Response rates to the academic surveys used in quantitative research are decreasing and have been for several decades among both individuals and organizations. Given this trend, providing doctoral students an opportunity to complete their dissertations in a timely and cost effective manner may necessitate identifying more innovative and relevant ways to collect data while maintaining appropriate research standards and rigor. The case of a research study is presented which describes the data collection process used to survey a hard-to-reach population. It details the use of social media, in this case LinkedIn, to facilitate the distribution of the web-based survey. A roadmap to illustrate how this data collection process unfolded is presented, as well as several "lessons learned" during this journey. An explanation of the considerations that impacted the sampling design is provided. The goal of this case study is to provide researchers, including doctoral students, with realistic expectations and an awareness of the benefits and risks associated with the use of this method of data collection.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue that affective commitment plays a significant and complex role in the relationship between social support and turnover intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Surveys were returned by 217 hospital employees with an average tenure of 11.55 years (SD=10.20).
Findings
Findings suggest that perceived organizational support and perceived supervisor support (PSS) could directly impact turnover intention without the mediation of affective commitment. Thus, affective commitment only partially mediates the negative relation between perceived support and turnover intention. In addition, the results suggest that enhanced PSS reduced turnover intention more powerfully, when affective commitment increased. For a highly committed employee, support from the supervisor can be more influential than that of a less committed employee.
Originality/value
This is an initial investigation on the moderating role of affective commitment in the relationship between perceived social support and turnover intention. Further, the findings emphasize the independent impact of perceived social support above and beyond the effect mediated by affective commitment, thus adding evidence to the debate on the extend of the mediating effect of affective commitment.
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