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„Research is Hard Work, it's Always a bit Suffering. Therefore, on the Other Side

Research Should be Fun.“

Anselm Strauss http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/562

Nasser Alajmi

!methodological fit of research designs

ontology epistemology methodology methods analysis

What is the fun- damental nature of social reality?

What constitutes legitimate

knowledge? What is the

overarching re- search design?

Which methods are appropriate?

What kind of analysis can be

performed? • research goal /

questions • theoretical

contribution

• type of data • data collection • constructs /

measures

• goal of analysis • analysis methods

Nasser Alajmi

!learning objectives

research design alternatives:

1. quantitative

2. qualitative research

3. mixed-methods

• what they aim at

• how they “work”

• what can be achieved (or not

achieved)

Nasser Alajmi

!theory

“…a system of interconnected ideas. It condenses and organizes knowledge about the social world. We can also think of it as a

type of systematic “story telling” that explains how some aspect of the social world works and why.” (Neuman, p.57)

Nasser Alajmi

!theory building blocks

7© Julia Brandl.

1. assumptions (e.g., organizations are open systems, behaviour is intentionally rational)

2. concepts and relations (e.g., types of external resource

dependences, organizational characteristics)

3. normative statements (e.g., elect directors so that demographics reflect resource dependencies)

4. (empirical evidence)

Nasser Alajmi

!agenda

• 1 - quantitative research designs

• 2 – qualitative research design

• 3 – mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!research goal

“focus on elaborating, clarifying, or challenging

specific aspects of existing theories. …test a theory

in a new setting, identify or clarify the boundaries of

a theory, examine a mediating mechanism, etc.”

(Edmondson & McManus, p. 1159)

“proceeds through a process of hypothesizing fundamental laws and then deducing what kind of

observations will demonstrate the truth or falsity of

these hypotheses” (Neuman, p. 69)

1- quantitative research designs

theory

hypotheses

observations, facts

deducing

operationalizing, testing

Nasser Alajmi

!methods

• constructs & measures = operationalize the conceptual model (theory); measures need to be linked to existing theoretical

constructs

• type of data = standardized and focused -> quantitative

• collecting data = sufficient sample size and randomness of sample

1- quantitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!analysis

• goal of data analysis: explain why events occur or one factor produces certain results in terms of a causal explanation, i.e. • temporal order (i.e. cause and effect)

• association of events • eliminating alternatives

• specifying causal mechanism

• data analysis methods: cursory analysis shows relationships, statistical tests (e.g., correlation, regression) to get clearer view of the relationships

1- quantitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!contribution(s)

1. test a theory‘s predictions

2. elaborate and enrich theory‘s explanation

3. extend a theory to new issues or topics

4. determine which of several explanations is best

1- quantitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!reflection

Edmondson & McManus (2007) suggest to use the above research design for mature theories.

• How do you know the maturity of a theory (e.g., resource dependence theory)?

• What other theories - in your own field and/or beyond - do you consider as ‘mature’?

Nasser Alajmi

!summary

State of Prior Theory and Research

Mature

Research goal / questions Focused questions and/or hypotheses relating existing constructs

Type of data collected quantitative data; focused measures where extent or amount is meaningful

Illustrative methods for collecting data

Surveys; interviews or observations designed to be systemically coded and quantified; obtaining data from field sites that measure the extent or amount of salient constructs

Constructs and measures typically relying heavily on existing constructs and measures

Goal of data analyses formal hypothesis testing

Data analysis methods statistical inference, standard statistical analyses

Theoretical contribution a supported theory that may add specificity, new mechanisms, or new boundaries to existing theories

1- quantitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!agenda

• 1 - quantitative research designs

• 2 – qualitative research design

• 3 – mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!research goal

16© Julia Brandl.

3- qualitative research designs

• “I designed an inductive study to explore

the following questions: (1) How do

managers construe events over time? and (2)

How are those viewpoints linked with the

process of change?” (p.10)

(Isabella 1990)

• develop or confirm theory

from concrete empirical

evidence and work toward

more abstract concepts and

theoretical relationships

Nasser Alajmi

!induction

induction = “approach to developing or confirming a theory that begins with concrete empirical evidence and works toward more

abstract concepts and theoretical relationships” (Neuman, 2014, p.38)

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!(post-) positivism, verification, falsification

General Principle; Law;

Theory Hypothesis

Generali- zation; Pattern

Observation 1

Observation 2

Observation 3

INDUCTIVISM

A Posteriori

HYPOTHETICO-DEDUCTIVISM

A Priori

A: Positivist/Verificationism

B: Postpositivist/Falsificationism

(Pernecky, 2016, p. 52, Figure 2.2)

Nasser Alajmi

!concerns with induction

The benevolent farmer. On a farm, there was a flock of chickens. One chicken started talking

with another, remarking "How good our farmer has been to us. I think he is an awfully nice man, because he comes every morning to feed us." The other chicken nodded in agreement, adding "and he has been feeding each and everyone of us here every day like clockwork, every day without fail since we were all just little baby chicks." Indeed, when queried, most of the other chickens clucked in agreement about how benevolent their farmer was. But there was one chicken, intelligent but eccentric, who countered saying "How do you know he is all that good? I

remember, not too long ago, that there were some older chickens who were taken away, and I haven't seen them since. What ever happened to them?” Some of the chickens may have slept a little uneasy that night, but in the morning the farmer came as usual, this time scattering even

more corn around. The chickens ate this with gusto, and this dispelled any remaining doubts about the benevolence of the farmer. "You see, there is nothing to worry about. Our farmer had a little extra food, so he gave it to us because he likes us! He is a good man," remarked one chicken to the others, and they all nodded in agreement, all of them, that is, except one. The intelligent but eccentric chicken became even more agitated. "He is just fattening us up! We are going to be slaughtered in a weeks time!" he squawked in alarm. But nobody listened. All the

other chickens just thought he was a troublemaker. A week later, all the chickens were placed into cages, loaded onto a truck, and driven to the slaughterhouse. The End.

3- qualitative research designs

http://frugosblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-chickens-and-benevolent-farmer_26.html

Nasser Alajmi

!grounded theory

A methodology invented by Glaser and Strauss and presented in their book The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for

qualitative research (1967).

• grounded = ‘grounds’ theory in actual data

• provision of procedures for building theory (esp., theoretical sampling, coding, memos, constant comparison)

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!methods

• constructs & measures = to be created during the research process (nvivo i.e. natural constructs of particular interest)

• type of data = “all is data”-principle, in practice primarily

qualitative

• collecting data = emerging sampling strategy, aiming at finding examples of a construct and thereby elaborate and

examine this construct (theoretical sampling); collecting data interrelated with analysis

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!analysis

• goal of data analysis: explain why events occur and the processes how people handle situations in terms of a

interpretative explanation, i.e.

• the subjective experiences of humans in specific situations

• making sense of the meanings of events and interaction

• data analysis methods: coding for developing and refining constructs (example see next slide!), constant comparison (refinement of

initial constructs and their relations) and memo writing

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!abduction

abduction = approach to theorizing which examines the efficacy of multiple theoretical frameworks sequentially and recontextualizes

both data and ideas creatively in the process (Neuman, 2014, p.114)

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!contribution(s)

1. explain the meanings that humans construct to make sense of their

everyday experiences in specific situations (substantive theory)

2. clarify understanding of a problem,

when unsure of the precise nature of the problem (nascent theory)

3- qualitative research designs

(Neuman, 2014, p.70)

Nasser Alajmi

!new constructs introduced in AMJ articles

• relational demography (Tsui, o’Reilly, 1989)

• citizenship behaviour (Bateman & Organ, 1983)

• affect- and cognition based trust (McAllister, 1995)

• archetypes (Greenwood & Hinings, 1993)

• job embeddedness (Mitchell et al., 2001)

examples taken from Colquitt & Zapata-Phelan (2007, p. 1296f.)

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!summary

State of Prior Theory and Research

Nascent

Research questions open-ended inquiry about a phenomenon of interest

Type of data collected qualitative, initially open-ended data that need to be interpreted for meaning

Illustrative methods for collecting data

interviews; observations; obtaining documents or other material from field sites relevant to the phenomena of interest

Constructs and measures typically new constructs, few formal measures

Goal of data analyses pattern identification

Data analysis methods thematic content analysis coding for evidence of constructs

Theoretical contribution a suggestive theory, often an invitation for further work on the issue or set of issues opened up by the study

3- qualitative research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!agenda

• 1 - quantitative research designs

• 2 – qualitative research design

• 3 – mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!Whenmixedmethods are not effective

Nasser Alajmi

research goal (1)

• „…writings suggest that, when all other

factors are held equal, the display of

positive emotions by employees can, act as

control moves that bring about gains for an

organization“ (p.463)

(Sutton & Rafaeli, 1988)

• reinvestigate a theory or

construct that sits within a

mature stream of research

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

research goal (2)

• „a subsequent qualitative study suggested

that sales is an indicator of a store‘s pace,

or the amount of pressure on clerks and

customers, and that pace leads to displayed

emotions, with norms in busy settings

supporting neutral displays and norms in

slow settings supporting positive displays“

(p.461)

(Sutton & Rafaeli, 1988)

• generate greater

understanding of the

mechanisms underlying

quantitative results in at

least partially new

territory

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

research goal (3)

• “Reanalysis of the quantitative data

confirmed that clerks in rapidly paced stores

with high sales and long lines were less likely

to display positive feelings than clerks in

slow-paced stores.” (p.461)

(Sutton & Rafaeli, 1988)

• increase confidence that

the researchers’

explanations of the

phenomena are more

plausible than alternative

interpretations

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!methods

• constructs & measures are derived from existing theory as well as generated from empirical observation

• type of data = quantitative + qualitative

• methods for collecting data = sufficient sample size (quantitative) and focussed on matters that are likely to promote understanding of phenomena and how they relate

(qualitative)

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!analysis

• goal of data analysis: integrate qualitative + quantitative data

• triangulation “a process by which the same phenomenon is assessed

with different methods to determine whether convergence across

methods exists.” (Neuman, 2014 p.115)

• options for order in data analysis:

• explanatory (1. quantitative; 2. qualitative)

• exploratory (1. qualitative; 2. quantitative)

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!contribution(s)

1. intermediate theory = ”provisional explanations of phenomena, often introducing a new construct and proposing

relationships between it and established constructs” (Edmondson & McManus, 2007, p.1158)

2. integrating previously disparate bodies of literature to a

theory that adds new specificity to existing theoretical models in a given body of literature

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!summary

State of Prior Theory and Research

Intermediate

Research questions Proposed relationships between new and established constructs

Type of data collected Hybrid (both qualitative and quantitative)

Illustrative methods for collecting data

Interviews; observations; surveys; obtaining material from field sites relevant to the phenomena of interest

Constructs and measures Typically one or more new constructs and/or new measures

Goal of data analyses Preliminary or exploratory testing of new propositions and/or new constructs

Data analysis methods Content analysis, exploratory statistics, and preliminary tests

Theoretical contribution A provisional theory, often one that integrates previously separate bodies of work

2- mixed-methods research designs

Nasser Alajmi

!further topics

• Off-diagonal opportunities

• research goals: descriptive

• basic and applied