Modelos de crecimiento económico

There can be numerous threats and limitations to any research. Creswell (2013) describes at least eight internal threats. There are five potential threats which relate specifically to the participants which Creswell describe as follows: history, maturation, regression, selection and mortality.

Further to this Creswell (2009) argues there are three internal threats that relate to the researcher; 1) manipulation by the researcher; 2) diffusion of treatment,

compensatory/resentful demoralisation and (3) compensatory rivalry. In addition, there are two internal threats that have to do with the procedures used in an experiment: testing and instrumentation (p.163).

In this investigation within ADP, history, maturation, regression, selection, diffusion of treatment, compensatory/resentful demoralisation, compensatory rivalry and

manipulation were determined to be a very minor threat to validity. However, mortality is considered to be of concern and relates to participants who decide for one reason or another drop out during the research.

Some steps were taken to reduce the possible drop out rate. This included

corresponding with the participants and ensuring that they were kept up to date with the progress of the research. The target population of 44 Heads of Department have extremely busy individuals and the flexibility of the researcher was emphasised to them in order to accommodate the availability and time constraints placed upon the

participants. The Heads of Department all have a vested interest in the outcomes of this research. The Heads of Department, who promote good practice, are interested in leadership issues and it is the mission of ADP to become one of the best police forces in the world. All this assists with the buy-in of the 42 Heads of Department who completed and returned the questionnaires.

From the sample group some non-responses were expected but the steps indicated above minimised the likelihood of the main threat of mortality.

This research was supported by ADP and had been discussed at several meetings. In addition to this the University of East Anglia Research Ethics Committee approved the design and conduct of this research.

Within this research there are three main external threats to validity. These have been categorised as interaction of setting and treatment, interaction of selection and treatment, and interaction of history and treatment (Creswell, 2009 and 2013). These three external threats all existed within this specific study. Although the study is replicable within other police forces within the Gulf Region, a limitation of this study is its external validity. A restriction of the claims made within the study sets the parameters for the reader to understand prior to any conclusions being made. This is not to say that this study is not useful, but that its limitations are recognised and acknowledged.

When planning surveys, the aspects of validity and reliability of the responses need to be tackled. Validity is "concerned with whether a variable measures what it is supposed to measure" (Bollen, 1989, p.184), while reliability refers to the instrument's “capacity for consistently and stably measuring what it is supposed to measure” (Black and

Champion, 1976, p.5).

Validity can be divided into a number of various subtypes of validity. Some scholars have divided it into content-related, criterion-related and construct-related validity, while others have divided the concept into internal and external validity.

Validity within qualitative research does not mean the same thing as validity within quantitative research. In quantitative research Creswell (2009) stated that validity, "means that the researcher checks for accuracy of the findings by employing certain procedures" (p.190). Yin (2009) explored the concepts of construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability in examining qualitative research. Internal and external validity were considered in the above discussion. However, construct validity and reliability also needed to be addressed. In this study, the approach itself, using a mixed method sequential exploratory design followed by analyses, provided multiple sources of evidence which maximised the construct validity.

Reliability was difficult to assess as the opinions of the Heads of Department, as they exist today, regarding leadership phenomenon, would be expected to change in the future. While replication of this study is possible and encouraged; it was not the intent of this researcher at the initial stage to embark onto a larger population to investigate or extend the research into another country. Albeit, this would be of benefit to the research.

Creswell (2009 and 2013) proposed that several steps can be taken to improve reliability

within a study: ensuring transcripts are properly transcribed and that the definition used to code data remains constant throughout the analyses phase of the research. Reflecting on the researcher's potential biases, as was done in this study, also provided for greater reliability within the qualitative part of this research.

The range of this research included only views of the Heads of Department, and the several other security family groups within the Emirate of Abu Dhabi may also have stakeholder positions, but are not included in this study. Although the other security family groups are not considered for this specific research; future research initiatives may

undertake a comparative analysis of the other police leadership stakeholders in the UAE

.

It has been accepted that this research would be difficult to replicate and therefore, is less rigorous than studies which are replicable. This is not to say that this study could not be undertaken in other Emirates and then a comparative analysis completed. In fact, the author would suggest that this would make for a very interesting future study.

The effectiveness of the research cannot be understated. In order to understand ADP and its staff, especially senior police officers, the data emanating from the research will inform and guide any future researcher as well as any police professional wishing to understand the complexities of an Arab police force undergoing change.

The implications of the research will not only impact on ADP but potentially can contribute to and can be applied to Western centric organisations and other Arab

organisation considering applying systems or processes to its own people. The results of this research under these circumstances would prove to be very useful and assist, at the very least, inform policy.

The focus of this research was to obtain the opinions of the participants and to assume that the participants had an understanding about the topic. This is a vital assumption and

if that assumption was incorrect, it had the possibility to limit the findings of the research

.