Research Strategies 2 Qualitative Methods Interviewing

Week 3: Research strategies 2.
Qualitative methods: Interviewing

International Business School, Budapest
The research onion
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007, p. 102)

Quiz 2
Wright C, Nyberg D, Grant D. (2012 )“Hippies on the third floor”:

Climate Change, Narrative Identity and the Micro-Politics of
Corporate Environmentalism. Organization Studies,33(11), pp.1451-
1475
Questions:
1. What was the aim of the study? What was the research gap?
2. Which data collection methods were used? For what purpose?
3. How were the data analysed?
4. What kinds of samples were used? How were they selected?
Qualitative methods: a possible definition
Qualitative methods, as an umbrella term, refers to both data

collection methods and data analysis methods. Qualitative data
collection methods include interviews (structured, semi-structured,
unstructured), with one or more people (individual vs. focus group
interviews); as well as observation (participant or structured), diary
accounts, visual artefacts such as videos and photos, etc: any data
which is not collected in order to be quantified.
Qualitative data analysis methods include an endless variety of
approaches but some of the most popular ones are: content analysis,
thematic analysis, narrative analysis and discourse analysis.
Qualitative research
• Advantages:
• Qualitative research results in rich and thick
descriptions of phenomena.
• The data can focus on underlying processes and
changes as well as snapshots of points in time.
• The researcher is in a position to check first-hand
understanding of the respondents to the questions
asked. Issues of truthfulness and accuracy are
thereby not raised.
• Qualitative relies on depth rather than breadth for
its validity.
(based on Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 2006, p. 79)
Qualitative research
• Disadvantages:
• Because it usually uses a small sample size, qualitative
research may not aim at representation or provide
generalisable results.
• Doing qualitative research is time consuming and
requires field work.
(based on Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 2006, p. 79)

Interviewing
NB!
Interviews are a data collection/generation
technique within a variety of research strategies
such as ethnography, grounded theory, case studies,
action research, etc. It’s perfectly legitimate,
however, to design a research which relies solely on
interviewing and analysing the interviews.
Types of interviews: Watch the video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzwGEBJGz8s
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p. 321)

Data collection techniques and
procedures
Primary use Advantages Disadvantages

Collect quantitative Can be distributed
data, from large easily, quantifiable, More difficult to
Questionnaire sample, on their easier to analyse, construct, more
attitudes, opinions, generalizable, etc. superficial, etc.
and beliefs.
Collect qualitative
data, from small Easier to construct, More difficult to
Interview sample, on how they more in-depth, room analyse, non-
construct their for clarification, etc. generalizable, etc.
reality.
Secondary data … … …
Observation … … …
Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA):
definition
‘...bringing order, structure and interpretation to the mass of

collected data. ... It is the search for general statements about
relationships among categories of data’ (Marshall and Rossman,
1999). It’s generally done in several stages:
1. Categorising: Identifying key themes in your data, grounded either
in the data itself, or in existing theory (or somewhere in between).
2. Unitising/Coding: Attaching chunks of data to your categories (can
be done via software like Nvivo, or manually).
3. Finding meaningful relationships between your categories: coming
up with theoretical propositions, searching for disconfirming
evidence, etc.
Types of QDA
• QDA generally associated with positivist, pragmatic and

realist research philosophies, and deductive approach
(but not always!): What is being said
1. Content analysis: Revolves around finding certain
phrases, words or patterns of speech found in the
transcribed data, called manifest content.
2. Thematic analysis: Concerned with manifest and latent
content alike – relevant topics or themes found in the
data, rather than concrete utterances.
Types of QDA
• QDA, associated with interpretivist, constructivist and post-structuralist

research philosophies, and inductive approach: How is it being said
1. Narrative analysis: The focus is on the holistic story the data tells, and the
meanings the interviewee attaches to it, how it fits in their understanding of the
world, etc. The researcher is usually interested in finding out what the story is
about, what happened, to whom, where and why, what the consequences were,
what the significance of the events and the final outcome were (Saunders, Lewis
and Thornhill, 2007).
2. Discourse analysis: The focus is on language ”as form of social practice” (Wodak,
1997: 258) – what’s being said in the data is structured by “the situation(s),
institution(s) and social structure(s) which frame it” (Ibid). In simple terms, this
means that what the interviewees say, and also what they don’t say, is connected
to the context (political, historical, social, cultural) in which they exist. What is said
“constructs” the reality of the respondents vs. simply reflecting it.
OVER TO YOU…
Designing my research
• What is the research gap that you identified?

• What is the research question? What is your main argument?
• Why is qualitative research the appropriate strategy for you?
Based on what grounds can the alternatives be rejected? What
strategies are used by other studies in the same field?
• What is the sample that you are proposing to work with? How are
you planning to select the sample?
• How are you planning to collect data?
• How are you planning to analyze the data collected?
Week 3: Research strategies 2.
Qualitative methods: Interviewing
International Business School, Budapest
Reading assignment for next class
Smith, A. N., Fischer, E. and Yongjian, C. (2012). How does brand-

related user-generated content differ across YouTube, Facebook, and
Twitter? Journal of Interactive Marketing 26, pp. 102-113. doi:
10.1016/j.intmar.2012.01.002
Questions:
1. What were the research questions? What is the practical
implication of the study?
2. Which data collection methods were used?
3. How were the data analysed?
4. What kinds of samples were used? How were they selected?

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Week 3: Research strategies 2.

Qualitative methods: Interviewing

(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007, p. 102)

Wright C, Nyberg D, Grant D. (2012 )“Hippies on the third floor”:

Qualitative methods, as an umbrella term, refers to both data

(based on Blaxter, Hughes and Tight, 2006, p. 79)

(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009, p. 321)

Primary use Advantages Disadvantages

‘...bringing order, structure and interpretation to the mass of

• QDA generally associated with positivist, pragmatic and

• QDA, associated with interpretivist, constructivist and post-structuralist

• What is the research gap that you identified?

Smith, A. N., Fischer, E. and Yongjian, C. (2012). How does brand-

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