Business Research

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Authored by David McHugh

Bryman & Bell,

Business Research

Methods

_{, 2}

nd

_{edition, Chapter 16}

The nature of qualitative research

‘…qualitative research subsumes several diverse research

methods that differ

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Features of Qualitative Research

•

• An

An

inductive

view of the relationship between theory and

research, whereby the former is generated out of

the latter

•

• An

An

epistemological

position described as

interpretivist

,

meaning that, in contrast to the adoption of a

natural scientific

model in quantitative research, the stress is on the

understanding of the social world through

an examination of

the interpretation of that world by its participants; and

•

• An

An

ontological

position described as

constructionist

, which

implies that social properties are outcomes of the interactions

between individuals, rather than phenomena `out there' and

separate from those involved in its construction

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Main Research Methods Associated With

Qualitative Research

• Ethnography/participant observation

• Qualitative interviewing

• Focus groups

• Language-based approaches:

conversation analysis; discourse analysis

• Collection and qualitative analysis of texts

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The Main Steps in Qualitative

Research

1. General research questions

2. Selecting relevant site(s) and subjects

3. Collection of relevant data

4. Interpretation of data

5. Conceptual and theoretical work

6. Writing up findings/conclusions

5a. Tighter specification of the research question(s)

5b. Collection of further data

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Four Traditions of Qualitative Research

• Naturalism - seeks to understand social reality in its

own terms; `as it really is'; provides rich descriptions of

people and interaction in natural settings.

• Ethnomethodology - seeks to understand how social

order is created through talk and interaction; has a

naturalistic orientation.

• Emotionalism - exhibits a concern with subjectivity and

gaining access to `inside' experience; concern with the

inner reality of humans.

• Postmodernism - there is an emphasis on `method

talk'; sensitive to the different ways social reality can be

constructed.

Gubrium and Holstein (1997) : see Key Concept 16.1

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Hochschild 1983: see Research in focus 16.2

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Reliability and Validity in Qualitative

Research

• External reliability

-

_{the degree to which a study}

can be replicated

• Internal reliability - whether, when there is more

than one observer, members of the research team

agree about what they see and hear

• Internal validity - whether there is a good match

between researchers' observations and the

theoretical ideas they develop

• External validity - the degree to which findings can

be generalized across social settings

Based on: LeCompte and Goetz (1982)

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Guba and Lincoln’s Criteria for Evaluating

Qualitative Research

• Trustworthiness:

– Credibility

– Transferability

– Dependability

– Confirmability

• Authenticity:

– Fairness

– Ontological

– Educative

– Catalytic

– Tactical

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What is Respondent Validation?

Respondent (or member) validation

-

_{a process whereby researchers}

provide the people on whom they have conducted research with an

account of their findings.

Forms:

• researchers provide each research participant with an account of what they have said to the researcher in interviews and conversations or of

observations of participants in observational studies.

• the researcher feeds back to a group or an organization their impressions and findings in relation to that group or organization.

Practical difficulties:

• respondent validation may occasion defensive reactions and even censorship on the part of research participants.

• it is highly questionable whether research participants can validate a researcher's analysis, since this entails inferences being made for an audience of social science peers.

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What is Triangulation?

Triangulation:

• entails using more than one method or source of data in the study

of social phenomena.

• is an approach that uses `multiple observers, theoretical

perspectives, sources of data, and methodologies‘ (Denzin)

• has tended to emphasise multiple methods of investigation and

sources of data

• can operate within and across research strategies

• can to refer to a process of cross-checking findings deriving from

both quantitative and qualitative research (triangulation of

methods)

• may often allow access to different levels of reality

see Key concept 16.4

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The Critique of Qualitative

Research

• Qualitative research is too

subjective

• Difficult to replicate

• Problems of generalization

• Lack of transparency

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Common Contrasts Between Quantitative

and Qualitative Research

Quantitative Qualitative

Numbers

Words

Point of view of researcher Points of view of participants

Researcher distant

Researcher close

Theory testing

Theory emergent

Static

Process

Structured

Unstructured

Generalization

Contextual understanding

Hard, reliable data

Rich, deep data

Macro

Micro

Behaviour

Meaning

Artificial settings

Natural settings

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Definition of Action Research

• Experiments on real problems within an organization

that are designed to assist in their solution

• This involves an iterative process of problem

identification, planning, action and evaluation

• Action research leads eventually to re-education,

changing patterns of thinking and action. This depends

on the participation of research subjects (who are

often referred to in action research as clients) in

identifying new courses of action

• It is intended to contribute both to academic theory

and practical action

Argyris et al. (1985) : see Research in focus 16.11

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Outcomes of Good and Effective

Action Research

• It must have implications that relate to situations other

than the one that is studied

• As well as being usable in everyday life, action research

should also be concerned with theory

• It leads to the generation of emergent or grounded

theory which emanates from the data in gradual

incremental steps

• Action researchers must recognize that their findings will

have practical implications and they should be clear

about what they expect participants to take away from

the project

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Cognitive Mapping

• A predominantly qualitative method

– used widely by business and management researchers in a

variety of contexts

• Is complementary to action research

– can be used as a problem-solving device

– commonly used as a management consulting technique

• Used to capture individual perspectives

– a tool for reflective thinking about a problem that enables steps

to be taken towards its solution

• Relates to the thinking processes of individuals, groups,

organizations or even industries

– researchers need to be clear about the level of analysis they are

adopting

see Research in focus 16.12

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Interviewer tape-records the interview, rather than taking notes

Interviewee talks openly and spontaneously, rather than

ust answering the questions in a defensive manner

Interviewer maintains flexibility by following up on particular issues raised by the interviewee and varying the order of questions as appropriate

Interview takes place in a quiet, private setting Interviewer maintains impression of

actively listening to interviewee, maintaining eye contact and showing interest in what s/he is saying

Interviewer uses language that is comprehensible and relevant to the interviewee

Tape-recording is of a quality that is suitable for transcription and

subse uent anal sis Interviewee feels positive

towards the interviewer and about the process of being interviewed

An Example of a Part of a Cognitive Map

to Show the Process of Qualitative

Interviewing

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The Feminist Critique of Quantitative

Research

• According to Mies (1993), quantitative research suppresses the voices of

women either by ignoring them or by submerging them in a torrent of facts and statistics

• The criteria of valid knowledge associated with quantitative research are ones that turn women into objects. This means that women are again subjected to exploitation, in that knowledge and experience are extracted from them with nothing in return, even when the research is conducted by women (Mies 1993)

• The emphasis on controlling variables further exacerbates this last problem, and indeed the very idea of control is viewed as a masculine approach

• The use of predetermined categories in quantitative research results in an emphasis on what is already known and consequently in `the silencing of women's own voices' (Maynard 1998: 128)

• The criteria of valid knowledge associated with quantitative research also mean that women are to be researched in a value-neutral way, when in fact the goals of feminist research should be to conduct research specifically for

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Feminism and Qualitative

Research

Qualitative research allows:

• women's voices to be heard

• exploitation to be reduced by giving as well

as receiving in the course of fieldwork

• women

not

_{to be treated as objects to be}

controlled by the researcher's technical

procedures; and

• the emancipatory goals of feminism to be

realized.

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However…

• Many of the worst excesses of discrimination against

women might not have come to light were it not for the

collection and analysis of statistics revealing

discrimination (Maynard 1994; Oakley 1998).

• It is difficult to see why feminist research that combines

quantitative and qualitative research would be

incompatible with the feminist cause (Jayaratne and

Stewart, 1991 & Maynard, 1994, 1998).

• Qualitative research is not ipso facto feminist in

orientation and some writers have preferred to write

about feminist research practice rather than about

feminist methods (Maynard 1998).

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An Example of Participative

Research

Brown and Kaplan’s work illustrates five aspects of participative research: 1. diverse parties, including management and union leaders, whose

interactions could not be predicted or controlled

2. ideological choices, the researchers were unable to remain neutral in their research as they were pressed to take sides with either union or

management (eventually deciding to work exclusively with management – who had financially supported the research initially)

3. diverse perspectives of different parties had somehow to be integrated, despite the high degree of misunderstanding and conflict that existed between them

4. research was organized in a way that enabled the use of resources to solve concrete problems as well as to generate abstract knowledge 5. outcomes of the research were complex and ambiguous, producing

competing explanations that reflected multiple realities

Brown & Kaplan (1981): see Research in focus 16.15