Detail of Assertion

8/11/2019 Detail of Assertion

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SE 503: Qualitative Research Methods in Science Education: Assertion Page 1of 3

Assertion

The analysis of the filed notes and interviews lead to several patterns through hunches.

According to these evidences three assertions were formulated. These include a good service

is provided to the customers by the staffs in the customer section, the environment and staffs

of the customers section are friendly and good behaviours are demonstrated by the customers

in the customers area of the post office.

Good service is provided to the customers by the staffs in the customer section

The postal service provided by Sir Lanka is one of the important means by which people

communicate. In order to enhance the process many post offices of various categories are

been established across the country. One of the types of post offices that provide multiple

services is the super grade post offices. Just by giving a name is not enough for the post

office to be labelled as a super grade post office. As the selected post office provide multiple

services to the customers in addition to postal services. This can be evident from the layout of

the post office that indicates various sections of the post office that are allocated to provide

various services to the customers in order to function as a super grade post office.

A man in blue shirt and black trouser of age about 30 came to the customer section of the post office

and dropped his letters into the blue letter box and went near the counter of the post shop and gave

something to photocopy. After getting it photocopied he left the customer section and went out through

the main door

(Field note, 11:08 a.m., 03.04.2014)

In another incident a women came to the customer section bought a stamp, and went to the

photocopy section and got something photocopied and then she used the call box to call

someone.

As the customers can get many services in addition to the postal services within the same area

(customer section), this saves the time and money of the customers in going from one place

to another. This can be further evident from an interview conducted by one of the customer

who came to the post office.

Researcher: how often do you come to this post office?

Customer: like every month I used to come


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Researcher: for what purposes you come that often?

Customer: I have a brother in UK, so sending money and sometimes letters too.

Researcher: so why dont you go to bank to do that?

Customer: oh bank its a very busy place and I have to wait for my turn sometime for hours. So I used

to come here, it saves a lot of time and is simple and also I can get many other things done

here like sending letters, photocopy. So its saves my time and money.

(Interview transcript,02/06/2014 )

The selected post office been a super grade post office involves lot of staffs in order to

provide a good services to the customers. Therefore the staffs must have certain qualities in

doing so. One such quality is the commitment given by the staffs to their work. It has been

observed that the staffs of the selected post office are engaged in their work and always ready

to provide their services to the customers.

A staff of age about 40 years was there at counter number 6. There was no customer at this time near

the counter. The staff was engaged in editing some document from the computer.

(Field note, 7:30 a.m., 09.06.2014)

This shows that they are not only involved in dealing customers but also they are committed

to their work even in the absence of customers. Furthermore the staffs also give priorities to

the customers than their own personal works. A typical situation that happens is given below.

A man in black jacket went counter 3 where the lady staff was on phone (using her own mobile phone),

but as soon as the customer came she hung the phone and started to serve the customer.

(Field note, 16:08 p.m., 22.04.2014)

One of the other qualities of the staffs in order to provide a good service is that they are

always punctual and on their allocated counters. So there is no delay in providing the services

to the customers. The following observation from the field note proves the above statement

A lady staff of about age 40 years was there at counter 1 at 7:15, the counter provides services such as

selling stamps and telemail services. Also a male staff of about 40 years was at counter 6 which is the

post shop. The counter opening time is 7:30.

(Field note, 7:15 a.m., 9.06.2014)


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The staffs are always ready to sacrifice their time and energy in order to fulfil the customers

requirement. As a result of this commitment the customers does not spend much time in

getting the various services from the post office.

A man in green T-shirt cam and look around and went near counter 3, but the staff at counter 3 told

him to go to counter 4 by showing in hand and saying it orally. There was no staff at counter 4, but as

soon as the customer came the staff at counter 5 came to counter 4 and started to provide the necessary

service to the customer.

(Field note, 13:00 p.m., 01/.06.2014)

Furthermore in an another time a customer who came to the post office to post a letter and to

get photocopies of some document did not spend more than five minutes in the post office.

This shows that the staffs make sure not to keep the customers too long, and are efficient in

providing the services.

In providing the services the staffs sometimes discuss with each other or get support from

other staffs when they have a doubt or when not so sure of a thing. In one incident that is

observed the staff a customer cam and showed a letter to the staff at counter 1 and want to

send the letter to New Zealand and the staff could not find the amount that chargers for such a

stamp and got the help from the staff at counter 2, he came and showed it from the file.

In addition to the efficicent staffs, the post office also uses efficient equipments to make the

process quick. So many customers can provide service within less time. At counter 1 there is

a machine that generates the details and charge amount for the call box which is just next to

counter 1. So as soon as a customer hangs the phone a slip is generated which tell how much

the phone call cost. The following event strengthens the above statement.

The lady who was using the call box kept the phone and a slip was generated from the machine

immediately at counter 1, staff took the slip and said the amount in Sinhala and the customer paid and

went out.

(Field note, 11:48 a.m., 03.04.2014)

Documents

Detail of Assertion