TOPICOFINTEREST.docx

2

Topic Proposal 1

Topic Proposal
PSYC 8202: Survey Research Methods

Topic Proposal

Introduction and Background Information

In late of the year 2019 and early of the year 2020, the world was introduced to the new Coronavirus (COVID-19), viruses that can cause illness that ranging from the common cold to death, which rapidly spread globally that affected every human. To combat this COVID19, people isolate themselves which government mandated social distancing and shelter in place to prevent the spreading of the COVID19 (Songsangyos & Iamamporn, 2020). In consequence, businesses sudden had to adjust to virtual organization, entirely digitized, by remote working. Songsangyos and Iamamporn (2020) stated that businesses had no time to modify their business to telework which led to chaos. Since the covid-19 pandemic has occurred and regions begin to open again, many employees will eventually start to go back to operating in their offices physically and ending telework.
As the worlds begins to open, businesses are expecting employees to return to the office as well. However, returning to work from telework to centralize offices can be scary for employees. Green, Tappin, and Bentley (2020) states that the World Health Organization recognizes that returning to the office may arise issues for some people, like stress or anxiety, but other issues exist like to managing home and family responsibilities. Therefore, the question lies of how employees are adjusting back to work in a centralized office post telework in COVID19 pandemic? As for many admissions advisors, representatives or recruiters of colleges/universities/institutions who experience telework during the COVID19 pandemic and now is forced to return on site for in person interactions with potential students, adjusting back to campus is hard. We will examine these individuals and evaluate how they are coping with post COVID19 work in the office.

Problem Statement

Songsangyos and Iamamporn (2020) stated telework is substituting work in the office for any space especially home. Many companies had no choice but to provide a teleworking system in the pandemic which consist of employees changing the whole dynamics of an organizational operations. Policies and procedures were changed to increase efficiency in this virtual world. However, the impact on individual who never experience telework before dealt with mental issues like isolations, stress, anxiety, and depression (Green et al., 2020). Now, with vaccinations in place, many companies are urging employees to return to the office with new guidelines, procedures, and policy. Therefore, the research problem is how is employees who worked in colleges, universities or institutions in admissions advising, recruitment or representative successfully transition to telework in the COVID19 pandemic is adjusting back to work in centralize offices while remaining productive.

Purpose of the Research Study

The purpose of the study is to explore what is the issues that employees are experiencing in returning to a centralize office instead of continuing telework in the mist of COVID19 pandemic, especially employees who works in admissions offices in colleges universities or other institutions while remaining productive. According to Hu (2020), the overall success of admission advising is the ability to impacted others with structure, guidance, and information that will benefit their outcome positive. In admissions or college advising, in-person, individualized advising has been effective (Hu, 2020). But when the COVID19 occurred, it eliminates all in person meetings and communications. Admissions personnel had to adjust to the virtual zoom meeting, GOTOMEETING hubs, Google Hangout and other platforms that allows face to face interactions in a remote setting, which showed success (Naughton, 2021).
Once teleworked begin, Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-Garcés (2020) stated that it enabled flexibility and a strong work–family balance while reducing the environmental impacts of mobility. Green et al. (2020) states that once employees experienced telework, it is likely that many workers will want this situation to continue, at least in some capacity. Also, Green et al. (2020) found that while managers acknowledged the benefits of teleworking times of catastrophe, they did not necessarily see teleworking as a permanent work arrangement due to perceptions of the loss of connectiveness, collaboration, and in-person communication. In contrast, while workers acknowledging some communication limitations, productivity, wellness, and satisfaction of the job increased due to teleworking.
Paton (2021) has identified accusations that states employers are irresponsible by putting their employees under pressure and requiring them to return to unsafe workplace with more transmissible variants of COVID19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d), 149.7million are fully vaccinated which is only 52.2% of all Americans. Also, in Texas, where the study will be conducted, CDC (n.d.) stated that only 25 million are fully vaccinated which is only 39% of the population. As Green et al (2020) stated, the pandemic is not over, but organizations are opening back with few modifications in making informed, and evidence-based decisions or simply retreating to old ways of working based on a personal worldview.

Specific Testable Theories

Teleworking or telecommuting is a concept that most people continue to understand, specifically in the pandemic period. Cornish & Clarke (2017) developed a theory describing telecommuting as a work arrangement where employees are required to work away from the conventional workplace. As a result, the choice theory requires employees to interact with others, including co-workers and employers, through computer-based technology. The authors posit that telework is an essential working condition that ensures all working protocols through distant places. Now, workers are required to convene at a particular point for any issue. Besides, telecommuting is currently accelerated by the rapidly increasing technology in the modern world (Naughton, 2021). On the other hand, the social exchange theory is among the current theories explaining the relationship between telecommuting and the increase in the commitment of workers in the organization (Cropanzano et al., 2017). The social exchanges are geared by the voluntary activities people receive from others and the expected returns. Therefore, the two theories precisely explain the critical issues of the modern world working environment and interaction.

Hypothesis

Hypothesis 1: Admissions advisors, recruiters and representatives are more productive in telework instead of working at centralized office post COVID19.

Hypothesis 2: Admissions advisors, recruiters and representatives experiment low morale and low production when relocating back to the office after teleworking during COVID19.

Hypothesis 3: Admissions advisors, recruiters and representatives slowly adjust to transitioning from telework back in the office since COVID19.

Reference:
Belzunegui-Eraso, A., & Erro-Garcés, A. (2020). Teleworking in the Context of the Covid-19 Crisis. Sustainability, 12(9), 3662.
Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. (n.d.). COVID-19 vaccinations in the United States. Retrieved from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination
Cornish, D. B., & Clarke, R. V. (2017). Understanding crime displacement: An application of rational choice theory. In Crime Opportunity Theories (pp. 197-211). Routledge.
Cropanzano, R., Anthony, E. L., Daniels, S. R., & Hall, A. V. (2017). Social exchange theory: A critical review with theoretical remedies. Academy of Management Annals, 11(1), 479-516.
Green, N., Tappin, D., & Bentley, T. (2020). Working from home before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic: implications for workers and organizations. New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations, 45(2), 5-16.
Hu, X. (2020). Building an equalized technology-mediated advising structure: Academic advising at community colleges in the post-COVID-19 era. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 44(10-12), 914-920.
Paton, N. (2021) Why is more complex than ‘irresponsible’ employers forcing workers into work. Occupational Health & Wellbeing., 7(3), 8-10.
Naughton, M. R. (2021). Cracks to craters: College advising during COVID-19. AERA Open, 7(1), 1-12.
Songsangyos, P., & Iamamporn, S. (2020). Remote working with work-life balance. International Journal of Applied Computer Technology and Information Systems, 9(2), 85-88.