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

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–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– USING INTERVIEWS –––––––––– 21quite focused questions about aspects of organizational life, for instance, specific decisionprocessessuch as selection decisions. At the other end of the scale, qualitative researchinterviews can be used to examine much broader issues, in areas such as gender, organizationalculture and the effects of unemployment.The qualitative research interview is ideally suited to examining topics in which differentlevels of meaning need to be explored. This is something that is very difficult to do withquantitative methods, and problematic for many other qualitative techniques. One area wherequalitative interviews may be of great use is in studying organizational and group identitiesin large organizations such as the National Health Service, where a complex pattern oforganizational, work-group, professional and interpersonal loyalties exists.Finally, the qualitative research interview is a method which most research participantsaccept readily. This is partly due to familiarity with interviews in general; however, equallyimportant is the fact that most people like talking about their work – whether to shareenthusiasm or to air complaints – but rarely have the opportunity to do so with interestedoutsiders. Feedback I have received suggests that interviewees commonly enjoy theexperience, and in some cases find that it has helped them clarify their thoughts on a particulartopic.DisadvantagesAs already emphasized, developing an interview guide, carrying out interviews, and analysingtheir transcripts, are all highly time-consuming activities for the researcher. Qualitative researchinterviews are also tiring to carry out, as they involve considerable concentration from theinterviewer; I would certainly recommend a maximum of three hour-long qualitativeinterviews in a day, and two would be preferable. Interviews are also time-consuming forinterviewees, and this may cause problems in recruiting participants in some organizations andoccupations. The best recruitment strategy is probably to send a letter with basic details of thestudy’s aims and what will be required of the interviewee, with a follow-up phone-call inwhich the researcher can explain his or her aims in more depth and answer any queries. Afirm time and date for the interview should be fixed as soon as possible. Once people havemade such a commitment, it is rare for them to subsequently drop out of the study.A difficulty faced by many researchers using qualitative research interviews is the feelingof data overload as a result of the huge volume of rich data produced by even a moderate-sizedstudy. In these circumstances, I would suggest that there are three directions in which theresearcher can turn for help. Firstly, there are the original aims of the study. If the researcherfeels that they are getting lost in a particular line of exploration, they should ask; ‘Is this addingto my understanding of the topics I set out to study? If not, is it raising new and related topicswhich are of interest?’ If the answer to both questions is ‘no’, then the researcher shouldchange the direction of the analysis. Secondly, the inexperienced researcher can turn toliterature describing other studies using qualitative research interviews, to provide examplesof how problems in data analysis were tackled, including material outside their own area.Thirdly, personal networking is of great importance. If there is no one even sympathetic toqualitative methods in the researcher’s own work environment, try looking more widely. Asthe number of researchers using qualitative research interviews grows, the opportunities forsuch networking increase.
22 –––––––––– QUALITATIVE METHODS IN ORGANIZATION STUDIES ––––––––––––––––––NOTE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––1 I would like to acknowledge my colleagues on this project, Keri Thomas, Dennise Bell andNicola Bowes. The project was funded jointly by Calderdale and Kirklees Health Authority andthe University of Huddersfield.FURTHER READING ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Recent years have seen continued growth in the number of publications on all aspects ofqualitative interviewing. The suggestions below are offered as useful starting points for readersto deepen their knowledge of this diverse methodological literature.S. Kvale (1996) InterViews, London: Sage. (Broad and thoughtful coverage of both theoretical and practical issues in qualitativeinterviewing.)C. Moustakas (1994) Phenomenological Research Methods, London: Sage. (Good introduction to phenomenological approaches,and latter part provides helpful examples of interview-based phenomenological studies.)M.Q. Patton (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, second edition, London: Sage. Chapter 7 has many usefulsuggestions for carrying out qualitative interviews – especially relevant to case study approaches.)D. Silverman (ed.) (1997) Qualitative Research:Theory, Methods and Practice, London: Sage. (Part IV provides critical accountsof qualitative interviewing from different approaches.)REFERENCES ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Burr, V. (1995) An Introduction to Social Constructionism, London: Routledge.Fetterman, D.M. (1989) Ethnography: Step-by-Step, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Giorgi, A. (ed) (1985) Phenomenology and Psychological Research, Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.King, N., Thomas, K. and Bell, D. (2003) ‘An out-of-hours protocol for community palliative care : practitioners’ perspectives’,International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 9 (7): 277–82.Kvale, S. (1983) ‘The qualitative research interview: a phenomenological and a hermeneutical mode of understanding’, Journalof Phenomenological Psychology, 14: 171–96.Madill, A., Jordan, A. and Shirley, C. (2000) ‘Objectivity and reliability in qualitative analysis: realist, contextualist and radicalconstructivist epistemologies’, British Journal of Psychology, 91: 1–20.Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. (1984) Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Moran, D. (2000) Introduction to Phenomenology, London: Routledge.Moustakas, C. (1994) Phenomenological Research Methods, London: Sage.Smith, J.A. (1996) ‘Beyond the divide between cognition and discourse: using interpretative phenomenological analysis in healthpsychology’, Psychology and Health, 11: 261–71.Thomas, K. (2000) ‘Out of hours palliative care: bridging the gap’, European Journal of Palliative Care, 7: 22–5.Willig, C. (2001) Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology: Adventures in Theory and Method, Buckingham: OpenUniversity Press.Wood, L.A. and Kroger, R.O. (2000) Doing Discourse Analysis: Methods for Studying Action in Talk, London: Sage.
Page 4 and 5: ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO QUALITATIVE METH
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Page 12 and 13: Notes on ContributorsJohn Benington
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Table 20.2 Examples of open coding,
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21 ---- Using Templates in the Them
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