interferons
for
the
rest
of
her
life.
“These
injections
are
currently
not
available
in
Pakistan
and
you
will
have
to
get
them
from
somewhere.
They
are
very
expensive”,
informed
their
well
reputed
and
well
informed
neurologist.
“Yasmin’s
parents
belonged
to
a
middle
class
family
of
an
underdeveloped
country.
Her
father
was
an
administration
manager
in
a
small
semi
government
organization
and
mother
was
a
house
wife.
They
had
five
children
including
Yasmin,
all
in
their
school
going
age.
They
had
no
other
source
of
income
and
healthcare
reimbursement
was
never
heard
of
in
Pakistan.
Beta
Interferons
were
very
expensive
even
by
international
standards
and
still
did
not
offer
complete
cure.
Her
father
decided
to
sell
off
their
only
property,
a
small
house
worth
a
few
thousand
dollars
to
buy
the
drug
that
could
save
the
life
of
his
dear
daughter
only
to
find
out
later
that
the
disease
is
not
going
away
and
that
the
entire
family
is
now
bankrupt.
Yasmin
is
completely
paralyzed
and
on
bed
for
the
last
one
year.”

2. The
head
of
marketing
of
this
company
had
some
point
to
start
with,
at
least.
But
one
story
is
not
going
to
hammer
the
point
home,
he
thought.
“I
need
some
concrete
evidence
and
solid
data
to
prove
that
the
disease
exists/does
not
exist
in
Pakistan.
Moreover,
I
have
to
base
my
company
decisions
on
some
data
which
has
to
be
more
than
just
one
or
two
stories”.
He
had
to
convince
the
health
authorities
as
well
as
physicians
that
this
disease
exists
in
Pakistan.
He
also
thought
of
raising
funds
for
patients
who
could
not
afford
his
drug
through
philanthropist
activity
but
everyone
seemed
to
ask
for
‘numbers’
and
not
just
stories.
After
spending
a
very
hard
time
he
was
able
to
motivate
a
few
neurologists
to
collect
some
meaningful
data
and
put
it
together
in
the
shape
of
a
publication.
An
instrument
(questionnaire)
was
designed
after
much
deliberations
and
data
was
collected
from
different
neurology
clinics,
radiology
centers
and
hospitals.
They
could
only
identify
142
cases
but
this
time
we
they
also
had
some
numbers
to
play
with
like
mean
age,
male
to
female
ratio,
disease
progression,
disease
stage
etc.etc.
The
following
paragraph
is
an
abstract
of
the
publication.
“We
describe
retrospective
data
from
the
largest
series
of
patients
(n_/142)
with
multiple
sclerosis
(MS)
from
Pakistan.
Mean
age
at
onset
was
27
years,
with
a
female
to
male
ratio
of
1.45:1.
The
disease
onset
was
polysymptomatic
in
75%
patients.
Motor
weakness
was
the
most
common
onset
symptom
(70%),
followed
by
sensory
symptoms
(45%).
Optico-­‐spinal
type
of
MS
was
seen
in
only
3%
of
patients
The
course
was
relapsing-­‐remitting
(RR)
in
81%,
primary
progressive
(PP)
in
21%,
and
secondary
progressive
(SP)
in
4%
of
patients.
Almost
three-­‐fourths
of
the
patients
were
moderately
(45%)
or
severely
(31%)
disabled
at
the
time
of
evaluation.
Two-­‐thirds
of
patients
with
severe
disability
had
a
mean
disease
duration
of
only
5.2
years.
In
conclusion,
MS
is
not
uncommon
in
Pakistan,
and
many
patients
were
found
to
have
severe
disability
despite
short
disease
duration.”
M
Wasay,
S
Ali,
IA
Khatri,
A
Hassan,
M
Asif,
N
Zakiullah,
A
Ahmed,
A
Malik,
B
Khealani,
A
Haq
and
S
Fredrikson
Multiple
Sclerosis
2007;
00:
000_000.
http://msj.sagepub.com
Yasmin
was
one
of
the
142
cases
mentioned
in
the
abstract
given
above.
It
was
only
after
the
publication
of
this
data
that
all
stakeholders
started
seriously
thinking
about
Multiple
Sclerosis
in
Pakistan.
Debates
started
generating
later,
building
on
this
and
stories
became
more
and
more
available
when
individual
explorers
started
looking
beyond
numbers
into
the
lives
of
patients
and
their
families.
This
study
became
a
building
block
for
further
studies
and
currently
an
extensive
‘genetic’
study
on
Multiple
Sclerosis
is
under
process.
At
the
same
time,
philanthropists
and
NGO’s
are
beginning
to
believe
in
its
existence
and
treatment
strategies
are
under
immense
discussion
so
are
the
treatment
guidelines
specific
for
Pakistan
where
healthcare
reimbursement
is
almost
non
–
existent.
The
data
presented
by
Wasay
et
al
is
“natural
science”
and
advocates
of
quantitative
research
would
emphasize
that
all
research
carried
out
in
social
sciences
should
be
similar.
Furthermore,
a
quantitative
data
on
social
aspects
of
this
study
would
be
possible
like
the
‘affordability’
‘disability’
‘financial
impact
on
the
family’
and
‘financial
burden
on
the
family’
and
ultimately
some
development
economist
would
also
be
able
to
calculate
the
Disability
Adjusted
Life
Years

3. and
Economic
Burden
of
this
disease
on
society
some
day.
But
all
of
this
started
with
one
story
of
Yasmin.
Without
the
story,
no
researcher
will
ever
be
able
to
understand
what
was
really
going
on
in
the
mind
of
Yasmin
and
her
family.
It
is
sometimes
a
story
of
chicken
and
egg.
When
this
study
was
being
conducted
there
was
no
data
to
understand
Multiple
Sclerosis
in
Pakistan.
Only
such
stories
as
that
of
Yasmin
came
along
and
no
one
really
cared
about
it.
It
was
only
after
collection,
collation
and
publication
of
this
data
that
led
many
to
recognize
that
Multiple
Sclerosis
needs
to
be
taken
seriously
as
it
is
in
rest
of
the
world.
Then
they
started
digging
out
stories
again
and
reaching
individual
patients
and
their
families
of
these
142
(and
more
as
they
were
diagnosed)
and
trying
to
find
similarities
and
differences,
later
extrapolating
and
generalizing
for
‘masses’
and
society.
The
‘distance’
between
story
of
Yasmin
and
M
Wasay
et
al
was
created
by
the
difference
between
the
methodologies
of
research.
Through
quantitative
research,
Wasay
and
his
colleagues
could
reach
wider
range
of
population,
get
some
hard
data
and
make
it
meaningful
for
those
who
were
associated
to
this
disease
somehow.
However,
the
story
of
Yasmin
per
se
takes
us
into
a
different
world
altogether,
a
world
of
social
systems
and
beliefs,
of
families
and
their
thinking,
of
individuals
and
their
response
to
different
calamities
of
life,
of
developing
world
and
their
healthcare
systems.
When
the
data
was
shared
with
patients
and
their
families,
there
was
a
big
‘so
what’
question
mark
in
their
eyes.
“What
is
in
it
for
me?”
“I
have
a
story
to
tell
and
I
am
looking
for
a
solution
to
my
problems”
was
a
standard
response.
They
wanted
the
researchers
to
see
the
situation
through
their
eyes.
Some
were
even
keen
to
take
researchers
to
their
homes
and
shared
their
life
with
them.
In
the
beginning
of
research
carried
out
by
Wasay
et
al,
there
was
a
clear
‘research
strategy’.
The
theory
was
“Multiple
Sclerosis
is
a
known
and
established
disease
of
the
world”.
Hypothesis
to
be
tested
was
“If
it
exists
in
the
rest
of
the
world,
it
must
exist
in
Pakistan”.
The
research
design
thus
revolved
around
finding
the
true
“incidence”
and
“prevalence”
of
this
disease
but
this
was
not
possible
in
the
available
resources
and
time.
So,
a
shortcut
was
designed
by
selecting
specific
research
sites
where
the
chances
of
finding
such
patients
was
thought
maximum.
A
simple
instrument
was
designed
that
could
record
all
the
‘measurable’
information.
Data
collected
was
processed,
analyzed,
written
down
and
published.
During
this
entire
process,
if
the
researchers
were
asked
to
describe
the
‘feelings’
of
subjects
under
study,
they
would
simply
say
“this
was
not
the
design
of
research”.
Thus
the
researchers
could
not
distinguish
people
and
social
institutions
from
‘the
world
of
nature’.
The
researchers
believed
that
‘the
principles
of
scientific
method
can
and
should
be
applied
to
all
phenomenon
that
are
the
focus
of
investigation.
The
researchers
in
this
case
turned
a
‘blind
eye’
to
the
difference
between
the
social
and
natural
world.
In
the
words
of
Schutz,
“it
means
ignoring
and
riding
roughshod
over
the
fact
that
people
interpret
the
world
around
them,
whereas
this
capacity
for
self
–
reflection
cannot
be
found
among
the
objects
of
natural
sciences”.

4. Another
aspect
that
created
the
‘distance’
between
the
researchers
and
subjects
in
this
case
was
a
sense
of
precision
and
accuracy
in
the
research
design.
While
the
researchers
had
a
lot
of
‘yes’,
‘no’
in
their
questionnaire,
the
subjects
being
humans,
had
a
tendency
to
talk
more
or
try
to
describe
what
a
‘yes’
or
‘no’
would
mean
to
them
but
since
they
were
limited
by
the
questions
with
fixed
choice
answers,
important
information
could
have
been
missed
out.
The
story
of
Yasmin
came
without
reliance
on
instruments
and
procedures
and
therefore
the
connection
between
research
and
everyday
life
remained
intact.
Usually
the
undue
reliance
of
quantitative
research
on
administering
research
instruments
to
subjects
or
on
controlling
situations
to
determine
their
effects
may
lead
to
incorrect
information.
For
example
if
a
question
was
put
to
Yasmin
“Would
you
like
to
share
your
health
status
with
public
at
large
through
media?”
she
may
immediately
say
“yes”
but
in
reality,
talking
about
Multiple
Sclerosis
would
mean
that
she
would
probably
have
a
difficult
social
and
marital
life
or
may
never
get
married
altogether
for
the
rest
of
her
life
as
people
around
her
would
consider
her
a
life
long
liability.
The
point
here
is
that
subjects
sometimes
do
not
fully
understand
the
questions
and
their
implications
in
a
structured
setting
whereas
in
an
open
setting,
the
same
issues
can
be
explored
and
put
into
perspective.
The
abstract
of
the
article
published
by
Wasay
et
al
looks
very
‘scientific’,
very
‘natural’
yet
very
‘static’.
It
seems
as
if
they
are
talking
about
molecules,
atoms,
chemicals,
metals
and
electrons
and
not
about
human
individuals.
The
denotation
of
events
to
humans
is
ignored.
The
connection
of
findings
to
everyday
contexts
is
not
known.
It
has
in
fact
created
a
‘static
social
world’
that
is
mutually
exclusive
of
people
who
are
its
constituents.
Advocates
of
qualitative
research
or
antagonists
of
quantitative
research
put
forward
the
concept
of
empathy
or
‘take
the
role
of
the
other’.
In
other
words
one
has
to
‘stand
in
the
shoes’
of
the
researched
to
understand
their
concepts
better.
This
is
only
possible
when
there
is
no
distance
between
the
researcher
and
researched.
Again,
the
story
of
Yasmin
and
similar
other
stories
would
never
have
emerged
if
the
researchers
from
the
very
beginning
would
have
stayed
at
a
‘distance’
from
the
subject
in
order
to
follow
a
certain
methodology
of
research
instead
of
undertaking
research
per
se.
Another
key
advantage
of
quantitative
research
is
its
objectivity.
However
objectivity
is
too
plain
and
utterly
inhuman.
In
the
above
example,
Wasay
et
al
fail
to
recognize
the
cognitive
and
intellectual
processes
going
on
in
the
minds
of
their
subjects
while
collecting
this
data.
On
the
other
hand
subjective
data
will
lead
to
emotional
stories
and
description
of
the
new
and
challenging
social
processes
engulfing
the
lives
of
Multiple
Sclerosis
patients,
their
families,
physicians
and
society.
One
of
the
reasons
why
quantitative
research
creates
a
distance
between
researcher
and
researched
is
the
underpinning
belief
that
quantitative
research
can
be
replicated
whereas
this
is
not
the
case
with
qualitative
research.
The
core
reason
for
this
is
the
‘disconnection’
between
researcher
and
subjects
on
a
human
and
emotional
level.
Researchers,
being
human
themselves,
are
likely
to
be
carried
away
while
undertaking
research
on
emotional
issues
like

5. the
one
described
in
case
of
Yasmin.
It
can
therefore
be
argues
that
some
distance
is
essentially
required
to
collect
meaningful
information.
However,
similar
stories
revealed
a
lot
of
common
areas
of
discussion
and
future
course
of
action
thereby
bolstering
the
idea
that
qualitative
research
had
a
key
role
to
play
as
well
In
conclusion,
there
is
no
right
or
wrong
argument
in
favor
of
or
against
the
‘distance’
that
quantitative
research
established
between
the
researcher
and
the
researched.
It
all
depends
on
the
nature
of
research.
It
is
sometimes
necessary
to
keep
a
distance
while
it
is
sometimes
necessary
to
remove
it.
The
process
may
go
in
full
circle
will
repetitions
of
'distance'
and
'no
-­‐
distance'
(Qualitative
may
follow
quantitative
or
Vice
Versa)
as
shown
by
example.
Given
below
is
a
summary
of
advantages
and
disadvantages
and
the
researcher
has
to
choose
a
methodology
that
suits
the
requirements
of
research
in
a
given
time
and
space.
Summary:
Advantages
Disadvantages
1. Collection
of
hard
core
objective
data
1. Leave
out
human
element
2. Data
collected
is
close
to
‘natural
2. Fail
to
understand
and
record
feelings
sciences
experimentation’.
3. Emotionally
involved
researcher
likely
3. Does
not
allow
‘drifting’
in
emotion
to
misread
important
information
4. Data
collected
is
verifiable
4. Replication
is
a
question
mark
because
5. Replication
possible
of
dependence
on
researcher
6. Data
can
be
processed
and
analyzed
observation
and
finding
using
sophisticated
statistical
tools
and
5. Generalization
is
difficult
with
computer
soft-­‐wares
like
SPSS
emotionally
loaded
responses.
7. Saves
researched
from
information
6. Descriptive
information
is
scanty
that
is
overload
deemed
necessary
while
explaining
8. Extrapolation
of
data
is
acceptable
findings
from
quantitative
data.
9. Larger
scale
generalization
of
concepts

6.
Section
B
4a)
Are
the
following
variable
names
acceptable
by
SPSS?
Provide
explanations
in
your
answers.
i)
var
1
ii)
earningsaftertax
iii)
pt/job
iv)
var_0001
“Var
1”,
“pt/job”
and
“Var_0001”
are
not
acceptable
by
SPSS
as
it
does
not
entertain
spaces,
signs
or
symbols
between,
before
or
after
each
variable.
When
these
three
were
entered
at
variables
in
the
“Variable
view”,
a
window
“variable
contains
an
illegal
character”
appeared
promptly.
Variable
“earningsaftertax”
was
acceptable
as
a
variable.
4b)
If
you
are
given
the
task
to
code
up
a
set
of
survey
data
which
consists
of
mainly
attitudinal
and
open-­‐ended
responses,
what
cautions
would
you
bear
in
mind
when
you
carry
out
the
task?
Coding
for
open
–
ended
questions
is
complicated.
Answers
to
open
–
ended
or
attitudinal
response
should
be
summarized
into
a
number
of
different
categories
or
groups
before
entering
data
in
SPSS.
Groups
are
easier
to
make
once
the
researcher
has
gone
through
or
enlisted
all
the
responses
to
a
specific
question
from
the
respondents.
These
categories
or
groups
then
need
to
be
assigned
numbers
for
entry
into
SPSS
and
record
must
be
maintained
so
that
it
can
be
referred
to
during
explanation.
Take
this
question
as
an
example:
Q.
What
do
you
think
is
the
root
cause
of
terrorism
in
Afghanistan?
The
responses
can
be
many
but
mostly
would
fall
into:
a) Local
Culture/Fragmented
Society
b) Religious
Extremism
c) Poverty
d) Lack
of
Education
e) Lack
of
employment
f) Geostrategic
influence

7. Almost
80
to
90%
of
responses
would
fall
into
either
of
the
above
but
there
would
be
certain
answers
that
fall
into
neither.
For
those,
another
category
(Others)
can
be
made
and
coded
as
following:
a) Local
Culture/Fragmented
Society
=
1
b) Religious
Extremism
=
2
c) Poverty
=
3
d) Lack
of
Education
=
4
e) Lack
of
employment
=
5
f) Geostrategic
influence
=
6
g) Others
=
99
This
data
can
then
be
entered
in
SPSS
and
analyzed
further.
4c)
When
do
we
use
Cronbach’s
Alpha?
What
can
Cronbach’s
Alpha
tell
us?
We
use
Cronbach’s
Alpha
to
ascertain
the
degree
to
which
the
items
that
make
up
a
scale
are
coherent
with
one
another.
Cronbach's
alpha
is
a
test
of
internal
reliability
or
consistency
and
is
used
to
measure
how
well
a
set
of
items
(or
variables)
measures
a
single
unidimensional
latent
construct.
It
calculates
the
average
of
all
possible
split
–
half
reliability
coefficients.
Cronbach’s
Alpha
ranges
between
0.00
to
1.00.
A
reliability
coefficient
of
.70
or
higher
is
considered
"acceptable"
in
most
social
science
research
situations(DeVellis
2003)
however
Bryman
(Alan
Bryman
2008:
151)
advocates
a
figure
of
0.80
to
be
‘typically
employed
as
a
rule
of
thumb
to
denote
an
acceptable
level
of
internal
reliability’.
A
minimum
level
of
0.60
has
been
described
as
‘good’
by
Berthoud
(2000b:
169).
When
data
have
a
multidimensional
structure,
Cronbach's
alpha
will
usually
be
low.
Briggs
and
Cheek
(1986)
have
recommended
inter
–
item
correlation
of
0.2
to
0.4
as
an
optimal
range.
Cronbach's
alpha
can
be
written
as
a
function
of
the
number
of
test
items
AND
the
average
inter-­‐correlation
among
the
items.
The
formula
for
the
standardized
Cronbach's
alpha
is:
where
N
is
equal
to
the
number
of
items,
c-­‐bar
is
the
average
inter-­‐item
covariance
among
the
items
and
v-­‐bar
equals
the
average
variance.
The
formula
indicates
that
if
we
increase
the
number
of
items,
Cronbach's
alpha
will
increase.
Alpha
will
be
low
if
the
average
inter-­‐item
correlation
is
low.
Cronbach’s
alpha
increases
if
the
average
inter-­‐item
correlation
increases.

8. If
the
inter-­‐item
correlations
are
high,
then
there
is
evidence
that
the
items
are
measuring
the
same
underlying
construct.
This
is
really
what
is
meant
by
"high"
or
"good"
reliability
when
a
reference
is
made
to
a
unidimensional
latent
construct.
Cronbach's
alpha
will
generally
be
low
for
all
items
in
case
of
a
multi-­‐dimensional
data.
For
such
cases,
it
is
suggested
that
a
factor
analysis
be
carried
out
to
see
which
items
load
highest
on
which
dimensions
and
then
take
the
alpha
of
each
subset
of
items
separately.
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C.,
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R.,
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Social
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Second
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A.,
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D.
(1990)
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