BLD413

RESEARCH METHOD
 Methodology

Choosing a method – basic issues to clarify

•. Does the instrument really Do you have sufficient

Validity measure what it is supposed relevant knowledge about
to measure? you informants?

Is the measure likely to yield Have similar results been

Reliability the same results on different found by researchers on
occasions? different occasions?

What is the probability that How likely is it that ideas and

patterns observed in a theories generated in one
Generalisability sample will also be present setting will also apply in
in the wider population from other settings?
which the sample is drawn?
Methodology

Qualitative
or
Quantitative?

The Big Issue

 Qualitative Research Methodology

Aims of this topic

• To cover the basic qualitative research methods available

• To consider their pros and cons

 Qualitative Research Methodology
• Non-numerical and relies on free-form text where no (or
few) calculations are involved
• Can be combined with quantitative research, then
called mixed-method research.

Examples:
 Observation
 Participant diaries
 Interviews
 Focus groups
 Surveys
 Case studies
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Observation
• An accurate observation of what people do in real-life
situations – e.g. observations of how management
spend their time.

• Do people act differently if they know they are being

observed? Two types: Overt and Covert.

• Ways of recording: diary method or checklist or both.

 Qualitative Research Methodology
Observation

Advantages:
• Cheap
• You will always observe something
• First-hand experience: better interpretation

Disadvantages:
• Time consuming
• Can get distracted
• Personal bias
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Participant diaries

• An individual’s record of observations, events and

behaviour (of themselves or others) in a structured format

• May be a written, or even a video or audio diary, about

interpretations, feelings, perceptions of their experiences

• Normally initial explanatory interview

 Qualitative Research Methodology
Participant diaries
Advantages
• Data collection requires little of your time
• Collect information about behaviour that cannot be
easily observed

Disadvantages
• Difficult to recruit volunteers and high drop-out rate
• Time consuming to analyse potentially complex data

Apply only to few reliable participants

 Qualitative Research Methodology
Participant diaries
Examples

• Accounts of time-use to measure patterns of leisure

and/or work.

• Consumer choice and expenditure

• Travel (work or vacation planning)

Not treated extensively in books on methodology but many

articles available. Google: “research diaries” and ”diary
interview method”.
Qualitative Research Methodology
Interviews
Types of interview
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Interviews

• Format (individual, group, phone, structured or

unstructured)
• Questions to be carefully planned even for unstructured
• Pilot questions if feasible
• Permission
• Ethics
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Interviews

Types of question

• Open questions allow extensive answers and

probing: “That’s interesting. Tell me more …”.

• Closed questions are used to obtain specific

information: How many? How much? Yes or No type.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Interviews
Example questions
• In terms of service quality, do you think the performance of your
store is typical compared with that of the Retail Sector? [closed]
• Do you have any partnerships with other clients or organisations?
[closed] If not why not? [open]
• Do you consider the present systems of staff communication
appropriate for your organisation? [closed] Why/ why not?
• In terms of service quality, how would you describe the
performance of your store? [open]
• In your view, what are the most important factors affecting the
service quality in your store ? And why? [open]
• How do you satisfy your customers’ expectations [open]
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Interviews
What kind of research situations best favour interviews?
In other words, what are interviews good for and what less good for?

Strengths
• Interviewees can challenge your agenda, raising new issues,
ask questions back.
• Interviews give interviewees the opportunity to check what is
meant by a question.
• You can probe by follow-up questioning seeking clarification
or further explanation.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Interviews
What kind of research situations best favour interviews?

Weaknesses
• In unstructured interviews, all too easy to change the way a
question is put from one interview to the next, so difficult to
know if all the responses have the same stimulus.
• You may lead the interviewee, shaping responses through the
tone in which questions are asked, non-verbal clues (e.g.
nodding your head, looking surprised).
• Only small numbers because so time consuming.
• Not good for facts: better for exploring reasons and
interpretations than finding out what takes place.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Focus groups
• Group of people led through an open discussion by you as
moderator.

• Group should be large enough facilitate discussion but

small enough that all participants have a chance to speak.
5 to 8 people about right .

• If feasible, run more than one group to get the best range of
ideas.

• Choose participants carefully (will a participant criticise a

superior?). Get individuals to nominate others.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Focus groups
Advantages:
• Allow a variety of opinions
• Can help to generate a number of key themes
• Relatively low cost
• Rich data

Disadvantages:
• Unstructured
• Dominant participants
• Difficult to develop rapport
• Focus may be lost in the discussion
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Focus groups
Prepare a few starter questions. A single one may be
enough to generate full discussion, but have some in
reserve. For example:

Your group is made up of middle managers. So far, all

company marketing has been handled in-house. The MD
has decided to employ a marketing firm instead.

• What do you see as the pros and cons of this decision?

• A fresh set of ideas can only be good, surely?
• Do they know enough about our company?
• What do you think of the new logo they have designed?
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Survey questionnaires

• Less often used in qualitative research because they lend

themselves best to statistical data.

• But can be used in qualitative research and even “coded”,

though according to subjective judgement.

• Sometimes used in conjunction with case studies.

• Will deal with questionnaire design later since much of it

applies to both qualitative and quantitative research.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Survey questionnaires

Advantages:
• Potentially large sample
• Cost-effective
• Possibly do it all from your desk

Disadvantages:
• No probing
• Difficult to design questions not open to misinterpretation
• Really demand pilots
• More likely to get you involved in research “philosophy”
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Case studies
• Investigation into a single individual or selected group or an
organisation
• Often done by interviews and/or observation

Single case is appropriate where:

• it tests a well-formulated theory, or
• the case is extreme or unique, or
• it is revelatory (phenomenon previously inaccessible to
investigation)

Multiple cases (max 4) should:

• predict similar results, or
• produce contrasting results
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Case studies

Advantages:
• Relatively cheap
• Specific information
• Real-world, well focused situation

Disadvantages:
• Difficulty in handling the complex information from
various methods
• Often viewed as a soft option in research
• Tendency towards mere description
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Case studies– examples

• Analysing a web-based e-commerce learning community: A

case study in Bulgaria

• An observational case study of employees’ work patterns in an

open office environment

• Role stress in the professional life of three senior managers: A

collective case study.

• A new restaurant in Stockholm: Case study of a start-up

business
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Case studies
If you are going to base your dissertation on case studies,
you would be well advised to read Yin, R. K. Case Study
Research. Design and Methods. London: Sage.

Earlier editions, which may be enough

for your needs, are downloadable for
free from several academic websites.
Google “yin designing case studies pdf”.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
Analysing qualitative data

• Divide data into meaningful categories.

• Code the segments with symbols, numbers, or names –
anything which makes sense to you.
• Codes can be organised into different levels and different
codes may be attached to the same text.
• Show relationship between different categories.
• Deduce conclusions.
• Qualitative data analysis computer packages, e.g.
NUDIST (Non Numerical Unstructured Data Indexing
Searching & Theorizing). NVIVO.
 Qualitative Research Methodology
General skills to acquire
• Be a good listener in interviews etc. capturing “between the lines”
information.
• Be adaptive and flexible to opportunities while maintaining the rigour
of the research design.
• Have a firm grasp of the issues being studied and keep them firmly
in mind.
• Focus the information to manageable proportions.
• Be unbiased by being sensitive and responsive to contradictory
evidence.
• Look especially for patterns and common themes in your responses.
Quantitative Methodology
 Quantitative Methodology
Quantitative research is about asking people things in a
structured way to produce hard facts and statistics. You
collect numerical data and analyse it using
mathematically based methods.

To get reliable statistical results, two things necessary:

• Reasonably large numbers
• Representative sample
 Quantitative Methodology
The maths puts many students off. But can get away with just a
few statistical tools

Misconception about how hard it is? Let’s be honest! If you’re

not mathematically inclined, a qualitative approach might suit
you better.

However, using right research design and data collection

instruments more important than “doing the maths”. You do not
have to be an expert statistical methods. There are many
software tools to help.
 Quantitative Methodology
Data gathering
Whether via survey questionnaires (or structured interviews), most
common methods are checklists, radio buttons and Likert items, or
combinations of them.

Checklists present a number of items Radio buttons typically

thought likely. Several can be ticked. allow only one response.
 Quantitative Methodology
Data gathering – Likert items
For Likert items, respondents answer to a range of
options, for example specifying level of agreement to a
statement on a scale (often 5 points) ranging from
Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree (or vice versa).

Rensis Likert
(1903-1981)
Quantitative Methodology
Data gathering – Likert items
 Questionnaires
Some basics
• Much of what can be said of designing questionnaires also applies
to interviews.
• Apply the notion of the One Page rule: don’t overload your
respondents with too many questions.
• Don't ask respondents to guess how other people feel or what they
know.
• Break down complicated questions into two or three separate
ones.
• Use appropriate language for the intended respondents: don’t use
technical terms or slang that not all will be familiar with.
• If your English is not perfect get it checked by an educated native
speaker.
 Questionnaires
Some basics

The perfect survey:

• All respondents have answered all questions.
• All respondents have responded accurately and truthfully.
• All respondents have interpreted all questions in the same way.
• All responses are accurate measures of what was intended

Can that be achieved?

Never!

All we can do is to reduce error.

 Questionnaires
Types of question
Open(-ended) and closed.
• Open questions let respondents answer in their own words.
Analysing the responses to produce a synthesis can be tricky.
Open questions can, however, often be transformed into closed
questions.

• Closed questions reduce the burden on respondents. There are

two types:

• Dichotomous, e.g. Yes/No. A “Don’t Know” box should be added.

• Multi-choice, i.e. a list of possible answers from which to choose
one (if mutually exclusive) or as many as applicable. An “Other”
box should be added.
 Questionnaires
Make it easy!

“Routing” is the term used for directing respondents to

skip questions depending on the answers to previous
questions. For example:

Q5. Does your company have a formal corporate

social responsibility (CSR) document? Yes / No
If No, go to Question 9

Q6. Is the CSR document … etc.

 Questionnaires
Ambiguity
Words mean different things to different people.

Avoid words such as ‘often’, ‘occasionally’, ‘frequently’, ‘many’,

‘good’, ‘bad’ and so on. Different answers should reflect only
genuine differences, so lessen the risk of respondents
interpreting in different ways.
Here are questions which could lead to ambiguity:
• Have you recently been involved in any mergers?
• Do you often buy news-stand magazines?
• Please rank the value of this approach on a scale of 1 to 5.
 Questionnaires
One question at a time

• How satisfied are you with the opening hours and ease
of access to your local supermarket?

• What is the fastest and most economical Internet

service in your locality?

• How likely are you to go out for dinner and the cinema
at weekend?

• Do you favour or oppose cutting taxes and government

spending?
 Questionnaires
Don’t assume respondent’s knowledge

What percentage of your company’s budget is spent

on direct mail advertising?

• Unless your respondent is the MD, the Accountant,

or some other person in charge, many will be
unlikely to know the answer without looking it up, and
few will take the time to do so.

• If the question is a vital one, add “An estimate will

suffice”.
 Questionnaires
Clear and appropriate wording

• In the last 12 months, have you not had any missed

opportunities for promotion?

• Would you tend to be generally in favour of the repeal

of the new law on currency exchange which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer has proposed or would
you oppose the repeal of it?

• Hey, OK! Now let’s look at some examples of what I’ve

been trying to get at!
 Questionnaires
Leading (loaded) questions
• How would you rate the skills of the legendary highly
successful investor Warren Buffett?
(“legendary” etc. invites bias)

• Should the Government force you to pay higher taxes?

(“force” assumes higher taxes are always a bad thing)

• Are you willing to pay more tax even though this means
that welfare cheats benefit?
(Subtly twisting the research to support your conclusion)

• Most consumers prefer to buy products made in Britain.

Do you?
(Invitation to join the majority)
 Questionnaires
Look at these examples
Do you regularly go to Church?
Do you plan to move and buy another house within the next year?
How would you rank your success on a 1 to 10 scale?
Which is the best supermarket in your locality?
How many employees in your firm are married with children?
When did you last not fail to achieve your sales target?
Should the British buy foreign goods which take away British jobs?
Do your employees consider you a good leader?
Do you disagree that govt. subsidies are a bad thing for firms?
What percentage of your weekly income do you spend on travel?
Should this important safety programme be funded again next year?