Managers basically do business research to understand how
and why things happen. If the manager needs to know only what happened, or how
often things happened, quantitative research methodologies would serve the
purpose. But to understand the different
meanings that people place on their experiences often requires research
techniques that delve more deeply into people's hidden interpretations,
understandings, and motivations. Qualitative research is designed to tell the
researcher how (process) and why (meaning) things happen as they do. While
quantitative research currently accounts for about 20% of research expenditures
by businesses, that is set to change. With technology helping to rapidly expand
the insights drawn from social media analysis (netnography), ethnography,
crowdsourcing (tasking an undefined public with a problem or task), marketing
research online communities (MROCs), and virtual groups, the use of qualitative
research by business is projected to explode. (Cooper & Schindler, 2014)
Nonexperimental research is defined by exclusion: research
that is not experimental. This requires us to define experimental. The
distinction between experimental research and nonexperimental research is based
on the degree of control that the researcher has over the subjects and the
conditions of the research. Key words here are manipulation and assignment
versus observation. Manipulation: in an experiment, conditions or variables
assigned or presented to a participant. Assignment: in an experiment, pairing a
subject with a condition or variable, according to the experimenter's plan.
Observation: the record of a behavior. One characteristic of some
nonexperimental research, called qualitative research, concerns the questions
that are typically asked by the research. The questions that are asked by
qualitative research differ from those of experimental research. Qualitative
research is much less interested in the cause and effect of behavior than is
research based on experimentation. Instead, qualitative research is interested
in how individuals understand themselves and make meaning out of their lives
and world. (White & McBurney, 2013)
Qualitative
research includes an "array of interpretive techniques which seek to
describe, decode, translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not
the frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena in the
social world." Qualitative techniques
are used at both the data collection and data analysis stages of a
research project. At the data collection stage, the array of techniques
includes focus groups, individual depth interviews (IDIs), case studies,
ethnography, grounded theory, action research and observation. During analysis,
the qualitative researcher uses content analysis of written or recorded
materials drawn from personal expressions by participants, behavioral
observations, and debriefing of observers, as well as the study of artifacts
and trace evidence from the physical environment. (Cooper & Schindler,
2014)
Qualitative research aims to achieve an in-depth
understanding of a situation, whether it explains why a person entering a
Kroger grocery store proceeds down each aisle in turn or heads for the rear of
the store and chooses only alternate aisles thereafter or explains why some
advertisements make us laugh and contribute to our commitment to a brand while
others generate outrage and boycotts. Judith Langer, a noted qualitative
researcher, indicates that qualitative research is ideal if you want to extract
feelings, emotions, motivations, perceptions, consumer
"language," or self-described
behavior. (Cooper & Schindler, 2014)
Qualitative
research draws data from a variety of sources, including:
- People (individuals or groups).
- Organizations or institutions.
- Texts (published, including virtual
ones).
- Settings and environments
(visual/sensory and virtual material).
- Objects, artifacts, media products
(textual/visual/sensory and virtual material).
- Events and happenings
(textual/visual/sensory and virtual material).
(Cooper & Schindler, 2014)
Qualitative research methodologies have roots in a variety
of disciplines: anthropology, sociology, psychology, linguistics, communication,
economics and semiotics. Historically, qualitative methodologies have been
available much longer - some as early as the 19th century - than the
quantitative tools marketers rely on so heavily. Possibly because of their
origins, qualitative methods don't enjoy
the unqualified endorsement of upper management. Many senior managers maintain
that qualitative data are too subjective and susceptible to human error and
bias in data collection and interpretation. They believe such research provides
an unstable foundation for expensive and critical business decisions. The fact
that results cannot be generalized from a qualitative study to a larger
population is considered a fundamental weakness. (Cooper &
Schindler, 2014)
Increasingly, however,
managers are returning to these techniques as quantitative techniques fall
short of providing the insights needed to make those ever-more-expensive
business decisions. Managers deal with the issue of trustworthiness of
qualitative data through exacting methodology:
- Carefully using literature searches to build probing questions.
- Thoroughly justifying the methodology or combination of methodologies chosen.
- Executing the chosen methodology in its natural setting (field study) rather than a highly controlled setting (laboratory).
- Choosing sample participants for relevance to the breadth of the issue rather than how well they represent the target population.
- Developing and including questions that reveal the exceptions to a rule or theory.
- Carefully structuring the data analysis.
- Comparing data across multiple sources and different contexts.
- Conducting peer-researcher debriefing on results for added clarity, additional insights and reduced bias.
(Cooper
& Schindler, 2014)
The purpose of qualitative research
is based on "researcher immersion in the phenomenon to be studied,
gathering data which provide a detailed description of events, situations and
interaction between people and things, thus providing depth and detail."
Qualitative research - sometimes labeled
interpretive research because it seeks to develop understanding through
detailed description - often builds theory but rarely tests it. Both the researcher
and research sponsor have more significant involvement in collecting and
interpreting qualitative data. The researcher may serve as a participant or
catalyst, as a participant observer, or as a group interview moderator. The
research sponsor may observe, influence interview questions, and add
interpretations and insights during the process. Since researchers are immersed
in the participant's world, any knowledge they gain can be used to adjust the
data extracted from the next participant. Qualitative data are all about texts.
Detailed descriptions of events, situations, and interactions, either verbal or
visual, constitute the data. Data may be contained within transcriptions of
interviews or video focus groups, as well as notes taken during those interactions.
But by definition they generate reams of words that need to be coded and
analyzed by humans for meaning. While computer software is increasingly used
for the coding process in qualitative research, at the heart of the qualitative
process is the researcher - and his or her experience - framing and
interpreting the data. Qualitative studies with their smaller sample sizes
offer an opportunity for faster turnaround of findings and may be especially
useful to support a low-risk decision that must be made quickly. (Cooper &
Schindler, 2014)
Some appropriate uses for
qualitative research:
1.
Job Analysis
2.
Advertising Concept Development
3.
Productivity Enhancements
4.
New Product Development
5.
Benefits Management
6.
Retail Design
7.
Process Understanding
8.
Market Segmentation
9.
Union Representation
10.
Sales Analysis
(Cooper
& Schindler, 2014)
The qualitative research process:
1.
Clarifying the Research Question
1.1. Discover the Management Dilemma (Exploration)
1.2. Define the Management Question (Exploration)
1.3. Define the Research Question(s)
1.4. Refine the Research Question(s)
2. Research Proposal
3. Research Design
Strategy (type, purpose, time frame, scope, environment)
3.1. Data Collection Design
3.2.
Sample Size & Recruiting Plan (Pretasking)
3.3. Discussion Guide Development & Pretesting
4. Data Collection
& Preparation
5. Debriefing of
Moderators, Observers, & Participants
6. Insight
Development & Interpretation of Data
7. Research Reporting
8. Management
Decision
(Cooper & Schindler, 2014)
The researcher chooses a
qualitative methodology based on the project's purpose; its schedule, its
budget, the issues or topics being studied, the types of participants needed and
the researcher's skill, personality and preferences. Sampling is the process of
selecting some elements from a population to represent that population. One
general sampling guideline exists for qualitative research: Keep sampling as
long as your breadth and depth of knowledge of the issue under study are
expanding; stop when you gain no new knowledge or insights. Sample sizes for
qualitative research vary by technique but are usually small. The interview is
the primary data collection technique for gathering data in qualitative
methodologies. Interviews vary based on the number of people involved during
the interview, the level of structure, the proximity of the interviewer to the
participant, and the number of interviews conducted during the research. An
interview can be conducted individually (individual depth interview or IDI) or
in groups (e.g., focus groups). Interviewing requires a trained interviewer
(called a moderator for group interviews) or the skills gained from experience.
The interviewer makes respondents comfortable, probing for details, remaining
neutral while encouraging the participant to talk openly, listening carefully,
and extracting insights from detailed descriptive dialogue. the interviewer is
responsible to generate the interview or discussion guide, the list of topics
to be discussed and the questions to be asked and in what order. Interviews can
be conducted face-to-face, with the obvious benefit of being able to observe
and record nonverbal as well as verbal behavior. Interviews can also be
conducted by phone or online. (Cooper & Schindler, 2014)
Another source of information that
can be invaluable to qualitative researchers is analysis of documents. Such
documents might include official records, letters, newspaper accounts, diaries,
and reports, as well as the published data used in a review of literature. In
his study of technology teachers in training, Hansen (1995)
analyzed journal entries and memos written by participants, in addition to
interviews. Hoepfl (1994),
in her study of closure of technology teacher education programs, used
newspaper reports, university policy documents, and department self-evaluation
data, where available, to supplement data gained through interviews. (Hoepfl, 1997)
Bogdan and Biklen define qualitative data analysis as "working
with data, organizing it, breaking it into manageable units, synthesizing it,
searching for patterns, discovering what is important and what is to be
learned, and deciding what you will tell others" (1982, p. 145). Qualitative researchers tend to use inductive analysis of data,
meaning that the critical themes emerge out of the data (Patton, 1990). Qualitative analysis requires some creativity, for the challenge is
to place the raw data into logical, meaningful categories; to examine them in a
holistic fashion; and to find a way to communicate this interpretation to
others. (Hoepfl, 1997)
Analysis begins with identification of the themes emerging from the raw
data, a process sometimes referred to as "open coding" (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). During open coding, the researcher must identify and tentatively name
the conceptual categories into which the phenomena observed will be grouped.
The goal is to create descriptive, multi-dimensional categories which form a
preliminary framework for analysis. Words, phrases or events that appear to be
similar can be grouped into the same category. These categories may be
gradually modified or replaced during the subsequent stages of analysis that
follow. (Hoepfl, 1997)
As the raw data are broken down into manageable chunks, the researcher
must also develop an "audit trail"-that is, a scheme for identifying
these data chunks according to their speaker and the context. The particular
identifiers developed may or may not be used in the research report.
Qualititative research reports are characterized by the use of "voice"
in the text; that is, participant quotes that illustrate the themes being
described. (Hoepfl, 1997)
The next stage of analysis involves re-examination of the categories
identified to determine how they are linked, a complex process sometimes called
"axial coding" (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). The discrete categories identified in open coding are compared and
combined in new ways as the researcher begins to assemble the "big
picture." The purpose of coding is to not only describe but, more
importantly, to acquire new understanding of a phenomenon of interest.
Therefore, causal events contributing to the phenomenon; descriptive details of
the phenomenon itself; and the ramifications of the phenomenon under study must
all be identified and explored. During axial coding the researcher is
responsible for building a conceptual model and for determining whether
sufficient data exists to support that interpretation. (Hoepfl, 1997)
Finally, the researcher must translate the conceptual model into the
story line that will be read by others. Ideally, the research report will be a
rich, tightly woven account that "closely approximates the reality it
represents" (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, p. 57). Many of the concerns surrounding the
presentation of qualitative research reports are discussed in the section
"Judging Qualitative Research" which follows. Additional data
collection may occur at any point if the researcher uncovers gaps in the data.
In fact, informal analysis begins with data collection, and can and should
guide subsequent data collection. (Hoepfl, 1997)
References
Cooper, Donald R. & Schindler,
Pamela S. (2014) Business Research Methods (12th ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Hoepfl, Marie C. (Fall 1997). Choosing Qualitative Research: A Primer for Technology Education Researchers, Journal of
Technology Education (Volume 9, Number 1).
Retrieved from
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/v9n1/hoepfl.html
White, Theresa L. & McBurney,
Donald H. (2013). Research Methods (9th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
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