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Qualitative Research Methodology and Methods

Dr Natalya Sergeeva 28th of November 2019

Research Philosophy

Research philosophy is typically described as a way of understanding and examining organisational phenomena by social theorists (e.g. Hughes and Sharrock, 1997; May, 2011).

Philosophical ontology is typically described as being concerned with the nature of reality. Ontology reflects the assertions that people make about how the world operates (e.g. Robson, 2011).

Objectivists Subjectivists

Social constructionism

Strong Weak

Reality is socially constructed by people

• Acknowledges particular social structures and material conditions

• Knowledge is socially constructed through language and actions, but accepts that there are material entities

Weak social constructionism

A relativist ontology (multiple realities), a subjective epistemology (creation of understandings by people), and a naturalistic set of methodological procedures (in the natural world). (Denzin and Lincoln, 2013)

Overview of ontological debate

• Objective reality: There is an objective reality which exists independently of human perception.

• Perceived reality: There is a ‘true’ reality, but its full nature can never be identified. Individuals perceive reality from their own perspectives.

• Constructed reality: Reality is socially constructed in the minds of individuals. Different individuals attach multiple meanings to phenomena, socially constructing different realities.

• Created reality: There is no reality at all and everything exists in the mind of the observer.

Source: Lincoln and Guba (1985) and Guba and Lincoln (2011)

Overview of ontological debate • Functionalist (objective-regulation): Society has a real existence and

a systematic character, and is directed toward regulation. The paradigm advocates a research process using the rigour of the scientific method.

• Interpretive (subjective-regulation): Society does not possess the concrete form. The meaning of social situations is a matter of inter- subjective interpretations.

• Radical humanist (subjective-radical change): Shares the interpretive paradigm that reality is socially constructed, but contends that this social construction is constrained by a situation in which actors find themselves the prisoners of the social world they create.

• Radical structuralist (objective-radical change): A materialist conception of the social world that implies constant change through political and economic crises (e.g. Marx, Lenin).

Source: Burrell and Morgan (1992)

”Pluralism”

Multiple realities which represent different combinations of subjective and objective ontological assumptions about the nature of social science:

“More likely is the possibility that over time, people will act like interpretivists, functionalists, radical humanists, and radial structuralists.” Weick (1995: 35)

”Relational ontology”

“Meaning making is not objectively given or subjectively constructed but, rather, part of an ongoing relational process. It emerges in and through interactions between actors and artefacts that become entangled with one another. Actors who become involved have their own narratives to offer, depending upon their recollections of past experiences and their future aspirations.” Garud (2013: 159)

”Ongoing reality”

“To talk about sensemaking is to talk about reality as an ongoing accomplishment that takes from when people make retrospective sense of the situations in which they find themselves and their creations.” Weick (1995: 15)

”Becoming ontology”

“Postmodernist thinking, on the other hand, privileges an ontology of movement, emergence and becoming in which the transient and ephemeral nature of what is “real” is accentuated. What is real for postmodern thinkers are not so much social states, or entities, but emergent relational interactions and patternings that are recursively intimated in the fluxing and transforming of our life-worlds.” Chia (1995: 581)

Epistemology Epistemology is the more appropriate approach to the science of knowledge, of what people think can be known about the world (e.g. Hughes and Sharrock, 1997; May, 2011).

According to the social constructionist position, the aim of social inquiry shifts from structures and material entities towards processes and contexts (cf. Burr, 2003). From this perspective, the focus is placed upon a) intra-individuals (cognitive) activity which is more or

less influenced by b) inter-individual (social) processes. From a social constructionist perspective, organisational actors individually and collectively engage in the construction of social reality.

Contextualist research

“Such an approach directly questions the relevance of narrowly constructed positivist research methodologies and points toward the need to understand the way in which complex processes are enacted and legitimized.” Green et al. (2010: 119)

Purpose of enquiry The accepted wisdom of social science dictates that the choice of research strategy should be directed by the research purpose of the enquiry (e.g. Saunders et al., 2012).

Exploratory, descriptive or explanatory types of research are frequently distinguished (e.g. May, 2011).

Purpose of enquiry Descriptive: tends to provide answers to ‘what’, ‘who’ and ‘where’, ‘how many’ and ‘how much’ questions (e.g. Bryman, 2012). These questions are likely to favour survey methods or analysis of archival data.

Explanatory: ‘How’ and ‘why’ research questions, however, are more explanatory in nature and are likely to be used in case studies, interviews and experimental research. Explanatory (analytical) research seeks to explain a situation or a problem.

Exploratory: The emphasis is placed on how and why meanings and interpretations are attached to phenomena. It is explorative in nature and is likely to be used in qualitative research enquiry.

Research approach Deductive proceeding from theory to empirical data. Deductive reasoning tends to empirically test hypothesis and using quantitative methods.

Inductive is typically understood as proceeding from data to theory. Inductive reasoning is frequently described as a process of moving from the empirical data to theory building.

Abductive occupies the ‘middle ground’ between deductive and inductive reasoning.

Middle ground

“The reality of grounded theory research is always one for trying to achieve a practical middle ground between a theory-laden view of the world and an unfettered empiricism. A simple way to seize this middle ground is to pay attention to extant theory but constantly remind yourself that you are only human and that what you observe is a function of both who you are and what you hope to see.” Suddaby (2006: 635)

Research methods

• Participant observation

• Interviews

• Focus groups

Interviews

“Interviews do more than provide information on cultural and subjective meanings. Rigorous analysis of accounts provides two intertwined sets of findings: evidence of the nature of the phenomenon under investigation, including the contexts and situations in which it emerges, as well as insights into the cultural frames that people use to make sense of these experiences.” Silverman (2011: 137)

Interviews

“Interviews do more than provide information on cultural and subjective meanings. Rigorous analysis of accounts provides two intertwined sets of findings: evidence of the nature of the phenomenon under investigation, including the contexts and situations in which it emerges, as well as insights into the cultural frames that people use to make sense of these experiences.” Silverman (2011: 137)

We typically use EXPERT interviews

Expert Interviews

An expert is an individual who possesses expertise on a specific matter and has the ability to report on it.

The expert’s role is to offer insights into what, why or how to do something, on a specific discussion, based on his/her competence and experience (Mieg, 2001).

We typically use EXPERT interviews

Interviews

• Structured

• Semi-structured

• Open-ended

• Narrative interviews

Sampling strategy

• Should be informed by the research focus

• Rationale why these participants

• Details of the interviewees (anonymised!)

REMEMBER: Be realistic in your expectations! These participants need to be accessible and available!

Think about how you will recruit them

Interviewing

Interview details

• Interview questions need to be designed to answer the research questions driven by the theory

• Procedure of the interview (how long, where)

• How many interviews in total

• Sample of interview transcribed (Appendix)

Designing your interview

• Decide your sample • Decide the type of questions • Create a topic guide

Types of questions

Demographic: Questions on an individuals characteristics, such as age group, education, income (only if relevant)

Behavioral: Questions concerning personal activities or circumstances related to the respondent

Attitude: Questions investigating his/her opinion on a subject

Example of a topic guide

Topic Guide

Background and Experience Questions

Personal Role in the organisation Experience

Organisation Aim of the organisation Everyday activities

Knowledge Questions Interactions Clients/Users Partners Suppliers Regulators Employees (Internal)

Services Type Stages of development Funding/Income

Attitude Questions Technology Buzzwords ‘Artificial Intelligence’ ‘Machine Learning’ ‘Big Data’

Social Role Connections Skills

Analysis of interviews

• Thematic analysis

• Details of coding

• Use of Nvivo software

• Narrative Inquiry

Thank you!

Q & A

References Berg, B. L. (2009). Qualitative research methods. San Francisco, USA: Allyn & Bacon.

Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th ed.). NY, USA: Oxford University Press.

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007). Business research methods (2nd ed.). NY, USA: Oxford

University Press.

Burrell, G. and Morgan, G. (1992). Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis:

Elements of the sociology of corporate life. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

Charmaz, K. (2002). Qualitative interviewing and grounded theory analysis. In J. F. Gubrium

and J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context & method, 675-694.

London, UK: Sage Publications.

Charmaz, K. (2011). Grounded theory methods in social justice research. In N. K. Denzin and

Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry, pp. 291-336. London, UK: Sage

Publications. Dainty, A. (2008). Methodological pluralism in construction management research. In A.

Kniight and L. Ruddock (eds.) Advanced research methods in the build environment, pp.

1-13. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

References Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). (Eds.). The Sage handbook of qualitative research (4th

ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (2013). Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. (4th

ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. R. (2008). Management research. London,

UK: Sage Publications.

Gibbs, G. R. (2007). Analyzing qualitative data. London, UK: Sage Publications.

Guba, E. G. and Lincoln, Y. S. (2011). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences in N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research, pp. 529-544.London: Sage Publications. May, T. (2011). Social research: Issues, methods and research (4th ed.). London, UK: Open

University Press.

Morgan, G. and Smircich, L. (1980). The case for qualitative research. Academy of

Management Review, 5(4), 491-500.

Mieg, H. A. 2001. The social psychology of expertise. Mahwah, NJ.

References Robson, C. (2011). Real world research: A resource for users of social research methods in

applied settings. (3rd ed.). Sussex, UK: Wiley & Sons.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2012). Research methods for business students (6th

ed.). London, UK: Pearson.

Sayer, A. (1997). Essentialism, social constructionism, and beyond. The Sociological Review,

45(3), 453-487.

Silverman, D. (2011). Qualitative research. London, UK: Sage Publications.

Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology: An overview. In N. Denzin

and Y. Lincoln, Handbook of qualitative research (eds.). California, USA: Sage Publications.