Documents as Sources of Data (Søren)

According to Krippendorff (2004), the universe of available texts is too large to be examined as a whole. When communication researchers ask questions that available texts could answer, they can easily be overwhelmed by volumes of relevant data. Researchers who are unfamiliar with the theory and techniques of sampling might realize at some point during data analysis that their task exceeds the available resources and may be forced to terminate their data analysis prematurely

(Krippendorff 2004: 111-112). Therefore, when researchers analyze a sample of texts in place of a larger population of texts, they need a sampling plan to ensure that sampled texts do not bias the answers to the research question(s) (Ibid: 113).

We have chosen to limit our research to a manageable body of texts by using documents as sources of data. Documents are a very heterogeneous group in general, but one that has been used often is company documents. The documents that we have chosen to sample is placed within the public domain and covers both press releases, transcripts of press briefings and annual reports from MAS’ and the Malaysian Government’s official MH370 websites. The data that has been collected cover a period from March 8 to August 29, 2014. These particular documents should provide us with sufficient material to analyze the airline’s crisis communication during the MH370 crisis. Bryman (2012) suggests that one of the greatest advantages gained by sampling documents derived from private sources is that they are more likely to be authentic as well as being clear and

comprehensible to the researcher. We have been very cautious in sampling documents primarily from MAS’ and the Malaysian Government’s official websites and generally excluded data from the mass media, where authenticity issues can be difficult to ascertain. Journalists of the mass media sometimes frame a story or even a statement for the good of the news agency in which they are employed, and it can therefore be difficult to know whether the account can be relied upon or not (Bryman 2012: 553). We did however make a few exceptions in order to bring relevant information that was unavailable on the official websites, but when exceptions was made it was always the unedited information of the article that was utilized in the analysis

We believe that sampling official documents derived from MAS’ and the Malaysian Government’s official websites should provide a realistic account of the airline’s crisis communication. We are granted access to a great amount of information concerning the disappearance of flight MH370, and there is no need to validate the accuracy of the documents or their authorship. In other words, the authenticity is already confirmed as MAS is the sender of the press releases, which verifies credibility issues as well (Ibid: 551).

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3.2.3.1.1. Sampling Strategy

In qualitative research, several sampling strategies can be employed to sample documents as units of analysis, but most approaches will entail purposive sampling of some kind. According to Bryman (2012), what links the various kinds of purposive sampling approaches is that the sample is

conducted with reference to the goals of the research topic. In other words, the units of analysis are selected in terms of criteria that will allow the research questions to be answered (Bryman 2012: 418). The sampling approach that we will apply is what Bryman refers to as ‘sequential sampling’, which also entails the broad characteristic of purposive sampling. Sequential sampling implies that sampling is an evolving process where the researcher usually begins with an initial sample and gradually adds to the sample as it benefits the research questions (Ibid). The sample will thus be conducted strategically by selecting the units by virtue of their relevance to the first research question. During this process, we will attempt to ensure that the sample has a good deal of variety so that the specific units contain elements of both the crisis type and the different response

strategies employed by MAS.

3.2.3.1.2. Validity of the Qualitative Study

There is a tendency among case study researchers whose point of reference lies primarily with a qualitative research strategy to minimize or ignore the salience of reliability, replicability, and validity, whereas those researchers who have been strongly influenced by the quantitative research strategy tend to depict them as more significant (Bryman 2012: 69). Some qualitative researchers therefore propose that their investigations should be judged or evaluated according to different criteria from those used in relation to quantitative research. Scott (1990) has made useful distinctions relating to the criteria for assessing the quality of official documents in qualitative research. The first criterion is ‘authenticity’, which means that the document has to be genuine and of unquestionable origin. We have already explained that one of the greatest advantages gained by sampling documents derived from MAS’ and the Malaysian Government’s official MH370

websites is that the authenticity has already been confirmed. One might say that the second criterion of ‘credibility’ is verified in the same sentence. MAS is the sender of the crisis communication, which verifies credibility issues as well. The third criterion for evaluating official documents is ‘representativeness’ and deals with the typicality of the collected evidence. We do not disregard the importance of representativeness when assessing the validity of the qualitative investigation, but we are aware that it is difficult to yield representative findings that can be applied to other cases and contexts in most qualitative research. However, the main purpose of the qualitative investigation is

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not to generalize to other cases or populations beyond this context. What we instead aim to generate is an intensive examination of MAS’ crisis communication. From our point of view, the crucial question is not whether these findings can be generalized to a wider context, but instead how well we are capable of engaging in an incisive theoretical analysis and discussion based on the findings. The fourth and last of Scott’s criteria is ‘meaning’, and it is concerned with the question of whether the evidence derived from the documents are clear and comprehensible to the researcher. The majority of the content in the documents was written in clear and comprehensible English, and it has therefore not been difficult to establish meaning (Ibid: 306).

3.2.3.1.3. Qualitative Data Analysis

Bryman (2012) emphasizes that qualitative content analysis is one of the most prevalent approaches to the qualitative analysis of documents, and it is comprised of a search for underlying themes. The process through which the themes are extracted is often not specified in detail, but it is usually illustrated with quotations or statements from various documents (Bryman 2012: 559). We have previously defined that the objective of the qualitative research is to use the SCCT to investigate how MAS executed its crisis communication. Using the SCCT in the collection and analysis of data arguably contains elements of what Bryman refers to as ‘deductive theory’. With the deductive approach, theory is something that guides the research process (Ibid: 24). Consequently, the SCCT will be used to collect all relevant data that are related to the concepts and categories of the theory. In the end, we should be capable of generating an index of themes to assist us in the analysis and interpretation of the sampled data. During the search for themes in the sampled documents, we will always keep the bigger perspective in mind, and we are aware that the process does not account for the entire analysis, it is part of it. It is a mechanism for thinking about the meaning of our data and for reducing the vast amount of data we come across.

Another important element in qualitative content analysis is to interpret the findings. In line with the hermeneutic-phenomenological tradition of interpretivism, we have been inspired by the hermeneutic approach to qualitative content analysis in which the analyst of a text must seek to bring out its meanings from the perspective of the original author (Ibid: 560). This aspect is an important element in the investigation of MAS’ crisis communication effort during the MH370 crisis. The hermeneutic-phenomenological position should allow us to gain access to MAS’ common-sense thinking and enable an interpretation of the airline’s actions and social reality from an organizational perspective.

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