Business research Methods session 7 qualitative techniques

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Collecting primary data using semi-structured, in-depth and group interviews

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Research interviews

Definition

‘An interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more people’

Kahn and Cannell (1957)

Types of interview used in research

1. Semi-structured 3. Structured2. In-depth 4. Group

Saunders et al. (2009)

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Research purpose and strategy (2)

Uses of different types of interview in each of the main research categories


Table 10.1 Uses of different types of interview in each of the main research categories

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Research purpose and strategy (1)Forms of interview

After Saunders et al. (2009)Figure 10.1 Forms of interview

Structured Semi / Un Structured

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Semi-structured / Unstructured (qualitative) InterviewsKey aspects

Understanding MeaningExploratory Study: what is happening?Explanatory Study: why?

Managers more likely to agree to an interview

Complex / open ended questions

Time required and completeness of process

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Data quality: Issues to consider Reliability (standardisation)

Does it need to be repeatable?

Bias interviewer & interviewee

Validity and generalisability Strong claim of validity Weak claim of generalisability

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The importance of preparation – the 5 Ps

‘prior planning prevents poor performance’

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Interview preparation (1)

Interviewer’s level of knowledgeTopic / ContentContext (e.g. Articles written about / by organisation)

Level of information supplied to intervieweesThemesTriangulation to literature / corporate sources

Creating an interview guideQuestions & Probing

Appropriateness of location

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Researcher’s appearance – dress code

Shaping the interview - opening comments Purpose / Credibility / Confidentiality /

Friendliness / Rapport

Approach to questioning – clarity and reducing bias

Place answers in a ‘real life’ experience

Sensitive questions at the end

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Appropriate interviewer behaviour- verbal and non-verbalNeutral / open posture / tone of voice

Attentive listening skills and testing understandingSummarising their comments

Approaches to data recording - notes and tape-recording

Cultural differences and bias

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Interviewing competence

Opening the interview

Appropriate language

Questioning

Listening

Testing / summarising

Recognising and dealing with difficult participants

Recording data

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Approaches to Questioning: OPEN questions‘What’, ‘How’, ‘Why’

Why did the organisation introduce its marketing strategy?

What methods have been used to make employees motivated?

How has the corporate strategy changed over the past 5 years?

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Explore further, PROBE

How would you evaluate the success of your marketing strategy?

What external factors caused the corporate strategy to change?

Approaches to Questioning: PROBING questions

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Specific information

How many people responded to the customer survey?

What level of profit did you make?

Approaches to Questioning: CLOSED questions

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Interviewing competence (2)

Advantages and disadvantages of audio-recording interviews


Table 10.3 Advantages and disadvantages of audio-recording the interview

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One word answers

time / confidentiality / open questions?

Long answers / going off the point

subtle reference back to main point

Participant interviews you

stress you are interested in their opinions

Participant gets too emotional

give them time / explain question does not have to be answered

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Interviewing competence (3)Managing resources – logistics and time

Interviewees expectations / managing the time in the interview / transcribing the interviews

Obtaining participants’ permission for interview records (written and taped)

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Additional forms of interviews

Group interviews

Focus groups

Telephone interviews

Internet and intra-net mediated interviews

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Interviewing competence (5)

Forms of electronic interviews


Figure 10.2 Forms of electronic interviews

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Summary:

Use of non-standard (qualitative) interviews should generate rich and detailed data

Different types of interview are useful for different research purposes

Qualitative interviews are generally categorised as in-depth (structured) and semi-structured

Research design may incorporate more than one type of interview

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Summary:

Using qualitative interviews is related to the research strategy and data collection questions

Establishing personal contact with subjects and the length of time required are significant factors

Data quality issues, interviewer competence and resource management are important considerations

Face-to-face (individual, group and focus group) and electronic interviews can all be advantageous

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Analysing qualitative data

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Qualitative analysis process

Summarising (condensation) of meanings

Categorising (grouping) of meanings

Structuring (ordering) of meanings using narrative


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Deductive approachExisting Theory to formulate your research questions

This theory can be used to create a framework to help organise data analysis

Example; if we use Tuckman’s theory of team development then we can code the data against ‘Forming’, ‘Storming’ etc.

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Deductive

Interview 1

Interview 2

Interview 7

Con

cept

A

Con

cept

B

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Inductive ApproachCollect Data

Explore Data

Identify themes / patterns

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Inductive ApproachMake clear what you already (think) you knowListen to the interviewTranscribe the interviewIdentify the general meaning of the interviewIdentify specific units of meaning (create clusters)Eliminate units of meaning not relevant to the studyIdentify themes from clusters of meaningWriting a summary of the interview

After: Hycner, R. (1985)Some guidelines for the phenomenological analysis of interview data. Human Studies 8: 279-303.

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Categorising data

Points to consider

Deriving categories

‘Unitising’ data

Recognising relationships and developing categories

Developing testable propositions

Qualifying your qualitative data

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Summary:

Qualitative data result from the collection of non-standardised data that require classification and are analysed through use of conceptualisation

Qualitative analysis can involve summarising, categorising and structuring data

The process of data analysis and collection are necessarily interactive

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Summary:Aids to analysis include interim summaries, self-

memos and maintaining a researcher diary

Qualitative analysis procedures can be related to using either a deductive or inductive approach

Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) can help with project management and data organisation

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When will the detailed interview questions be prepared?Who will you ask these questions of? Who are your

subjects / interviewees? How many will you ask?Who will ask the questions?When will you ask the questions?\How will you handle the data (e.g. transcribe?)Who will analyse the data?How will they analyse the data?How will you report the findings?How will you know this in ‘new’ knowledge?Who will control progress?How will you control progress?

Business research Methods session 7 qualitative techniques

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