OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS SOUTHERN AFRICA

Transcription

1 Research Methodology Business and Management Contexts Bryman Bell Hirschsohn DosSantos DuToit Masenge Van Aardt Wagner OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS SOUTHERN AFRICA

2 Detailed Contents Abbreviations About the authors Guided tour of textbook features About this book xv xvi xviii xx Part One Introduction 1 1. Business research approaches 3 Chapterguide 4 The natura of business research 6 Theory and research 6 What type of theory are we talking about? 6 Deductive and inductive theory: Are data collected to build or to test theories? 9 Epistemology 12 A natural science epistemology: Positivism 12 Interpretern 14 Ontology 16 Objectivism 17 Constructionism 17 How epistemology and ontology relate to business research 19 Competing paradigms 19 Influences on the conduct of business research 21 Personal values 21 The politics of business research 22 Practical considerations 23 Criteria in business research: An introduction 24 Reliability 24 Replication 24 Validity 25 Key points 27 Questions forreview Quantitative and qualitative research approaches 29 Chapterguide 30 Research approaches: Quantitative and qualitative research 30 The natura of quantitative research 31 The main steps in quantitative research 31 Concepts and their measurement 33 Criteria in quantitative research 36 The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers 39 The natura of qualitative research 41 The main steps in qualitative research 41 Theory and research 42 Concepts in qualitative research 43 Criteria in qualitative research 43 The main preoccupations of qualitative researchers 46 Researcher-subject relationships 48 Evaluating the quantitative and qualitative research approaches 49 Criticisms of quantitative research 49 Criticisms of qualitative research 50 vii

3 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 51 Some contrasts between quantitative and qualitative research 51 Some similarities between quantitative and qualitative research 52 Key points 53 Questions for review Mixed methods research: Breaking the divide between quantitative and qualitative approaches 55 Chapterguide 56 Avoiding overemphasising the contrast between quantitative and qualitative research 57 The natural science model and qualitative research 57 Quantitative research and interpretivism 58 Quantitative research and constructionism 58 Problems with the quantitative/qualitative contrast 59 Reciprocal analysis 60 Quantification in qualitative research 61 Mixed methods research: Combining quantitative and qualitative research 62 Approaches to mixed methods research 62 Reflections on quality in mixed methods research 66 Key points 66 Questions for review 67 Part Two Main steps in research Gelting started: Flanning a research project and getting to know the literature.71 Chapterguide 72 Getting to know what is expected of you by your Institution 72 Thinking about your research area and surveying the literature 72 Using your Supervisor 73 Managing time and resources 73 Looking for business Information 73 Summarising texts and making notes 73 Information sources on the Internet 76 Electronic databases 77 Keywords and defining search Parameters 79 Avoiding plagiarism 80 Referencing your work 80 The role of the list of references 81 Checklist 85 Key points 86 Questions for review Formulating a proposal and reviewing the literature 87 Chapterguide 88 Formulating suitable research questions 88 Writing your research proposal 91 Practica! preparations for your research 91 Döing your research and analysing your resutts 92 Reviewing the existing literature and engaging with what others have written 92 Getting the most from your reading 93 Systematic review 94 Narrative review 97 Key points 98 Questions for review. 98 viii

4 6. Flanning the research project: Research design 99 Chapterguide 100 Experimente design 101 Classic experimental design 101 Classic experimental design and validity 102 The laboratory experiment 104 Quasi-experiments 104 Logic of comparison 104 Cross-sectional design 105 Reliability, replicability and validity 107 Non-manipulable variables 107 Structure of the cross-sectional design 107 Cross-sectional design and research approach 108 Longitudinal design 109 Case study design 110 Whatisacase? 110 The case study Convention in business research 111 Reliability, replicability and validity 112 Types of case 112 Case study as intensive analysis 113 Morethan one case 113 Longitudinal research and the case study 113 Comparative design 114 Level of analysis 116 Bringing research approach and research design together 116 Key points 117 Questions for review Ethics in business research 119 Chapterguide 120 Ethical principles 120 Harm to participants 121 Lack of informed consent 124 Invasion of privacy 127 Deception 127 Other ethical and legal considerations 128 Data management 128 Copyright 128 Reciprocity and trust 129 Affiliation and conflicts of interest 129 Consequences of commercialisation of research funding in universities 129 The difficulties of ethical decision-making 130 Checklist 131 Key points 132 Questions for review Writing up research 134 Chapterguide 135 Writing up your research 135 Start early 135 Be persuasive 136 Getfeedback 136 Avoid sexist, racist and disablist language 137 ix

5 Structure your writing 138 Writing up quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research 140 An example of quantitative research 140 An example of qualitative research 147 Writing up mixed methods research 151 An example of mixed methods research 152 Postmodernism and reflexivity 154 Writing ethnography 158 Types of ethnographic writing 158 Ways of writing differently 159 Checklist 161 Key points 162 Questions for review 163 Part 3 Data gathering methods Sampling 167 Chapterguide 168 Introduction to sampling 168 Sampling for social surveys 169 Bias 171 Sampling error 171 Types of probability sample 172 The qualities of a probability sample 175 Sample size 176 Types of non-probability sampling 178 Limits to generalisata 181 Error in survey research 181 Sampling for structured Observation 183 Sampling people 183 Sampling in terms of time 183 Further sampling considerations 183 Sampling for content analysis 184 Sampling media 184 Sampling dates 184 Sampling for qualitative Interviews 184 Sampling in ethnography and participant Observation 185 Purposive sampling 186 Theoretical sampling and theoretical Saturation 186 Not just people 187 Key points 188 Questions for review Surveys and questionnaires 190 Chapterguide 191 Self-completion questionnaire or postal questionnaire? 191 Evaluating the self-completion questionnaire in relation to the structured interview 192 Advantages of the self-completion questionnaire over the structured interview 192 Disadvantages of the self-completion questionnaire in comparison to the structured interview..192 Steps to improve response ratesto postal questionnaires 194 Designing the self-completion questionnaire 195 Do not cramp the presentation 195 Clear presentation 195 Vertical or horizontal closed answers? 195

6 Identifying response sets in a Likert scale 196 Clear Instructions about how to respond 196 Keep question and answers together 197 Diaries as a form of self-completion questionnaire 197 Advantages and disadvantages of the diary as a method of data collection 198 Open or closed questions? 199 Open questions 199 Closed questions 200 Developing closed questions from open questions 201 Types of question 202 Rules for designing questions 204 General rules of thumb 204 Specific rules when designing questions 205 Vignette questions 208 Piloting and pre-testing questions 209 Using existing questions 210 Checklist 211 Key points 212 Questions for review Interviews and focus groups 213 Chapterguide 215 The structured interview: Introduction 216 Accuracy and ease of data processing 217 Interview contexts 217 In person or by telephone? 217 Conducting structured Interviews 218 Knowthe schedule 218 Introducing the research 219 Building rapport 219 Clear Instructions 220 Question order 220 Probing 220 Prompting 221 Leaving the interview 221 Other approaches to structured interviewing 221 Critical incident method 221 Verbal protocol approach 222 Repertory grid technique 222 Problems with structured interviewing 223 Interviews in qualitative research 224 Unstructured and semi-structured interviewing 225 Choosing an approach to qualitative interviewing 227 Preparing an interview guide 228 Interviewing techniques 229 Kinds of question 230 Recording and transcribing Interviews 231 Focus groups: Introduction 232 Ilses of focus groups 231 Conducting focus groups 233 How many groups? 233 Size of groups 233 Level of moderator involvement 234 xi

7 Selecting participants 235 Asking questions 235 Recording arid transcription 236 Beginning and finishing 236 The focus group as a feminist method 237 Combining focus groups and Interviews 237 Limitations of focus groups 238 Checklist 239 Key points 239 Questions for review Field work: Ethnography and Observation 242 Chapter guide 243 Ethnography and participant Observation 244 Organisational ethnography 245 Access 246 Roles for ethnographers 248 Sampling 250 Global ethnography 251 Field notes 251 Bringing ethnographic fieldwork to an end 252 Visual ethnography 252 Researcher-subject relationships 255 Can there be a feminist ethnography? 255 Action research 256 Structured Observation 258 The Observation schedule 258 Issues of reliability and validity 260 Other forms of structured Observation 261 Field Stimulation 261 Organisational Simulation 261 Criticisms of structured Observation 262 Strengths of structured Observation 262 Checklist 262 Key points 263 Questions for review Gathering data for secondary analysis 266 Chapter guide 267 Other researchers' data 267 Advantages of secondary analysis 268 Limitations of secondary analysis 271 Reliability and validity 272 Official statistics 273 Condemning and resurrecting official statistics 273 Official statistics as a form of unobtrusive measure 273 Documents as sources of data 274 Personal documents 275 Public documents 275 Organisational documents 276 Mass media Outputs 277 Visual documents 277 The world as text 279 xii

8 The reality of documents 279 Checklist 280 Key points 280 Questions for review E-research: Internet research methods 282 Chapterguide 283 The Internet as object of analysis 283 Using Websites to collect data from individuals 286 Virtual ethnography 287 Qualitative research using online focus groups 288 Qualitative research using online personal Interviews 291 Online social surveys 291 surveys 291 Web surveys 292 Sampling issues 292 Ethical considerations in e-research 294 Key points 297 Questions for review Content analysis 298 Chapterguide 299 A method for quantifying content 299 Research questions for content analysis 300 What is to be counted? 300 Significant actors 301 Words 301 Subjects and themes 301 Dispositions 301 Images 302 Coding 302 Coding schedule 303 Coding manual 303 Potential pitfalls in devising coding schemes 304 Advantages and disadvantages of content analysis 304 Advantages of content analysis 304 Disadvantages of content analysis 305 Checklist 306 Key points 306 Questions for review 306 Part 4 Data analysis methods Quantitative data analysis methods 311 Chapterguide 312 A mistake worth avoiding 312 Types of variable 312 A small research project 313 Missing data 314 Univariate analysis 318 Frequency tables 318 Diagrams 318 Measures of central tendency 319 Measures of dispersion 319 xiii

9 Bivariate analysis 320 Relationships not causality 321 Contingency tables 322 Pearson's correlation coefficient r. 322 Spearman's rho 323 Phi and Cramer's V 324 Comparing means and eta 324 Statistical signiticance 325 The chi-square test 327 Correlation and Statistical signiticance 327 Comparing means and Statistical signiticance 327 Multivariate analysis 328 Is the relationship spurious? 329 )s there an intervening variable? 330 Does a third variable moderate the relationship? 330 Key points 332 Questions for review Qualitative data analysis methods 335 Chapterguide 336 Coding and data displays 336 Steps and considerations in coding 337 Turning data into fragments 337 Problems with coding 338 Data displays 338 Interpreting your data and analysis 341 General strategies of qualitative data analysis 342 Analytic induction 342 Grounded theory 344 Thematic analysis 350 Interpreting documents 354 Qualitative content analysis 354 Semiotics 355 Hermeneutics 356 Historiography 356 Gase study analysis 357 Case study evidence 357 Choosing an analytic approach 357 Analytical techniques and procedures 358 Secondary analysis of qualitative data 362 Qualitative methods for analysing language as a resource 362 Conversation analysis 363 Discourse analysis 365 Narrative analysis 366 Rhetorical analysis 367 Critical discourse analysis 368 The world as text 370 Key points 371 Questions for review. 371 Glossary 374 References 386 Subject index 405 xiv