Summary
Qualitative Research in Business Management
Michael D. Myers
(Note: images copied from book. All copyrights go to the author.)
Content
Table of Contents
Chapter 2. Overview of Qualitative Research.........................................................................................2
Chapter 3. Research Design....................................................................................................................2
Chapter 4. Philosophical Perspectives....................................................................................................5
Chapter 5. Ethics.....................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 7. Case Study Research.............................................................................................................8
Chapter 8. Ethnographic Research.........................................................................................................9
Chapter 9. Grounded Theory..................................................................................................................9
Chapter 10. Interviews.........................................................................................................................10
Chapter 11. Participant observation and fieldwork..............................................................................13
Chapter 12. Using documents..............................................................................................................15
Chapter 13. Analysing Qualitative Data: An Overview..........................................................................16
Chapter 17. Writing up.........................................................................................................................19
Chapter 18. Getting published..............................................................................................................20
1
,Chapter 2. Overview of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and what they say
and do. They are designed to help researchers understand the social and cultural contexts within which
people live.
In a university setting, research is defined as an original investigation undertaken to contribute to
knowledge and understanding of a particular field. Research is a creative activity leading to the
production of new knowledge.
The peer review system: the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it's published.
Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality,
validity and significance.
Examples of qualitative and quantitative research
Qualitative Quantitative
Focus on text Focus on numbers
Action research Surveys
Case study research Laboratory experiments
Ethnography Simulation
Grounded theory Mathematical modelling
Semiotics Structured equation modelling
Discourse analysis Statistical analysis
Hermeneutics Econometrics
Narrative and metaphor
A major disadvantage of quantitative research is that, as a general rule, many of the social and cultural
aspects of organisations are lost or are treated superficially.
A major disadvantage of qualitative research, however, is that it's often difficult to generalise to a
larger population. However, you can generalise from qualitative research to theory, and you can
generalise from just one case study or one ethnography.
Triangulation: the idea that you should use more than one research method in a study. This can be
done by including multiple researchers.
Rigorous research: research that meets the standards of 'scientific' research; it is research that has
been conducted according to the scientific model of research, subject to peer review, and published in
an academic journal.
Relevant research: research that is of immediate relevance to business professionals. The research
results can be used right away.
Chapter 3. Research Design
2
, The purpose of a research design is:
Providing a road map of the whole research project.
Convincing your potential supervisor(s), etc. that you are capable of doing the research and
that your research project is viable.
There are three important requirements in deciding upon a topic:
1. You are interested in the topic.
2. A faculty member is prepared to supervise you.
3. You can obtain relevant qualitative data on the topic.
You can find information about journal rankings in business and management as follows:
Journal-Ranking.com
The Financial Times (ft.com)
UT Dallas list of the 24 top academic journals (https://jindal.utdallas.edu)
Deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning
The researcher starts top-down The researcher starts bottom-up
The researcher starts with a theory or some The researcher starts with empirical data from
hypotheses that they want to test which they want to build a theory
Confirmatory Exploratory
Every research project is based on some philosophical assumptions about the nature of the world and
how knowledge about the world can be obtained. Three philosophical perspectives or 'paradigms' are
discussed in Chapter 4: positivist, interpretive and critical perspectives.
Research method: a strategy of enquiry. It's a way of finding empirical data about the world.
3
Qualitative Research in Business Management
Michael D. Myers
(Note: images copied from book. All copyrights go to the author.)
Content
Table of Contents
Chapter 2. Overview of Qualitative Research.........................................................................................2
Chapter 3. Research Design....................................................................................................................2
Chapter 4. Philosophical Perspectives....................................................................................................5
Chapter 5. Ethics.....................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 7. Case Study Research.............................................................................................................8
Chapter 8. Ethnographic Research.........................................................................................................9
Chapter 9. Grounded Theory..................................................................................................................9
Chapter 10. Interviews.........................................................................................................................10
Chapter 11. Participant observation and fieldwork..............................................................................13
Chapter 12. Using documents..............................................................................................................15
Chapter 13. Analysing Qualitative Data: An Overview..........................................................................16
Chapter 17. Writing up.........................................................................................................................19
Chapter 18. Getting published..............................................................................................................20
1
,Chapter 2. Overview of Qualitative Research
Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and what they say
and do. They are designed to help researchers understand the social and cultural contexts within which
people live.
In a university setting, research is defined as an original investigation undertaken to contribute to
knowledge and understanding of a particular field. Research is a creative activity leading to the
production of new knowledge.
The peer review system: the system used to assess the quality of a manuscript before it's published.
Independent researchers in the relevant research area assess submitted manuscripts for originality,
validity and significance.
Examples of qualitative and quantitative research
Qualitative Quantitative
Focus on text Focus on numbers
Action research Surveys
Case study research Laboratory experiments
Ethnography Simulation
Grounded theory Mathematical modelling
Semiotics Structured equation modelling
Discourse analysis Statistical analysis
Hermeneutics Econometrics
Narrative and metaphor
A major disadvantage of quantitative research is that, as a general rule, many of the social and cultural
aspects of organisations are lost or are treated superficially.
A major disadvantage of qualitative research, however, is that it's often difficult to generalise to a
larger population. However, you can generalise from qualitative research to theory, and you can
generalise from just one case study or one ethnography.
Triangulation: the idea that you should use more than one research method in a study. This can be
done by including multiple researchers.
Rigorous research: research that meets the standards of 'scientific' research; it is research that has
been conducted according to the scientific model of research, subject to peer review, and published in
an academic journal.
Relevant research: research that is of immediate relevance to business professionals. The research
results can be used right away.
Chapter 3. Research Design
2
, The purpose of a research design is:
Providing a road map of the whole research project.
Convincing your potential supervisor(s), etc. that you are capable of doing the research and
that your research project is viable.
There are three important requirements in deciding upon a topic:
1. You are interested in the topic.
2. A faculty member is prepared to supervise you.
3. You can obtain relevant qualitative data on the topic.
You can find information about journal rankings in business and management as follows:
Journal-Ranking.com
The Financial Times (ft.com)
UT Dallas list of the 24 top academic journals (https://jindal.utdallas.edu)
Deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning
The researcher starts top-down The researcher starts bottom-up
The researcher starts with a theory or some The researcher starts with empirical data from
hypotheses that they want to test which they want to build a theory
Confirmatory Exploratory
Every research project is based on some philosophical assumptions about the nature of the world and
how knowledge about the world can be obtained. Three philosophical perspectives or 'paradigms' are
discussed in Chapter 4: positivist, interpretive and critical perspectives.
Research method: a strategy of enquiry. It's a way of finding empirical data about the world.
3
