Samenvatting Qualitative Research Methods
College 1
- Qualitative Research almost only works with open-ended questions. This kind of research is
looking for the motives of a person.
- Qualitative Research: a. Finding relationships between
a. Finding patterns and meaning. variables.
b. Interpreting, understanding. b. Counting and measuring, explaining.
c. Holism: overall picture. c. Analytical reduction
d. Few research units d. Many research units
e. Selective sampling e. Random sampling
f. Open questions f. Closed research questions
g. Explorative approach g. Theory-testing
h. Triangulation h. Multivariate statistics
i. Iterative-parallel (cycles and parallel) i. Linear-serial
- Quantitative Research:
- A case study is an empirical inquiry that
o Investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when
o The boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.
- Qualitative research: patterns and meaning: Describing and understanding phenomena in social
reality by revealing patterns and meanings. Almost always there are many aspects to look at, so
you cannot go for the single relation between variables. (For example: Job motivation of
employees.)
- Small number of units of analysis (data collection tends to be labour-intensive).
- Selective sampling, based on a conscious decision (e.g. strategic selection, theoretical selection or
critical case).
- Trying to approach social reality without assumptions and expectations. Be as open minded as
possible.
- Triangulation: There are different forms of triangulation. It brings together information from
different sources.
- Triangulation of methods: Combining:
o Open interviews
o (Participant) observation
o Collecting documents
- Research questions of a qualitative study: How...? Which...? What...? (see Myers, p. 6).
- Focus on:
o Theory: Theory formulation Hypotheses Testing Evidence Theory formulation
Testing existing theories
Developing new theories (explorative)
o Practice: Problem analysis diagnosis Design Intervention Evaluation
- When formulating a research objective in qualitative research, it has to be a theoretical objective
(in this case, it has an external goal) OR a practical objective.
- Criteria for a sound research question:
o Clear/precise
o Feasible
o Relevant
, o Narrowed-down
- The research question must be consistent with the research objective (and vice versa).
- The research question needs to generate theoretical knowledge (rather than solving a practical
problem in/of an organization).
- Transforming the internal goal into a question is a good first step in formulating a sound research
question!
Meyer Chapter 2
- Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and what they
say and do. It allows researchers to see and understand the context.
- Research: Creative activity leading to new knowledge.
- Triangulation: You should use more than one research method to gather data. It allows you to
gain a ‘fuller’ picture of what is happening. Triangulation of data from one research method is
easier.
- Rigorous research: Research that meets the standards of ‘scientific’ research. This is mostly
published in journals, but often seen as being too theoretical.
- Relevant research: Research that is of immediate relevance to business professionals. Results can
be used right away. There is often a lack of theoretical contribution.
- Qualitative research is perhaps the best way for research in business and management to
become both rigorous and relevant at the same time.
College 2: The case study and research design
- The sequence in developing research goals and research questions:
1. Formulating an internal research goal, that focuses on understanding and developing
knowledge.
2. Formulating a research question that also focuses on understanding and knowledge (and if
you have a good internal goal, it is often quite easy to formulate a research question by
writing the goal as a question).
3. After your research, the focus may change from knowledge to action.
- Good formulated goals have:
o A focus: A theoretical orientated or practical orientated objective.
o An external goal: This goal shows the contribution to research.
o An internal goal: This goals shows which knowledge should be obtained.
- Wheel of Science: Inductive and deductive research.
- Inductive research:
o Grounded theory: You start from the bottom.
o Inductive way of working
1. Start in real life.
2. Make observations.
, 3. Relate facts and develop a theory by means of constant comparison.
4. Develop a new theory.
- Sensitizing concepts: Offer ways of seeing, organizing, and understanding experience; they are
embedded in our disciplinary emphases and perspectival proclivities. Although sensitizing
concepts may deepen perception, they provide starting points for building analysis, not ending
points for evading it. We may use sensitizing concepts only as points of departure from which to
study the data.
- Coding:
o Open codes: Everything that might be important within your data.
o Axial coding: Bring together codes that refer to shared concepts.
o Selective coding: Develop exceeding codes, that bring together all data in a restricted
number of themes, that shows clearly patterns, meanings and/or relationships.
- Deductive research:
1. Find relevant theory.
2. Make a workout of concepts in theory to dimensions and indicators.
3. Start to gather data.
4. Follow the way back in translating data in answers on the research questions.
5. Test or refine theories; solve practical problems.
- DEFENITION 1: The case study: Empirical inquiry that:
o Investigates a contemporary, unique phenomenon (the ‘case’) within its real-life context.
o The boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident.
- DEFENITION 2: The case study: Empirical inquiry that:
o Copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables
of interest than data points and as one result
o Relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulation
fashion, and as another result
o Benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection
and analysis.
- The case study is temporary: We aren’t interested in phenomena in the past, although historians
also use case studies.
- The case study investigates the whole picture, not just one aspect: Relations, developments,
stakeholders etc.
- Boundary between phenomena and context might be unclear/diffuse: (Examples)
o Is it just the department (where a conflict exists) or is it the influence of the board?
College 1
- Qualitative Research almost only works with open-ended questions. This kind of research is
looking for the motives of a person.
- Qualitative Research: a. Finding relationships between
a. Finding patterns and meaning. variables.
b. Interpreting, understanding. b. Counting and measuring, explaining.
c. Holism: overall picture. c. Analytical reduction
d. Few research units d. Many research units
e. Selective sampling e. Random sampling
f. Open questions f. Closed research questions
g. Explorative approach g. Theory-testing
h. Triangulation h. Multivariate statistics
i. Iterative-parallel (cycles and parallel) i. Linear-serial
- Quantitative Research:
- A case study is an empirical inquiry that
o Investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when
o The boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.
- Qualitative research: patterns and meaning: Describing and understanding phenomena in social
reality by revealing patterns and meanings. Almost always there are many aspects to look at, so
you cannot go for the single relation between variables. (For example: Job motivation of
employees.)
- Small number of units of analysis (data collection tends to be labour-intensive).
- Selective sampling, based on a conscious decision (e.g. strategic selection, theoretical selection or
critical case).
- Trying to approach social reality without assumptions and expectations. Be as open minded as
possible.
- Triangulation: There are different forms of triangulation. It brings together information from
different sources.
- Triangulation of methods: Combining:
o Open interviews
o (Participant) observation
o Collecting documents
- Research questions of a qualitative study: How...? Which...? What...? (see Myers, p. 6).
- Focus on:
o Theory: Theory formulation Hypotheses Testing Evidence Theory formulation
Testing existing theories
Developing new theories (explorative)
o Practice: Problem analysis diagnosis Design Intervention Evaluation
- When formulating a research objective in qualitative research, it has to be a theoretical objective
(in this case, it has an external goal) OR a practical objective.
- Criteria for a sound research question:
o Clear/precise
o Feasible
o Relevant
, o Narrowed-down
- The research question must be consistent with the research objective (and vice versa).
- The research question needs to generate theoretical knowledge (rather than solving a practical
problem in/of an organization).
- Transforming the internal goal into a question is a good first step in formulating a sound research
question!
Meyer Chapter 2
- Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and what they
say and do. It allows researchers to see and understand the context.
- Research: Creative activity leading to new knowledge.
- Triangulation: You should use more than one research method to gather data. It allows you to
gain a ‘fuller’ picture of what is happening. Triangulation of data from one research method is
easier.
- Rigorous research: Research that meets the standards of ‘scientific’ research. This is mostly
published in journals, but often seen as being too theoretical.
- Relevant research: Research that is of immediate relevance to business professionals. Results can
be used right away. There is often a lack of theoretical contribution.
- Qualitative research is perhaps the best way for research in business and management to
become both rigorous and relevant at the same time.
College 2: The case study and research design
- The sequence in developing research goals and research questions:
1. Formulating an internal research goal, that focuses on understanding and developing
knowledge.
2. Formulating a research question that also focuses on understanding and knowledge (and if
you have a good internal goal, it is often quite easy to formulate a research question by
writing the goal as a question).
3. After your research, the focus may change from knowledge to action.
- Good formulated goals have:
o A focus: A theoretical orientated or practical orientated objective.
o An external goal: This goal shows the contribution to research.
o An internal goal: This goals shows which knowledge should be obtained.
- Wheel of Science: Inductive and deductive research.
- Inductive research:
o Grounded theory: You start from the bottom.
o Inductive way of working
1. Start in real life.
2. Make observations.
, 3. Relate facts and develop a theory by means of constant comparison.
4. Develop a new theory.
- Sensitizing concepts: Offer ways of seeing, organizing, and understanding experience; they are
embedded in our disciplinary emphases and perspectival proclivities. Although sensitizing
concepts may deepen perception, they provide starting points for building analysis, not ending
points for evading it. We may use sensitizing concepts only as points of departure from which to
study the data.
- Coding:
o Open codes: Everything that might be important within your data.
o Axial coding: Bring together codes that refer to shared concepts.
o Selective coding: Develop exceeding codes, that bring together all data in a restricted
number of themes, that shows clearly patterns, meanings and/or relationships.
- Deductive research:
1. Find relevant theory.
2. Make a workout of concepts in theory to dimensions and indicators.
3. Start to gather data.
4. Follow the way back in translating data in answers on the research questions.
5. Test or refine theories; solve practical problems.
- DEFENITION 1: The case study: Empirical inquiry that:
o Investigates a contemporary, unique phenomenon (the ‘case’) within its real-life context.
o The boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident.
- DEFENITION 2: The case study: Empirical inquiry that:
o Copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables
of interest than data points and as one result
o Relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulation
fashion, and as another result
o Benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection
and analysis.
- The case study is temporary: We aren’t interested in phenomena in the past, although historians
also use case studies.
- The case study investigates the whole picture, not just one aspect: Relations, developments,
stakeholders etc.
- Boundary between phenomena and context might be unclear/diffuse: (Examples)
o Is it just the department (where a conflict exists) or is it the influence of the board?
