Chapter 5 Formulatin

g the research
design
Learning Objectives
5.1Recognise the importance of your decisions when designing research and the need to achieve
methodological coherence throughout your research design.

5.2Identify the differences between exploratory, descriptive, explanatory and evaluative research.

5.3Distinguish and choose between quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research designs.

5.4Select an appropriate research strategy or strategies and achieve coherence throughout your
research design.

5.5Consider the implications of the time frames required for different research designs.

5.6Identify the main ethical issues implied by your research design.

5.7Utilise appropriate criteria to evaluate the quality of your research design.

5.8Recognise your role as researcher in your research design.

5.9Apply the theory of formulating the research design to a case study.

5.10Progress your research project by formulating your research design.

Introduction: Formulating
the research design
In Chapter 4 we introduced the research onion as a way of depicting
the issues underlying your choice of data collection method or methods
and peeled away the outer two layers – research philosophy and
approach to theory development. In this chapter we uncover the next
three layers: methodological choice, research strategy or strategies, and
the time horizon for your research. As we saw in Chapter 4, the way
you answer your research question will be influenced by your research
philosophy and approach to theory development. Your research
philosophy and approach to theory development will, whether this is
deliberate or by default, invariably influence your selections shown in
the next three layers of the research onion (Figure 5.1). These three
layers can be thought of as aspects of research design, which is the way
you turn your overarching research question or aim and your
objectives into a research project. The key to these selections will be
achieving a coherent design that is consistent with your research
philosophy and approach to theory development.

Your research design is the overall plan for your research project. The
tactics, through which you will bring your plan to fruition, are
precisely how you will collect and analyse the data (the centre of the
research onion). They comprise the detailed design and
operationalisation of your data collection procedures and analysis
techniques and are discussed in later chapters.

The research process is like a journey

The cover photographs of recent editions of this text have shown that
the research process as a journey. Like many such journeys, there is
generally a choice of paths or roads to take. When you are thinking
about setting out on a car journey of some distance, you will probably
enter the destination into your satnav and consider possible route
options to get to your destination. A number of criteria will influence
your decision about which route to take, including time, fuel economy
and your preferences for avoiding motorways, ferries and toll roads.
The route you choose will be calculated by the satnav to meet your
given preferences. As you undertake your journey, you will find
yourself interacting with the reality of your planned route. Some parts
of the journey will go according to plan; other parts may not, and you
may need to amend your route, perhaps because of traffic congestion
or a road being closed due to roadworks. In many ways, designing
research is like planning a journey. Formulating the most appropriate
design to answer your research question is similar to planning the
route to your destination. The research aim is your destination and the
research objectives are your route criteria. Your research design is your
route and it needs to enable you to reach your destination and crucially
be consistent with your objectives. Like your route, your research
design may need to be amended due to unforeseen circumstances. Both
will be interactive experiences.

5.1 Achieving a coherent

research design
5.1 Recognise the importance of your
decisions when designing research and the
need to achieve methodological coherence
throughout your research design.

Your research design is the plan of how you will go about answering
your research question, achieving your research aim and meeting your
objectives. It will specify the source or sources from which you intend
to collect data, how you propose to collect and analyse these, and
discuss ethical issues and the constraints you will inevitably encounter
(e.g. access to data, time, location and money). Crucially, it will
demonstrate that you have thought through the elements of your
particular research design.
Figure 5.1 The research onion

From inside to outside, the layers of the research onion are labelled as follows:
Procedures and techniques, time horizon, strategy (i e s), methodological choice,
approach to theory development, and philosophy. The labels inside each layer
are as follows.

Procedures and techniques: Access, ethics, sample selection, data collection, and
analysis.

Time horizon: Cross-sectional and longitudinal.

Strategy (i e s): Experiment, survey, ethnography, grounded theory, narrative

inquiry, archival research, case study, and action research.
Methodological choice: Mono-method quantitative, mono-method qualitative,
multi-method quantitative, multi-method qualitative, mixed method simple, and
mixed method complex.

Approach to theory development: Deduction, abduction, and induction.

Philosophy: Positivism, critical realism, interpretivism, postmodernism, and

pragmatism.

The purpose of your research design will be driven by your

overarching research question and will be either exploratory,
descriptive, explanatory, evaluative or a combination of these
(Section 5.3). In planning your research, you will need to decide
whether you follow a quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods
research design. Each of these methodological choices will require a
careful consideration of strategies and time horizons along with data
collection procedures and analysis techniques, to achieve a coherent
research design. We introduce this methodological choice in Section 5.4
considering quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research
designs. This will be operationalised through one or more research
strategies (Section 5.5), which need to be consistent with your research
philosophy and your methodological choice. Your research questions
will also determine the selection of an appropriate time horizon
(Section 5.6). Your research design will need to be ethical, and it will be
important to identify potential concerns and minimise or overcome
them. We consider the importance of anticipating potential ethical
concerns briefly in Section 5.7, discussing them in greater detail in
Sections 6.6 and 6.7. It is also important to ensure the quality of your
research design, and we discuss criteria to evaluate this in Section 5.8.
Finally, we recognise that your own role as researcher will affect your
research design in Section 5.9.

Your research design is likely to be assessed by your university or

examining institution as part of your research proposal and need to
achieve a pass before you are allowed to proceed. You therefore need
to produce a clear and coherent design with valid reasons for each of
your research design decisions, even if your design changes
subsequently. Your justification for each element in your research
design should be based on your research question(s) and objectives,
and be consistent with your research philosophy.

Question 1
2 tries left

Which one of the following best defines research design?

The way you are going to do your research.

The overall plan of how you will go about answering your research question(s).

The methods used for collecting data.

Your research philosophy.

Well done!

It is the framework for the collection and analysis of data to answer research
questions and meet research objectives, providing reasoned justification for choice of
data sources, collection methods and analysis techniques.

Question 2
2 tries left

What is the purpose of a research proposal?

To evaluate all of the existing literature in the field.

To determine the research problem(s) and research design.

To summarise the research in the area.

To provide a research plan.

Excellent!

You are likely to be assessed at this stage of your research project by your university
or examining institution, and your research design should be clearly set out in your
research proposal.
Question 3
2 tries left

What are research tactics?

Tactics are the finer details of data collection and analysis, and are found in the
centre of the research onion.

Tactics are the methods you use to gather data.

Tactics are a form of pragmatism.

Tactics are a combination of the different strategies used to undertake the

research.
Excellent!

Decisions about tactics involve you being clear about the different quantitative and
qualitative data collection techniques you are going to use (e.g. questionnaires,
interviews, focus groups and secondary data), and subsequent quantitative and
qualitative data analysis procedures.

5.2 The research purpose

5.2 Identify the differences between
exploratory, descriptive, explanatory and
evaluative research.

In Chapter 2 we encouraged you to think about your research project in

terms of an overarching research question, a research aim and
objectives. Your research question indicates whether the purpose is
exploratory, descriptive, explanatory or evaluative or a combination of
these. In this section we discuss each purpose in more detail to help
you evaluate the purpose of your own research study.

Exploratory studies
An exploratory study explores or clarifies understanding of an issue,
problem or phenomenon. The overarching research question is likely to
start with ‘What’ or ‘How’ (Section 2.4). Questions that you ask during
data collection to explore an issue, problem or phenomenon will also be
likely to start with ‘What’ or ‘How’ (Chapters 10 and 11).
Exploratory research has the advantage that it is flexible and adaptable
to change. If you are conducting exploratory research, you must be
willing to change your direction as a result of new data that appear and
new insights that occur to you. A quotation from the travel writer V.S.
Naipaul (1989: 222) illustrates this point beautifully

Transcript

Exploratory research may commence with a broad focus, but this will
become narrower as the research progresses. It may be that time spent
on exploratory research might show that the research is not worth
pursuing!

Focus on management research

An exploratory study combining research
methods
Research by Sin et al. (2021: 28) published in the Journal of Marketing,
focusing on the clothing and accessories industries, explores three aspects
of sustainable luxury consumption. These comprise three questions:

1.‘Whether high-end products are more sustainable by virtue of their

longer product lifecycles?
2.How consumers process information regarding the durability of these
high-end products?
3.How marketeers can help consumers overcome a failure to consider
product durability and promote the purchase of fewer, higher-end
products that will last longer? (Sin et al., 2021: 29)’

To answer these questions data were collected using multiple quantitative

methods. These included:
 An automatic web crawler scraping price, brand and detailed product
category data from 20 online retailers selling new and second-hand
shoes and handbags for 4,600 products. This provided evidence of
whether high-end goods are more durable, and hence more
sustainable.
 An online survey of 1,800 United States (US) Amazon Mechanical Turk
(MTurk) crowdsourcing platform respondents to classify these brands
as high, middle or low-end products.
 An online survey using the Qualtrics platform of 340 wealthy US women
who answered questions about their own belongings to find further
support regarding high-end goods being more sustainable than low-end
goods.
 A paid online survey of 201 US respondents using MTurk, collecting
data about two products at different price points and different time
horizons. This investigated why consumers prefer multiple mid-range
products over a high-end product, neglecting product durability.
 A paid online survey of 421 US respondents using Prolific Academic
crowdsourcing platform, collecting data about responses to product
information for a fictitious high end and mid-end item. This further
established neglect of product durability.
 A survey completed by 162 US graduate students for course credit,
collecting data on their choices in relation to a range of attributes for an
actual high-end product. This evaluated consumers’ preferences for
durability in relation to specific trade-offs relative to product attributes
such as price and style.
 A survey of 106 real consumers using a US clothing company’s email
list. This collected data on particular attributes of a product to determine
whether durability could be framed as a dimension of sustainability.
Descriptive studies
A descriptive study is designed to gain an accurate profile of events,
persons or situations. One of the earliest well-known examples of a
descriptive survey is the Domesday Book, which described the
population of England in 1085. As we noted in Section 2.4, research
questions that are descriptive are likely to begin with, or include,
‘Who’, ‘What’, ‘Where’, ‘When’ or ‘How’. Questions that you ask
during data collection are also likely to start with, or include, ‘Who’,
‘What’, ‘Where’, ‘When’ or ‘How’ (Chapters 10 and 11). A descriptive
study can extend an exploratory study or contextualise an explanatory
study. However, it is necessary to have a clear picture of the
phenomenon on which you wish to collect data prior to the collection
of the data.
Project tutors are often wary of work that is too descriptive. There is a
danger of their saying ‘That’s very interesting … but so what?’ They
will want you to go further and draw conclusions from the data you
are describing. They will encourage you to develop the skills of
evaluating data and synthesising ideas. These are higher-order skills
than those of accurate description. Description in business and
management research has a very clear place. However, it should be
thought of as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. This means
that if your research project utilises description it is likely to be a
precursor to explanation, a descripto-explanatory study.
Explanatory studies
An explanatory study establishes causal relationships between
variables, the overarching research question being likely to begin with,
or include, ‘Why’ or ‘How’ (Section 2.4). Questions that you ask during
data collection to gain an explanatory response will also be likely to
start with, or include, ‘Why’ or ‘How’ (Chapters 10 and 11).
The emphasis in explanatory research is to study a situation or a
problem in order to understand it or explain relationships between
variables. You may find, for example, that a cursory analysis of
quantitative data on manufacturing scrap rates shows a relationship
between scrap rates and the age of the machine being operated. You
could analyse these data quantitatively in order to get a clearer view of
the statistical significance of the relationship. Alternatively, you might
collect further qualitative data by asking machine operators why some
scrap rates are higher than others?

Evaluative studies
An evaluative study finds out how well something works. Investigative
research questions that seek to evaluate answers are likely to begin
with ‘How’, or include ‘What’, in the form of ‘To what extent’ (Section
2.4).
Examples of evaluative research in business and
management
Image Viewer Preview Examples of evaluative research in business and management
Questions that you ask during data collection will be likely to start
with, or include, ‘What’, ‘How’ or ‘Why’ (Chapters 10 and 11). It can
produce a theoretical contribution where emphasis is placed on
understanding not only ‘how effective’ something is, but also ‘why’,
comparing this explanation to existing theory.

Combined studies
A research study may combine more than one purpose in its design.
This may be achieved by the use of multi or mixed methods in the
research design (Section 5.4). Alternatively, a single method research
design may be used in a way that provides scope to facilitate more than
one purpose.

Question 1
2 tries left

What is an advantage of exploratory research?

It is flexible and adaptable to change.
It provides an accurate profile of events, persons or situations.

It explores how effective something is.

It combines more than one purpose in its design.

Excellent!

Exploratory research has the advantage that it is flexible and adaptable to change. If
you are conducting exploratory research you must be willing to change your
direction as a result of new data that appear and new insights that occur to you.

Question 2
2 tries left

What is true of descriptive studies?

Descriptive research may be a forerunner to a piece of exploratory research.

Descriptive research may be an extension of a piece of evaluative research.

The purpose of descriptive research is to gain an accurate profile of events,
persons or situations.

Descriptive research helps to establish causal relationships between variables.

Nice work!

Descriptive research can be used to gain an accurate profile of events, persons or

situations.

Question 3
2 tries left

Which type of study will usually be used to determine the relationship between
variables?

Evaluative studies.

Descriptive studies.
Explanatory studies.
Combined studies.
Excellent!

The emphasis in explanatory research is to study a situation or a problem in order to

explain the relationships between variables. You could analyse data using a
statistical test such as correlation in order to get a clearer view of potential
relationships.

Question 4
2 tries left

What is the purpose of evaluative studies?

The purpose of evaluative research is to get quick results.

The purpose of evaluative research is to explain the relationship between

different sets of variables.

The purpose of evaluative research is to profile the existing situation.

The purpose of evaluative research is to find out how well something works.
Excellent!

Evaluative research in business and management is likely to be concerned with

assessing the effectiveness of an organisational or business strategy, policy,
programme, initiative or process. This may relate to any area of the organisation or
business: for example, evaluating a marketing campaign, a costing strategy, a
personnel policy, the delivery of a support service.

5.3 Methodological choice:

choosing a quantitative,
qualitative or mixed
methods research design
5.3 Distinguish and choose between
quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods
research designs.

Differentiating quantitative research from qualitative

research

Where more than one quantitative data collection procedure and

corresponding analysis technique is used, it is termed a multi-method
quantitative design. Where more than one qualitative data collection
procedure and corresponding analysis technique is used, it is a multi-
method qualitative design. Where quantitative and qualitative data
collection techniques and analysis procedures are used, it is a mixed
methods design (Figure 5.2). Within a number of fields in business and
management there has been a decline in the diversity of
methodological choices. As methodological pluralists we consider,
dependent upon the research question, all three research designs can
offer valuable insights.
We now examine these three research designs considering how each is
associated with research philosophy (Sections 4.2 to 4.4) and
approaches to theory development (Section 4.5), as well as looking at
their characteristics and associated research strategies.
Figure 5.2 Methodological choice

Focus on management research

Methodological choices in international
business research
A review of 50 years of methodological trends in international business
research by Nielson et al. (2020) emphasises the importance of variety in
methodological choices.

Analysing articles in the Journal of International Business from 1970 to 2019,

they note three prevailing patterns:

 increased use of large-scale, longitudinal cross-national quantitative

archival data;
 increased use of complex statistical analysis techniques with the use of
multiple analytical techniques in one study;
 decline in the diversity of methods although, within this, a greater
variety of qualitative methods being used.

Taking a pluralist approach, they consider that these changes jeopardise the
quality of international business research. In particular, they argue the study
of any phenomenon needs a range of research designs; if the systematic
biases, errors and limitations of any single option are to be avoided. They
propose that international business as a field needs to encourage the use of
a greater variety of alternative research designs to investigating a
phenomenon.

Quantitative research designs

Philosophical assumptions
Quantitative research designs are associated generally with positivism,
especially when used with highly structured data collection techniques
where a large number of people are asked the same questions.
However, it is wrong to suggest the link between positivism, deduction
and a quantitative research design is exclusive (Walsh et al. 2015a).
Quantitative research designs are also be undertaken within the realist
and pragmatist philosophies (Section 4.4).

Research in the news

Mandating vaccinations could backfire, study
says
By Leke Oso Alabi

Health and social care workers who felt under pressure from their employers
to receive Covid-19 vaccines were more likely to decline them, according to
new research led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Nearly 2,000 people were asked whether they agreed with the statement ‘I
feel/felt under pressure from my employer to get a Covid-19 vaccine’.

Those who agreed most with the statement were more likely to have
declined a Covid-19 vaccine.

‘Our work shows a move towards mandating Covid-19 vaccination is likely to

harden stances and negatively affect trust in the vaccination, provider, and
policymakers,’ said Sandra Mounier-Jack, associate professor in health
policy at LSHTM.

The LSHTM said its study also identified structural barriers to vaccination
uptake. Black African and mixed black African workers were not offered
vaccination at the same rates as white British and white Irish participants.

The authors of the study – which has not yet been peer reviewed –
acknowledged limitations, including survey recruitment from social media
and professional bodies, which may have led to some ethnic or professional
groups being over or under-represented.

Source: Alabi, L.O. (2021) ‘Mandating vaccinations could backfire, study

say’, Financial Times, 12 May. Copyright © 2021 The Financial Times
Limited.

Approach to theory development

Quantitative research is usually associated with a deductive approach,
where data are collected and analysed to test theory. However, it may
also incorporate an inductive approach, using data to develop theory
(Section 4.5). For example, a researcher may analyse quantitative data
to generate hypotheses to test through subsequent research.
Alternatively, data analysis may reveal the original hypothesis was
poorly framed or be used to suggest possible hypotheses to test. Walsh
et al. (2015b: 621) refer to using analysis to suggest hypotheses as
‘“Harking” – hypothesising after the results are known.’ While you
may find it necessary to refine your original hypothesis, we
recommend you do not use harking without discussing it with your
project tutor.
Characteristics
Quantitative research examines relationships between variables, which
are collected in a standard manner, measured numerically and
analysed using a range of statistical and graphical techniques. It often
incorporates controls to ensure the validity of data, as in an
experimental design. Quantitative designs often use probability
sampling techniques to ensure statistical generalisability (Section 7.2),
the researcher being considered independent from those being
researched. The characteristics of quantitative research designs are
summarised in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1 Characteristics of quantitative and qualitative

research designs
Characteristic Quantitative research Qualitative research

Independence of researcher from independent not independent

those being researched

Terms for those taking part respondents participants, informants

Focus of study variables and relationships attributed meanings and

between them associated variables

Sampling techniques probability non-probability

Generalisation statistically to theory

Data collection method(s) rigorously defined, highly unstructured or semi-

structured structured

Data numerical and non-standardised, generally

standardised requiring classification

Analysis through statistics and through conceptualisation

diagrams

Derivation of meaning numbers words (spoken/text) and

images
A quantitative research design may use a single data collection
technique, such as a questionnaire, and corresponding quantitative
analytical procedure. This is known as a mono method quantitative
study (Figure 5.2). Where more than one quantitative data collection
technique and corresponding analytical procedure are used, this is
termed a multi-method quantitative study (Figure 5.2). You might, for
example, decide to collect quantitative data using both questionnaires
and structured observation, analysing these data statistically. Using
more than one method is likely to overcome weaknesses associated
with a mono method, allowing for richer data collection, analysis and
interpretation (Bryman 2006).
Research strategies
Quantitative research is principally associated with survey and
experiment research strategies (Section 5.5). The survey strategy is
normally conducted through the use of questionnaires, structured
interviews or, possibly, structured observation. However, it is
important to note that quantitative data and analysis techniques can
and are used in research strategies that are often associated with
qualitative, designs such as action research, case study research and
grounded theory (Section 5.5).

Procedures and techniques

Procedures and techniques associated with quantitative designs are
considered in Chapters 9, 11 and 12. Structured observation is
discussed in Section 9.4; Chapter 11 focuses on the use of
questionnaires including structured interviews; and Chapter 12 is
devoted to analysing data quantitatively

Qualitative research designs

Philosophical assumptions
Qualitative research designs are often associated with interpretivism
(Denzin and Lincoln 2018), researchers making sense of subjective and
socially constructed meanings. Such research is sometimes referred to
as naturalistic since researchers need to operate within a natural
setting, or research context, in order to establish trust, participation,
access to meanings and in-depth understanding. Like quantitative
research, qualitative research may also be undertaken within realist
and pragmatist philosophies.

Approach to theory development

Qualitative research often uses an inductive approach to theory
development, research being used to build theory or develop a richer
theoretical perspective than already exists in the literature. However,
some qualitative research strategies start with a deductive approach,
testing an existing theory (Yin 2018). In practice, much qualitative
research also uses an abductive approach to theory development,
inferences being developed inductively and tested deductively in an
iterative process (Section 4.5).

Characteristics
Qualitative research studies participants’ meanings and the
relationships between them, using a variety of data collection
techniques and analytical procedures, to develop a conceptual
framework and theoretical contribution. The success of the qualitative
researcher’s role is dependent not only on gaining physical access to
those who take part, but also building rapport and demonstrating
sensitivity to gain cognitive access to their data (Section 6.2). Those
who consent to take part in qualitative research are seen as participants
in the collection of data, the researcher not being considered
independent.

In qualitative research, meanings are derived from words and images,

not numbers. Since words and images may have multiple meanings as
well as unclear meanings, it is often necessary to explore and clarify
these with participants. Methods used are unstructured or semi-
structured (Sections 9.4 and 10.4), so that research questions,
procedures can alter or emerge in a naturalistic and interactive process.
Qualitative designs are likely to use non-probability sampling
techniques (Sections 7.8 and 7.9). The qualitative data that are collected
will be non-standardised and generally require being classified into
categories for analysis. The characteristics of qualitative research are
summarised in Table 5.1.

A qualitative research design may use a single data collection

technique, such as semi-structured interviews, and corresponding
qualitative analytical technique. This is known as a mono method
qualitative study (Figure 5.2). Where more than one qualitative data
collection procedure and corresponding analytical technique are used,
this is termed a multi-method qualitative study (Figure 5.2). You might,
for example, decide to collect qualitative data using in-depth
interviews and diary accounts, analysing these data using qualitative
techniques.
Research strategies
Qualitative research designs are associated with a variety of strategies
including Action Research, case study research, ethnography,
Grounded Theory and Narrative Inquiry (Section 5.5). Some of these
strategies, such as case study, are also used in quantitative research
designs.

Procedures and techniques

Procedures and techniques associated with qualitative designs are
considered in Chapters 9, 10 and 13. Observation is considered in
Chapter 9; collecting qualitative data using semi-structured and in-
depth interviews is considered in Chapter 10; while Chapter 13 focuses
on techniques to analyse data qualitatively.
Focus on student research: Tom
Multi-method qualitative study

I wanted to establish how supervisors managed teams that had adopted

hybrid working. To do this I thought it essential that I should have the
clearest possible grasp of supervisors’ interactions with their teams. This
involved me in:

 observing online meetings between five supervisors and their teams for
a week to establish practice (qualitative data);

 conducting online interviews with each of the supervisors to establish

their views (qualitative data);

 interviewing a sample of team members reporting to the five

supervisors to establish team members’ views (qualitative data).

This gave me a much better grasp of how supervisors managed teams’

hybrid working. It also did much to enhance my credibility with the
supervisors and team members, a number of whom emailed me with
photographs of their home and office work environments; further qualitative
data.

of 1 point
Qualitative methodology
There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

You wish to study the reasons why car owners join manufacturer-sponsored
owners’ clubs. You choose to use a qualitative methodology and narrative
inquiry research strategy involving unstructured ‘discussions’ with some
members of these owners’ clubs. You are asked by a small group of marketing
managers to explain why your chosen research design is as valid as using a
quantitative methodology and survey strategy that uses a questionnaire. What
would be your answer?

Mixed methods research designs

Philosophical assumptions
Mixed methods research designs integrate the use of quantitative and
qualitative data collection procedures and analysis techniques in the
same research project (Figure 5.2), being often associated with
pragmatism and critical realism. Pragmatists choose methods because
they will enable credible reliable and relevant data to be collected to
address the research problem (Section 4.4).
For pragmatists, the nature of the research question, the research context
and likely research consequences are driving forces determining the most
appropriate methodological choice (Nastasi et al. 2010).
This means pragmatists do not always use mixed methods designs.
Critical realism, like pragmatism, can support the use of mixed
methods research and, again, critical realists do not always use mixed
methods designs. They may, for example, use initially qualitative
research methods to explore perceptions. This could be followed by
quantitative analysis of officially published data (Section 8.2) to
establish the relationship between socially constructed knowledge and
possible underlying casual structures, processes and forces.

Researchers using mixed methods have a pluralist view of research

methodology. They believe that flexibility in selection and use of
methods (both quantitative and qualitative) is legitimate and that
researchers should be tolerant of each other’s preferred methods even
when they differ from their own. These views can be contrasted with
the unitarist view; there is, or should be, one legitimate method that
should be followed.
Approach to theory development
Mixed methods research designs may use deductive, inductive or
abductive approaches to theory development. For example,
quantitative research may be used to test theory statistically, followed
by qualitative research to develop a richer theoretical understanding.
Theory may also be used to provide direction for the research. In this
way a particular theory may be used to provide a focus for the research
and to provide boundaries to its scope (Tashakkori and Teddlie 2010).

Characteristics
Mixed methods research draws from the characteristics of both
quantitative and qualitative research (Table 5.1), combining
quantitative and qualitative procedures and techniques in a variety of
ways that range from simple, concurrent forms to more complex and
sequential forms (Figure 5.2).

Research designs
Different combinations of quantitative and qualitative research lead to
various mixed methods research designs. The principal mixed methods
research designs are: concurrent triangulation design, concurrent
embedded design, sequential exploratory design, sequential
explanatory design (Creswell and Plano Clark 2017) and sequential,
multi-phase design.

Concurrent mixed methods research uses quantitative and qualitative

methods within a single phase of data collection and analysis (single-
phase research design ) (Figure 5.3). This allows both sets of results to be
interpreted together to provide a richer, more comprehensive response
to the research question compared to a mono method design. Where
you collect qualitative and quantitative data in the same phase of
research in order to compare how these data sets support one another,
you will be using a concurrent triangulation design.
Figure 5.3 Mixed methods research designs

In this, the researcher uses one method followed by another in order to

expand or elaborate on the initial set of findings. This often takes more
time than a concurrent design. In a double-phase research design two
alternative mixed methods research strategies are used, either a
sequential exploratory research design (qualitative followed by
quantitative) or a sequential explanatory research design (quantitative
followed by qualitative). A sequential, multi-phase design is more
complex using multiple phases of data collection and analysis (e.g.
qualitative followed by quantitative, then by a further phase of
qualitative).
Using sequential multi-phase mixed methods research design suggests
a dynamic approach to the research, where one phase subsequently
informs and influences the next phase of data collection and analysis.
The exact nature of the interaction and iteration influences the way in
which qualitative and quantitative methods are chosen and integrated
at each phase of the research (Greene 2007; Nastasi et al. 2010; Teddlie
and Tashakkori 2009).

Where you mix quantitative and qualitative methods at every stage of your
research (design, data collection and analysis, interpretation and
presentation of the research), you will be using a fully integrated mixed
methods research design. Where you use quantitative and qualitative
methods at only one stage or particular stages of your research, you will
be using a partially integrated mixed methods research approach
(Nastasi et al. 2010; Teddlie and Tashakkori 2009, 2011).
Focus on student research: Andreas
Mixed methods research

Transcript

I conducted research into organisational change in an IT company, using a

sequential mixed methods research design consisting of four stages:
 1.Initial exploratory telephone discussions with key senior managers to
negotiate access, agree the scope of the project and gain essential
contextual data. These data were analysed qualitatively in order to get a
picture of important internal and external organisational issues.

2.Individual in-depth online interviews with a sample of 28 directly

employed staff (excluding contractor staff), representing the organisation
across its departments and throughout its grade structure. These data
were analysed qualitatively to establish the issues that were important to
staff, to help to inform the content of the questionnaire.

3.An online questionnaire designed, pilot-tested, amended and delivered

to a representative sample of directly employed staff, producing a 42 per
cent response rate. The quantitative data collected were analysed
statistically to allow the views of employee groups to be compared for
differences by age, gender, length of service, occupation and grade.

4.A fourth stage consisted of real-time Internet presentations of initial

findings to employees. These allowed employees’ questions to be
answered and discussion to occur to clarify the content of some of the
questionnaire results. Notes from these presentations were analysed
qualitatively.
Mixed methods research may use quantitative research and qualitative
research equally or unequally (Creswell and Plano Clark 2017), one
methodology having a dominant role and the other a supporting role.
This prioritisation reflects the research purpose, researcher preferences
and the expectations of those who commission the research (such as
your project tutor or the managers in an organisation).

The purpose of the research will emphasise the initial use and
prioritisation of qualitative research (as in an exploratory study, where
qualitative precedes quantitative) or quantitative research (as in a
descriptive study, before using qualitative research to explain
particular findings). The purpose will also emphasise the dominance of
either quantitative or qualitative research such as in a sequential project
which commences with a qualitative, exploratory phase, followed by a
quantitative, descriptive phase, and is completed by a further
qualitative, explanatory phase. For other research projects the purpose
will suggest more equal use of quantitative and qualitative research
methods. Similarly, the approach to theory development will lead to
prioritising either quantitative or qualitative methods; an inductive
approach designed to generate theoretical concepts and to build theory
may emphasise the use of qualitative methods.

Merging quantitative and qualitative

methods
Merging quantitative and qualitative methods may involve either using
‘quantitised’ qualitative data (e.g. specific events in the data are counted
as frequencies and numerically coded for statistical analysis) or
‘qualitised’ quantitative data (e.g. frequencies are turned into text,
although this is extremely rare in practice) or both. Qualitative data
may be presented diagrammatically and quantitative data presented as
text. This approach to mixing methods may be risky as the value of
each form of data may be diluted; for example, excessively
‘quantitising’ qualitative data may lead to loss of its exploratory or
explanatory richness.
Embedded mixed methods research refers to one methodology
supporting the other (Creswell and Plano Clark 2017). One
methodology may be embedded within the other during a single means
to collect data (e.g. some quantitative questions are included in an
interview schedule, or some questions within a questionnaire require a
qualitative response) – a concurrent embedded design. Alternatively, a
single-phase research design may use both quantitative and qualitative
methods concurrently, collecting these separately, the analysis of one
informing the other. Within a multi-phase, sequential research design,
both quantitative and qualitative methods will be collected and
analysed, one after the other, with one being used in a supporting role.
The characteristics that help to define mixed methods research designs
highlight how quantitative and qualitative methods may be combined
in a number of ways to provide you with better opportunities to
answer your research question (Table 5.2).

Table 5.2 Reasons for combining methods in a mixed methods

design
Reason Explanation

Initiation The initial method defines the nature and scope of subsequent research. Can
also provide contextual background and to better understand the research
problem. It may inform redrafting of research questions, sample selection and
data collection procedures

Facilitation One method generates new insights that inform and are followed up using
another method

Complementarity Meanings and findings are elaborated, enhanced, clarified, confirmed,

illustrated or linked

Interpretation One method (e.g. qualitative) is used to help to explain relationships

emerging from the other (e.g. quantitative)

Generalisability Helps establish the generalisability of findings (e.g. qualitative followed by

quantitative) or the credibility of a study or produce more complete
knowledge (e.g. quantitative followed by qualitative)

Diversity Allows for a greater diversity of views to inform and be reflected in the study

Problem-solving An alternative method helps when the initial method generates insufficient
understanding

Focus One method focuses on one attribute (e.g. quantitative on macro aspects),
while the other method focuses on another attribute (e.g. qualitative on micro
 aspects)

Triangulation Ascertains if the findings from one method mutually corroborate the findings
from the other method

Confidence Findings may be affected by the method used. Mixed methods ascertains and
cancels out this ‘method effect’ leading to greater confidence in your
conclusions

Source: Developed from Bryman (2006), Greene (2007), Molina-Azorin (2011) and
authors’ experience.

Procedures and techniques

Quantitative data collection procedures and analytical techniques that
may be used as part of mixed methods research are considered in
Chapters 9, 11 and 12. Structured observation is discussed in
Section 9.4; Chapter 11 discusses the use of questionnaires, including
structured interviewing; and Chapter 12 considers the analysis of
quantitative data.

Question 1
2 tries left

Which of the following is always true of quantitative research?

It always uses a deductive approach, where data are collected and analysed to
test theory.

Open-ended questions are an essential component of the quantitative research

instrument.

It is only found within a positivist philosophy.

It examines relationships between variables, which are measured numerically
and analysed using a range of statistical and graphical techniques.
Nice work!
The researcher is generally seen as independent from those being researched, with
the research designed to examine relationships between variables. The resulting
meaning is derived from numbers.

Question 2
2 tries left

Why is the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research sometimes

problematic?

Qualitative and quantitative research are often the same.

There is no a clear agreed definition of quantitative research.

Many business and management research designs are likely to combine
quantitative and qualitative elements.

There is no a clear agreed definition of qualitative research.

Well done!

One way of differentiating quantitative research from qualitative research is to

distinguish between numeric data (numbers) and non-numeric data (words, images,
audio recordings, video clips and other similar material). Business and management
research often uses both in the same research instrument.

Question 3
2 tries left

Why do business and management research designs use a mixed method?

Business and management research usually has to be done quickly and as such
a mixed method allows this.

It is the most cost effective way of doing the research and often business and
management research has limited funding.
It is often necessary to ask those from whom data are collected open questions
to seek to explain the findings.
The research philosophies used for business and management research require
a mixed method design to ensure reliability and validity.
Nice work!

A research design may use a questionnaire but it may be necessary to ask

respondents to answer some ‘open' questions in their own words rather than ticking
the appropriate box, or it may be necessary to conduct follow-up interviews to seek
to explain findings from the questionnaire. Equally, some qualitative research data
may be analysed quantitatively, or be used to inform the design of a subsequent
questionnaire. This requires a mixed method design.

Question 4
2 tries left

Which one of the following is true of quantitative research design?

The researcher is generally a participant in the research process and therefore

has a better understanding of the research context.

The method(s) used to collect data are rigorously defined and highly structured,
and often purposive sampling techniques are used to ensure generalisability.

The research is designed to explain why differences in relationships exist and

provide thick descriptions of research results.
The method(s) used to collect data are rigorously defined and highly structured,
and often probability sampling techniques are used to ensure generalisability.
Excellent!

Quantitative research examines relationships between variables, which are

measured numerically and analysed using a range of statistical and graphical
techniques. It often incorporates controls to ensure the validity of the data.

Question 5
2 tries left

Why use a multi-method quantitative study?

It provides reasons for why respondents provided certain answers to questions

to allow an understanding of the 'why' as well as the 'what'.
It allows for a larger sample to be used and therefore ensures more confidence
in the results obtained.

It is the most rigorous, valid and reliable method available for researchers to
use.
It is likely to overcome weaknesses associated with using a single method and
provides scope for a richer approach to data collection.
Nice work!

The researcher is able to collect quantitative data using a range of methods, for
example both questionnaires and structured observation, analysing these data
statistically and getting a better overall picture of the nature of the problem. The use
of multiple methods has been advocated within business and management research
by Bryman (2006).

Question 6
2 tries left

Which different research strategies is quantitative research principally

associated with?

Survey and Grounded Theory.

Action Research and Experiment.

Experiment and Survey.

Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry and Case Study.

Excellent!

In quantitative research, a Survey Strategy is normally conducted through the use of

questionnaires or structured interviews or, possibly, structured observation.
Experiments are a foundation of many sciences and are clearly linked to the need for
and use of quantitative research.

Question 7
2 tries left
Which two research philosophies is mixed methods research often associated
with?

Mixed methods research is often associated with positivism and critical realism.

Mixed methods research is often associated with postmodernism and

interpretivism.
Mixed methods research is often associated with pragmatism and critical
realism.

Mixed methods research is often associated with pragmatism and

interpretivism.
Excellent!

Pragmatists assert that there are many different ways of interpreting the world and
that different methods are often appropriate within one research study. This does
not mean that pragmatists always use mixed methods; rather, the methods that
pragmatists use are chosen because they enable credible, reliable and relevant data
to be collected to address the research problem. Critical realism, like pragmatism,
has implications for research design that may support the use of mixed methods
research. To accommodate this, realist ontology and subjectivist epistemology
researchers may, for example, initially use qualitative research methods to explore
perceptions followed by quantitative analysis to understand the relationships.

Question 8
2 tries left

Which of the following is true of a pluralist view of research methodology?

Pluralists will not tolerate views which differ from their own.

Pluralists believe that there is, or should be, one legitimate method that should
be followed.

Pluralists believe that multiple views can jeopardise the validity of the research.
Pluralists believe in flexibility in the selection and use of methods.
Good job!

Pluralism is the belief that flexibility in the selection of both qualitative and
qualitative methods is legitimate and researchers should be tolerant of others'
preferred methods even when they differ from their own.
Question 9
2 tries left

Which mixed methods design involves the separate use of quantitative and
qualitative methods within a single phase of data collection and analysis?

Sequential explanatory research design.

Concurrent mixed methods research.

Sequential multiphase research design.

Sequential exploratory research design.

Well done!

This allows both sets of results to be interpreted together to provide a richer and
more comprehensive response to the research question in comparison to the use of a
single method design.

Question 10
2 tries left

Which of the following is a reason for using mixed methods design?

During the course of the research, one method may lead to the discovery of new
insights which inform and are followed up through the use of the other method.

Mixed methods are always more valid and reliable because they use a range of
different sources rather than one source. This means errors are more likely to
be detected.

Use of mixed methods may help to establish the representativeness of a study.

Mixed methods may be used in order to separate different data sources.

Excellent!

This reason for using mixed methods design is termed 'facilitation'.

Question 11
2 tries left

Which research philosophy is qualitative research often associated with?

Induction.

Critical realism.

Positivism.
Interpretivism.
Excellent!

It is interpretive because researchers need to make sense of the subjective and

socially constructed meanings expressed about the phenomenon being studied. Such
research is sometimes referred to as naturalistic since researchers need to operate
within a natural setting, or research context, in order to establish trust, participation,
access to meanings and in-depth understanding.

Question 12
2 tries left

Which of the following is true of qualitative research design?

The researcher is generally recognised as not being independent from those
researched, and the method(s) used to collect data are unstructured or semi-
structured.

The researcher is generally recognised as independent from those researched,

and the method(s) used to collect data are unstructured or semi-structured.

The researcher is generally recognised as not being independent from those

researched and the method(s) used to collect data are always unstructured.

The researcher is generally recognised as independent from those researched,

and the method(s) used to collect data are structured.
Excellent!

In qualitative research, meanings are derived from words and images, not numbers.
Since words and images may have multiple meanings as well as unclear meanings, it
is often necessary to explore and clarify these with participants. As such researchers
are not independent from the research design and tend to collect data in an
unstructured or semi-structured way.

Question 13
2 tries left

How is analysis conducted in qualitative research?

Analysis conducted through the use of diagrams and statistics.

There is no need to conduct analysis as the results should be not be processed

but presented as a narrative.

Results should be analysed using mixed methods research.

Analysis is conducted through the use of conceptualisation.
Nice work!

Methods used are unstructured or semi-structured, so that questions, procedures

and focus may alter or emerge during a research process that is both naturalistic
and interactive. As such, the qualitative data that are collected will be non-
standardised and generally require classification into categories for analysis.

5.4 Developing a coherent

research strategy
5.4 Select an appropriate research strategy
or strategies and achieve coherence
throughout your research design.

In this section we turn our attention to your choice of research strategy

(Figure 5.1).
Your research strategy is the methodological link between your
philosophy and subsequent choice of methods to collect and analyse data
(Denzin and Lincoln 2018).
Within business and management there are a variety of research
strategies with a range of methodological choices resulting in
alternative combinations of quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods
research designs (Table 5.3). Particular research strategies are
associated with particular research philosophies and approaches to
theory development; however, boundaries between research
philosophies, approaches to theory development and research
strategies are, at least to some extent, open.

Table 5.3 Research strategies and methodological choice

Strategy Principal associated research designs

Experiment Quantitative mono- and multiple methods

Survey Quantitative mono- and multiple methods

Ethnography Qualitative mono- and multiple methods

Grounded Theory Qualitative mono- and multiple methods

Narrative Inquiry Qualitative mono- and multiple methods

Quantitative mono- and multiple methods, qualitative mono- and multiple

Archival
methods, mixed methods

Qualitative multiple methods, quantitative multiple methods, mixed

Case study
methods

Quantitative mono- and multiple methods, quantitative mono- and

Action Research
multiple methods, mixed methods
As pluralists, we believe a particular research strategy should not be
seen as inherently superior or inferior to any other. Rather, the key to
the choice of a research strategy or strategies is achieving a reasonable
level of coherence throughout your research design and ensuring the
research question(s) are answered and the research objectives met. The
coherence between research question(s) and objectives, and your
philosophy and approach to theory development is crucial; alongside
more pragmatic concerns including the extent of existing knowledge,
the amount of time and other resources you have available and being
able to obtain data. The strategy or strategies you adopt should not be
thought of as being mutually exclusive or exclusive to one philosophy
(Section 5.4). For example, it is possible to use the survey strategy
within a case study or combine a number of different strategies within
a mixed methods design.

In our experience the choice between strategies associated principally

with qualitative research decisions that is likely to cause the greatest
confusion. Such confusion is often unsurprising given the diversity of
qualitative strategies (many more than those we consider), with their
conflicting tensions and ‘blurred genres’ (Denzin and Lincoln 2018: 10).
We now draw out the distinctions between a range of strategies and
their associations with quantitative, qualitative, quantitative and mixed
methods research designs.

Experiment
An experiment studies the probability of a change in an independent
variable causing a change in another, dependent variable. This strategy
that owes much to the natural sciences, although it features strongly in
psychological and social science research, and, with its roots in natural
science, laboratory-based research, is often seen as the ‘gold standard’
against which the rigour of other strategies is assessed.
Hypotheses
In an experiment you hypothesise whether or not a relationship will
exist between the variables, formulating two opposing hypotheses that
could explain the relationship and testing these statistically (Sections
12.9 and 12.11). In a standard experiment two types of (opposing)
hypotheses are formulated and tested: the null hypothesis and the
hypothesis. The null hypothesis is the explanation that there is no
relationship or difference between the variables, for example:

User satisfaction of online customer support is not related to the

amount of training support staff have received.

The hypothesis (also referred to as the alternative hypothesis) is the

explanation that there is a relationship or difference between the
variables, for example:

User satisfaction of online customer support is related to the amount of

training support staff have received.

In an experiment, testing statistically the compatibility of the data with

the null hypothesis is based on the probability of these data or data
more extreme occurring by chance (Wassenstein and Lazar, 2016). In
effect, this measures the probability that the data are compatible with
the null hypothesis. The smaller the probability (termed the p-value),
the greater the statistical incompatibility of the data with the null
hypothesis. This ‘incompatibility’ casts doubt or provides evidence
against the null hypothesis and its associated underlying assumptions.
Where this probability is greater than a prescribed value (usually p =
0.05), the null hypothesis is usually accepted, and the hypothesis is
rejected. Where the probability is less than or equal to the prescribed
value (usually p = 0.05), this indicates that the hypothesis can be
accepted. The simplest experiments are concerned with whether there
is a relationship or difference between two variables, a dependent
variable such as user satisfaction of online customer support and an
independent variable such as the amount of training support staff have
received (Table 5.4). More complex experiments also consider the
change in the dependent variable and the relative importance of two or
more independent variables as well as in some designs the impact of
other types of variable such as mediating and moderator variables
(Table 5.4).

Table 5.4: Types of variable

Control, moderation, independent (IV), confounding, mediating (MV),

dependent (DV)

Variable Meaning

Variable that is being manipulated or

changed to measure its impact on a
dependent variable

Variable that may change in response to

changes in other variables; observed
outcome or result from manipulation of
another variable

A variable located between the

independent and dependent variables,
which explains the relationship between
them (IV → MV → DV)

A new variable that is introduced which

will affect the nature of the relationship
between the IV and DV
 Additional observable and measurable
variables that need to be kept constant
to avoid them influencing the effect of
the IV on the DV

Extraneous but difficult to observe or

measure variables that can potentially
undermine the inferences drawn
between the IV and DV. Need to be
considered when discussing results, to
avoid spurious conclusions

Experimental designs
Experimental designs include classical experiments, quasi-experiments
and within-subject designs. In a classical experiment, a sample of
participants is selected and assigned randomly to an experimental or
control group (Figure 5.4). The experimental group receives the planned
intervention or manipulation. The control group does not receive the
intervention. Random assignment means each group should be similar
in all aspects relevant to the research other than their exposure to the
planned intervention. In assigning the members to the control and
experimental groups at random and using a control group, you try to
control (that is, remove) the possible effects of an alternative
explanation to the planned intervention and eliminate threats to
internal validity. Because the control group is subject to exactly the
same external influences as the experimental group other than the
planned intervention, this intervention is the only explanation for any
changes to the dependent variable.
Figure 5.4 Classical experimental design

A quasi-experiment still uses an experimental group(s) and a control

group, but the researcher does not assign participants randomly to each
group, perhaps because participants are only available in pre-formed
groups (e.g. existing work groups). Differences in participants between
groups may be minimised by the use of matched pairs. Matched pair
analysis leads to a participant in an experimental group being paired
with a participant in the control group based on matching factors
relevant to the experiment such as age, gender, occupation, length of
service and grade. This minimises the effect of extraneous variables on
the experiment’s outcomes.
The basic experimental procedure in classical and quasi-experiments is
the same (Figure 5.4), with the exception of random assignment. Let us
look at an example related to the introduction of a sales promotion. The
dependent variable is purchasing behaviour and is measured for
members of both the experimental and control groups before any
intervention. This provides a pre-test measure of purchasing behaviour.
A planned intervention of a ‘buy two, get one free’ promotion is then
made to members of the experimental group. In the control group, no
such intervention is made. The dependent variable, purchasing
behaviour, is measured after the manipulation of the independent
variable (the use of the ‘buy two, get one free’ promotion) for both the
experimental and control groups, so that a pre-test and post-test
comparison can be made. Any difference between the experimental and
control groups for the dependent variable (purchasing behaviour) can
then be attributed to the intervention of the ‘buy two, get one free’
promotion. This is termed a between-subjects design, where participants
belong to either the experimental group or control group but not both.
In a between-subjects design, if more than one intervention or
manipulation is to be tested, a separate experimental group will be
required for each test (known as independent measures). If the
experiment was designed to compare two separate interventions, such
as ‘buy one, get one free’ and ‘buy two, get one free’ promotions, two
experimental groups would be used alongside the control group.
In a within-subjects design, or within-group design, there is only a
single group, and every participant is exposed to the planned
intervention or series of interventions. For this reason, this approach is
known as repeated measures. The procedure involves a pre-
intervention observation or measurement, to establish a baseline (or
control for the dependent variable). This is followed by a planned
intervention (manipulation of the independent variable) and
subsequent observation and measurement (related to the dependent
variable). Within-subject designs may be more practical than a
between-subjects designs, requiring fewer participants. However, the
design may lead to carryover effects where familiarity or fatigue with
the process distorts the validity of the findings. This may lead to a
counterbalanced design, where some of the participants undertake
tasks in a different order to see if familiarity or fatigue affects the
outcomes.
Experiments in business and management, or related disciplines such
as organisational psychology, are sometimes conducted in laboratories
rather than in the field (e.g. in an organisation). This offers greater
control over aspects of the research process such as sample selection
and the context within which the experiment occurs. This improves
the internal validity of the experiment, that is, the extent to which the
findings can be attributed to the interventions rather than any flaws in
your research design. However, external validity, the extent to which
the findings from the study can be generalised to all relevant contexts is
likely to be more difficult to establish (Section 5.8). Laboratory settings
are less unlikely to be related to the real world of organisations.
The suitability of an experimental strategy will depend on your
research question. Most business and management research questions
ask about the relationships between variables, rather than test a
predicted relationship. This emphasises a difference between
experiments and other research strategies and, within quantitative
research designs, highlights a key difference between an experimental
strategy and a survey strategy.

Survey
The survey strategy is usually associated with a deductive research
approach and is most frequently used to answer ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘where’,
‘how much’ and ‘how many’ questions. It therefore tends to be used for
descriptive, exploratory and explanatory research, suggesting possible
reasons for relationships between variables and producing models of
these relationships. Survey strategies using questionnaires are popular
as they enable the collection of standardised data from a large number
of respondents economically, allowing easy comparison. Using a
survey strategy should give you more control over the research process
and, when probability sampling is used, it is possible to generate
findings that are statistically representative of the target population at a
lower cost than collecting the data from them all (Sections 7.4 and 7.7).
In addition, the survey strategy is perceived as authoritative by people
and is comparatively easy both to explain and to understand. Every
day a news bulletin, news website or newspaper reports the results of a
new survey that is designed to find out how a group of people think or
want in relation to a particular issue.
Research in the news
Executive education 2021: FT survey shows
what employers want
By Andrew Jack

Coronavirus disrupted face-to-face contact and forced companies to trim

their costs, but it has also reinforced many employers’ commitment to
training for a broader range of their middle and senior managers.

From a self-selective poll organised by the FT, more than a quarter of chief
learning officers (CLOs) around the world said they intended to increase their
budgets for executive education in 2021, while over half said they would
maintain spending at 2020 levels. Just 17 per cent planned a reduction.

The findings come from a pioneering survey conducted by the FT in

partnership with Unicon, the international consortium for university-based
executive education, along with the Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business and the European Foundation for Management
Development – the two leading accreditation agencies – as well as the
Society for Human Resource Management.

Of the 363 respondents surveyed in February and early March 2021, the
majority worked for companies based in the US and Canada, but Europe,
Latin America, the Middle East and Africa were also well represented.
Respondents worked in organisations of various sizes: more than two-fifths
oversaw workforces of fewer than 1,000 people and more than a fifth were
responsible for training in groups with more than 20,000 staff. Respondents
from finance, banking, healthcare and industrial businesses dominated.

Leadership was the top learning priority identified for executive education,
cited as important by 82 per cent of respondents. Change management
followed, at 57 per cent. Other longstanding priorities, including digital
transformation, strategy and innovation, were also ranked highly by more
than two-fifths of respondents. In a sign of the issues brought to the fore
during the pandemic, the need for training around resilience, well-being and
remote or online collaboration were also cited by many.

Another emerging theme – diversity and inclusion – was a high priority, cited
by 55 per cent, placing it third overall. Among US respondents, it was still
higher – in second place after leadership. That reflects the growing focus on
a subject that has mobilised senior managements in recent months, triggered
partly by the killing of George Floyd last May and the Black Lives Matter
movement.

Business schools can take some comfort from the fact that just over half of
the CLOs surveyed said they would turn to universities during 2021 for their
executive learning programmes. However, a larger proportion pointed to
alternatives: more than two-thirds said they would use internal resources and
nearly three-quarters planned to use non-university training partners.

Source of extract: Jack, A. (2021) ‘Executive education 2021: FT survey

shows what employers want’, Financial Times, 9 May 2021.

The survey strategy allows you to collect data that you can analyse
quantitatively (Chapter 12) using a variety of data collection methods
including questionnaires and structured interviews (Chapter 11) and
structured observation (Section 9.4). You will need to ensure your
sample is representative, design and pilot your data collection
instrument, and try to ensure a good response rate. Invariably, there is
a limit to the number of questions that any questionnaire or structured
interview can ask; and preparing and analysing the data will also be
time-consuming. Despite this, perhaps the biggest drawback with
using a questionnaire or structured interview as part of a survey
strategy is the capacity to do it badly!
Watch the video which describes survey results of a study examining
relationships in the UK.

Video Large study examines relationships in the UK

Transcript
Large study examines relationships in the UK
According to this comprehensive study, there's a direct link between meaningful relationships
and happiness. But the same survey suggests that as many as 4.7 million people in Britain don't
have a single close friend. For many, the blame lies Ironically with social networks.

It's made more difficult by social media. So sort of everybody knows everybody, but they're not
real sort of friendships.

I think we're turning into a nation of uncommunicative adults face-to-face, but that can Tweet and
Facebook.

You always don't get the full--what they actually feel, over text and social media and stuff.

It's easier just to text stuff, like, say, Facebook or whatever. But, you know, if you want true
friendships, you maybe to make a bit more effort.

The survey of 5,000 people found that one in 10 said they didn't have a single close friend. When
asked if they had felt loved in recent times, one in five answered never or rarely. 42% of people
also said they have no friends at work.

For some people, being alone is fine. But what we know from the survey is that people who have
satisfying relationships feel better about themselves. So their health and well-being is better.

But Britain's relationship status isn't all doom and gloom. Four out of five said they have a good
relationship with their partner. Although the survey reveals the secrets behind Britain's
relationships, its authors agree there's no secret ingredient to happy friendships and love. Joe
[INAUDIBLE], Sky News.

Large study examines relationships in the UK: Question 1

There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

Briefly outline how the data were collected for this survey.

Answer?

Large study examines relationships in the UK: Question 2

There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

How does the presentation of the data collected using the survey differ from
that collected from individuals who were asked questions face-to-face?

Answer?

Ethnography
Ethnography is a strategy that focuses on describing and interpreting
the social or cultural world of a group through first-hand study. It
means, literally, a written account of a people or ethnic group.
Ethnographers study people in groups, who interact with one another
and share the same space, whether this is at street level, within a work
group, in an organisation or within a society. It is the earliest
qualitative research strategy, with its origins in colonial anthropology.
We present our subsequent discussion of ethnography as a
developmental account. Ethnography is a demanding strategy to use,
not least because of the time scale and intensity involved. However, if
you are working in an organisation, there may be scope to undertake
participant observation of your workgroup or another group in the
organisation (Chapter 9). Alternatively, where you have recently
undertaken a work placement, you will be familiar with the context
and complexity of this workplace and you may be able to negotiate
access based on your credibility to undertake an ethnographic study
related to a work group. Ethnography is relevant for modern
organisations. Alternatively, for example, you may wish to gain an in-
depth understanding of their markets and the experiences of their
consumers.
Being successful with this strategy is likely to include making sure that
the scale or scope of your proposed ethnographic research project is
achievable. This will relate to your research question and objectives. To
collect sufficient data, you will need to make detailed notes of
everything you observe and spend considerable time reflecting on what
you have observed. You will also need to make additional notes to
elaborate on these and supplement the process of observation, by
conducting informal discussions and interviews to explore what you
have observed and collect any documentation that supports your data
collection (Delamont 2007).

From the 1700s to the early 1900s, ethnography was developed to study
cultures in societies that had been brought under the rule of a colonial
power, to facilitate imperialist control and administration. Early
anthropologists treated those among whom they lived and conducted
their fieldwork as subjects and approached their ethnography in a
detached way, believing that they were using a scientific approach,
reminiscent of a positivism, producing what were meant to be accurate
and timeless accounts of different cultures (Tedlock 2005). However, as
we highlight in the opening vignette of Chapter 4, such studies (and
their associated interpretations) privileged the colonialist
ethnographers’ taken for granted beliefs and assumptions.

From the 1920s the use of ethnography changed through the work of
the Chicago School (University of Chicago), which used ethnographic
methods to study social and urban problems within cultural groups in
the USA. A seminal example of this work is Whyte’s (1993) ‘Street
Corner Society’ originally published in 1943, which examined the lives
of street gangs in Boston. This approach to ethnography involved
researchers living among those whom they studied, observing and
talking to them to produce detailed cultural accounts of their shared
beliefs, behaviours, interactions, language, rituals and the events that
shaped their lives (Cunliffe 2010). This use of ethnography adopted a
more interpretive and naturalistic focus using the language of those
being studied in writing up cultural accounts. However, the researcher
remained the arbiter of how to tell the story and what to include,
leading many to question the impact of the researcher’s socialisation
and values (Geertz 1988).

This problem of ‘representation’ (Denzin and Lincoln 2018) means

ethnography, as well as qualitative research more generally, remains in
a fluid developmental state. In the second half of the twentieth century,
researchers developed a ‘bewildering array’ (Cunliffe 2010: 230) of
qualitative research strategies, associated with a great deal of ‘blurring’
across these strategies (Denzin and Lincoln 2018). Conflict about how
best to achieve focus led to a range of ethnographic strategies of which
we consider four: realist ethnography, impressionist or interpretive
ethnography, critical ethnography and autoethnography.

Realist ethnography
Realist ethnography is the closest to the ethnographic strategy described
earlier. The realist ethnographer believes in objectivity, factual
reporting and identifying ‘true’ meanings. She or he reports the
situation observed using ‘facts’ or data about structures and processes,
practices and customs, routines and norms, artefacts and symbols. Such
reporting is likely to use standardised categories that produce
quantitative data from observations. The realist ethnographer’s account
is written in the third person, portraying their role as the impersonal
reporter of ‘facts’. It presents a detailed contextual background, the
nature of the cultural interactions observed, and the patterns of
behaviour and social processes identified. Quotations are used
dispassionately without personal bias or seeking to act as an agent for
change. The realist ethnographer’s written account is his or her
representation of what he or she has observed and heard.
Interpretive ethnography
In contrast, interpretive ethnography places greater emphasis on
subjective impressions than on perceived objectivity. The interpretive
ethnographer believes in the likelihood of multiple meanings rather
than being able to identify a single, true meaning. Multiple meanings
are located in different participants’ socially constructed
interpretations. This suggests a more pluralistic approach focused on
understanding meanings, with those being observed treated as
participants rather than subjects. It requires the researcher to engage in
continuous reflexivity to try to ensure quality in this research process
(Delamont 2007) (Section 5.8). The research report will reflect the
participation of both the ethnographer (writing in the first person),
editing themself into the text, rather than out of it) and those being
observed, through devices such as personalisation, use of dialogue and
quotations, dramatisation and presentation of different perspectives. It
will also involve contextualisation, orderly and progressive
description, factual reporting, analysis and evaluation.
Critical ethnography
Critical ethnography has a radical purpose, designed to explore and
explain the impact of power, privilege and authority on those who are
subject to these influences or marginalised by them (Section 5.4).
Critical ethnographers often adopt an advocacy role in their work to try
to bring about change. You may be able to adopt a constrained or
bounded version of critical ethnography to explore the impact of a
problem or issue within an organisation or work group, with a view to
advocating change. Such an issue could be concerned with strategy
development, decision-making procedures, regulation, governance,
organisational treatment, reward and promotion, communication and
involvement and so forth.
Autoethnography
Autoethnography describes and systematically analyses personal
experience in order to understand cultural experience. It therefore
combines the characteristics of autobiography and ethnography in
which you write analytically about past experiences usually using
hindsight. In writing an autoethnography, you may interview others as
well as consult other sources such as texts and photographs and
diaries. Crucially, you need to write your autoethnography using
research methods and the academic literature to analyse and
contextualise the insights provided by your cultural experience.
Focus on management research
Mothers and researchers in the making
Huopalainen and Satama (2019) undertook an autoethnographic study to
answer the question ‘How do early-career academic mothers balance the
demands of contemporary motherhood in academia?’ Using their
autoethnographic diary notes gathered during, before and after the birth of
their babies as data, they provide a detailed understanding of how they
negotiated becoming new mothers in their respective universities. Inspired
by feminist thinking and matricentric feminism, they review the academic
literature on maternal embodiment and the ‘new’ academia. This is used to
help frame their own diary notes. In their analysis they use the method of
memory work, collectively analysing the individual memories of their day-to-
day experiences and making explicit connections between their own
experiences and existing research. Their article reveals their ongoing
negotiation of striving to become both good academics and good mothers is
a process loaded with gendered norms, expectations and beliefs.

Grounded Theory
‘Grounded theory’ can refer to a strategy, a method, the theory
developed through the strategy, and a research process (Bryant and
Charmaz 2007; Charmaz 2011; Strauss and Corbin 2008; Walsh et al
2015a). A Grounded Theory strategy, often referred to as ‘Grounded
Theory (Methodology)’ offers distinctive, sequential guidelines for
using qualitative methods inductively to develop theory from data. In
contrast, 'grounded theory (method)' is the data collection procedures
and analysis techniques used to derive meaning from the subjects and
settings being studied (Section 13.9). The outcome of this method is a
grounded theory, that is a theory that is grounded in or developed
inductively from a set of data. In this sub section we consider the
development of Grounded Theory, its key elements, and the
implications of adopting it as a strategy. In this section we use capital
letters (Grounded Theory) to distinguish the research strategy from the
outcome, a grounded theory (no capital letters). The common key
elements of the strategy are summarised in Table 5.5.
Table 5.5 Common key elements of Grounded Theory strategy
 use of an abductive approach that seeks to gain insights to create new conceptual
possibilities that are then examined;
 early commencement of data collection;
 concurrent collection and analysis of data;
 developing codes and categories from the data as these are collected and
analysed;
 use of constant comparison and writing of self-memos to develop
conceptualisation and build a theory;
 use of theoretical sampling and theoretical saturation to develop theory;
 initial use of literature as a complementary source to the categories and concepts
emerging in the data, rather than as the source to categorise these data;
 later use of literature to review the place of the grounded theory in relation to
existing theories;
 development of theory that is grounded in the data.

Development
Grounded Theory was developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) as a
response to the ‘extreme positivism’ of much social research at that time
(Suddaby 2006: 633).
Believing positivism is suited to research in the natural sciences, they
considered social research should use a different philosophy. By
adopting an interpretive approach in social research to explore human
experience, ‘reality’ is seen as being socially constructed through the
meanings that social actors ascribe to their experiences and actions.
Grounded Theory was therefore developed as a strategy to analyse,
interpret and explain the meanings that social actors construct to make
sense of their everyday experiences in specific situations (Glaser and
Strauss 1967; Suddaby 2006; Charmaz 2014).

Grounded Theory is used to build theoretical explanations of social

interactions and processes in a wide range of contexts. As many aspects
of business and management are about people’s behaviours, for
example consumers’ or employees’, a Grounded Theory strategy can be
used to explore a wide range of business and management issues. As
the title of Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) book The Discovery of Grounded
Theory indicates, the aim is to ‘discover’ or generate theory grounded in
the data produced from the accounts of social actors.

Not only did Glaser and Strauss (1967) challenge traditional

philosophical assumptions about conducting social research at that
time, they also developed a set of principles and guidelines to conduct
Grounded Theory. These provide a systematic and emergent approach
to collect and analyse qualitative data.

Grounded Theory is usually considered as using an inductive

approach, although, as we discuss later, it may be more appropriate to
think of it as abductive, moving between induction and deduction
(Charmaz 2011; Strauss and Corbin 1998; Suddaby 2006). Data
collection starts by collecting data such as from an initial interview or
observation and then analysing these as soon as possible and before
collecting more data. This is known as collecting and analysing data
simultaneously. Analysis commences by identifying analytical codes
that emerge from the initial interview or observation data. Each code is
used to label pieces of data (such as a line, sentence or paragraph in an
interview transcript) with the same or similar meaning. Coding also
allows related fragments of data from different interviews or
observations to be linked together to facilitate the on-going process of
analysis (Section 13.9).
Grounded Theory is a useful and widely recognised research strategy
and yet it has been the subject of much evaluation, criticism and even
misunderstanding. This is partly due to the development of different
approaches to grounded theory method. Glaser and Strauss, who
developed Grounded Theory, each went on to develop different
approaches to its use. Strauss has become associated with the
development of a particularly prescriptive approach to grounded
theory method (e.g. Corbin and Strauss 2008; Strauss and Corbin 1998).

Focus on management research

What is Grounded Theory?
A symposium held to debate the question ‘What is Grounded Theory?’ is
reported in a dedicated section of an issue of Organizational Research
Methods. Following an Introduction, this section is composed of five related
articles that seek to address and debate this question. The first article
contains the edited comments of the six panel members who contributed to
this symposium (Walsh et al. 2015a). These contributors include Barney
Glaser, one of the originators of Grounded Theory. Three further articles
form commentaries on the symposium (Corley 2015; Dougherty 2015; Locke
2015). The final article is a rejoinder by the panel members to the three
commentaries (Walsh et al. 2015b). Walsh’s introductory comments in Walsh
et al. (2015a) provide the rationale for this symposium, ‘In 2006, Suddaby
wrote a very interesting piece detailing what Grounded Theory “is not” … It
has now become even more essential and urgent to understand the full
reach and scope of Grounded Theory and to clarify what GT “is” as different
applications of GT have led to a rather blurred picture of it.’

Walsh says that approaches to Grounded Theory vary from the way in which
it was originally conceived, some using all of its methodological elements
and others only using particular elements such as a coding procedure.
Variations to Grounded Theory are referred to as remodelling. The original,
orthodox version is referred to as ‘Classic’ Grounded Theory, defined in
Holton’s comments in Walsh et al. (2015a) as the grounded theory
methodology outlined in Glaser and Strauss (1967) and then developed in
the subsequent work of Glaser (e.g. 1978, 1992). The scope of this approach
is seen to be:

 philosophically flexible: it can be used by either positivist or interpretive

researchers;
 a general methodology: it can be used with qualitative or quantitative
data, or both, providing that theoretical sampling occurs in its collection;
 one that emphasises the study of a phenomenon in its context over the
use of prior existing theory;
 a theory-building method that implies use of an exploratory and
inductive data-driven process that may incorporate deduction to build
theory.

The debate between the six panel members of this symposium and the
authors of the three articles who offered their comments provides further
insight into the question ‘What is Grounded Theory’. In seeking to address
this question, Locke (2015: 615) points readers interested in developing ‘a
fuller picture of the grounded theory arena [to] consult Developing Grounded
Theory: The Second Generation (Morse et al 2009) complied by six
grounded theory practitioners … who apprenticed with Glaser and
Strauss… and embody the distinctions and tussles that have evolved in the
domain’.

Key elements of Grounded Theory

Grounded Theory means that the process of data collection and
analysis becomes increasingly focused, leading to the generation of a
contextually based theoretical explanation (Bryant and Charmaz 2007).
It comprises a number of key elements, namely coding, constant
comparison, memo writing, theoretical sampling (including theoretical
saturation), and theoretical sensitivity.
Coding

More recently, Corbin has altered the approach in Corbin and Strauss
(2008), with axial coding being combined within open coding and
selective coding simply becoming ‘integration’ (Section 13.9).
Charmaz’s (2014) approach is more flexible, involving two principal
coding stages known as initial coding and focused coding.

Constant comparison
Underpinning coding is the process of constant comparison. Each item
of data collected is compared with others, as well as against the codes
being used to categorise data. This is to check for similarities and
differences, to promote consistency when coding data and to aid the
process of analysis. Where appropriate, new codes are created, and
existing codes reanalysed as new data are collected. Constant
comparison promotes the higher levels of analytical coding we referred
to earlier because it involves moving between inductive and deductive
thinking. As you code data into categories, a relationship may begin to
suggest itself between specific codes (here, inductive thinking links
specific codes to form a general proposition). This emerging
interpretation is ‘tested’ through collecting data from new cases (here,
deductive thinking tests this abstract generalisation, to see if it stands
up as an explanatory relationship to form a higher-level code) (Strauss
and Corbin 1998). This process of gaining insights to create new
conceptual possibilities that are then examined is termed abduction
(Charmaz 2011; Suddaby 2006) (Section 4.5).
Memo writing
Memo writing aids the development of grounded theory throughout a
research project as you define or make notes about:
 the codes being used;

 how codes change through the research process;

 how codes might be related, helping identify theoretical

relationships and the emergence of higher-level codes and

categories;
 any other ideas that occur to the researcher that help him or her to

develop the research process and analyse the data.

Where you use a Grounded Theory strategy, your collection of self-
memos will provide you with a chronological record of the
development of your ideas and your project, and show how you
arrived at your grounded theory.

Theoretical sampling
When using Grounded Theory, you will also need to decide how to
select cases for your research. As you analyse data, the categories being
developed will indicate the type of new cases (e.g. new participants) to
select. The purpose of theoretical sampling is therefore based upon
developing and testing the emerging theory and the evolving story
line; participants being chosen purposively to inform this rather than to
achieve statistical representativeness (Section 7.9). Your core theme,
relationship or process around which you focus the research, and the
need to test your emerging theory also provides the focus to select new
cases. Sampling continues until theoretical saturation is reached; when
further data does not reveal any new properties that are relevant to a
category, and where categories have become well developed and
understood and relationships between categories have been verified
(Strauss and Corbin 1998). This is also termed achieving conceptual
density (Glaser 1992) or conceptual saturation (Corbin and Strauss
2008).
Objectivist and subjectivist grounded theory
A further difference has been revealed by Charmaz (2014), who makes
a distinction between ‘objectivist grounded theory’ and ‘constructivist
grounded theory’. Charmaz views the approach of Glaser, Strauss and
Corbin to grounded theory as being ‘objectivist’, which assumes that
data indicate an external reality, just waiting to be ‘discovered’. She
considers that ‘objectivist grounded theory’ has positivist leanings.
According to this view, it is only ‘constructivist’ grounded theory that
is truly based on an interpretive approach, because it recognises that
the researcher’s role in interpreting the data will affect the
development of a grounded theory. In this approach, grounded
theories are ‘constructed’, not discovered. This might seem a rather
abstract difference, but because Charmaz advocates a ‘constructivist’
approach she also promotes a more flexible approach to grounded
theory method (Section 13.9).

Adopting a Grounded Theory strategy

Adopting a Grounded Theory strategy invariably has implications.
These concern the data collection; use of existing theory; identifying a
core category or categories around which to focus the research; and the
time required to undertake this strategy. We briefly consider each of
these.

Data collection

In Grounded Theory, data collection can start as soon as the research

idea has been developed and the initial research participants have
agreed to take part (or the first set of documents have been identified).
This means you need to be interested in and committed to your
research idea from the start.
Use of existing theory

There is sometimes confusion about the role of published theory in a

Grounded Theory research project (Suddaby 2006; Locke 2015).
Grounded theorists may use published theory before and during their
research project. The idea for such a research project may come from
existing theory and your understanding of the theoretical background
to your research topic may help to inform the project in general terms.
However, existing theory should not be allowed to influence how you
code your data, decide on new cases and conduct your analysis.
Grounded Theory is an emergent strategy and you need to be guided
by concepts emerging from the data you collect rather than being
sensitised by concepts in existing theory. This is known as theoretical
sensitivity, where you focus on interpreting meanings by using in
vivo and researcher-generated rather than a priori codes (Section 13.6) to
analyse your data and construct a grounded theory (Glaser 1978).
Theoretical sensitivity means that you must be sensitive to meanings in
your data, generating a theory grounded in them. You will, however,
need to allow yourself sufficient time later on to link your grounded
theory to published theories as you write your research report!
Identifying a core category

The emergent nature of the strategy means your identification of a core

category or categories around which to focus your research and
develop a grounded theory is crucial. This requires rigorous use of
coding, constant comparison, theoretical sampling until theoretical
saturation is reached, alongside theoretical sensitivity to develop a
theoretical explanation.

Time requirements

Using Grounded Theory is time-consuming, intensive and reflective.

Before committing yourself to this strategy, you need to consider the
time that you have to conduct your research, the level of competence
you will need, your access to data, and the logistical implications of
immersing yourself in an intensive approach to research. Kenealy
(2012) advises novice Grounded Theory researchers to identify one
approach to grounded theory method and follow it without too much
adaptation. He also advises researchers to focus on identifying ‘ideas
that fit and work’ from their data to develop a grounded theory
(Kenealy 2012: 423). Kenealy recognises that using Grounded Theory
requires experience but says that the only way to build this is to
practise the use of grounded theory method!

Narrative Inquiry
A narrative is a story; a personal account which interprets an event or
sequence of events. Using the term ‘narrative’ requires a distinction to
be drawn between its general meaning and the specific meaning here.
A qualitative research interview inevitably involves a participant in
storytelling, and so the term ‘narrative’ can be applied generally to
describe the nature or outcome of a qualitative interview. As a research
strategy, however, Narrative Inquiry means collecting the experiences
of participants as whole accounts, or reconstructing their experiences
into narratives.
Focus on student research: Kasia
Using Narrative Inquiry to explore marketing
strategies

I was undertaking a marketing degree and, because of my longstanding

interest in fashion and textiles, I hoped to find work in that sector. My
interests led me to focus my research project on factors that affected the
success of marketing strategies in a small sample of fashion companies.
After considering my choice of research strategy and discussing this with my
project tutor, I decided to adopt a Narrative Inquiry strategy, using online in-
depth interviews with the marketing directors from a sample of three
medium-sized fashion companies who had agreed to grant me access. I
realised that the outcome of my research would very much depend on the
quality of these three in-depth interviews. I decided to send each an email
briefly outlining this approach and a list of the structural elements of narrative
inquiry I had read about.

I was nervous in my first interview and realised that my participant, Hetal,

sensed this. Hetal had read my email and knew a little about Narrative
Inquiry from her own degree studies. Hetal provided me with a full and useful
narrative of the factors affecting the outcomes of her employer’s marketing
strategy over the past year. However, after the interview I realised that I had
asked Hetal unnecessary questions on several occasions, interrupting the
flow of Hetal’s narrative account. I wrote and thanked Hetal for her very
useful narrative account and resolved to allow my two remaining
interviewees to act as narrators, using their own voices to tell their stories.

I started the next online interview with a list of elements and themes in which
I was interested but resolved that my second participant, Jorg, should be
allowed to use his own voice. Jorg provided me with another full and useful
narrative, with me acting as listener rather than traditional interviewer, only
seeking clarification occasionally, after explaining the nature and purpose of
the process as they started. I left this second interview feeling very pleased
and looked forward to the next one.

The purpose of Narrative Inquiry is to derive theoretical explanations

from narrative accounts while maintaining their integrity. Where your
research question and objectives are consistent with an interpretivist
philosophy and a qualitative methodological choice, Narrative Inquiry
may be suitable.

It will allow you to analyse the linkages, relationships and socially

constructed explanations that occur naturally within narrative accounts in
order ‘to understand the complex processes which people use in making
sense of their organisational realities’ (Musson 2004: 42).
Chase (2011) distinguishes between asking participants to generalise
when answering questions in more structured types of qualitative
research and being invited to provide a complete narrative of their
experience.

Narrative Inquiry preserves chronological connections and the

sequencing of events as told by the narrator (participant) to enrich
understanding and aid analysis. Chase (2011: 421) refers to this strategy
as providing the opportunity to connect events, actions and their
consequences over time into a ‘meaningful whole’. Through
storytelling the narrator provides their interpretation of these events,
allowing you to analyse the meanings which the narrator places on
them. Where there is more than one participant providing a personal
account of a given context, the narrative researcher will also be able to
compare and to triangulate or contrast these narratives.

A narrative is a personal account of an experience that is told in a

sequenced way, indicating a flow of related events that, taken together,
are significant for the narrator and which convey meaning to the
researcher (Coffey and Atkinson 1996).
Such narratives are likely to contain ‘thick descriptions’ of contextual
detail and social relations. Gabriel (2018) said that using narratives can
offer powerful insights into the meanings accorded to events and
experiences.

In Narrative Inquiry, the participant is the narrator, with the researcher

adopting the role of a listener facilitating the process of narration. The
narrative provided may be a short story about a specific event, a more
extended story (for example, about a work project, managing or setting
up a business, or an organisational change programme) or a complete
life history (e.g. Chase 2011; Maitlis 2012). While in-depth interviews
are the most widely used method to collect stories, other methods such
as participant observation (Coffey and Atkinson 1996),
autobiographies, authored biographies, diaries, documents and
informal discussions (Chase 2011; Maitlis 2012) may also be used. This
raises the issue of the researcher adopting the role of narrator in
particular circumstances, which we will consider later. Narrative
Inquiry may be used as the sole research strategy, or in conjunction
with another strategy as a complementary approach (Musson 2004).

Narrative Inquiry may be used in different ways. It may be used with a

very small sample of one to three participants, selected as being typical
of a much larger population (Chase 2011). Alternatively, a small sample
may be selected as critical cases or extreme cases, such as company
founders or entrepreneurs, from whom much may be learnt. Narrative
Inquiry may also be used with slightly larger samples of participants
from across an organisation, to analyse how narratives are constructed
around an event or series of events. This would allow comparisons
between accounts to establish whether they differ, such as between
departments, occupational groups or genders.

The strategy is generally associated with small, purposive samples

(Section 7.9) because of its intensive and time-consuming nature. It is
likely to generate large amounts of data in the form of the narrative
account, or of interview transcripts or observational notes. The
narratives that emerge may not be easy-to-use or in a structural and
coherent form (Gabriel 2018). The following checklist outlines
structural elements to facilitate analysis of narratives.

Checklist: Structural element questions to

facilitate narrative analysis

 What is the story about?

 What happened, to whom, whereabouts and why?
 What consequences arose from this?
 What is the significance of these events?
 What was the final outcome?
Source: Developed from Coffey and Atkinson (1996)

To achieve analytical coherence in a narrative account you may need to

(re)construct the story from one or more in-depth interviews with one
participant, or a number of interviews with different participants. This
places you as the narrative researcher in a central role in telling the
story. Decisions will need to be taken about what to include and what
to leave out, and how to connect parts of the account (Section 13.10).

While analysis in Narrative Inquiry does not use the analytical

fragmentation of Grounded Theory, neither does it offer a well-
developed set of analytical procedures comparable to those used by
grounded theorists. Despite this, analytical rigour is still important in
order to derive constructs and concepts to develop theoretical
explanations. While narrative researchers may believe that predefined
analytical procedures are neither advisable nor desirable, this may
make the task of analysis more demanding for you.

Archival and documentary research

Data digitalisation, the rapid growth of online archives, and open data
initiatives by governments and businesses, mean there is considerable
scope for you to use an archival or documentary research strategy. It is
now possible to access such sources online from around the world
through online data archives and gateways to governmental websites
(Chapter 8). Organisations’ websites may provide access to certain
types of documentary sources such as annual reports, company results,
financial highlights, press releases and regulatory news. Media
websites also provide facilities to search for articles about organisations
and business and management topics. Some documents created by
individuals may be accessible through data archives (e.g. a collection of
papers of a notable businessperson) but use of recently created
materials will probably require you to contact a potential participant to
negotiate access, where these are not considered to be private or
commercially sensitive. An archival research strategy uses manuscripts,
documents, administrative records, objects, sound and audio-visual
materials held in archives, special collections and other repositories as
the main sources of data. Documentary research strategy uses personal
and official documents as the sources of data.
From our initial discussion it clear there is a wide range of potential
archival and documentary materials available.

Lee (2012: 391) suggests that ‘a document is a durable repository for

textual, visual and audio representations that may be retained and used in
different times and spaces, creating the possibility that meanings may be
interpreted differently’.
This illustrates the wide range of materials and that their use and
interpretation can vary. Categories of textual documents include:

 communications between individuals or within groups such as

emails, tweets, letters, social media and blog postings;
 individual records such as diaries, calendars and notes;
 organisational documents such as administrative records, agendas
and minutes of meetings, agreements, contracts, memos,
personnel records, plans, policy statements, press releases, reports
and strategy statements;
 government documents such as publications, reports and national
statistics data sets;
 media documents including online and printed articles and other
data.
 visual and audio documents include advertising posters, artefacts,
audio recordings, audio-visual corporate communications (e.g.
YouTube videos), digital recordings, DVDs, films, photographs,
products, promotional advertisements and recordings, and
television and radio programmes.
Documents used for research are considered secondary sources because
they were created original for a different purpose. However, there is a
significant difference between re-analysing data collected originally for
a research purpose and using secondary sources in an archival or
documentary research strategy. Where previously collected research
data are re-analysed for a different purpose in a secondary data
analysis, the quality of the original research data needs to be assessed.
For example, how was the survey sample selected? Was the original
research designed to overcome threats to reliability and validity
(Section 5.8)?

In contrast, where documents are used as secondary data in an archival

or documentary research strategy, their original purpose had nothing to do
with research and so you will need to be sensitive to their nature and
original purpose, the way in which you analyse them and the
generalisations that you can draw (Hakim 2000).
Data from archives documents may be analysed quantitatively,
qualitatively or both. Analysing textual documents qualitatively can
enable you to generate a rich or ‘thick’ description of key events, the
context within which these events occurred, the roles of the actors
involved, the influence of external influences such as economic or
commercial pressures, as well as outcomes. Your scope to achieve such
an outcome will depend on whether you find suitable documents.
Documents may, for example, allow you to analyse critical incidents or
decision-making processes, or evaluate different policy positions or
strategies. Using quantitative data from documents such as annual or
financial reports may, for example, facilitate comparisons between
organisations or across reporting periods. Prior (2007) points out that
documents can also be analysed to reveal:

 not only what they contain but what is omitted;

 which facts are used and why these might be emphasised while
others are not used;
 how they are used in an organisation and how they are circulated
and to whom.
The utility of archival or documentary research strategies will depend
on their appropriateness to your research question and objectives and
gaining access to sufficient suitable documents. You may be refused
access to documents or find some data are restricted for confidentiality
reasons. You may also find that the documents you locate vary in
quality, especially where they come from different sources. Data may
be missing or presented inconsistently, making comparison difficult or
potentially leaving gaps in your analysis. Using an archival or
documentary research strategy will therefore necessitate establishing
what documents are available and designing your research to make the
most of these. This may mean combining this research strategy with
another; for example, conducting documentary research alongside a
Grounded Theory strategy based on qualitative interviews and using
similar procedure to analyse both sets of data. Alternatively, you might
use documentary research within a case study strategy.

Research in the news

Historians having to tape together records that
Trump tore up
An article in The Guardian in January 2021 highlighted growing concern that
Donald Trump’s White House Records would be incomplete due to his habit
of ripping up papers before discarding them. This had led to officials
spending hours taping records back together. Officials also had to be
reminded not to conduct official business using text messaging apps or
private emails and to preserve it if they did. While it is estimated that
computer systems have captured the vast majority of records, they have not
been able to capture those records that were not created or logged into the
system.

In 2021 Trump’s electronic and paper records were transferred to the United
States National Archives. While the Biden administration could see these
documents immediately, members of the public are likely to have to wait.
Trump, like other presidents, has restricted public access for up to 12 years.

Source: Staff and Agencies (2021) ‘Historians having to tape together

records that Trump tore up’, The Guardian 17 January [online].

Case study
A case study is an in-depth inquiry into a topic or phenomenon within its
real-life setting (Yin 2018).
The ‘case’ in case study research may refer to, for example, a person,
group, organisation, association, process or event. Choosing the case to
be studied and determining the boundaries of the study is a key factor
in defining a case study (Flyvberg 2011). Once defined, case study
research sets out to understand the case within its setting or context
(Eisenhardt and Graebner 2007).

The study of a case within its real-life setting or context helps to

distinguish this research strategy from others. In an experimental
strategy, contextual variables are highly controlled as they are seen as a
potential threat to the validity of the results. In a survey strategy,
research is undertaken in a real-life setting, but the ability to
understand the impact of context is limited by the number of variables
for which data can be collected. In contrast, case study research is often
used when the boundaries between the phenomenon being studied and
the context within which it is being studied are not always apparent
(Yin 2018).

A case study strategy has the capacity to generate insights from

intensive and in-depth research into the study of a phenomenon in its
real-life context, leading to rich, empirical descriptions and the
development of theory (Yin 2018). They can be designed to identify
what is happening and why, and to understand the effects of the
situation and implications for action; often using both qualitative and
quantitative data from a range of sources. Although case studies have
been widely used over a long period, including in business and
management, they have been criticised by some because of
‘misunderstandings’ about their ability to produce generalisable,
reliable and theoretical contributions to knowledge (Flyvberg, 2011).
This is largely based on positivist criticisms of using small samples and
more generally about using interpretive, qualitative research. This type
of criticism has been countered and is generally losing favour as the
value of qualitative and mixed methods research is recognised more
widely (Denzin and Lincoln 2018).
Case studies are designed in different ways dependent upon their
purpose. They have been used for descriptive, exploratory or
explanatory purposes by ‘positivist’ as well as ‘interpretivist’
researchers both deductively and inductively. Some positivist
researchers have also advocated using case studies inductively to build
theory and to develop theoretical hypotheses, which can be tested
subsequently. In this way, the use of the case study is advocated in the
early, exploratory stage of research as a complement to deductive
research (Eisenhardt and Graebner 2007). This approach has been
called ‘indicative case study research’, designed to reveal ‘specific
attributes’ rather than rich description (Ridder et al. 2014: 374).

Yin (2018) recognises that case studies may be used not only for
exploratory but also descriptive and explanatory purposes. An
explanatory case study is likely to use a deductive approach, testing the
applicability of theoretical propositions, to build and verify an
explanation (Chapter 13). Interpretivist researchers are more interested,
at least initially, to develop richly detailed and nuanced descriptions of
their case study research (Ridder et al. 2014). For some interpretivists,
making comparisons with existing theory is unnecessary.

Stake (2005) notes many interpretivist researchers prefer to describe their

case study in ample detail, allowing readers to make their own links to
existing theory. Other interpretivist researchers inductively analyse their
data, identifying themes and patterns and, at some point, locating this in
existing literature in order to refine, extend or generate theory (Ridder et
al. 2014; Chapter 13).
If you are an interpretivist, it is highly likely that you will need to
follow this second route and provide a clear link to theory!

Orthodox and emergent designs

Lee and Saunders (2017) differentiate between research designs for
‘orthodox cases’ and ‘emergent cases’. An orthodox case study strategy
involves an approach that is rigorously defined and highly structured
before the research commences, with the intention that it will proceed
in a linear way. This reflects the rational approach to conducting
research where literature is reviewed first, the research question is
defined, the research project is designed, preparation for the conduct of
the research undertaken, and data are collected, analysed, interpreted
and then reported. This approach to case study strategy is likely to be
underpinned by realist philosophical assumptions. An emergent case
study strategy involves you strategically choosing a case study
environment within which research will be conducted and allowing the
focus of the research to emerge through the different stages of data
collection and analysis incorporating relevant literature. This approach
is likely to be underpinned by interpretivist–constructivist
philosophical assumptions.
The existence of various case study designs offers both opportunities
and challenges. Where you are considering using a case study strategy,
you may be able to find earlier work in the social sciences, if not
specifically in business and management, which provides guidance in
an approach that fits logically with your research idea and question
(deductive or inductive, exploratory or explanatory etc.). To achieve an
in-depth inquiry and a rich, detailed flow of analytical data, a case
study strategy can use a mixed methods research design (although case
studies may rely on a multi-method design). Case study research often
uses a combination of archival records and documents (Chapter 8),
different forms of observation (Chapter 9), interviews and focus groups
(Chapter 10), questionnaires (Chapter 11), reflection and the use of
research diaries and other research aids (Chapters 1 and 13). Case
study research is likely to prove to be challenging because of its
intensive and in-depth nature, and your need to be able to identify,
define and gain access to a case study setting.
Case study structures
Yin (2018) distinguishes between four case study strategies based upon
two discrete dimensions (Figure 5.5):

 single case versus multiple cases;

 holistic case versus embedded case.
Figure 5.5 Case study structures

A single case is often used where it represents a critical case or,

alternatively, an extreme or unique case. Conversely, a single case may
be selected purposively because it is typical or because it provides you
with an opportunity to observe and analyse a phenomenon that few
have considered before (Section 7.3). Many part-time students use the
organisation for which they work as a single case study. The key here
will be to ensure the case study strategy is appropriate for the nature of
your research question and objectives.

A case study strategy can also incorporate multiple cases to establish

whether findings can be replicated across cases. Here you will select
cases on the basis that similar results are predicted to be produced from
each one. Where this is realised, this is termed literal replication (Yin
2018). Alternatively, cases may be chosen where a contextual factor is
deliberately different. The impact of this difference on the anticipated
findings is predicted by the researcher. Where this predicted variation
is realised, Yin terms this theoretical replication .
Focus on student research: Simon
Using a single organisation as a case study

I was interested in discovering how colleagues within my organisation were

using a recently introduced financial costing model in their day-to-day work.
In discussion with my project tutor, I highlighted that I wished to find out how
it was actually being used in my organisation as a whole, as well as seeing if
the use of the financial costing model differed between senior managers,
departmental managers and front-line operatives. My project tutor suggested
that I adopt a case study strategy, using my organisation as a single case
within which the senior managers’, departmental managers’ and front-line
operatives’ groups were embedded cases. I also highlighted that, given the
different numbers of people in each of the embedded cases, I would be likely
to need to use different data collection techniques with each.

A multiple case study strategy may combine a small number of cases

chosen to predict literal replication and a second small number chosen
to predict theoretical replication (Yin 2018). Where all of the findings
from these cases are as predicted, this would produce very strong
support for the theoretical propositions on which these predictions
were based. This approach commences deductively, using data to test
theoretical propositions before, possibly, incorporating an inductive or
abductive approach (Section 4.5). Where the findings are in some way
contrary to the predictions in the theoretical propositions being tested,
it would be necessary to reframe these propositions and select further
cases to test them. Choosing between a single or multiple case study is
not simply related to producing more evidence. While a multiple case
study is likely to produce more evidence, the purpose of each approach
is different. A single case study approach is chosen because of the
nature of the case. A multiple case study approach is chosen to allow
replication.

Yin’s second dimension, holistic versus embedded, refers to the unit of

analysis. You may have chosen to use an organisation in which you
worked or are currently employed as your case. If your research is
concerned only with the organisation as a whole, then you are treating
the organisation as a holistic case study. Conversely, even if you are
only researching within a single organisation, you may wish to
examine one or more sub-units within the organisation, such as
departments or work groups. Your case will inevitably involve more
than one unit of analysis and, whichever way you select these units, is
called an embedded case study.

Action Research
Lewin first used the term Action Research in 1946. It has been
interpreted subsequently by management researchers in a variety of
ways, but a number of common and related themes have been
identified within the literature. An Action Research strategy is an
emergent and iterative process of inquiry that is designed to develop
solutions to real organisational problems through a participative and
collaborative approach, uses different forms of knowledge, and will
have implications for participants and the organisation beyond the
research project (Coghlan 2011; Coghlan 2019). Our definition identifies
five themes: purpose, process, participation, knowledge and
implications, which we now consider.
Purpose
The purpose of an Action Research strategy is to promote
organisational learning to produce practical outcomes through
identifying issues, planning action, taking action and evaluating action.
Coghlan (2019) emphasises Action Research is about research in action
rather than research about action. This is because Action Research
focuses on ‘addressing worthwhile practical purposes’ (Reason 2006:
188) and resolving real organisational issues (Shani and Pasmore 1985).

Process
Figure 5.6 The three cycles of the Action Research spiral
Participation
Action Research is a social process in which an action researcher works
with members in an organisation, as a facilitator and teacher, to
improve the situation for these participants and their organisation. For
Greenwood and Levin (2007) it can only be called Action Research if
research, action and participation are all present. Organisational
members need to cooperate with the researcher to allow their existing
work practices to be studied. The process of Action Research then
requires collaboration through its iterative cycles (Figure 5.6) to
facilitate the improvement of organisational practices. This means
building a democratic approach to communication and decision-
making throughout each Action Research stage or cycle. The researcher
passes on her or his skills and capabilities to organisational members so
that they effectively become co-researchers in the Action Research
process. Without such participation, this approach simply would not be
viable, although creating such participation is likely to be difficult in
practice and to meet with resistance at various levels (Reason 2006).

Participation of organisational members results usually from their

involvement in ‘a matter which is of genuine concern to them’ (Eden
and Huxham 1996: 75). Members of an organisation are more likely to
implement change they have helped to create (Schein 1999). Once the
members of an organisation have identified a need for change and have
widely shared this need, it becomes difficult to ignore, and the pressure
for change comes from within the organisation. In this way, an Action
Research strategy combines both data gathering and the facilitation of
change.

Knowledge
Action is informed by both abstract theoretical knowledge, known as
propositional knowledge; and participants’ everyday lived experiences
(their experiential knowledge) and knowing-in-action (knowledge that
comes from practical application) (Reason 2006). These forms of
knowledge are important in each stage or cycle of the Action Research
process, encouraged by the collaborative approach that underpins this
strategy. They lead to ‘actionable knowledge’ that has the potential to
be useful to organisational practitioners as well as being academically
robust (Coghlan 2011: 79). Coghlan believes that Action Research not
only affects ‘what we know’ but emphasises understanding of ‘how
we know’.

Implications
The implications of Action Research go beyond the research project.
Participants in an organisation where action research takes place are
likely to have their expectations about future treatment and
involvement in decision making raised (Greenwood and Levin 2007).
There are also likely to be consequences for organisational
development and culture change. Implications from the process may be
used to inform other contexts. Academics will use the results from
undertaking Action Research to develop theory that can be applied
more widely. Consultants will transfer knowledge gained to inform
their work in other contexts. Such use of knowledge to inform, we
believe, also applies to others undertaking Action Research, such as
students undertaking research in their own organisations.

There are a number of practical concerns to consider if you are thinking

of using an Action Research strategy. Identifying an accommodating
context, the emergent nature of this strategy, the need to engender
participation and collaboration, the researcher’s role as facilitator, and
the stages or iterations involved are some of the reasons that make
Action Research a demanding strategy in terms of the intensity
involved and the resources and time required. Action Research can be
suited to (part-time) students who undertake research in their own
organisation, although its longitudinal nature means that it is more
appropriate for medium- or long-term research projects. There is the
related issue of deciding how many Action Research cycles are
sufficient. Where these practical as well as political concerns have been
properly anticipated and evaluated in terms of a feasible design, Action
Research has the potential to offer a worthwhile and rich experience for
those involved.

Question 1
2 tries left

Which of the following best describes a research strategy?

A research strategy is the work plan of what will be done at each stage of the
research.

A research strategy refers to the methods used by the researcher to gather data.
A research strategy is the plan of how a researcher will go about answering their
research question.
A research strategy is the approach to theory development that the researcher
will use.
Fantastic!

In general terms, a strategy is a plan of action to achieve a goal. A research strategy

may therefore be defined as a plan of how a researcher will go about answering their
research question. It is the methodological link between the researcher's philosophy
and subsequent choice of methods to collect and analyse data (Denzin and Lincoln
2018).

Question 2
2 tries left

Which of the following is true of an experiment research strategy?

In business and management research, a laboratory experiment is able to be

generalised to all organisations due to its positivistic nature.
An experiment uses hypothetical explanations rather than research questions.

The feasibility of using an experimental strategy will depend on your

hypotheses.

Experiments will only use confounding variables.

Fantastic!

An experiment uses hypothetical explanations, known as hypotheses, rather than

research questions. This is because the researcher hypothesises whether or not a
relationship will exist between the variables. Two types of (opposing) hypotheses are
formulated in a standard experiment: the null hypothesis and the alternative
hypothesis. The null hypothesis is the explanation that there is no difference or
relationship between the variables.

Question 3
2 tries left

Which of the following is true of a Survey Strategy?

A survey gives an in-depth inquiry into a topic or phenomenon within its real-life
setting.
The Survey Strategy allows you to collect data which you can analyse
quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics.

A survey uses control and confounding variables in its design.

A survey uses very large samples in order to get reliable data.

Well done!

The Survey Strategy allows data collection for quantitative analysis using descriptive
and inferential statistics. The data can be used to suggest possible reasons for
particular relationships between variables and to produce models of these
relationships. Using a Survey Strategy should provide more control over the research
process and, when probability sampling is used, it is possible to generate findings
that are statistically representative of the whole population at a lower cost than data
collection for the whole population.

Question 4
2 tries left

Which of the following is not classed as archival or documentary material?

Recording of a television programme.

A transcript of an interview conducted by the researcher.

Communications between individuals by email.

Government publications, reports and national statistics data sets.

Well done!

Documents used for research are considered secondary sources because they were
originally created for a different purpose. Researchers using an archival or
documentary research strategy therefore need to be sensitive to the fact that the
documents they use were not originally created for a research purpose. A transcript
of an interview is a record of the specific data required for the specific research
purpose and is not therefore archival or documentary until the research has been
published.

Question 5
2 tries left

How does an orthodox case study differ from an emergent case study?

It draws on data, often both qualitative and quantitative, from a range of

sources.
It involves an approach that is rigorously defined and highly structured before
the research commences.

It sets out to understand the dynamics of the topic being studied within its
setting or context.

It has the capacity to generate insights from intensive and in-depth research into
the study of a phenomenon.
Fantastic!

An orthodox case study strategy involves an approach that is rigorously defined and
highly structured before the research commences, with the intention that it will
proceed in a linear way. This reflects the rational approach to conducting research,
where literature is reviewed first, the research question is defined, the research
project is designed, preparation for the conduct of the research is undertaken, and
data are collected, analysed, interpreted and then reported. An emergent case study
strategy involves a researcher strategically choosing a case study environment within
which research will be conducted but allowing the focus of the research to emerge
through their engagement in this setting and with relevant literature.

Question 6
2 tries left

Which statement best describes Action Research?

Action Research is closed and objective in nature to reduce interference from

the sample.

Action Research places much greater stress on subjective impressions than on

perceived objectivity.
Action Research is an emergent and iterative process of inquiry that is designed
to develop solutions to real organisational problems through a participative and
collaborative approach.

Action Research is research about action.

Nice work!

The purpose of an Action Research strategy is to promote organisational learning to

produce practical outcomes through identifying issues, planning action, taking action
and evaluating action. Coghlan and Brannick (2014: 4) state that action research is
about ‘research in action rather than research about action'.

Question 7
2 tries left

When would you use a Grounded Theory strategy?

To test a hypothesis about the relationship between two variables.

To develop theoretical explanations of social interactions and processes in a
wide range of contexts, including business and management.

To promote organisational learning to produce practical outcomes through

identifying issues, planning action, taking action and evaluating action.

When the research has deduction as an approach to theory development.

Well done!

Grounded Theory strategy can be used to explore a wide range of business and
management issues. As the title of Glaser and Strauss's (1967) book The Discovery of
Grounded Theory indicates, the aim is to ‘discover' or generate theory grounded in
the data produced from the accounts of social actors. This inductive, theory-building
approach of Grounded Theory illustrates an important difference from the theory-
testing approach associated with much previous social research, where hypotheses
were deduced from existing theory and tested to confirm, modify or falsify this
theory.

Question 8
2 tries left

What is a narrative?

A narrative is a transcript of an interview.

A narrative is a type of questionnaire.

A narrative is an account of an experience that is told in a sequenced way,
indicating a flow of related events that are significant for the narrator and which
convey meaning to the researcher.

It is research philosophy.
Nice work!

In narrative inquiry, the participant is the narrator, with the researcher adopting the
role of listener facilitating the process of narration. The narrative provided may be a
short story about a specific event; a more extended story (e.g. about a work project,
managing or setting up a business, or an organisational change programme); or a
complete life history.

5.5 Considering time

horizons
5.5 Consider the implications of the time
frames required for different research
designs.

An important question to be asked in designing your research is, ‘Do I

want my research to be a “snapshot” taken at a particular time or do I
want it to be more akin to a diary or a series of snapshots and be a
representation of events over a given period?’ This will, of course,
depend on your research question. The ‘snapshot’ time horizon we
call cross-sectional, while the ‘diary’ perspective we call longitudinal.
Cross-sectional studies
It is probable that your research will be cross-sectional, involving the
study of a particular phenomenon (or phenomena) at a particular time.
We say this because we recognise that most research projects
undertaken for academic courses are necessarily time constrained.
However, the time horizons on many courses do allow sufficient time
for a longitudinal study, provided, of course, that you start your
research early!

Cross-sectional studies can use quantitative, qualitative and mixed

methods research designs and a correspondingly wide variety of
strategies. They may be using a survey strategy and a quantitative
design to describe the incidence of a phenomenon such as the IT skills
possessed by managers in one organisation at a given point in time.
Alternatively, they may be using a case study strategy and both
quantitative and qualitative data to examine how small UK businesses
are trading with Europe post Brexit.

Longitudinal studies
The main strength of longitudinal research is its capacity to study
change and development. This type of study may also provide you
with a measure of control over some of the variables being studied.
One of the best-known examples of this type of research comes from
outside the world of business. It is the long-running UK television
series Seven Up. This has charted the progress of a cohort of people
every seven years of their life since 1964 (63 Up, 2019). Not only is this
fascinating television, it has also provided the social scientist with a
rich source of data on which to test and develop theories of human
development.

Longitudinal studies can use quantitative, qualitative and mixed

methods research designs and a correspondingly wide variety of
strategies. They may be using an experiment strategy and a
quantitative design to establish the impact of a particular intervention.
Alternatively, they may be using an ethnography strategy and
qualitative data to examine how home working practices are adapting
post pandemic.
Even with time constraints it is possible to introduce a longitudinal
element to your research. There is a massive amount of published data
collected over time just waiting to be reanalysed (as Section 8.2
indicates)! An example is the Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual trust
and credibility survey undertaken every year since 2001 (Edelman,
2021). From these surveys you can gain valuable secondary data, which
gives a global measurement of trust across the world and how it is
changing with regard to government, businesses, media and non-
governmental organisations (NGOs).

Question 1
2 tries left

Which of the characteristics is typical of a cross-sectional study?

Cross-sectional studies can be considered as a ‘diary' perspective.

Cross-sectional studies have the capacity to study change and development.

Cross-sectional studies often employ the survey strategy.

Cross-sectional studies are often used without time frame constraints.

Excellent!

Cross-sectional studies often employ the survey strategy. They may be seeking to
describe the incidence of a phenomenon or to explain how factors are related in
different organisations.

Question 2
2 tries left

What is a main weakness of longitudinal research?

It lacks rigour and validity.

The sample is too difficult to identify.

The results are difficult to compare over time.

Attrition of sample with loss of follow-up over time and incomplete or
interrupted data sets.
Nice work!

As the work is longitudinal there can be a loss of respondents over time. This is
especially the case in business and management where people change jobs,
companies go bankrupt and company ownership changes. The result can be
incomplete data sets and problems of reliability and validity.

Question 3
2 tries left

Why can you still use longitudinal research when there are time constraints?

It can be done quickly as validity and rigour are not as important in longitudinal
research.

Anyone reading or reviewing longitudinal research expects there to be parts

missing due to lack of time.
There is a massive amount of readily available secondary data that has been
collected over time which can be re-analysed.

There is no need to follow ethical procedures with longitudinal research.

Well done!

From existing surveys you there is valuable secondary data, which can be analysed in
order to gain a longitudinal perspective.

5.8 Choosing a research

role
5.8 Recognise your role as researcher in
your research design.
This chapter has considered the decisions you need to take to formulate
your research design and the interdependency between your research
question and objectives, your research philosophy and your research
purpose. You need to choose between quantitative, qualitative or
mixed methods; between research strategies; and between time frames.
Each decision will have implications for your design. Each decision
also has implications for the ways in which you seek to establish a
quality research design that is ethical. As you have read through this
chapter, you have probably been evaluating each of these decisions in
relation to practical constraints as well as personal preferences. We
have alluded to practical constraints in a number of places in the
chapter in terms of the way they may affect each choice. A crucial
practical consideration in deciding how to formulate a research design
is related to your role as researcher.

The external researcher role

If you are a full-time student, you are likely to adopt the role of
an external researcher . Where you intend to undertake research in one
or a few organisations you will need to negotiate access to the
organisation(s) and to those from whom you would like to collect data.
Having achieved this you will need to gain their trust so that they will
participate meaningfully to allow you to collect these data. You will
need to take these practical factors into account when formulating your
research question and your research design. Sections 6.2 to 6.5 provide
more detail about issues of access that you need to take into account as
an external researcher before finalising your research design.
In doing this you will need to consider the extent to which you engage
with those from whom you collect data. For some research projects
your engagement ends once data are collected. For others your
engagement will be throughout the research process, working with an
organisation or group to co-produce knowledge. Such engaged
scholarship is a participative form of research in which you work with
the organisation or group and obtain the advice and perspectives of
key stakeholders to understand a complex problem (Van de Ven 2007).
The engagement process is therefore a collaboration to produce high-
quality research, reciprocate, address identified community
(organisation) needs, where needed cross disciplinary boundaries, and
support the democratisation of knowledge (Beaulieu et al. 2018). Van
de Ven (2007) conceptualises engagement as the processes linking four
points of a diamond emphasising the importance in engaged
scholarship of engaging:
 those who experience and know the problem in problem

formulation;
 knowledge experts in theory building;

 methods experts and those providing access and data in the

research design;
 the intended audience to interpret meanings and uses in problem-

solving.

The internal researcher (practitioner

researcher) role
If you are currently working in an organisation, you may choose to
undertake your research project within that organisation and adopt the
role of an internal researcher or practitioner researcher. As a part-time
student, you will be surrounded by numerous opportunities to pursue
business and management research. Indeed, like many people in such a
position, you may be asked to research a particular problem by your
employer.
As an internal researcher, another advantage will be your knowledge of
the organisation. However, this advantage carries with it a significant
disadvantage. You need to become conscious of the assumptions and
preconceptions that you normally take-for-granted in your workplace.
This is an inevitable consequence of knowing the organisation well and
may prevent you from exploring issues that would enrich the research.
Familiarity may create other problems for you as an internal researcher.
When we were doing case study work in a manufacturing company,
we found it very useful to ask ‘basic’ questions revealing our ignorance
about the industry and the organisation. These ‘basic’ questions are
ones that as a practitioner researcher you would be less likely to ask
because you, and your respondents, would feel that you should know
the answers already. There is also the problem of status. If you are a
junior employee, you may feel that working with more senior
colleagues inhibits your interactions as researcher practitioner. The
same may be true if you are more senior than your colleagues.

A more practical problem is that of time. Combining two roles at work

is obviously very demanding, particularly as it may involve you in
much data recording ‘after hours’. This activity is hidden from those
who determine your workload and they may not appreciate the extra
demands of your researcher role. There are no easy answers to these
problems. All you can do is be aware of the possible impact on your
research of being too close to your research setting.

Tietze (2012) offers some guidance for internal researchers. These

include reflecting on your role as internal researcher so that you may
recognise how this affects the way you design and conduct your
research (where you have scope to influence what you are going to
research). The research you undertake and the report you produce may
have implications for those you work with and you will therefore need
to consider the implications of how you research and what you report
(Section 6.7). You will need to consider your emotions and to manage
these during this process of being an internal researcher. The process of
analysing, interpreting and theorising about the research data you
collect may have the effect of making ‘strange the all-too-familiar’
(Tietze 2012: 68) and you will need to cope with the degree of
detachment that this may produce as you re-evaluate the way in which
you view your organisation.
Video Is race and class discrimination hurting business?

Transcript
Is race and class discrimination hurting business?
INTERVIEWER: And, Shriti and Karen, the McGregor review found that if BAME talent
progressed at the same rates as their white counterparts, an additional 24 billion pounds could
be added to the UK economy each year.

KAREN BLACKETT: There is enough evidence, isn't there, in terms of, you know, the McGregor
review or whether it's about the McKinsey reports that shows that those companies which are
more ethnically diverse outperform those less so by 33% in the latest update of the Diversity
Matters report. So in 2001, the BAME population in the UK was worth $32 billion. In 2011, it was
$300 billion.

INTERVIEWER: Oh, my goodness.

KAREN BLACKETT: That's a huge audience you're missing out if you don't really think about
how you communicate and how you involve them in your particular organization and your
business as a purchasing power. So I think facts and stats speak for themselves in terms of, you
know, evidence that more diverse teams tend to be more productive teams and more profitable
teams but also in terms of the purchasing power. But race is hard to talk about. And in a
boardroom, it's one of those areas that still now, people feel uncomfortable talking about it.

INTERVIEWER: What would you say to any business leader or HR manager in terms of, number
one, why it makes sense to go and actually seek diverse talent, particularly talent from BAME
backgrounds? And number 2, what is the thing that they can do to make sure that talent feels
welcome within their organization?

RIC LEWIS: There's a couple of reasons. The first is just that you're missing out on a whole
population that's really talented. And why wouldn't you pick the best and brightest of the entire
basket rather than just a portion of the basket? So that's one reason. The second is that, you
know, times are changing, and the crowd, the rebel crowd, is gonna start to form at your door.

[LAUGHS]

Like it just is.

INTERVIEWER: And they will.

RIC LEWIS: So if you rest--

INTERVIEWER: And they are.

RIC LEWIS: --on your laurels, sooner or later it will catch up for you. I think the one
recommendation I have that is broad is think about the culture of your department, your group,
your organization, and your business. And is that well suited to accomplishing these business
goals? And if it's not, start to change it.

INTERVIEWER: Yeah. But that change is hard if you're a big organization, if you are a FTSE
company. You're Fortune 500. You've been around for decades and decades, in some cases,
centuries. How do you change culture? How do you do it?
RIC LEWIS: Baby steps. Start moving. It's the same recipe. It just may take you longer to change
culture and change the numbers.

INTERVIEWER: What's your opinion on targets and-- and goals?

RIC LEWIS: Yeah, I-- I like aspirations, words like aspirations and vectors and-- and targets
rather than quotas. I just-- I think that there's a negative connotation to sort of filling a certain
number. I think if you-- I mean, this is-- I'm gonna take the easy way out perhaps. But I think if
you start talking about what you're trying to accomplish and what you believe will help you
accomplish that, you start rounding into an approach.

INTERVIEWER: Can I push back a little bit? It's funny how when it comes to this issue, we
don't-- we're uncomfortable quantifying because, you know, I don't know a single company, a
single successful company that doesn't set self financial targets. And everyone within that
organization knows what they're working towards and what the company is expected to generate
in terms of income by such and such a time. And it's funny how when it comes to this, we wanna
be a little bit more relaxed.

RIC LEWIS: I think you're right. But I think there's two reasons for one for and one against. I think
it's a matter of trust, right? And if you don't define the hard target, you're-- I think what you're
saying is one could mistrust that you actually have the intent to achieve it. I think that's fair. I
think the other part that I think where people are careful is saying, a couple of missteps, and then
people will stop trying.

INTERVIEWER: I think we need to redefine where we place diversity within the company
structure. At the moment, it tends to fall under CSR. We see it as a charity thing, a nice thing to
do. But actually this needs to go into R&D, Research and Development because if you are a
company that wants to be around 50 years from now, 100 years from now, then diversity is
essential for your survival, and this is where you must invest.

-- of 1 point

Research on employee diversity

There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

Watch the video ’Is race and discrimination hurting business’. This highlights how
data that have already been collected for some other purpose, such as from the
Labour Force Survey and Social Mobility Commission, can be re-used.
You are about to embark on a study of diversity in the workplace focusing upon
differences in talent progression between race, gender and class groups in your
own organisation. The purpose of the research is to describe the diversity of
employees at different levels in the organisation’s hierarchy and, on the basis of
this, make recommendations to support talent progression. Your organisation’s
Human Resources Manager has offered to produce tables using data aggregated
from individual employees’ personnel records on the HR database.
What aspects would you need to consider at the research design stage to
establish the extent to which the documentary research data are useful?
Answer?

Question 1
2 tries left

Which of the following is an advantage of being an internal researcher?

You will have limited opportunities to pursue business and management

research.

You will be independent of the phenomenon being researched

Being in the organisation gives you more time to work on the research.
It is often easier to negotiate research access.
Nice work!

One of the most difficult hurdles that an external researcher has to overcome is that
of negotiating research access. As an internal researcher you will already have access
but would need to seek permission from your employer.

Question 2
2 tries left

As an internal researcher, why do you need to reflect on your role?

To make sure you do not report any results that the company may not like.

To make sure you are completely objective all of the time.

So that you can recognise how this affects the way you design and conduct your
research.

To ensure you use the time and resources to maximise value for money for the
research.
Fantastic!

The research you undertake and the report you produce may have implications for
those you work with, and you will therefore need to consider the implications of how
you research and what you report. You will need to consider your emotions (to have
a fuller awareness of 'the self') and to manage them while you are an internal
researcher.

Question 3
2 tries left

What is the main challenge of being an external researcher?

Gaining access and covertly gathering information.

Building trust and ensuring that only positive results are reported.

Understanding the organisation's context and making sure the research

philosophy is approved by the company.
Gaining access, building trust and understanding the organisation's context.
Excellent!

An external researcher has to negotiate access to the organisation and to those from
whom they would like to collect data. Having achieved this they must gain the trust of
respondents so that they will participate meaningfully to allow data collection. This
also means taking into account practical contextual factors when formulating the
research question and design.

Case 5: Internationalising
strategy: Developing small
firms and their local
communities via engaged
scholarship
5.9 Apply the theory of formulating the
research design to a case study.
Written by Dr Fariba Darabi, a Senior Lecturer in International
Business at Business, Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam
University.

Read and consider the case study then answer the questions.

Born the son of Yemeni immigrant port workers, Mohammed moved

away from home initially to undertake his undergraduate studies. As
the first in his family to go to university, he aspires to be a role model
for his much younger siblings who are still at school and other young
people in his community. Mohammed is working with three students
on an International Consultancy Project within an engaged scholarship
context, which is a part of his master’s degree in International Business
Management. Such research projects are usually undertaken using
qualitative research design (Piekkari and Welch 2017) with a case study
research strategy (Yin 2018). Mohammed knows engaged scholarship
involves him and the other group members engaging with practitioners
throughout the entire research process (Van de Ven 2007) from
developing the research objectives to final execution. Thus, according
to Van de Ven’s (2007) ‘diamond model’, engagement should occur
during all four phases of the research project: (1) problem formulation;
(2) theory building; (3) research design; and (4) problem-solving.
Problem formulation and theory
building
The student group hold a meeting with Jamala, the managing director
(MD) of a small family-run manufacturing firm. This is also attended
by the students’ academic supervisor, Tristram, who is a practitioner
with 20 years’ industry experience. In this meeting, Jamala outlines a
critical and strategic business issue which she wants to research
collaboratively.

The aim of their research project is to explore the internationalization

strategy of Jamala’s firm and propose how to improve it. Jamala
recently took over as MD of the family business following the sudden
death of the founder, her father, who died after contracting Covid-19.
Coincidentally, her father emigrated from Saan’a in the Yemen in the
1960s to work in a local foundry and started the family business
following his redundancy in 1985. The company has been experiencing
a year-on-year decline in international sales because of overseas
competitors entering its core domestic market. Recently, the company
has diversified and introduced some ground-breaking innovative
products that can be appealing to international markets. If they proceed
with these suggestions, Jamala plans to open a new local ‘onshore’
manufacturing site and recruit up to 200 new employees, thus
contributing to the development of the local economy – a community
with high unemployment levels. These employees will assemble their
innovative new products for potential new export markets. Jamala is
particularly interested in exploring internationalisation opportunities
in the Asia-Pacific region as they have been dependent on the United
Kingdom (UK) market (85% by value), the Middle East (10%) and
continental Europe (5%). Jamala needs convincing evidence before
making this strategic and major investment decision.

As engaged scholars, Mohammed and his group engage with Jamala in

their initial meetings to formulate the above problem and thus develop
the objectives of the study. The main theory that the group select is the
Uppsala model (Johanson and Vahlne 1977) in which firms acquire,
integrate and use knowledge sequentially (in ‘small steps … exporting
to a country via an agent, later establish a sales subsidiary, and
eventually, in some cases, begin production in the host country’ to gain
both market knowledge and commitment’ (see also a chapter in their
course textbook: Scott, 2020). This project, hence, can built on and
contribute to the development of theory on internationalisation in small
family businesses.

Research design and problem solving

The research design has to enable the group to justify the method to
investigate the research question. Working closely with Jamala,
Mohammed discusses the research strategy. They adopt a case study to
research how a specific small firm (i.e. Jamala’s family business)
expands its international markets and, therefore, provides employment
opportunities in a disadvantaged local community as well as increasing
sales. In line with Piekarri and Welch (2012), the company will be their
focal case study and they will build theories from the case (Welch et al.,
2011) and make proposals regarding the internationalization strategy
inductively.

After reviewing the literature on internationalization strategy and

small firms, Mohammed and the students develop a questionnaire
using the Qualtrics online survey platform to collect data and test three
hypotheses: (1) International market knowledge is influential in
selecting the market entry strategy of a small firm; (2) Networking in
the target market has a positive relationship with selecting the market
entry strategy of a small firm; and (3) The small firm’s capability and
knowhow enables it to enter new markets successfully.

Mohammed obtains a list of export-oriented small firms operating in

the region from the local Chamber of Commerce, and from UK Trade
and Investment (UKTI). Mohammed aims to distribute the
questionnaire online to these small firms’ senior executives as his
research participants. He also plans to use the SPSS software package
to undertake quantitative data analysis.

-- of 1 point

Case 5: Question 1
There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

To what extent do you consider Mohammed’s chosen research strategy (case study) is
appropriate to this engaged scholarship research project? Give reasons for your
answer.

Answer?

-- of 1 point

Case 5: Question 2
There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

Mohammed and the other students have made various mistakes in formulating
their research design. What are these mistakes and how could they be resolved?

Answer?

- of 1 point

Case 5: Question 3
There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

In designing their research project, do you think that Mohammed and these
students can satisfactorily answer their research question and achieve the aim
of this research project with only one case study and is the data representative,
valid and reliable enough?

Answer?
References
1. Johanson, J. and Vahlne, J.E. (1977). The internationalization
process of the firm – a model of knowledge development and
increasing foreign market commitments. Journal of International
Business Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 23–32.
2. Piekkari, R. and Welch, C. (2017). The case study in management
research: Beyond the positivist legacy of Eisenhardt and Yin? In C.
Cassell, L.A Cunliffe and G. Grandy (eds). The SAGE Handbook of
Qualitative Business and Management Research Methods. London:
SAGE, pp. 345–58.
3. Scott, J.M. (2020). Internationalization and entrepreneurship. In
D. Deakins and J.M. Scott (Eds.). Entrepreneurship: A Contemporary
& Global Approach. London: SAGE, pp. 228–48.
4. Van de Ven, A.H. (2007). Engaged Scholarship: A Guide for
Organizational and Social Research. Oxford: Oxford University.
5. Welch, C., Piekkari, R., Plakoyiannaki, E. and Paavilainen-
Mantymaki, E. (2011). Theorising from case studies: Towards a
pluralist future for international business research. Journal of
International Business Studies, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 740–62.
6. Yin, R.K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and
Methods (6th ed.). London: Sage.

Summary, reflection and

further learning:
Formulating the research
design
Summary
 Research design is the way a research question and objectives are
operationalised into a research project. The research design
process involves a series of decisions that need to combine into a
coherent research project.
 The focus of your research will be exploratory, descriptive,
explanatory, evaluative or a combination of these.
 A methodological choice has to be made regarding using
quantitative or qualitative methods, or both, in a mono-method,
multi-method or mixed methods research design.
 Methodological choice will be underpinned by your research
philosophy and it is important to recognise the associated
assumptions and implications of these.
 A decision has to be made to use one or more research strategies,
related to the nature of the research question and objectives and to
ensure coherence with the research philosophy and other elements
of the research design.
 Possible research strategies include: experiment; survey;
ethnography; Grounded Theory; Narrative Inquiry, archival and
documentary research; case study; and Action Research.
 The choice of research strategy or strategies will be related to use
of an appropriate time horizon.
 Research ethics play a critical part in formulating a research
design.
 Establishing the quality of research is also a critical part of
formulating a research design, using appropriate criteria to judge
and ensure the quality of the research.
 Practical considerations will also affect research design, including
the role of the researcher.
Chapter 5: Key terms
Action research, case study, classical experiment, concurrent embedded
design, confounding variable, constant comparison, control group,
control variables, criterion validity, cross-sectional, dependent variable,
descriptive research, descriptive-explanatory, embedded mixed
methods research, emergent case study, ethnography, experiment,
experimental group, explanatory research, explanatory study, external
researcher, external validity, focused coding, fully integrated mixed
methods research, grounded theory, grounded theory method, harking,
hypothesis, independent variable, initial coding, internal researcher,
literal replication, longitudinal, matched pair analysis, measurement
validity, member validation, memo writing, mixed methods research,
mono method, multi-method qualitative study, multi-method
quantitative study, multi-method, narrative inquiry, null hypothesis,
orthodox case study, partially integrated mixed methods research,
participant, pluralist, practitioner researcher, qualitised, quantitised,
quasi-experiment, reliability, research design, research strategy, survey,
theoretical replication, theoretical saturation, triangulation, unitarist,
validity, within-subjects design

Reflection

of 1 point

Chapter 5: Reflective diary

There is a minimum of 50 characters required to post and earn points. If
submitted, your response can be viewed by your instructor.

Complete the next entry of your diary by reflecting on this stage of your
research project. Use the checklist to help structure your thoughts.
• What has gone well in relation to each experience?
- Why has it gone well?
• What has not gone so well in relation to each experience?
- Why has it not gone so well?
• What adjustments will/did I make to my ongoing research following my
reflection?
- Why will/did I make these adjustments?
• (Looking back) how could I have improved on the adjustments?
- Why?
• What have I learnt in relation to each experience?
• How will I apply what I have learnt from each experience to new situations?
Answer?

Further learning
Activity 1
Agree with a friend to watch the same television documentary.

1. Does the documentary use quantitative, qualitative or mixed

methods?
2. To what extent is the nature of the documentary exploratory,
descriptive, explanatory, evaluative or a combination of these?
3. What other observations can you make about the research
strategy or strategies the documentary makers have used in their
programme?
Do not forget to make notes regarding the reasons for your answers to
each of these questions and to discuss these answers with your friend.

Activity 2
Use the search facilities of an online database to find scholarly (peer-
reviewed) articles which have used firstly a case study, secondly Action
Research and thirdly Experiment research strategy in an area of interest
to you. Download a copy of each article. What reasons do the articles’
authors give for the choice of strategy?

Activity 3
Visit the Internet gateway to the European Union website
(http://europa.eu/) and click on the link in your own language. Discuss
with a friend how you might use the data available via links from this
web page in archival research. In particular, you should concentrate on
the research questions you might be able to answer using these data to
represent part of the reality you would be researching.
References and further
reading: Formulating the
research design
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Further reading
1. Cassell, C., Cunliffe, A. and Grundy, G. (eds) (2018) Qualitative
Business and Management Research Methods. London: Sage. Bothe
volumes of this book are useful for several research strategies
including Action Research, autoethnography, archival research,
case study, documentary research, Grounded Theory, and
Narrative Inquiry (stories and narratives). Charmaz, K.
(2014) Constructing Grounded Theory (2nd edn). London: Sage.
Useful for Grounded Theory strategy.
2. Coghlan, D. (2019) Doing Action Research in Your Own
Organisation (5th edn). London: Sage. Useful for Action Research
strategy.
3. Cunliffe, A.L. (2010) ‘Retelling tales of the field: In search of
organisational ethnography 20 years on’, Organizational Research
Methods, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 224–39. Useful for organisational
ethnography.
4. deVaus, D.A. (2014) Surveys in Social Research (6th edn).
Abingdon: Routledge. Useful for survey strategy.
5. Hakim, C. (2000) Research Design: Successful Designs for Social and
Economic Research (2nd edn). London: Routledge. Chapter 9 is
useful for experiment strategy.
6. Yin, R.K. (2018) Case Study Research and Applications: Design and
Methods (6th edn). London: Sage. Useful for case study strategy.