A Brief Literature Review of Qualitative Research

The application of soft question to social science studies has get mixed polishs. whatever social scientists subscribe wholeheartedly to the use of soft research as a counterpoise to the traditional quantitative research modeology, which has been the vogue in social science research. Other social scientists hitherto question the application of soft research to social science studies. several(prenominal) reviewers, for example, question the appropriateness in retrospective military rank of programs of programs in organisational change (B overlookler and br have gotness, 1983, p.349).Other reviewers of the same research argue that good qualitative evaluation entails close and continuous involvement with the process of change. Blacker and browned engaged qualitative research methodology in their study of retrospective evaluation of programs of organizational change. They cogitate that unlike more or less natural science paradigms, competing paradigms should not be tho ught of as mutu onlyy exclusive in application of qualitative research in social science. (Blacker and browned, ibid)Crawford titled his paper Putting currency in research pays How companies large and small gather from research plans. In it he discussed the advantages gained by business enterprises in the United deposits of America through with(predicate) both quantitative and qualitative research. (Crawford 2006). Dale in his study Partnering with solicitude to tool ergonomics in the industrial tend function, concluded that for implementation of whatsoever research to be effective in changing workers attitude, there mustiness be effective collaboration between the researcher and the vigilance of the industrial establishment.(Dale, 2004). Harris in his article entitled Business to Business comes of age in qualitative research, highlights the use of modern culture technology in advancing the frontier of qualitative research in business and industry. It is Harriss opinion that use of such(prenominal) technology as teleconferencing exit not only ensure objectivity in data collection, yet can allow the researcher to administer his protocol to large answerings at the same time. (Harris, 1995)The role of qualitative methodology in ergonomics is discussed by Hignett in his paper Theoretical Issues to Ergonomics Science Here, a quatern detail sampling method of qualitative research was used in the oppugn of academics and management practitioners to gain their views on all areas of ergonomics. (Hignett and Wilson, 2004). Karami, Rowley and Analoni studied slightly research methodologies used in generating cognition for management through research. They concluded that whereas earlier research was skewed in favor of quantitative methodology, set day studies tend to favor qualitative research methods.(Karami et al 2006). McPhee engaged a qualitative research approach to his study of the organizational sort of business practice in Europe. He conclude d that although until recently, the pyramidical pecking request structure was the norm in organizational framework of European companies, globalization of the world economy has forced many European firms to employ qualitative research in their transition to a more democratic organizational arrangement (McPhee, 2002). Russell in his paper titled Dangerous Intersections x-rays the use of qualitative research as a tool in the campaign sponsored by an insurance company.The thrust of the campaign was on awareness, education and safety procession within the United States. (Russell, F. 2002). Yates in his paper drew attention to the opportunities which practitioners in business communications now have to shift emphasis away(predicate) from quantitative methods to qualitative methodology in their research. (Yates, J. 1993). This brief literary works review leads us to the analysis of the qualitative research methodology employed by Maximillian brown in his dissertation titled Trust, P ower and arrive at place democracy asylum and health Works Councils in Oregon. verbal description of methodologyIn analyzing the qualitative research methodologies used in The dark-brown Dissertation salient aspects of all(prenominal) methodology will be highlighted. The number total of the evaluation of the browned Dissertation will reflect the contributions of all the different paradigms to the overall results of the qualitative research. The wining are the research methods employed by brownness for his case studies. introductory contacts with employees and management in of intention firms selected for his studies in the summer of 2002. Actual hearings took place in Fall 2002. intention of research project. Gaining access to the worksites Process of actual interviews. Preparation for Field Work In order to become familiar with the environment of his research, brownish became an insider of the work stations. Brown used his social status of the Safety Committee i n his university, and participated spryly in its programs in order to gain depression hand information on the philosophy underlying the Safety Committee operations. Moreover, in order to have a comprehensive knowledge of the safety operations in his university, he sought and obtained per bang to attend meetings of those safety subcommittees in which he was not a member.Furthermore, brown received nurture conducted by the State of Oregon in safety committee operations. By his own admission, Browns experiences as a member and active instrumentalist in safety committee meetings strongly act upond his research design and the process of conducting interviews with his works. The vocal questions put to his overts were structured along the lines of his experience as a participant rather than an outsider. Being an insider conferred on him certain advantages which he utilized in preparation of his research protocols.Brown was able to ask questions which were directed at particularise d areas of operation of the safety councils which an outsider might not be bum to. Brown as hale gained leverage on his subjects by being internal about their schedule of duties. More so, Browns membership of a university committee whose functions are similar to those of the subjects of his enquiry influenced his tailoring his questions to more unique(predicate) subject matters which an outsider will not be aware of. Browns research protocols were gleaned from Richard Freeman and Joel Rogers book with the title What Workers want which was publish in 1999.Furthermore, Brown had gained prior and valuable hands-on experience of the kit and boodle of the industries in which he was to later conduct his qualitative research. After choosing 2 very different industries in which he wanted to conduct his research, Brown set out to get a on the job(p) knowledge of these industries. He relied heavily on authoritative publications of the Oregon State Occupational Safety and Safety Admin istration for starting time hand information on the industries of his choice. These publications complemented his own practical experience in one of the industries while filling the gaps in his knowledge of the some other.With these preparations, Brown was thus able to formulate intelligent questions for his rate interviewees. Brown acknowledged the obvious fact that an outsider cannot know as much about a factory as those who work in the place. As an icing on his cake, the Oregon Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) assisted Brown to select target factories relevant to his research. Visits to guide Factories Brown approached his target audience in three stages. He first make antecedent visits to the factories in order to get himself familiar with the slew and places where he was to conduct his research.His initial visit to each of the two factories afforded Brown the opportunity to conduct background checks on the facilities available in the factories. Some o f the background information he had earlier obtained from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website came in apt during his preliminary visits. From OSHA website he had obtain indispensable statistics about each factory. These included the number of employees in each factory, products manufactured, and the mission statement of each organization on their safety and health programs. The nigh stage of his approach was to make a preparatory visit to each factory.He was able to obtain a tour of each factory. He also used the opportunity of the preparatory visit to collect in-house documents which came in handy to him while preparing his research protocols. These documents included minutes of committee meetings, teach materials, and other track records germane to his investigations. Browns subsequent visits represented the third and pull round phase of his plan. This was the stage at which he conducted open-ended interviews to representatives of both management and l abor in the premises of the two factories earlier chosen. Equal verse of representatives of labor and management were interviewed.The interviews were conducted in private. The identities of those interviewed were kept confidential as per university policies on such matters. After explaining the purpose of the research project to the subjects, their written accept was individually obtained before the interview started. Since his project was targeted at the safety policies and practices in the selected factories, only members of the safety committees were interviewed. The interviews which were conducted in a free and accessible manner, employed the active interview format designed by Holstein and Gubrium.(Holstein and Gubrium, 1995). In this interview approach, subjects were asked questions which had been prepared in form of a protocol. At the onset, subjects were asked general questions pertaining to their working experiences at the factory. Subjects were also asked questions of p ersonal interest to the responsives with respect to the issue cardinal to the research This phase formed the preliminary stage as develop by Holstein and Gubrium. The next set of questions revolve about on the perception of the respondents regarding the potential of the program of the committee in which they were members.The subjects were asked of the perception of their fellow workers on their resource or selection into the committee. This formed the overview question stage of the interview. The next stage of the interview centered on training. The respondents were asked to assess the depth and relevance of the training which they received towards performance of their duties as committee members. Questions on the perceived shade of the content of their training, the methods of ventilation of information and the net change effect of the training on the participants, concluded the set of questions on training.The next set of questions for the subjects, centered on the meetings of the committee. Subjects were asked to analyze the interpersonal relations among members of the committee, the atmosphere of the meetings the mathematical operations adopted during the meetings and the dissemination of information to members before and after each meeting. The last set of proper(postnominal) questions put to the subjects was on the authority granted the committee by management, and the influence of the committee on management.They were questioned on how they communicated the decisions arrived at their meetings to management, and the effect of their recommendations on management policies. Subjects were also asked to give their views on the industrial atmosphere of their work place, and specifically on the labor and management relations whether they were cordial, or if there were opened issues dividing the two parties. Finally, subjects were asked whether they felt a sense of power by their membership of the committee. Evaluation of Browns Qualitative Research Me thodologyThe methodologies applied by Brown in his dissertation are identifiable and well structured. They follow the pattern of a well organized qualitative research project. Preliminary work was done in two main areas. Relevant literature was searched and the context applied as and when necessary, as per specifications in the original publication. For example, the method of interview was patterned after the universally accepted standard procedure of Holstein and Gubrium termedActive Interviews (Holstein and Gubrium,1995).The use of Active Interviews by Brown was appropriate to the qualitative research design in his case study. A lot of preliminary work was done by Brown, in order to identify firms at which to carry out his research study. Background studies were first carried out on these companies. Where the researcher felt that he had insufficient experience and inadequate knowledge and information, necessary recourse was made to authoritative state government publications on th e subject of his research. Initial visits to the premises of the firms under study, were made by Brown.He got himself inform with both the staff and the environment of the factories where he planned to administer his qualitative research protocol. Those initial visits afforded him the opportunity to interact with representatives of both labor and management. The visits also afforded him the chance to obtain their consent and cooperation. Brown prepared his interview protocols in two similar sets, one for employees and the other for managements of the firms under study. The research protocols were well structured in such a way as to first put general questions to his subjects.From the responses elicited from the respondents, more specific questions relevant to the subject matter of the study were and then put to the subjects. This pattern of questioning is in line with the Holstein and Gubium process of active interviews. Maximillian Browns success in putting his subjects at ease a t this initial stage, helped him to take the interview to a less formal and friendlier conversational atmosphere. Subsequent pieces of information obtained from the respondents were then given freely and honestly without pressure. Browns approach evidently made for more bona fide and truthful answers to the interviewers questions.With the active cooperation of the subjects, Brown was able to plumb the depths of the activities of the safety committees under study, to arrive at a more reliable assessment of their functions, and the perceptions of members of the committee on the relevance and enormousness of their work on the committee. Limitations and Weaknesses of Browns Qualitative Research Methodology By his own admission, Brown recognized that there are some obvious limitations and weaknesses in the methodology he employed in the qualitative research for his dissertation.Three of these weaknesses, Brown identified as follows Problems of trust, accuracy in record keeping, and va lidity of subjects responses. Unless the interviewer is able to scale the wall of distrust erected between him and his subject during the interview, the information gathered from the respondent will be suspect. According to McCracken, lack of trust between interviewer and respondent will restrict the interview to a mere formality. The intimacy required for the two parties to move from formal to open conversational style will be inhibited.(McCracken,1988). Hence the first purpose of an interviewer is to gain the trust of the interviewee. Right from the onset, the interviewer needs to establish a friendly rapport with his subjects even before the interview is scheduled. Brown admitted his lack of familiarity with his subjects, which made some of them to give curt and perfunctory replies to his questions. Secondly, Browns unfitness to import a reliable means of recording his interviews made his transcripts of such interviews less than accurate.The third problem of validity of his sub jects responses, Brown admits to be his nigh difficult. There is no easy solution to the issue of whether a respondent is truthful, except perhaps to administer a lie-detector test to each respondent before the interview, as a method of pre screening all participants. Applications of Browns Qualitative Research Methodology The research methodology of active interviews adopted by Brown in his dissertation generated valuable in formation on the social interactions within an industrial environment.In spite of its limitations and shortcomings, Browns qualitative research methodology provides a suitable and reliable template on which further research study can be undertaken to obtain knowledge of the interpersonal relationships within an industrial workplace. By victimisation modern information technological innovations like teleconferencing and remote reign over recording devices, greater objectivity can be introduced into Browns qualitative research methodology. (Harris,1995).Overal l, the methodology employed in Maximillian Browns dissertation can be validly adopted in qualitative research studies for dissertations and other quality academic publications. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Blackler, F. H. M. , Brown, C. A. (1983), Qualitative Research and Paradigms of Practice, journal of guidance Studies, 20(3), 349-366. 2. Crawford, A. P. (2006). Putting money into research pays How companies large and small benefit from research plans, Public Relations Tactics, 13(8), 20-20 3. Dale, L. (2004). Partnering with management to implement ergonomics in the industrial, Work, 22(2), 117-124. 4. Freeman, Richard B., and Joel Rogers. 1999. What Workers Want. Ithaca, NY Cornell University Press. French, Carroll E. 1923. The Shop Committee in the United States. Johns HopkinsUniversity Studies in History and political Science. 41 107-207. 5. Harris, L. M. , (1995), Business-to-business comes of age in qualitative research, marting News, 29(12), 17-17 6. Hignett, S. , Wilson, R. (2004) , The role for qualitative methodology in ergonomics a case study to search theoretical issues, Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 5(6), 473-493 7. Holstein, James A. , and Jaber F. Gubrium. 1995. The Active Interview. gram Oaks, CA SAGE Publications8. Karami, A. , Rowley, J. , Analoui, F. (2006), Research and Knowledge Building in Management Studies An Analysis of Methodological Preferences, International Journal of Management, 23(1), 436-52. 9. McCracken, Grant. 1988. The Long Interview. Newbury Park,CA SAGE Publications. 10. McPhee, N. (2002). Gaining sixth sense on business and organisational behaviour the qualitative dimension, International Journal of Market Research, 44(1), 53-70. 11. Russell, F. (2000). Dangerous intersections, Marketing News, 34(5), 18-18. 12. Yates, J. (1993), The Opportunity of Qualitative Research, Journal of Business Communication, 30(2), 1999-200