Headaches and Traps of Gathering Quantitative Management Data: Expatriates in the Special Administrative Regions of China

Abstract

During my PhD research in the mid-2000s into what organisational support mechanisms might influence the performance of Australian expatriates, I had expectations that I would be able to collect data from at least 300 expatriates and their supervisors in Hong Kong and Macau: data collection which I had planned would take 2 months continued to cause me anxiety over a period of 18 months. This case study based in the Special Administrative Regions of China, both with colonial histories, seeks to raise some of the pitfalls inherent in collecting data through questionnaire surveys in cross-cultural situations. I attempt to provide an overview of the elements of collection design that can cause problems and to offer some solutions and solace for researchers. Collecting quantitative data is getting tougher, yet there are few voices acknowledging this, and many reviewers are still demanding sample sizes based on rule-of-thumb prescriptions, not readily accepting the validity and rigour of alternative data collection and analytical methods.

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