Other valuable information can also be obtained from an organizational analysis. A student can assess the organization's history of prior studies and experience with research. Knowledge of the organization's history with studies, surveys, and interventions can reveal how comfortable the employees are with organizational research, how suspicious they are of researchers, how knowledgeable management is of studies and research, and how helpful they will be. It is important to consider this organizational information in designing a field study. Finally, an organizational analysis allows an examination of the possible organizational consequences by first interviewing employees prior to research participation.
Participants become increasingly concerned with the issue of confidentiality in such cases.
They believe that the company may hold their responses against them and thus are reluctant to participate. Attending to the importance of topic sensitivity is even more imperative at a time when organizations are in a constant state of change and employees at all levels are at risk of losing their jobs. The next logical step in conducting organizational research is the actual collection of data. Some believe this step to be the most challenging of all when conducting research. Therefore, one needs to be prepared for the realities of the workplace, such as time constraints, resistance, social demands, and other problems inherent in field settings.