Business Research Methods Qualitative (E_IBA2_BRML)
Summary
Summary BRM Qualitative VU IBA
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Course
Business Research Methods Qualitative (E_IBA2_BRML)
Institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
Summary containing all the relevant theory discussed during the knowledge clips of the course Global Sustainability given in the second year of International Business Administration at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. By learning this summary I personally passed the final exam.
Business Research Methods Qualitative (E_IBA2_BRML)
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MODULE A
Knowledge clip 1A
Welcome to BRM
Research is a systematic process by which we know more about something than we did
before engaging in the process.
Academic research is:
Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world.
Qualitative research is an umbrella covering an array of interpretive techniques which seek to
describe, decode, translate, and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the
frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the social world.
Qualitative researchers are interested in understanding how people interpret their
experiences, how they construct their worlds, and what meaning they attribute to their
experiences (Merriam). Qualitative research is an effort to understand situations in their
uniqueness as part of a particular context and the interactions there.
Knowledge clip A2
Differences between qualitative and quantitative research
Positivist approach is related to quantitative research
Objective
Data expressed in numbers
Data collected from the ‘real’ world
Generalizable
Degree to which the results of a study apply in a broader context
Rests on an unbiased, random, representative, and large sample
Seeking evidence of frequency
Interpretivist approach is related to qualitative research
o Subjective
o Data expressed in language
o Data constructed with participants
o Linked to context
o Seeking evidence of meaning
1. Quantitative research looks for ‘truth’
Focus on the ‘etic’ or outsiders perspective
Concerned with eliminating bias and the researcher’s influence should be minimized
Methods for collecting frequency:
- Surveys
- Polls
, - Questionnaires
- Content analysis
2. Qualitative research looks for ‘meaning’
Focus on ‘emic’ or insiders perspective
The researchers intuition can be an asset
Strives for depth of understanding
Methods for gathering interpretations:
- Interviews
- Ethnography
- Case studies
- Document analysis
How do we arrive at new knowledge?
Qualitative research is related to inductive logic. Inductive logic is the opposite of deductive
logic.
What do we do as qualitative researchers?
1. Interpretivist approach, we interpret an already-interpreted world.
2. Qualitative data, we observe and question the world to find evidence of meaning.
3. Inductive logic, we build understanding from our interpretations of this evidence.
The researcher’s perspective is seen as really important, it is an asset that you can use
empathy to understand subjects; we do however need to ensure that you create space, so
you do not put your own assumptions upon someone else.
When choosing a topic for your research, choose one that is not too hot (too narrow), not too
cold (too broad), but just right (this is well focused).
Knowledge clip B1
Research design
A research design gives us an idea of a path forward, all ideas and ways to approach it.
‘A research question without a research design is just a thought’.
How do you ‘design’ research?
- Answer a series of questions that make you reflect on and justify your research
choices (Patton)
, - Consider the elements of your study and how they relate to one another, make a
provisional plan, and continuously adapt each element to create unity in the whole as
your research emerges (Maxwell)
Research design as an inter-connected process
The activities of collecting and analyzing data, developing, and modifying theory, elaborating,
or refocusing the research questions, and identifying and addressing validity threats are
usually all going on more or less simultaneously, each influencing all of the others.
A model for qualitative research design:
Look for a balance in each element!
Research design should be a reflective process operating though every stage of a project.
Knowledge clip B2
Qualitative research approaches
Which qualitative research approach fits best your needs? (Creswell and Poth)
Grounded theory
Research focus Develop a theory grounded in data from the
field
Research problem Grounded theory in the views of participants
Unit of analysis Processes, actions, and the interactions
involving many individuals
Forms of data collection Using primarily interviews with 20-60
individuals
Strategies of data analysis Open, axial, and selective coding
Grounded theory involves zigzagging between the field and data analysis.
began in the 1960s when social science was dominated by quantitative methods.
aims to capture actions, interactions, social process of people, then built theory from this
+ to generate or discover a theory that helps to explain practice or provides a framework for
further research
Glaser, Strauss, Corbin were the originators, they believed that theories should be ‘grounded’
in data from the field. Glaser focused on the inductive approach while Strauss focused on the
systematic approach.
- It is a new phenomenon
o Little existing theory
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