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CONTENTS

About the Author

Preface
Acknowledgements

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 How to Use this Book

2 Overview of Qualitative Research

2.1 Why Do Qualitative Research?
2.2 What is Research?
2.3 Quantitative and Qualitative Research Compared
2.4 Triangulation
2.5 Research in Business and Management
2.6 Rigour and Relevance in Research
Exercises
Further Reading

PART II FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF RESEARCH

3 Research Design
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Choosing a Topic
3.3 Theoretical Framework
3.4 A Model of Qualitative Research Design
3.5 Writing a Research Proposal
3.6 Defending a Research Proposal
3.7 Examples of Various Research Designs
Exercises
 Further Reading

4 Philosophical Perspectives
4.1 Underlying Assumptions in Research
4.2 Positivist Research
4.3 Interpretive Research
4.4 Critical Research
4.5 Examples of Various Research Philosophies
Exercises
Further Reading

5 Ethics
5.1 The Importance of Ethics
5.2 Important Ethical Principles Related to Research
Exercises
Further Reading

PART III QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

6 Action Research
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Approaches to Action Research
6.3 Critique of Action Research
6.4 Examples of Action Research
Exercises
Further Reading

7 Case Study Research

7.1 Introduction
7.2 Approaches to Case Study Research
7.3 Critique of Case Study Research
7.4 Examples of Case Study Research
Exercises
Further Reading

8 Ethnographic Research
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Approaches to Ethnographic Research
 8.3 How to Do Ethnographic Research
8.4 Critique of Ethnographic Research
8.5 Examples of Ethnographic Research
Exercises
Further Reading

9 Grounded Theory
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Approaches to Grounded Theory
9.3 Critique of Grounded Theory
9.4 Examples of Grounded Theory Research
Exercises
Further Reading

PART IV DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

10 Inter
views
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Types of Interview
10.3 Potential Problems Using Interviews
10.4 A Model of the Interview
10.5 Practical Suggestions for Interviewing
10.6 Examples of Interviews
Exercises
Further Reading

11 Participant Observation and Fieldwork

11.1 Introduction
11.2 Fieldwork Concepts
11.3 Approaches to Fieldwork
11.4 How to Conduct Fieldwork
11.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Fieldwork
11.6 Examples of Fieldwork
Exercises
Further Reading

12 Using Documents
 12.1 Introduction
12.2 Types of Documents
12.3 How to Find Documents
12.4 How to Use Documents
12.5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Documents
12.6 Examples of Using Documents
Exercises
Further Reading

PART V ANALYSING QUALITATIVE DATA

13 Analysing Qualitative Data: An Overview

13.1 Introduction
13.2 Approaches to Analysing Qualitative Data
13.3 Which Qualitative Data Analysis Approach?
13.4 Use of Qualitative Data Analysis Software
13.5 Examples of Analysing Qualitative Data
Exercises
Further Reading

14 Hermeneutics
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Hermeneutic Concepts
14.3 Types of Hermeneutics
14.4 Using Hermeneutics: An Example
14.5 Critique of Hermeneutics
14.6 Examples of Using Hermeneutics
Exercises
Further Reading

15 Semiotics
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Semiotic Concepts
15.3 How to Use Semiotics
15.4 Critique of Semiotics
15.5 Examples of Using Semiotics
Exercises
Further Reading
16 Narrative Analysis
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Approaches to Narrative Analysis
16.3 How to Use Narrative Analysis
16.4 Critique of Narrative Analysis
16.5 Examples of Using Narrative and Metaphor
Exercises
Further Reading

PART VI WRITING UP AND PUBLISHING

17 Writing Up
17.1 Introduction
17.2 How to Write Up
17.3 Some Practical Suggestions
Exercises
Further Reading

18 Getting Published
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Common Mistakes and Pitfalls
18.3 Possible Solutions
18.4 Practical Tips
Exercises
Further Reading

PART VII CONCLUSION

19 Qualitative Research in Perspective

Glossary
References
Index
 PART I

INTRODUCTION

Part I provides a general introduction to qualitative research in

business and management. Chapter 1 suggests how you can use
this book to best advantage. Chapter 2 provides an overview of
qualitative research. It discusses the motivation for doing qualitative
research, the differences between qualitative and quantitative
research, and how qualitative research can contribute to the rigour
and relevance of research in business and management.
1 HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

I decided to write this book for several reasons. First, there are few
textbooks that deal specifically with qualitative research in business
and management. Often, professors and teachers of qualitative
research in business schools use books that are written for a much
wider audience, such as the social sciences more generally.
Second, of the few books that are available for students of
business and management, most tend to be somewhat narrow in
their treatment. They focus on just one or two research methods
(such as action research and/or case study research) and often fail
to appreciate the potential of different underlying research
philosophies (e.g. interpretive research), or of different ways of
analysing qualitative data.
Third, I have noticed a tendency for writers of qualitative books in
business and management to be somewhat defensive about the use
of qualitative research. The tone is one of lamenting the current lack
of acceptance of qualitative research in business. Often there are
complaints about how difficult it is to get qualitative research articles
into the top journals.
The purposes of this book, therefore, are as follows:

to provide a qualitative textbook that focuses specifically on

business and management;
to provide a broad, reasonably comprehensive discussion of the
various qualitative research methods (and their philosophical
underpinnings) that researchers can use;
to provide a qualitative textbook that is enthusiastic and positive
about the use of qualitative research in business and
management.
With regard to the last point, this book provides examples of
qualitative studies drawn from many business and management
disciplines. Almost all of the examples have been drawn from the top
journals in the disciplines concerned, e.g. Academy of Management
Journal in management, MIS Quarterly in the field of information
systems, or Journal of Consumer Research in marketing. This
second edition contains over 60 examples of qualitative research
articles from these top journals! This selection of examples from
some of the top research journals shows that qualitative researchers
in business no longer need to be apologetic or defensive about their
research. It seems obvious to me that both qualitative and
quantitative research methods are needed to study business
phenomena.
In the remainder of this short chapter I will outline the structure of
the book and highlight some of its significant features.
Part I provides an introduction to the book and an overview of
qualitative research. A key theme is the contribution that qualitative
research can make to research in business and management.
Part II provides an overview of some fundamental concepts in
qualitative research. It looks at various approaches to research
philosophy, research design, and research ethics. I believe it is
important for research students to be aware of the different
underlying assumptions and research designs that can inform
qualitative research. All qualitative researchers should make their
research designs and underlying philosophical assumptions explicit.
Part III deals with the most common research methods that are
used in business and management today. I define a research
method as a strategy of enquiry or a way of finding empirical data
about the (social) world. Chapter 6 deals with action research,
Chapter 7 case study research, Chapter 8 ethnographic research,
and Chapter 9 grounded theory. A key feature of this part of the book
is that it outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the various
research methods.
In Part IV, I discuss the use of qualitative techniques for data
collection. In business and management, the most important
qualitative technique is the use of interviews (Chapter 10). However,
participant observation and fieldwork are discussed in Chapter 11
and the use of documents in Chapter 12.
Part V focuses on analysing and interpreting qualitative data. The
tremendous variety in approaches is reviewed in Chapter 13,
whereas the following three chapters discuss three specific
approaches in more detail. These are hermeneutics (Chapter 14),
semiotics (Chapter 15), and narrative and metaphor (Chapter 16).
In Part VI, I look at writing up and publishing qualitative research.
Chapter 17 focuses solely on the process of writing up (mostly for a
thesis or dissertation), whereas Chapter 18 focuses on getting
published. As journal articles tend to count much more than books in
all the business and management disciplines, I provide some
practical guidance with respect to getting qualitative research work
published in peer-reviewed conferences and academic journals. This
is one of the distinguishing features of the book.
Part VII is the concluding section. Chapter 19 looks at qualitative
research in perspective. This is followed by a glossary of some of the
most commonly used terms in qualitative research.
2 OVERVIEW OF
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
Understand the purpose of qualitative research
Appreciate the benefits of qualitative research
Recognize what counts as research and what does not
Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative research
Decide whether or not to use triangulation
See how qualitative research can contribute to the rigour and relevance
of research

2.1 WHY DO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH?

Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers
understand people and what they say and do. They are designed to
help researchers understand the social and cultural contexts within
which people live.
One of the key benefits of qualitative research is that it allows a
researcher to see and understand the context within which decisions
and actions take place. It is often the case that human decisions and
actions can only be understood in context – it is the context that
helps to ‘explain’ why someone acted as they did. And this context
(or multiple contexts) is best understood by talking to people.
 Qualitative researchers contend that it is virtually impossible to
understand why someone did something or why something
happened in an organization without talking to people about it.
Imagine if the police tried to solve a serious crime without being able
to talk to the suspects or witnesses. If the police were restricted to
using only quantitative data, almost no crimes would be solved.
Imagine if lawyers and judges were not allowed to question or cross-
examine witnesses in court. The validity and reliability of any court
decision would be thrown into serious doubt. So, likewise, qualitative
researchers argue that if you want to understand people’s
motivations, their reasons, their actions, and the context for their
beliefs and actions in an in-depth way, qualitative research is best.
Kaplan and Maxwell (1994) say that the goal of understanding a
phenomenon from the point of view of the participants and its
particular social and institutional context is largely lost when textual
data are quantified.
One of the primary motivations for doing qualitative, as opposed to
quantitative, research comes from the observation that, if there is
one thing which distinguishes humans from the natural world, it is
their ability to talk. It is only by talking to people, or reading what they
have written, that we can find out what they are thinking, and
understanding their thoughts goes a long way towards explaining
their actions.

TYPES OF QUESTIONS USING QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH
The questions that a qualitative researcher might typically ask are what, why,
how, and when questions:
What is happening here?
Why is it happening?
How has it come to happen this way?
When did it happen?
 2.2 WHAT IS RESEARCH?
In a university setting, research is defined as an original investigation
undertaken in order to contribute to knowledge and understanding in
a particular field. Research is a creative activity leading to the
production of new knowledge. The knowledge produced is new in
the sense that the facts, the interpretation of those facts, or the
theories used to explain them might not have been used in a
particular way before in that specific discipline.
Research typically involves enquiry of an empirical or conceptual
nature and is conducted by people with specialist knowledge about
the subject matter, theories, and methods in a specific field.
Research may involve contributing to the intellectual infrastructure of
a subject or discipline (e.g. by publishing a dictionary). In some
fields, such as engineering, computer science, or information
systems, research can also include the experimental design of new
artefacts. Engineers often try to develop new or substantially
improved materials, devices, products, or processes.
Of course, as more research is published, the subject matter,
theories and methods used in a particular field may change over
time. For this reason, scholars in many disciplines will write a
literature review of previous relevant research to show that they
understand and are up-to-date with the latest thinking.
But how do we know that the research results are new? How do
we know that the findings are original? How do we know that the
research was conducted in a rigorous manner?
The only way to tell if the research findings are both sound and
original is if those findings are open to scrutiny and formal evaluation
by experts in a particular field. That is, the findings must be
evaluated by those who are experienced and ‘qualified’ to do so. If
these experts, in evaluating the research, find that the results are
sound, and that the findings are new to them, then we can say that
the research project represents an original contribution to
knowledge.
This way of evaluating the quality of research in science is called
the peer review system. The peer review system exists in all
scientific disciplines and is in effect a system of quality assurance. Of
course, the peer review system is a social system, and as such it
has its drawbacks, but it does ensure that only research of a certain
standard is published. I discuss the peer review system and the
publication process in more detail in Part VI.
It should be clear from the above discussion that some activities
do not count as research in a university setting (Tertiary Education
Commission, 2005). Some of these activities are as follows:

The preparation of teaching materials. Teaching materials are

excluded since they are not normally formally evaluated by
experts in the field as a whole. For example, case study books
written for teaching purposes are written primarily for students,
not researchers. As Yin describes, ‘For teaching purposes, a
case study need not contain a complete or accurate rendition of
actual events; rather, its purpose is to establish a framework for
discussion and debate among students’ (2003: 2). The
distinction between producing case studies for teaching and
research is discussed more fully in Chapter 7.
The provision of advice or opinion, e.g. consulting work.
Feasibility studies (where the output is a recommendation to a
client).
Routine data collection (where there is no attempt to contribute
to new knowledge in the field as a whole).
Routine information systems development (where the output is a
new or improved product for a client, not the experimental
design of a new product or service).
Any other routine professional practice.

2.3 QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH COMPARED
There are many different ways to classify and characterize different
types of research. However, one of the most common distinctions is
between qualitative and quantitative research methods (Table 2.1).
 Quantitative research methods were originally developed in the
natural sciences to study natural phenomena. Examples of
quantitative methods now well accepted in the social sciences
include survey methods, laboratory experiments, formal methods
(e.g. econometrics) and numerical methods such as mathematical
modelling. All quantitative researchers emphasize numbers more
than anything else. That is, the numbers ‘come to represent values
and levels of theoretical constructs and concepts and the
interpretation of the numbers is viewed as strong scientific evidence
of how a phenomenon works’ (Straub, Gefen, & Boudreau, 2004).
Most quantitative researchers use statistical tools and packages to
analyse their data.

Table 2.1 Examples of qualitative and quantitative research

Qualitative research: A focus on text Quantitative research: A focus on

numbers
Action research Surveys
Case study research Laboratory experiments
Ethnography Simulation
Grounded theory Mathematical modelling
Semiotics Structured equation modelling
Discourse analysis Statistical analysis
Hermeneutics Econometrics
Narrative and metaphor

Qualitative research methods were developed in the social

sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural
phenomena. Examples of qualitative methods are action research,
case study research and grounded theory. Qualitative data sources
include observation and participant observation (fieldwork),
interviews and questionnaires, documents and texts, and the
researcher’s impressions and reactions. Qualitative data are mostly
a record of what people have said. For example, interviews (the
most common technique for collecting qualitative data) record what
one of your informants said about a particular topic; field notes
record what the researcher experienced or thought about a particular
topic or event; and documents record what the author of the
document wrote at the time. In all cases, these qualitative data can
help us to understand people, their motivations and actions, and the
broader context within which they work and live.
In the 1980s most business disciplines favoured quantitative
research. In the 1990s, however, there was an increased interest in
qualitative research in almost every business discipline. The quality
of this research improved over time such that many articles using
qualitative research have now been published in the top peer-
reviewed journals of virtually every business discipline.
My view is that both quantitative and qualitative research
approaches are useful and necessary in researching business
organizations. Both kinds of research are important, and both kinds
of research can be rigorous. Most of the resources and readings
cited in this book have been peer reviewed by leading experts and
published in the top journals in the various business disciplines.
However, there are advantages and disadvantages in each
approach.
Generally speaking, quantitative research is best if you want to
have a large sample size and you want to generalize to a large
population. In this case the objective is to study a particular topic
across many people or many organizations. You want to find out
trends or patterns that apply in many different situations. Various
statistical techniques can be used to analyse your data.
A major disadvantage of quantitative research is that, as a general
rule, many of the social and cultural aspects of organizations are lost
or are treated in a superficial manner. The ‘context’ is usually treated
as ‘noise’ or as something that gets in the way. The quantitative
researcher trades context for the ability to generalize across a
population.
Qualitative research is best if you want to study a particular
subject in depth (e.g. in one or a few organizations). It is good for
exploratory research, when the particular topic is new and there is
not much previously published research on that topic. It is also ideal
for studying the social, cultural, and political aspects of people and
organizations. A special section of Academy of Management Journal
was devoted to the ‘power of rich’ research (see Rynes, 2007).
 A major disadvantage of qualitative research, however, is that it is
often difficult to generalize to a larger population. You can generalize
from qualitative research, but not by using sampling logic. For
instance, if you conduct three in-depth case studies of three
organizations, a sample size of three does not count for much in
statistical terms. Three cases are no better than one. Therefore it is
normally impossible for qualitative researchers to make
generalizations from a sample to a population.
However, you can generalize from qualitative research to theory,
and you can generalize from just one case study or one ethnography
(Klein & Myers, 1999; Lee & Baskerville, 2003; Yin, 2003). How you
can use qualitative research to make generalizations and how the
contributions and quality of qualitative research studies can be
evaluated is discussed in each of the chapters in Part III.
Although the qualitative/quantitative distinction in research
methods is by far the most common, there are other distinctions
which can be made. Research methods have variously been
classified as objective versus subjective (Burrell & Morgan, 1979), as
being concerned with the discovery of general laws (nomothetic)
versus being concerned with the uniqueness of each particular
situation (idiographic), as aimed at prediction and control versus
aimed at explanation and understanding, as taking an outsider (etic)
versus taking an insider (emic) perspective, and so on. Considerable
controversy continues to surround the use of these terms (Myers &
Avison, 2002). However, a discussion of these distinctions is beyond
the scope of this book. For a fuller discussion see Luthans and Davis
(1982) and Morey and Luthans (1984). See also Chapter 3 which
discusses the various philosophical perspectives that can inform
research.

2.4 TRIANGULATION
Triangulation is the idea that you should do more than just one thing
in a study. That is, you should use more than one research method,
use two or more techniques to gather data, or combine qualitative
and quantitative research methods in the one study. Triangulation is
an excellent idea if you want to look at the same topic from different
angles. It allows you to gain a ‘fuller’ picture of what is happening. It
allows you to triangulate data from interviews with data from
documents, or data from two different research methods (e.g. a
qualitative case study with quantitative data from a survey).

TRIANGULATING CASE STUDY DATA

Doing marketing research, Fournier (1998) conducted three in-depth case
studies looking at the relationships consumers form with brands. She
triangulated data within her case studies.
She used multiple stories from the same person, interviews conducted with
the same persons at multiple points in time, and information from other data
sources, such as grocery lists, shelf contents, stories of other household
members, and so forth. In addition, researchers who had multiple encounters
with informants in previous stages were employed. Thus interpretations were
triangulated across researchers and authors as well.

It is relatively common for qualitative researchers to triangulate data

within a study using just one research method. For example, a
researcher conducting a case study of one organization might
triangulate interview data with data from published or unpublished
documents; or an ethnographer might triangulate data from
interviews with data from observation. Many qualitative research
methods require the triangulation of data in some way or other.
Much less common, however, and much more difficult, is when
researchers try to combine two or more research methods in the one
study. The idea is to triangulate data and findings on the same topic,
but to use different methods. Triangulation is especially challenging if
the research methods are substantially different in their underlying
philosophy or approach, e.g. when researchers try to combine
qualitative and quantitative research methods.
 TRIANGULATING QUALITATIVE AND
QUANTITATIVE DATA
An excellent example of triangulating data obtained from the use of
qualitative and quantitative research methods is Markus’s (1994a) study of
how and why managers use email. Her study questioned the assumptions of
media richness theory (that ‘richness is better’) and demonstrated how a
‘lean’ medium such as email could be used for complex communication.
To answer her research question, ‘how and why do managers use email?’,
Markus used two research methods. First, she used a quantitative method, a
statistically analysed survey. The survey was sent to a large sample of
managers. Second, she used a qualitative method called analytic induction.
The data were purely textual – mostly she used email messages that were
sent by managers. She also obtained data from interviews.
Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods meant that
Markus had quantitative data (e.g. frequency of email use) and qualitative
data (transcripts of email message exchanges). Her findings and conclusions
are rigorous and convincing.

I believe it can be difficult for most people to do this kind of

triangulation well. This is because you need to be well trained and
become an expert in multiple research methods, not just one. Also,
each method has its own underlying perspective and involves the
use of certain techniques. It can take months, if not years, for
someone to become proficient in the use of just one particular
method, e.g. ethnography. However, if you have the inclination,
enthusiasm, and time, this is certainly a worthwhile and viable
option. It is something that can be done (Mingers, 2001).
A slightly easier way to achieve the triangulation of research
methods is for a single study to include multiple researchers. In this
case, each researcher brings to the table his or her own method of
expertise and experience. Having multiple researchers and multiple
perspectives on any research topic can be positive. A key
requirement for the project to be successful, however, is for the
researchers concerned to respect each other’s expertise and
method. There must be mutual respect for any real dialogue to take
place. In such cases, the research findings can be truly outstanding.

2.5 RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND

MANAGEMENT
All research in business and management focuses on a topic that is
of relevance to one or more of the business and management
disciplines. This disciplinary area is actually very broad and,
depending upon your background and institution, may include the
following: accounting and finance; commercial law; economics;
human resource management; logistics and supply chain
management; organizational behaviour and organizational
development; information systems; management strategy and
international business; marketing; and operations management. Of
course, these business and management disciplines often build on
research from other disciplines, such as statistics, psychology, or
sociology. The list of potentially relevant disciplines is very large.
A key feature of a qualitative or quantitative study, as opposed to a
purely conceptual study, is that it is an empirical investigation, i.e. it
relies on empirical data from the natural or social world. The
empirical investigation seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge
in a particular field. A simple model of the process of empirical
research in business and management is represented in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 A model of research in business and management

As can be seen in the figure, a researcher finds a topic or a research
problem that is relevant to the body of knowledge in a particular
discipline. Normally, the research questions are derived from the
research literature, but they could come from current business
practice or your own intuitive hunches (Marshall & Rossman, 1989).
In order to answer the questions raised by the problem, the
researcher subsequently uses a research method to find some
empirical evidence. These findings are hopefully significant enough
to be published and hence add to the body of knowledge. A new
researcher then comes along and starts the process once more.

2.6 RIGOUR AND RELEVANCE IN RESEARCH

A perennial issue for researchers in business and management is
the apparent trade-off between rigour and relevance (Table 2.2). It
has become a common complaint over the past decade that
research in business schools has become more rigorous at the
expense of relevance.

Table 2.2 Rigour and relevance

Rigorous research Relevant research

‘Scientific research’ Relevant to business practitioners

Emphasis on meeting scientific Emphasis on being immediately relevant
standards such as validity and reliability to practice
Subject to academic peer review Published in consulting reports or
Published in academic journals industry magazines
Theoretical contribution Practical contribution

Rigorous research is usually defined as research that meets the

standards of ‘scientific’ research; it is research that has been
conducted according to the scientific model of research, subject to
peer review, and published in an academic journal. Unfortunately,
much of the research that is published in academic business journals
is often seen as being too theoretical and of little practical relevance
to business professionals.
 Relevant research is usually defined as research that is of
immediate relevance to business professionals. The research results
can be used right away. This kind of research is usually seen as
more akin to consulting. Unfortunately, much of this kind of research
is difficult, if not impossible, to get published in academic journals in
business and management. The lack of a theoretical contribution
almost guarantees rejection.
In my own field of information systems, the issue of rigour versus
relevance seems to be discussed at almost every conference. Most
academics tend to agree with the notion that research in information
systems and business schools more generally should be more
relevant to business professionals. In practice, however, they are
faced with the need to gain tenure and promotion. In order to gain
tenure, most business schools in research universities require faculty
members to have a record of publication in reputable academic
journals. This job requirement means that most faculty members end
up postponing indefinitely their desire (if they have one) to conduct
‘relevant’ research.
As an example of this debate in the management literature more
generally, Bennis and O’Toole (2005) argue that business schools
focus far too much on what they call ‘scientific’ research. Writing in
the Harvard Business Review, they claim that business management
is not a scientific discipline, but a profession. They lament the fact
that business schools have followed a scientific model of research
rather than a professional model (as found, for example, in medicine
and law). They say that graduating business students are ill
equipped to wrangle with the complex, unquantifiable issues that are
the reality of business. As most decisions in business are made on
the basis of messy and incomplete data, they are particularly critical
of statistical and quantitative research which they believe can blind
rather than illuminate (Bennis & O’Toole, 2005).
I must admit that I do not entirely agree with Bennis and O’Toole’s
argument. In my view, the focus on research in business schools has
transformed them from having a mostly vocational focus to being
proper scholarly institutions. Faculty members have become
scholars rather than consultants. Also, while most academic
research may not be immediately relevant to business professionals,
it may become relevant over the longer term. In fact, I would argue
that one of the failings of contemporary management is the
predilection to seek ‘silver bullets’, i.e. quick fixes, or magic solutions
to more deep-seated problems. Few silver bullets turn out to be of
any long-lasting value.
However, I do agree that research in business and management
could be much more relevant than it is right now, and that it should
be able to deal with ‘complex, unquantifiable issues that are the
reality of business’. And this is where the value of qualitative
research lies.
It is my view that qualitative research is perhaps the best way for
research in business and management to become both rigorous and
relevant at the same time. It allows scholarship and practice to come
together. Qualitative researchers study real situations, not artificial
ones (as, for example, in a laboratory experiment). To do a good
qualitative study, qualitative researchers need to engage actively
with people in real organizations. An in-depth field study, in
particular, needs to look at the complexity of organizations, including
the ‘complex, unquantifiable issues’ that are the reality of business.
A case study researcher or an ethnographer may well study the
social, cultural, and political aspects of a company.
Hence, if you are trying to decide whether to do qualitative or
quantitative research in a business discipline, the choice should not
be made on the basis of whether one approach is more rigorous
than the other. This would have been a valid question in the 1980s
and early 1990s, but it is no longer a valid question today. Rather,
the choice should be based on the topic, on the research question
you want to ask, on the basis of your own interest and experience,
and how relevant you want to be to practice. It is also important to
consider the expertise of your supervisor or faculty members in your
institution. If you want to use qualitative research but there is no one
with the qualifications, interest, or experience to supervize you at
your university, then it is probably best to choose a different topic
and method, or change university.
 Exercises
1. Conduct a brief literature search using Google Scholar or some other
bibliographic database and see if you can find both qualitative and
quantitative articles in your chosen field. What kinds of topics appear?
2. Looking at some of the articles you found in more detail, can you
describe the research problem and the research questions? Can you
describe the research method(s) that the author(s) used? Did any of
them use triangulation?
3. Looking at these same articles, would you describe some of them as
more rigorous or relevant than the others? Why?

FURTHER READING

Books
There are two books which I recommend for anyone wanting to do qualitative
research at PhD level; both these books are required or recommended texts
in many doctoral-level courses in business.
First, The Sage Handbook for Qualitative Research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005)
provides a collection of readings with authors selected from many disciplines.
It examines the various paradigms for doing qualitative work, the strategies
developed for studying people in their natural setting, and a variety of
techniques for collecting, analysing, interpreting, and reporting findings.
Second, Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd edn)
(Miles & Huberman, 1994) is also very useful.
A third book that is an excellent primer for novice researchers is Doing
Qualitative Research (Silverman, 2005).

Websites
There are quite a few useful websites on qualitative research:
The AISWorld Section on Qualitative Research is at
www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/
The Qualitative Report is an online journal dedicated to qualitative research
and critical enquiry at www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/index.html
Sage Publications is arguably the leading publisher of qualitative
methodology texts at www.sagepublications.com
Narrative Psychology is an excellent resource on narrative and related areas
at http://narrativepsych.com
The Association for Qualitative Research has useful information at
www.latrobe.edu.au/www/aqr/
QualPage includes calls for papers, conferences, discussion forums, and
publishers at www.qualitativeresearch.uga.edu/QualPage
The International Journal of Social Research Methodology is a cross-
disciplinary journal designed to foster discussion and debate in social
research methodology at http://tandf.co.uk/journals
Forum: Qualitative Social Research is a bilingual (English/German) online
journal for qualitative research edited by Katja Mruck. The main aim of the
forum is to promote discussion and cooperation between qualitative
researchers from different nations and social science disciplines at
http://qualitative-research.net/fqs/fqs-eng.htm
Evaluation and Social Research Methods has links to books, manuals, and
articles on how to do evaluation and social research at
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods