Organization Development
Vignesh Sivadass
Mang62544DIAGNOSISINTERVENTION4April20174.pptMANG6245
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
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Please use the dd month yyyy format for the date for example 11 January 2008. The main title can be one or two lines long.
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Qualitative data
- Qualitative research uses a naturalistic approach that seeks to understand phenomena in context-specific settings, such as "real world setting [where] the researcher does not attempt to manipulate the phenomenon of interest" (Patton, 2001, p. 39)
- Comes in different shapes and forms
- Can be narrative (i.e. from interviews) or observational (observation notes)
- Non-standardised data – the aim is to make sense of that data
- Analysis can be inductive or deductive
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Methods for qualitative research
- No method is inherently qualitative or quantitative
- Interviews
- Focus Groups
- Observations
- Interviews most common form
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Why Interviews ?
- Approach to diagnosis:
- Exploring issues
- Ability to probe issues in depth
- Personal contact:
- May enhance ability to collect data
- Allows for exploring “softer” issues such as meanings
- Nature of questions:
- Open-ended rather than “closed”
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Types of Interviews
- Structured:
- All questions, and most responses, are pre-determined. In essence, researcher is administering a questionnaire.
- Semi-structured:
- Interviewer has a list of themes and issues to explore
- Pre-determined list of questions may be used, but not stuck to rigorously
- Unstructured:
- Interviewer has no pre-determined list of questions, though probably has an idea of issues to be explored
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews
Advantages
- Richness of data
- Insights
- Personal views and perceptions
- Sense of involvement
Disadvantages
- Interviewer bias
- Interviewee bias
- Inaccuracy of recall
- Generalisability
- Lack of standardisation
- Difficult to analyse
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Overcoming Problems with Interviews
Critical Incident Interviews
Flanagan, 1954
Chell, 2002
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
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Critical Incident Interviews
“A set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behavior in such a way as
to facilitate their potential usefulness in solving practical problems and developing broad
psychological principles. The critical incident technique outlines procedures for collecting
observed incidents having special significance and meeting systematically defined criteria.”
(Flanagan 1954, p. 327).
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Critical Incident Interviews – Format
- Establish example to examine (related to purpose of study)
- Obtain contextual data
- Explore Incident
- Who
- When
- What
- Where
- Explore the interviewee’s actions and behaviours
- What were the reactions of others
- What were the outcomes
- Probe throughout
An interview may well entail using a couple of examples
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Focus Groups
- Definition: Focus groups are a small group of a selected population that are asked open-ended questions in a discussion type atmosphere to generate data. They should:
- Involve a carefully planned discussion
- Attempt to obtain perceptions of a defined interest area
- Be carried out in a permissive, non-threatening environment
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Traditional formats
- 8-12 people
- Recorded and supplemented by notes
- Formal setting
- Usually 60 – 180 minutes
- Representative people affected by the issue/problem/initiative
- Use of different facilitator techniques
- Brainstorming
- Delphi
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Advantages and Disadvantages of Focus Groups
Advantages
- Provides concentrated amounts of rich data, in participants’ own words, on precisely the topic of interest
- Interaction of participants adds richness to the data that may be missed in individual interviews
- Provides critical information in development of hypotheses or interpretation of quantitative data
Disadvantages
- Small number of participants
- Limited generalizability
- Group dynamics can be a challenge - Particularly if moderator is inexperienced
- Interpretation
- Time-consuming
- Requires experienced analysts
Observation is useful when…
- You want direct information
- You are trying to understand an ongoing behaviour, process, unfolding situation, or event
- There is physical evidence, products, or outcomes that can be readily seen
- Written or other data collection methods seem inappropriate
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
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Unit 5: Collecting data
Organisational Diagnosis and Interventions
Advantages and Disadvantages of Observation
Advantages
- Most direct measure of behaviour
- Provides direct information
- Could be easy to complete, saves time
- Can be used in natural or experimental settings
Disadvantages
- May require training
- Observer’s presence may create artificial situation
- Potential for bias
- Potential to overlook meaningful aspects
- Potential for misinterpretation
- Difficult to analyse
