Qualitative Research and Business Skills
Lecture 1 (13/11) – Introduction to Qualitative Research
Designs
Learning Goals
After completing this course, students are able to:
- Explain core principles and stages of qualitative research, including the underlying philosophy
of science
- Examine various qualitative research designs from research question to data analysis
- Design a qualitative interview guide with open and insightful questions
- Develop coaching skills and apply them when carrying out qualitative interviews
- Implement methods of qualitative data analysis in a structured manner at an appropriate
level of abstraction
- Reflect on the role of own knowledge and prior assumptions in the qualitative research
process and one’s own place as a professional in society
- Learn about yourself and develop business skills AND acquire knowledge of/apply qualitative
research methods
What is qualitative research?
Key features of qualitative research
- Based on verbal data, or data that has been verbalized
- AND way of analyzing
o Not counting qualitative characteristics
- Goal: understand a phenomenon of interest that is not well-understood yet
o “Why/How?” instead of “how many?”
- Exploration rather than ‘testing’
- Fewer observations (than in quantitative research), but more in-debt
questioning/investigation
- Less standardization and structuring but principle of openness: phenomena are studied in
their ‘natural settings’
- Primary goals: (Hypo)thesis generation, theory generation
Pluralism of Qualitative research: it can take many shapes
- Qualitative research is an umbrella term ( Easterby-Smith et al., 2008)
o There are many different approaches
o Many types of data-collection
o Many types of data analysis
- Yet, there are some common basic principles and approaches that will be discussed in Week
1- Week 3
Why do you have to learn qualitative research methods in a business administration master?
Where qualitative research skills are needed:
- Master thesis
- Consulting (e.g. strategy)
- Innovation (e.g. design research)
- Marketing/market research
- HR (employee surveys…)
, - Entrepreneurship (e.g., start-up phase)
- Understanding trends
An example of a qualitative study:
- Why Tech CEOs are drawn to Ayahuasca and other Psychedelic Drugs
Effects of psychedelic drugs
- Altered perception of time, space, and sensory input (visual and auditory distortions,
synesthesia).
- Changes in thought patterns, including heightened introspection or unusual associations.
- Ego dissolution — a reduced sense of self or boundaries between self and environment.
- Intensified emotions — both positive and negative feelings can become more vivid.
- Altered sense of meaning or spirituality — experiences of unity, insight, or transcendence
Interest in Psychedelics is growing
Method:
- Qualitative data
o 16 In-depth Interviews with leaders/entrepreneurs who joined psychedelic
ceremonies (lasting up to 3 hours)
o 18 Interviews from podcasts where leaders spoke about their experiences with
psychedelic drugs
o 2 News articles that reported about the psychedelic experiences of (in total) 9 leaders
- Data analysis
o Identification of patterns
Findings:
- Why do leaders often not come back to their jobs after psychedelic experiences?
o They enter these ceremonies because they are seeking something
o The psychedelic experience causes intense “sensebreaking” that shakes up leaders’
identities and requires sensemaking afterwards
o If the integration of the experience is successful, the leader’s identity may have
changed
o They may try to change their leadership approach to align their new identities with
their jobs (i.e., becoming more authentic leaders)
o This is not always possible, so they may change their jobs => psychedelic pivot
Philosophy of Science
Ontology: What can we know?
- The philosophical study of being and reality, deals with the ‘nature of things’
, - How are entities grouped into categories
- Which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level, e.g.,
o as atoms, elements,…
o as variables and functions…
o as practices, roles, institutions…
- Determines the concepts that we want to explain and how they link to other concepts
- Some examples:
Example: Ontology in Psychedelics Study
- Reality is understood as socially constructed and multiple. You assume there isn’t one
objective truth about “how psychedelics affect leaders,” but rather many subjective realities
— the lived and narrated experiences of leaders who undergo psychedelic ceremonies.
- Leaders’ identities, transformations, and sensemaking are constructed through their own
meaning-making and narratives.
- Psychedelic experiences are not treated as biochemical events to be measured, but as
phenomenological and interpretive
Epistemology: How do we know these things?
- Some cats are black
- Flames can burn you
- The universe constantly expands
- People are motivated by a sense of ‘purpose’
- Effective management makes organizations more successful
Major branches of epistemology
- Positivism: Only observable phenomena can provide credible facts; focus on causality,
falsification (especially for natural sciences)
- Interpretivism: Subjective meanings and social phenomena are relevant for understanding a
situation (especially for social phenomena)
, Positivism vs. Interpretivism
Example: Psychedelics study using an interpretivist approach
- An interpretivist researcher follows an inductive approach, meaning they begin with specific
observations and develop a theory based on patterns found in participants’ lived experiences.
- Possible research question:
o How do leaders perceive and make sense of psychedelic experiences in relation to
their identity and leadership?
- Possible methodology (qualitative):
o Conduct in-depth interviews with 40+ entrepreneurial leaders who have participated
in psychedelic ceremonies.
o Use open-ended questions (e.g., “What motivated you to participate in a psychedelic
ceremony?” “How did this experience influence your sense of self or leadership?”).
o Analyze leaders’ narratives to understand how they describe moments of
transformation, crisis, and meaning reconstruction.
o Perform thematic and narrative analysis to identify recurring patterns (e.g., “Leaders
experience a ‘psychedelic pivot’ where their prior sense of purpose collapses and is
redefined.”).
- Possible outcome:
o Findings reveal how psychedelic experiences act as catalysts for identity
transformation, prompting leaders to re-evaluate their values, purpose, and
leadership trajectories.
Example: Psychedelics study using an positivist approach
- A positivist researcher starts with a general theoretical assumption or hypothesis and tests it
with empirical data.
- Possible theoretical assumption:
o Psychedelic experiences enhance leaders’ well-being and improve their decision-
making performance.
- Possible hypothesis:
o Leaders who have participated in guided psychedelic ceremonies will report higher
levels of well-being, creativity, and leadership effectiveness than those who have not.
- Possible methodology (quantitative):
Lecture 1 (13/11) – Introduction to Qualitative Research
Designs
Learning Goals
After completing this course, students are able to:
- Explain core principles and stages of qualitative research, including the underlying philosophy
of science
- Examine various qualitative research designs from research question to data analysis
- Design a qualitative interview guide with open and insightful questions
- Develop coaching skills and apply them when carrying out qualitative interviews
- Implement methods of qualitative data analysis in a structured manner at an appropriate
level of abstraction
- Reflect on the role of own knowledge and prior assumptions in the qualitative research
process and one’s own place as a professional in society
- Learn about yourself and develop business skills AND acquire knowledge of/apply qualitative
research methods
What is qualitative research?
Key features of qualitative research
- Based on verbal data, or data that has been verbalized
- AND way of analyzing
o Not counting qualitative characteristics
- Goal: understand a phenomenon of interest that is not well-understood yet
o “Why/How?” instead of “how many?”
- Exploration rather than ‘testing’
- Fewer observations (than in quantitative research), but more in-debt
questioning/investigation
- Less standardization and structuring but principle of openness: phenomena are studied in
their ‘natural settings’
- Primary goals: (Hypo)thesis generation, theory generation
Pluralism of Qualitative research: it can take many shapes
- Qualitative research is an umbrella term ( Easterby-Smith et al., 2008)
o There are many different approaches
o Many types of data-collection
o Many types of data analysis
- Yet, there are some common basic principles and approaches that will be discussed in Week
1- Week 3
Why do you have to learn qualitative research methods in a business administration master?
Where qualitative research skills are needed:
- Master thesis
- Consulting (e.g. strategy)
- Innovation (e.g. design research)
- Marketing/market research
- HR (employee surveys…)
, - Entrepreneurship (e.g., start-up phase)
- Understanding trends
An example of a qualitative study:
- Why Tech CEOs are drawn to Ayahuasca and other Psychedelic Drugs
Effects of psychedelic drugs
- Altered perception of time, space, and sensory input (visual and auditory distortions,
synesthesia).
- Changes in thought patterns, including heightened introspection or unusual associations.
- Ego dissolution — a reduced sense of self or boundaries between self and environment.
- Intensified emotions — both positive and negative feelings can become more vivid.
- Altered sense of meaning or spirituality — experiences of unity, insight, or transcendence
Interest in Psychedelics is growing
Method:
- Qualitative data
o 16 In-depth Interviews with leaders/entrepreneurs who joined psychedelic
ceremonies (lasting up to 3 hours)
o 18 Interviews from podcasts where leaders spoke about their experiences with
psychedelic drugs
o 2 News articles that reported about the psychedelic experiences of (in total) 9 leaders
- Data analysis
o Identification of patterns
Findings:
- Why do leaders often not come back to their jobs after psychedelic experiences?
o They enter these ceremonies because they are seeking something
o The psychedelic experience causes intense “sensebreaking” that shakes up leaders’
identities and requires sensemaking afterwards
o If the integration of the experience is successful, the leader’s identity may have
changed
o They may try to change their leadership approach to align their new identities with
their jobs (i.e., becoming more authentic leaders)
o This is not always possible, so they may change their jobs => psychedelic pivot
Philosophy of Science
Ontology: What can we know?
- The philosophical study of being and reality, deals with the ‘nature of things’
, - How are entities grouped into categories
- Which of these entities exist on the most fundamental level, e.g.,
o as atoms, elements,…
o as variables and functions…
o as practices, roles, institutions…
- Determines the concepts that we want to explain and how they link to other concepts
- Some examples:
Example: Ontology in Psychedelics Study
- Reality is understood as socially constructed and multiple. You assume there isn’t one
objective truth about “how psychedelics affect leaders,” but rather many subjective realities
— the lived and narrated experiences of leaders who undergo psychedelic ceremonies.
- Leaders’ identities, transformations, and sensemaking are constructed through their own
meaning-making and narratives.
- Psychedelic experiences are not treated as biochemical events to be measured, but as
phenomenological and interpretive
Epistemology: How do we know these things?
- Some cats are black
- Flames can burn you
- The universe constantly expands
- People are motivated by a sense of ‘purpose’
- Effective management makes organizations more successful
Major branches of epistemology
- Positivism: Only observable phenomena can provide credible facts; focus on causality,
falsification (especially for natural sciences)
- Interpretivism: Subjective meanings and social phenomena are relevant for understanding a
situation (especially for social phenomena)
, Positivism vs. Interpretivism
Example: Psychedelics study using an interpretivist approach
- An interpretivist researcher follows an inductive approach, meaning they begin with specific
observations and develop a theory based on patterns found in participants’ lived experiences.
- Possible research question:
o How do leaders perceive and make sense of psychedelic experiences in relation to
their identity and leadership?
- Possible methodology (qualitative):
o Conduct in-depth interviews with 40+ entrepreneurial leaders who have participated
in psychedelic ceremonies.
o Use open-ended questions (e.g., “What motivated you to participate in a psychedelic
ceremony?” “How did this experience influence your sense of self or leadership?”).
o Analyze leaders’ narratives to understand how they describe moments of
transformation, crisis, and meaning reconstruction.
o Perform thematic and narrative analysis to identify recurring patterns (e.g., “Leaders
experience a ‘psychedelic pivot’ where their prior sense of purpose collapses and is
redefined.”).
- Possible outcome:
o Findings reveal how psychedelic experiences act as catalysts for identity
transformation, prompting leaders to re-evaluate their values, purpose, and
leadership trajectories.
Example: Psychedelics study using an positivist approach
- A positivist researcher starts with a general theoretical assumption or hypothesis and tests it
with empirical data.
- Possible theoretical assumption:
o Psychedelic experiences enhance leaders’ well-being and improve their decision-
making performance.
- Possible hypothesis:
o Leaders who have participated in guided psychedelic ceremonies will report higher
levels of well-being, creativity, and leadership effectiveness than those who have not.
- Possible methodology (quantitative):
