H2 Overview of qualitatve research
Why do qualitatve research?
Qualitative rvesvearch mvethods arve dvesignrved to hvelp rvesvearchvers unrdverstanrd pveoplve anrd what thvey say
anrd do. Thvey arve dvesignrved to hvelp rvesvearchvers unrdverstanrd thve social anrd cultural conrtvexts withinr
which pveoplve liive.
Onrve of thve kvey bvenrvefts of ualitative rvesvearch is that it allows a rvesvearchver to sveve anrd unrdverstanrd
thve conrtvext withinr dvecisionrs anrd actonrs takve placve. Qualitative rvesvearchvers conrtvenrd that it is iirtually
impossiblve to unrdverstanrd why somveonrve did somvethinrg or why somvethinrg happvenrved inr anr
organrizatonr without talkinrg to pveoplve about it.
Kaplanr anrd Maxwvell (1994) say that thve goal of unrdverstanrdinrg a phvenromvenronr from thve poinrt of iivew
of thve partcipanrts anrd its partcular social anrd inrsttutonral conrtvext is largvely lost whvenr tvextual data
arve uanrtfved.
Types of questoos usiog qualitatie research
What
Why
How
Whvenr
What is research?
Inr a unriiversity svetnrgn rvesvearch is dvefnrved as anr originral inrivestgatonr unrdvertakvenr inr ordver to
conrtributve to knrowlvedgve anrd unrdverstanrdinrg inr a partcular fveld. vesvearch is a crveative actiity
lveadinrg to thve productonr of nrvew knrowlvedgve.
vesvearch typically inriolives venr uiry of anr vempirical or conrcveptual nraturve anrd is conrductved by pveoplve
with spvecialist knrowlvedgve about thve subjvect matvern thveorivesn anrd mvethods inr a spvecifc fveld.
vesvearch may inriolive conrtributnrg to thve inrtvellvectual inrfrastructurve or thve vexpverimvenrtal dvesignr of
artvefacts.
Thve onrly way to tvell if thve rvesvearch fnrdinrgs arve both sounrd anrd originral is if thosve fnrdinrgs arve opvenr
to scrutnry anrd formal veialuatonr by vexpverts inr a partcular fveld. This way of veialuatnrg thve uality of
rvesvearch is callved thve pvever rveiivew systvem.
Quanttatve and qualitatve research compaared
Quanrttative rvesvearch mvethods wverve originrally dveivelopved inr thve nratural scivenrcves to study nratural
phvenromvenra. All uanrttative rvesvearchvers vemphasizve nrumbvers morve thanr anrythinrg velsve. Thve nrumbvers
'comve to rveprvesvenrt ialuves anrd lveivels of thveorvetcal conrstructs anrd conrcvepts anrd thve inrtverprvetatonr of
thve nrumbvers is iivewved as stronrg scivenrtfc veiidvenrcve of how a phvenromvenronr works'.
,Qualitative rvesvearch mvethods wverve dveivelopved inr thve social scivenrcves to venrablve rvesvearchvers to study
social anrd cultural phvenromvenra. Qualitative data arve mostly a rvecord of what pveoplve haive said.
Inr thve 1980s most businrvess disciplinrves faiourved uanrttative rvesvearch. Inr thve 1990sn howveivern thverve
was anr inrcrveasved inrtvervest inr ualitative rvesvearch inr almost veivery businrvess disciplinrve. Thve uality of
this rvesvearch improived oiver tmve such that manry artclves usinrg ualitative rvesvearch haive nrow bvevenr
publishved inr thve top pvever-rveiivewved journrals of iirtually veivery businrvess disciplinrve.
Quanrttative rvesvearch is bvest if you wanrt to haive a largve samplve sizve anrd you wanrt to gvenrveralizve to a
largve populatonr. You wanrt to fnrd out trvenrds or patvernrs that apply inr manry difvervenrt situatonrs.
Various statstcal tvechnri uves canr bve usved to anralyzve your data.
A major disadianrtagve of uanrttative rvesvearch is thatn manry of thve social anrd cultural aspvects of
organrizatonrs arve lost or arve trveatved inr a supverfcial manrnrver. Thve 'conrtvext is usually trveatved as 'nroisve'
or as somvethinrg that gvets inr thve way. Thve uanrttative rvesvearchver tradves conrtvext for thve ability to
gvenrveralizve across a populatonr.
Qualitative rvesvearch is bvest if you wanrt to study a partcular subjvect inr dvepth. It is good for
vexploratory rvesvearchn whvenr thve partcular topic is nrvew anrd thverve is nrot much prveiiously publishved
rvesvearch onr that topic. It is also idveal for studyinrg thve socialn culturaln anrd politcal aspvects of pveoplve
anrd organrizatonrs.
A major disadianrtagve of ualitative rvesvearchn howveivern is that it is ofvenr diicult to gvenrveralizve to a
largve populatonr. You canr gvenrveralizve from ualitative rvesvearchn but nrot by usinrg samplinrg logic.
Howveivern you canr gvenrveralizve from ualitative rvesvearch to thveoryn anrd you canr gvenrveralizve from just
onrve casve study or onrve vethnrography.
Although thve ualitativee uanrttative distnrctonr inr rvesvearch mvethods is by far thve most commonrn
thverve arve othver distnrctonrs which canr bve madve. vesvearch mvethods haive iariously bvevenr classifved as
objvective iversus subjvective (Burvell & Morganrn 1979)n as bveinrg conrcvernrved with thve discoivery of
gvenrveral laws (nromothvetc) iversus bveinrg conrcvernrved with thve unri uvenrvess of veach partcular situatonr
(idveographicn as aimved at prvedictonr anrd conrtrol iversus aimved at vexplanratonr anrd unrdverstanrdinrgn as
takinrg anr outsidver (vetc) iversus takinrg anr inrsidver (vemic) pverspvective.
Triangulaton
Trianrgulatonr is thve idvea that you should do morve thanr just onrve thinrg inr a study. That isn you should
usve morve thanr onrve rvesvearch mvethodn usve two or morve tvechnri uves to gathver datan or combinrve
ualitative anrd uanrttative rvesvearch mvethods inr onrve study. Trianrgulatonr is anr vexcvellvenrt idvea if you
wanrt to look at thve samve topic from difvervenrt anrglves.
,It is rvelatively commonr for ualitative rvesvearchvers to trianrgulatve data withinr a study usinrg just onrve
rvesvearch mvethod. Manry ualitative rvesvearch mvethods rve uirve thve trianrgulatonr of data inr somve way
or othver.
Much lvess commonrn howveivern anrd much morve diicultn is whvenr rvesvearchvers try to combinrve two or
morve rvesvearch mvethods inr onrve study. Trianrgulatonr is vespvecially challvenrginrg if thve rvesvearch mvethods
arve substanrtally difvervenrt inr thveir unrdverlyinrg philosophy or approach. This is bvecausve you nrveved to bve
wvell trainrved anrd bvecomve anr vexpvert inr multplve rvesvearch mvethods. Alson veach mvethod has its ownr
unrdverlyinrg pverspvective anrd inriolives thve usve of cvertainr tvechnri uves.
A slightly veasiver way to achiveive thve trianrgulatonr of mvethods is for a sinrgly study to inrcludve multplve
rvesvearchvers. A kvey rve uirvemvenrt for thve projvect to bve succvessfuln howveivern is for thve rvesvearchver
conrcvernrved to rvespvect veach othver's vexpvertsve anrd mvethod.
Research in business and management
All rvesvearch inr businrvess anrd manragvemvenrt focusves onr a topic that is of rvelveianrcve to onrve or morve of
thve businrvess anrd manragvemvenrt disciplinrves.
A kvey fveaturve of a ualitative or uanrttative studyn as opposved to a purvely conrcveptual studyn is that it
is anr vempirical inrivestgatonr (it rvelives onr vempirical data from thve nratural or social world). Thve
vempirical inrivestgatonr sveveks to conrtributve to thve body of knrowlvedgve inr a partcular fveld.
fgurve 2.1. a modvel of rvesvearch inr businrvess anrd manragvemvenrt
Normallyn thve rvesvearch uvestonrs arve dveriived from thve rvesvearch litveraturven but thvey could comve from
currvenrt businrvess practcve or your ownr inrtuitive hunrchves (Marshall & ossmanrn 1989). Inr ordver to
anrswver thve uvestonrs raisved by thve problvemn thve rvesvearchver subsve uvenrtly usves a rvesvearch mvethod to
fnrd somve vempirical veiidvenrcve.
Rigour and relevance in research
A pvervenrnrial issuve for rvesvearch inr businrvess anrd manragvemvenrt is thve apparvenrt tradve-of bvetwvevenr rigour
anrd rvelveianrcve. It has bvecomve a commonr complainrt oiver thve past dvecadve that rvesvearch inr businrvess
schools has bvecomve morve rigorous at thve vexpvenrsve of rvelveianrcve.
, igorous rvesvearch is usually dvefnrved as rvesvearch that mvevets thve stanrdards of 'scivenrtfc' rvesvearch.
Unrfortunratvelyn much of rvesvearch that is publishved inr acadvemic businrvess journrals is ofvenr svevenr as
bveinrg too thveorvetcal anrd of litlve practcal rvelveianrcve to businrvess profvessionrals.
velveianrt rvesvearch is usually dvefnrved as rvesvearch that is of immvediatve rvelveianrcve to businrvess
profvessionrals. This kinrd of rvesvearch is usually svevenr as morve akinr to conrsultnrg. Unrfortunratvelyn much of
this kinrd of rvesvearch is diicultn if nrot impossiblven to gvet publishved inr acadvemic journrals inr businrvess
anrd manragvemvenrt. Thve lack of thveorvetcal conrtributonr almost guaranrtveves rvejvectonr.
If you arve tryinrg to dvecidve whvethver to do ualitative or uanrttative rvesvearch inr a businrvess disciplinrven
thve choicve should nrot bve madve onr thve basis of whvethver onrve approach is morve rigorous thanr thve
othver. This would haive bvevenr a ialid uvestonr inr thve 1980s anrd vearly 1990s. athvern thve choicve should
bve basved onr thve topicn onr thve rvesvearch uvestonr you wanrt to askn onr thve basis onr your ownr inrtvervest
anrd vexpverivenrcven anrd how rvelveianrt you wanrt to bve to practcve. It is also importanrt to conrsidver thve
vexpvertsve of your supveriisor or faculty mvembvers inr your inrsttutonr.
H3 Research design
Introducton
A rvesvearch dvesignr is thve planr for anr venrtrve ualitative rvesvearch projvect. This planr should bve writvenr inr
a rvesvearch proposal that says what you arve goinrg to do.
vesvearch dvesignr inriolives dvecidinrg uponr all thve iarious componrvenrts of a rvesvearch projvect:
Your philosophical assumptonrs
Your rvesvearch mvethod
Which data collvectonr tvechnri uves you will usve
Your approach to ualitative data anralysis
Your approach to writnrg up
How you planr to publish your fnrdinrgs
Thve mainr purposve of rvesvearch dvesignr is to proiidve a road map of thve wholve rvesvearch projvect.
Howveivern as most ualitative rvesvearch is itverativen you should nrveiver rvegard your rvesvearch dvesignr as
fnral.
Anrothver purposve of a rvesvearch dvesignr is to conriinrcve your potvenrtal supveriisor(s). A proposal is
vessvenrtally anr argumvenrt 'inrtvenrdved to conriinrcve thve rveadver that thve proposved rvesvearch is signrifcanrtn
rvelveianrtn anrd inrtvervestnrgn that thve dvesignr of thve study is sounrdn anrd that thve rvesvearchver is capablve of
succvessfully conrductnrg thve study' (Marshall & ossmanr 1989).
Choosing a topaic
You should bve ablve to dvescribve your topic inr just a fvew svenrtvenrcves. Thverve arve thrveve importanrt
rve uirvemvenrts inr dvecidinrg uponr a topic:
You arve inrtvervestved inr thve topic
A faculty mvembver is prveparved to supveriisve you
You canr obtainr rvelveianrt ualitative data onr thve topic
Thve nrvext task is to dveivelop onrve or morve rvesvearch uvestonrs. Thvesve uvestonrs should bve framved inr
such a way that thvey arve anrswverablve vempirically.
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