A constructive Approach to Managing Faculty Conflict: An Action Research Study

Research Design

The purpose of this mixed methods action research (MMAR) study was to implement a conflict management strategies workshop in order to support the use of conflict management strategies to reduce the level of conflict between faculty and administrators on the campus of Morehead State University. The goal of the reconnaissance phase was to identify conflict management strategies by using a concurrent mixed methods design to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data. The goal of the evaluation phase was to determine the effectiveness of the conflict management strategies workshops by using a concurrent mixed methods design to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data from pre-post questionnaires/assessments, group discussions, and individual interviews based on workshop participation.

The rationale for applying mixed methods in this study was to seek ways to effectively address the issue of conflict by concurrently collecting qualitative and quantitative data which provided insight into the perceptions of the participants on workshop effectiveness as they completed each stage of the intervention. This study combined the strength of both qualitative and quantitative research linking concepts and

views and comparing findings with data from different situations and times. During a single phase of the research study both qualitative and quantitative strands of data are implemented, collected and analyzed separately, and integrated concurrently to address the research question (Creswell & Clark, 2018).

The research design provided the researcher with the opportunity to design study objectives, research questions and outline expected outcomes of the implemented study. The objective of the action research study was to engage faculty and administrators in a conflict management strategies workshop with the purpose of learning strategies to help manage conflict within their department or the institution at large. The intent of the practical tools provided in the workshops were designed to increase faculty and administrator’s knowledge and awareness of alternative approaches to managing conflict, learn from peers as an aspect of shared experiences, and learn from the researcher strategies she found useful from the research literature regarding how to manage conflict in the workplace.
The researcher expected the outcomes of the study would yield the following;

1. 
   increased knowledge for managing conflict, (2) continued use of conflict management strategies learned in the workshops after completion of the implemented study, and (3) positive results of workshop participation to demonstrate its effectiveness.
   

The research questions formulated in the reconnaissance phase were intended “to assess the problem or situation, identify the areas for improvement, and inform the development of the action/intervention plan” (Ivankova, 2015). The following research questions guided the action research study in the acting and evaluation phases:

Research Question 1: How do faculty and administrators currently handle conflict? (qualitative)