essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

286 –––––––––– QUALITATIVE METHODS IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES ––––––––––––––––––Matrix 2: Analytic commentEmployers were asked if they had any incidents where their employees had failed to meet their expectations,five of whom reported incidents of theft. Two incidents involved theft from the employer (Andrew and Allan);another two involved theft from the clients with one incident involving theft from fellow employees. In three ofthe cases the employee concerned was sacked, in one case they were initially sacked and later given their jobback and in one case they were given a second chance. The basic expectation violated was trust. Mostemployers described the chain of events surrounding the incidents – how they discovered it, how they dealtwith it and how it made them feel, revealing the often profound impact the incidents had had on them andother employees. Justifications were often offered for the action they had taken – for example, they shouldhave asked if they had no money (Debbie G, Andrew); the need to stop the thief once and for all (Debbie H);strong sense of duty to vulnerable clients (Debbie H); sacking the culprit would have left them short staffedand they did do a good job, and, if they did it again they’d be straight out (Alan, Simon). Most employers hadan emotional response to the incident – anger, feeling upset, disappointed. One interesting question raised iswhether or not it matters who the victim of the theft is, namely whether it’s the employer, clients or otheremployees. Looking at the incidents on a site basis provides an invaluable summary of each incident and theimpact it had had on each individual employer.modifications either to the template or the matrix and in this sense the two techniques couldbe considered iterative.It is perhaps surprising to find that there are very few other published examples of matrixanalysis – a literature search of three principal indexes generated zero ‘hits’. One possiblereason is that the technique has been used (for example, presenting qualitative data in tableformat), but not termed matrix analysis. Having said this, it is important to distinguish matrixanalysis from the simple tabulation of data. As stressed earlier, construction of the matrix isan integral part of the analysis. Decisions about what the rows and columns are, and what goesinto each of them, are an essential part of the interpretation process. Indeed, they are thefoundations upon which the ultimate outcomes of the research are based. Having nowconducted several matrix analyses, the authors are impressed by their scope and potential, bothpractically and theoretically. Their use enables both accessibility and thus insights into largeamounts of qualitative data which may otherwise remain obscure or impenetrable. Hopefullythis chapter will encourage other researchers facing the challenge of doing qualitative, multisiteresearch, to use the technique.FURTHER READING ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––There is one key text in which matrices are described: M.B. Miles and A.M. Huberman(1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, second edition, Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. In this text a whole range of data matrices are outlined.REFERENCES ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––