Qualitative Research Methods

Research Project Workshop
Essentials Guide to:
Qualitative Research Methods
Dr Alan Warr BA MSc MBA PhD CITP MBCS FCMI FIC
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Acknowledgement: The structure of this presentation owes a debt of gratitude to the work of Dr A. Dias de Figuiredo of the University of Coimbra, Portugal.
The Research Project:
Training Our Minds to Think Critically
& Solve Complex Problems
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Research Project Workshop
Quote from Richard Branson
Legendary businessman and founder of Virgin Group
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“Learn to use your brain power.
Critical thinking is the key to
creative problem solving”
Quote from Dr Martin Luther King
American civil rights leader
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“Education must enable one to
sift and weigh evidence, to
discern the true from the false,
and facts from the fiction. The
function of education, therefore,
is to teach one to think
intensively and to think
critically.”

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Watch the short video case.
Note what is going wrong in
the critical thinking processes
of the leader and followers?
At the end why does the victim
accept the decision?
The logical argument
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We know this woman is a witch because she looks like one.
We know this woman is a witch because she dresses like one.
We know this woman is a witch because she has a wart.
We know this woman is a witch because she turned someone into a newt.
One burns witches.
One burns wood.
Witches burn because they are made out of wood.
Bridges are made of wood.
They can be built from stone.
Wood floats in water.
A duck floats in water.
If the women weighs the same as a duck, then she is made of wood.
The women weighs the same as a duck.
Therefore, the woman is a witch.
Even the alleged witch is happy with a logical
decision from an authority figure!
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https://youtu.be/X2xlQaimsGg
Quantitative and Qualitative
Research Methods
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Research Project Workshop
Quantitative vs Qualitative Methods
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Research in business schools has traditionally been supported by two
distinct categories of methods (or paradigms):
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
And although research areas often lean towards one category, they
should be seen as complementary to each other. They can also be
combined into a third paradigm, if that is appropriate:
Mixed Methods
Quantitative Methods
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• Quantitative methods are traditionally used in the natural sciences to
study natural phenomena with mathematical rigor, namely using statistical
analysis.
• A limited amount of variables is always assumed, and these variables are
seen as independent from external factors, measurable, and holding
mathematical relationships between each other .
• Quantitative research generally emphasizes planning, hypotheses, large
random samples, and objective measures.
• It assumes the existence of a distinction between researcher and subjects,
and aims at ‘generalizing’, i.e. at producing laws applicable to much
broader realities.
Qualitative Methods
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• Qualitative methods are being used increasingly in the social and human
sciences for the study of highly complex and contingent phenomena,
where the numbers of variables is too high to be handled by quantitative
methods.
• The growing attraction of business research toward qualitative methods
results, to a large extent, from the increasingly complex, social and
human, nature of the phenomena they deal with.
• In the past, the social and human sciences, for fear of looking less
respectable, tended to resort mainly to the quantitative methods of the
natural sciences.
• Over last few decades, they have been putting increasing emphasis on
qualitative research and, as a consequence, obtaining much richer results.
Traditional View of
Quantitative vs Qualitative Methods
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Means (methods) from Ends (objectives):
Ralph Stacey’s Certainty & Agreement Model
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Consider your research topic
dispassionately?
How much certainty and agreement is
there about the variables (or things) you
are measuring or investigating?
Choose (and justify) the methods based
on what will work for the nature of the
research you are conducting?
Ralph Stacey is a Professor at Hertfordshire Business School and his work focused on
executive decision-making.
Group Exercise: What Research Method for You?
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In groups of two or three or four (please self
organize).
Go around the buzz group.
Describe the research you are doing?
What methods are you considering and
why? Other buzz group members should
constructively & supportively probe with
questions?
Be prepared to briefly describe the
method(s) you are considering –
qualitative, quantitative, mixed, other?
Time budget: 10 minutes
Qualitative Research Methods
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Research Project Workshop
Quote from David Silverman
Author of books on qualitative research – Qualitative Research,
Doing Qualitative Research and Interpreting Qualitative Data
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“The worse thing that
contemporary qualitative
research can imply is that, in
the post-modern age, anything
goes. The trick is to produce
intelligent, disciplined work on
the very edge of the abyss.”
Typical Qualitative Research Approach
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• Research begins with rough ideas that turn slowly into research questions.
• Literature review gradually builds up knowledge about the research ideas.
• The design is the plan to be followed to carry out the research.
• The data collection phase is devoted to gathering the data for the research.
• Data analysis transforms raw data into organised assemblies of information
• Conclusions and recommendations are developed within the limits of validity.
• Dissemination is through well written documents that other researchers can evaluate.
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[Note that this is the UWL view (adapted) and you will find different traditions on this in different
research centers, authors and business specialisms.]
Focus Groups
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Focus Group
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
• A focus group is a group discussion conducted
by a trained moderator in an unstructured and
natural way.
• The moderator leads the discussion.
• The main purpose of focus groups is to gain
insights by listening to a group of people from the
appropriate target market.
• Group size: 8 – 12
• Group composition: Respondents prescreened
• Physical setting: Relaxed, informal atmosphere
• Time duration: 1 – 3 hours
Focus Groups
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Advantages:
•The group interaction produces a wider
range of information, insights, and ideas than
do individual interviews.
•The comments of one person can trigger
unexpected reactions from others, leading to
snowballing with participants responding to
each other’s comments.
•The responses are generally spontaneous
and candid, providing rich insights.
Focus Groups
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Disadvantages:
•The clarity and conviction with which group
members often speak leads to a tendency for
researchers and managers to regard findings as
conclusive.
•Focus groups also are difficult to moderate.
The quality of the results depends heavily on
the skills of the moderator.
•The unstructured nature of the responses
makes coding, analysis, and interpretation
difficult.
Video Case: Focus Group Heralds Election Results
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
https://youtu.be/Ry9SMUurM_k
Interviews
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Interviews
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
• Like focus groups, depth interviews are an
unstructured and direct way of obtaining
information.
• Unlike focus groups, however, depth interviews are
conducted on a one-on-one basis.
• These interviews typically last from 30 minutes to
more than an hour.
• They attempt to uncover underlying motives,
prejudices, or attitudes toward sensitive issues.
• Substantial probing is done to surface underlying
motives, beliefs, and attitudes.
Interviews
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Advantages:
•Can uncover deeper insights about
underlying motives than focus groups.
•Can attribute the responses directly to the
respondent, unlike focus groups.
•Result in a free exchange of information and
there is no social pressure to conform.
•As a result of probing, it is possible to get at
real issues when the topic is complex.
Interviews
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Disadvantages:
•Skilled interviewers capable of conducting
depth interviews are expensive and difficult to
find.
•The quality and completeness of the results
depend heavily on the interviewer’s skills.
•The data obtained are difficult to analyze and
interpret.
•The length of the interview combined with high
costs limits the number of depth interviews.
Business School Research Heroes:
Michael Earl – Oxford
Center for Research in Information Management (CRIM)
Mixed Survey and Interview Researcher
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Former Global Top 100 business guru
Group Exercise: Qualities of an Interviewer
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In groups of two or three or four (please
self organize).
What qualities should an interviewer
have?
HINT: Consider personal, technical,
organising, experience, other?
Time budget: 10 minutes
Case Studies
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Case Studies
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
• A case study is an empirical study that investigates
a contemporary phenomenon in depth and with its
real-life context.
• The case is treated as a “bounded system”.
• Case is the unit of investigation.
• Researcher is not a participant but an observer.
• Often uses interviews with privileged informants
within the case study organisation. Can use
secondary data sources and direct observation.
Case Studies
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Advantages:
•In depth and provides rich descriptive
information.
•Enables us to understand the pattern of
behaviours.
•Multiple cases allow comparison across
sites
•Helps formulate relevant hypotheses.
Case Studies
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Disadvantages:
•Time consuming and can be expensive.
•Critics of this method cite the unreliability of
informant data.
•Difficult to generalize as small sample.
Business School Research Heroes:
Tom Peters – Stanford & McKinsey
Case Study Researcher
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Observation
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Observation
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
• Observation is the recording of the behavior or
phenomena directly by the researcher.
• Researcher uses their powers of observation and
access to observe in order to record what they have
witnessed (rather than communicating with
participants).
• Can be as an observer or as a participant
(participant observation).
• Can be with others knowing they are there to
observe or covertly.
Observation
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Advantages:
•Collects data where and when an event or
activity is occurring.
•Does not rely on people’s willingness to
participate.
•Directly see what people do rather than
relying on what they say they do.
Observation
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Disadvantages:
•Susceptible to observer bias.
•Observer’s paradox: people usually perform
better when they know they are being
observed.
•Does not increase understanding of why
people behave the way they do.
Business School Research Heroes:
Meredith Belbin– Henley & Cambridge
(Observation Researcher – Team Roles)
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Ethnography
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Ethnography: Video Explanation
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
https://youtu.be/_c1SUHTG6B8
Ethnography
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
• As a research method ethnography refers
to fieldwork.
• Literally “means a portrait of a people”.
• Researcher immerses themselves
• Output is a narrative of the observations
Ethnography
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Advantages:
•Generates rich, real-world data.
•Empirical – in-depth understanding of people
and the organisation.
•Allows for the discovery of the unexpected.
•Can be economical if researcher is able to
give their own time.
Ethnography
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Focus Groups
Interviews
Case Studies
Observation
Ethnography
Disadvantages:
•Context can be too specific to generalise.
•Ethnographer can “go native”.
•Must negotiate access.
•Data is messy (a narrative) and can be hard
to assess significance
Business School Research Heroes:
Enid Mumford – Liverpool & Manchester
(Ethnographic Researcher)
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Group Exercise: Selecting Underwear
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Time budget: 10 minutes
In groups of two or three or four (please
self organize).
A major men’s underwear manufacturer
wants to discover the main criteria that
purchasers use in selecting the brand and
style of underwear.
Advise the company what kind of
qualitative methods it should use to
capture the relevant information.
Be a little crazy!
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“The people who are
crazy enough to think
they can change the world
are the ones who do.”
Next workshop 3: Essential Guide to
Quantitative Research
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