MYERS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH DESIGN Chapter 3 Sage Publications Limited © 2008 Michael D. Myers All Rights Reserved QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Introduction  A research design is a plan for an entire qualitative research project  This plan should be written in a research proposal  One purpose is to convince your potential supervisor(s), advisory committee, school, etc. that you are capable of doing the research and that your project is viable  Of course, you need to be flexible and possibly change the plan as your research progresses Research design 2 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Research design  Research design involves specifying your philosophical assumptions, your research method, which data collection techniques you will use, your approach to qualitative data analysis, your approach to writing up, and, if applicable, how you plan to publish your findings  A research design provides a road map for the entire project  The first step is deciding upon a topic  How do you decide upon a research topic? Research design 3 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Choosing a topic  There are three important requirements in choosing a topic: 1. You are interested in the topic 2. A faculty member is prepared to supervise you 3. You can obtain relevant data on the topic Research design 4 Choosing a research topic: you need a research problem QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Move on to next stage of research design 1. Read literature, reflect, discuss and identify gaps 2. Generate list of interesting potential questions Yes No 6. Does a suitable problem exist? 5. Eliminate impractical questions Yes 3. Check literature. Have questions been answered already? No 4.Test feasibility Figure 3.1. How to identify a research problem (adapted from Collis & Hussey, 2003) Research design 5 Theoretical framework QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT  Three steps in most qualitative research projects: 1. Choose a topic 2. Choose some potential research questions 3. Choose a theoretical framework  Given the iterative nature of qualitative research, these might change later Research design 6 A model of qualitative research design QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Written Record Data Analysis Approach Data Collection Technique Research Method Philosophical Assumptions Research design 7 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Philosophical Assumptions Written Record  Positivist research – are you testing one or more hypotheses? Data Analysis Approach  Data Collection Technique Interpretive research – are you exploring a research topic or theory?  Critical research – are to seeking to critique the status quo or help to emancipate people in some way? Research Method Philosophical Assumptions Research design 8 Research Method QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Written Record Data Analysis Approach  A research method is a strategy of enquiry  How are you going to find out about the social world?  Research methods – action research, case study research, ethnography, grounded theory  Each can use any set of philosophical assumptions Data Collection Technique Research Method Philosophical Assumptions Research design 9 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Data Collection techniques Written Record  Which data collection technique(s) will you use? Data Analysis Approach  Interviews  Participant observation and fieldwork  Documents Data Collection Technique Research Method Philosophical Assumptions Research design 10 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Data Analysis approach Written Record  Many ways to analyse qualitative data Data Analysis Approach  Coding  Content analysis Data Collection Technique  Discourse analysis  Hermeneutics  Semiotics  Narrative analysis, etc. Research Method Philosophical Assumptions Research design 11 Written record QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Written Record  Are you writing a thesis, a book, a book chapter, a conference paper, or a journal article?  The process of writing up is just as important as doing the research itself Data Analysis Approach Data Collection Technique Research Method Philosophical Assumptions Research design 12 The model in perspective QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Written Record (Thesis, book, report, article ...) Data Analysis Approach (Hermeneutics, semiotics, narrative analysis . ..) Data Collection Technique (interviews, participant observation, documents) Research Method (action research, case study, ethnography, grounded theory ...) Philosophical Assumptions (positivist, interpretive, critical) Research design 13 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT Writing a research proposal Item 1. A title 2. An abstract 3. An introduction 4. A literature review 5. A topic 6. A theoretical framework 7. A research method 8. A qualitative data analysis approach 9. A timeline to completion 10. A list of references Research design 14