Examining Sexual Preferences In The UK Employees: A Comparative Study On The Hospitality And Manufacturing Division Inside The UK

EBMT6002 Business Research

Rationale

The current research project is titled “Examining sexual preferences in the UK employees: A comparative study on the hospitality and manufacturing division inside the UK”. The research project is directed at finding the sexual preferences among the employees in the UK. The research also will compare the sexual preferences between the employees of the manufacturing and hospitality industries.

This particular section of the research proposal will highlight the reasoning behind conducting the present research project. Defining and outlining the rationale of the research is important in order to properly outline the direction of the research being proposed. As for this research project is concerned, the rationale is to find out the general sexual preferences and to compare them between the two aforementioned industries within the UK. 

Sexual preferences can be loosely defined as the orientation for sexual attraction among humans. Sexual preferences vary from asexuality to pansexuality. Different sexual preferences reflect different types of external signs among humans in sexual attractions. Research shows that sexuality has an extensive effect on work culture and discrimination at workplaces (Hamilton et al. 2019). The current study will align the sexual preferences of employees in hospitality and manufacturing industries in the UK to thematically analyse the particular aspects of sexual preferences that influence work culture and other organisational aspects.

The current research project aims at highlighting the specific influence of sexual preferences among employees in the UK. The study proposes to identify the particular relations between the sexuality of employees and other organisational and social aspects by comparing the employees within the two industries, that are, manufacturing and hospitality.

To compare the sexual preferences among employees of the manufacturing and hospitality industry.

To highlight the connections between sexual preferences and work culture.

To explore the interconnections between the sexuality of employees and discrimination at workplaces.

To explain the interrelations between sexuality and other organisational aspects.

To explore the relationship between sexual preferences and employee management.

To highlight the issues being faced by employees of different sexualities within the two comparing industries.

Q 1. What are the basic differences in sexual preferences among the employees of the manufacturing and hospitality industries?

Q 2. How do sexual preferences influence the treatment employees to receive at the workplace?

Q 3. What are the specific discriminatory grounds based on sexuality in the workplace?

Q 4. How are employees vulnerable to different degrees of incivility regarding sexuality?

Aim

Q 5. How do specific sexual preferences affect organisational cultures?

Q 6. What is the nature of the relationship between job experiences and sexual preferences?

The research strategy is set based on the research philosophy that has been adopted for completing the research project. According to Basias and Pollalis (2018), in the case of business and technological research, the justification for choosing the qualitative or quantitative research strategy should be in alignment with the goals of the research project. In the case of this particular research project, the strategy chosen is qualitative. The qualitative strategy of research enables the study to collect non-numerical data and analyse the data based thematic divisions. As per the requirements of the research questions, this particular study will collect data in the form of experiences and data from secondary sources such as journal articles, research papers and newspaper articles. The collected data will be thoroughly analysed thematically to reach answers to the research questions set at the beginning.

The current research project proposes to use both primary and secondary methods of research. While primary research entails the usage of data collected from primary sources such as interviews, surveys and questionnaires, secondary research entails the usage of data collected from secondary sources such as research articles, journals or newspaper articles (Sarhan and Manu 2021). For the purposes of the current research project, primary data will be collected through surveys and secondary data will be collected from the previously published journals and research articles. Data collected from secondary sources will be analysed by observational method and analysed thematically.

The data sources are an important part of conducting a research project. This particular research project will primarily depend on secondary data collected from previously published articles, reports and newspaper articles. The digital interventions have revolutionised the sources of data in the case of research work (Alburez-Gutierrez et al. 2019) The research project will also make extensive use of data collected from surveys conducted in order to answer the research questions set at the beginning.

Choosing the sample size of research is very important in order to properly substantiate the research with data. Depending on the theme and topic of research, sample size varies hugely. In the present case scenario, for studying sexual preferences and their influence on the work environment or the reception of employees at workplaces. A sample size of 30 people in total will be considered for the purposes of conducting the surveys. 15 people from each of the industries, that are, manufacturing and hospitality will be chosen for the purpose of conducting the surveys.

Objectives

Coherence and alignment of research are hugely dependent on the selection of data collection methods or the research project. In the case of designing the data collection method for the purposes of the research project, a few important things need to be considered. The type of involvement of the subjects and the research philosophy is significantly influential in designing the data collection method (Groenland and Dana 2020). Available data collection methods are- questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, interviews and analyses of content. Observations are also a suitable method of data collection in this particular research project. Particular patterns in themes detected can be analysed by the observational data.

In this section, previously published literature will be reviewed in order to get a broader sense of the landscape of the study. The literature review section will be divided on the basis of the themes to be addressed in the discussion.

According to the study conducted by Bayrakdar and King (2021), sexual orientation is one of the important driving factors in determining the reception of people at workplaces in Britain. The authors also point out that minorities in terms of sexuality particularly face more vulnerability in workplaces. The study also highlights that discrimination levels are often higher for minority people in terms of sexuality. The authors also state that specifically bisexuals are often faced with lower recognition in the workplace. To specifically understand the discrimination within the work environment within the specific industries of manufacturing and hospitality, newspaper articles and journal articles are the best sources to be delved deep into. According to Aksoy et al. (2019), the unnecessary connections that societal norms make between homosexuality and attaining higher posts in a work environment leads to discrimination in the case of appraisals of homosexual people within the UK. in a 2014 article, Bella Qvist in The Guardian reports presence of staggering inequality within the work environment in the UK in specific industries. The report also states that 34% of the homosexual population in the UK do not prefer to disclose their sexuality in the workplace in anticipation of discrimination (theguardian 2014). This anticipation of discrimination and the presence of visible discrimination leads also to a lower sense of job security for homosexual people within some industries.

Due to societal normative outlook, some of the industries are deemed to be more masculine than the others. As a result, the minorities in industries such as manufacturing, in general, treat employees as outsiders. According to Alrawadieh et al. (2021), minorities such as female employees often face greater vulnerabilities regarding sexual harassment within the industry of hospitality and tourism. The authors point out that work experience within the industry often entails situations that potentially lead to incidents of sexual harassment. According to Laffin (1999), the research related to sexuality and experiences related to it among the employees of the hospitality industry is under-researched and also paid less attention to. The author points out the gap in the literature in studying the particular experiences of homosexual employees working in the hospitality industry. A 2018 article in The Guardian again reports a staggering number of sexual harassment cases within the hospitality industry in the UK. In the article, Alexandra Topping points out the alarming condition in the hospitality industry (theguardian 2018). The article also points out that certain jobs within the hospitality industry create situations that create more vulnerability for the workers of the industry.

Research Questions

As mentioned before, several reasons lead to discriminatory behaviour against the minority within the manufacturing and hospitality industry. Several surveys and research show that homosexual people are more likely to face discrimination at workspaces than their heterosexual counterparts. As the laws mandate in the UK, discrimination based on sexual preferences is a punishable offence on the part of the employer (nidirect.gov.uk 2022). The laws clearly state for protection against any sort of discrimination based on sexual orientation. The law also states that discrimination at any stage of work such as recruitment, training or promotion is to be dealt with strictly. The law also defines direct and indirect discrimination related to sexual orientation. It is important to note here that, sexual preferences and the experiences of minorities are often ignored within specific industries. This situation leads to more problems such as people of specific sexualities avoiding working in some of the industries.

Cohen et al. (1999) point out the need for intervention from the government in order to decrease the cases of harassment and undue discrimination of the specific people belonging to minority sexualities at workplaces. In the UK, there are laws such as the “The Equality Act, 2010” that offer protection of all people against any kind of discrimination at workspaces (gov.uk. 2022). However, several reports and surveys show otherwise. The experiences of workers within the industries show a staggering amount of discrimination faced by homosexual workers. According to Berg and Lien (2002), there can also be noticed a huge wage gap between heterosexual and homosexual employees and the authors point out the discrimination in wages based on sexual orientation. According to scholars and researchers, inclusive practices and more awareness can only create better work environments where workers belonging to minority sexualities can feel safe at workspaces. The amount of discrimination present at workspaces within the UK often goes unnoticed and under researched (Atewologun et al. 2018). It is to be pointed out here, the nature of the particular field of research is very sensitive and the data collected for this purpose is also very sensitive in nature. The generalisation process of the data from surveys is also to be done very carefully.

Action Step(s)	Person(s) responsible	Timeline start/end	Resources needed	Evaluation goal
The setting of research objectives and questions	The research team is responsible for setting the goals of the research	1st to 3rd week	The gaps in the field of research are to be located	The specific goals set for the research will help the researchers in analysing the data while conducting the research
Preparation of research plan	The research team will design a research plan for the project	4th to 6th week	The setting of research methodology and research strategies are important at this stage	Designing the research plan in detail will help the researchers successfully answer the research questions
Surveys	The research team	7th to 9th week	Anonymous surveys are prepared and delivered. Surveys will be emailed to participants within the separate industries.  Thematic assessment will be done with the help of the observational technique	Through the surveys conducted, the different levels of discrimination faced at the workplaces will be assessed.
Thematic analysis of the collected data	The research team will analyse the data in alignment with the research goals	10th to 12th week	Proper data visualised with the help of data visualisation techniques will help in the analysis	By analysing the data based on themes the researchers will be able to address the research questions
Evaluation of the results	The research team will evaluate the results	13th to 15th week	Evaluation of the result will show the outcome of the research	Proper evaluation of the result will help the researchers to address the research questions
Preparation of the final report	The research team will prepare the final report	16th week	Collected data and proper analysis will guide the preparation of the final report	The final report will address all the initial questions set for the research

Table 1: Action plan

(Source: Created by the Learner)

For the purposes of this research, both primary and secondary data are to be collected. This particular research entails thematic analysis of the collected data which is in line with the goals of qualitative research (Clark and Vealé 2018). It is to be noted here that the primary data collected from the participants of the survey are very sensitive in nature and ethical handling of the data should be mandatorily kept in mind. The researchers should follow strict guidelines in maintaining the anonymity of the participants and also ensure the safety and security of the employees who are participating in the survey. The participants should not be coerced or exposed to any physical or psychological harm during the completion of the survey. All the data collected from the surveys should not only be used for the research and to be destroyed responsibly afterwards. The surveys will contain questions related to specific experiences of the people working in both the manufacturing and hospitality industries. The surveys intend to collect specific data about the experiences and discriminations faced by the minority workers within the industries. The data collected from secondary sources are to guide the research and analysis of the primary data collected through the surveys.

Research Strategy

For the purpose of this research project, the data analysis methods used are- qualitative and quantitative. The non-numerical data collected through primary and secondary sources are to be analysed by observational methods and to be included by categorisation in the final report (Chacón-Moscoso et al. 2019). The data collected through primary research will be visualised in the form of percentages. The visualised data then will help in the generalisation of the results. Again, to mention, the sensitive nature of the data collected in this specific case is to be kept in mind when generalising the data collected for the research (Feinstein 2020). Through data analysis, the goal of the research is to produce a visualisation of the data in specific areas.

Conclusions

In conclusion, it can be said that the research area and the topic are very sensitive and keeping that in mind, the process of data collection and analysis becomes complicated. The research proposal shows the direction of the research and also has laid out a detailed plan for the research. The collected data in relation to the specific experiences and discriminations of employees of particular sexualities in the workplace will aid the research in answering the research questions.

There are a few recommendations for the researchers that need to be kept in mind strictly.

• Ethical handling of the data collected should be done
• Researchers should keep the identities of the participants anonymous
• No participant should be forced to take part in the survey
• The survey results will not be used in another way than for this research
• The surveys will be administered remotely
• The safety of the participants will be taken care of 

Reference List

Aksoy, C.G., Carpenter, C.S., Frank, J. and Huffman, M.L., 2019. Gay glass ceilings: Sexual orientation and workplace authority in the UK. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 159, pp.167-180.

Alburez-Gutierrez, D., Zagheni, E., Aref, S., Gil-Clavel, S., Grow, A. and Negraia, D.V., 2019. Demography in the digital era: New data sources for population research.

Alrawadieh, Z., Demirdelen Alrawadieh, D., Olya, H.G., Erkol Bayram, G. and Kahraman, O.C., 2021. Sexual harassment, psychological well-being, and job satisfaction of female tour guides: the effects of social and organizational support. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, pp.1-19.

Atewologun, D., Cornish, T. and Tresh, F., 2018. Unconscious bias training: An assessment of the evidence for effectiveness. Equality and human rights commission research report series.

Basias, N. and Pollalis, Y., 2018. Quantitative and qualitative research in business & technology: Justifying a suitable research methodology. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 7, pp.91-105.

Bayrakdar, S. and King, A., 2021. Job satisfaction and sexual orientation in Britain. Work, Employment and Society, p.0950017020980997.

Berg, N. and Lien, D., 2002. Measuring the effect of sexual orientation on income: Evidence of discrimination?. Contemporary economic policy, 20(4), pp.394-414.

Chacón-Moscoso, S., Anguera Argilaga, M.T., Sanduvete Chaves, S., Losada López, J.L., Lozano Lozano, J.A. and Portell Vidal, M., 2019. Methodological quality checklist for studies based on observational methodology (MQCOM). Psicothema, 2019, vol. 31, num. 4, p. 458-464.

Clark, K.R. and Vealé, B.L., 2018. Strategies to enhance data collection and analysis in qualitative research. Radiologic technology, 89(5), pp.482CT-485CT.

Cohen, R., O’Byrne, S. and Maxwell, P., 1999. Employment discrimination based on sexual orientation: The American, Canadian and UK responses. Law & Ineq., 17, p.1.

Feinstein, B.A., 2020. The rejection sensitivity model as a framework for understanding sexual minority mental health. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(7), pp.2247-2258.

Gov.uk. 2022. [online] Available at:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance#:~:text=The%20Equality%20Act%202010%20includes,an%20exception%20from%20the%20ban [Accessed on: 17th March 2022]

Groenland, E. and Dana, L.P., 2020. Qualitative methodologies and data collection methods: Toward increased rigour in management research.

Hamilton, K.M., Park, L.S., Carsey, T.A. and Martinez, L.R., 2019. “Lez be honest”: Gender expression impacts workplace disclosure decisions. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 23(2), pp.144-168.

Indirect.gov.uk. 2022. [online] Available at:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/sexual-orientation-discrimination [Accessed on: 17th March 2022]

Laffin, T., 1999. A methodology for researching a sensitive issue: Gay men, sexuality discrimination and the hospitality industry. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1(3), pp.243-251.

Sarhan, S. and Manu, E., 2021. When does published literature constitute data for secondary research and how should the data be analysed?. In Secondary Research Methods in the Built Environment (pp. 69-87). Routledge.

Theguardian.com. 2014. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/lgbt-employees-discrimination-in-the-workplace-talkpoint [Accessed on: 17th March 2022]

Theguardian.com. 2018. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/24/sexual-harassment-rampant-hospitality-industry-unite-survey-finds [Accessed on: 17th March 2022]