A Brief Literature Review of Qualitative Research

The application of qualitative query to social science studies has sure mixed reviews. Some social scientists subscribe wholeheartedly to the use of qualitative research as a counterpoise to the traditional quantitative research methodology, which has been the drift in social science research. Other social scientists however question the application of qualitative research to social science studies. Some reviewers, for example, question the correctness in retrospective evaluation of programs of programs in organizational change (Blackler and brown, 1983, p.349).Other reviewers of the same research argue that good qualitative evaluation entails close and continuous social occasion with the act of change. Blacker and brown employ qualitative research methodology in their study of retrospective evaluation of programs of organizational change. They concluded that unlike some infixed science paradigms, competing paradigms should non be thought of as mutu all toldy exclusive in application of qualitative research in social science. (Blacker and cook, ibid)Crawford titled his study Putting money in research pays How companies large and small benefit from research plans. In it he discussed the advantages micturateed by business enterprises in the United States of the States finished both quantitative and qualitative research. (Crawford 2006). Dale in his study Partnering with management to weapon ergonomics in the industrial thrashplace, concluded that for implementation of some(prenominal) research to be core groupive in changing workers attitude, in that location must be effective collaboration between the researcher and the management 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 breeding technology in advancing the frontier of qualitative research in business and industry. It is Harriss opinion that use of such technology as teleconferencing will not only procure objectivity in data collection, but can allow the researcher to make do his protocol to large respondents at the same time. (Harris, 1995)The enjoyment of qualitative methodology in ergonomics is discussed by Hignett in his study Theoretical Issues to Ergonomics Science Here, a four stage sampling method of qualitative research was employ in the interview of faculty members and management practitioners to gain their views on all argonas of ergonomics. (Hignett and Wilson, 2004). Karami, Rowley and Analoni studied some research methodologies used in generating experience for management through research. They concluded that whereas earlier research was skewed in favor of quantitative methodology, present day studies tend to favor qualitative research methods.(Karami et al 2006). McPhee employed a qualitative research approach to his study of the organizational behavior of business practice in Europe. He concluded that although until recen tly, the pyramidical hierarchy complex body part 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 arctic promotion 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 from quantitative methods to qualitative methodology in their research. (Yates, J. 1993). This skeleton literature review leads us to the analysis of the qualitative research methodology employed by Maximillian Brown in his dissertation titled Trust, Power and study place democracy safety a nd Health Works Councils in Oregon. Description of MethodologyIn analyzing the qualitative research methodologies used in The Brown Dissertation salient aspects of each methodology will be highlighted. The sum total of the evaluation of the Brown Dissertation will reflect the contributions of all the contrastive paradigms to the overall results of the qualitative research. The following are the research methods employed by Brown for his case studies. Preliminary contacts with employees and management in of target firms selected for his studies in the pass of 2002. Actual interviews took place in Fall 2002. Designing of research project. Gaining access to the worksites Process of actual interviews. Preparation for Field Work In graze to nonplus familiar with the environment of his research, Brown became an insider of the work stations. Brown used his membership of the Safety Committee in his university, and participated actively in its programs in order to gain first hand inf ormation 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 beared permission to attend meetings of those safety subcommittees in which he was not a member.Furthermore, brown received training breedinged by the State of Oregon in safety committee operations. By his own admission, Browns experiences as a member and active participant in safety committee meetings strongly influenced his research design and the process of conducting interviews with his subjects. The oral questions assemble to his subjects 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 specific areas of operation of the safety councils which an outsider might not be privy to. Brown also gained leverage on his subjects by being knowledgeable round 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 specific 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 published in 1999.Furthermore, Brown had gained prior and valuable hands-on experience of the workings of the industries in which he was to later conduct his qualitative research. After choosing two very different industries in which he wanted to conduct his research, Brown behave out to get a working knowledge of these industries. He relied heavily on authoritative publications of the Oregon State Occupational Safety and Safety Administration for first hand information on the industries of his choice. These publications complemented his own pr actical experience in one of the industries while filling the gaps in his knowledge of the other.With these preparations, Brown was thus able to formulate intelligent questions for his target 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 Target Factories Brown approached his target audience in three stages. He first made preliminary visits to the factories in order to get himself familiar with the people 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 gettable in the factories. Some of the background information he had earlier obtained from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website came in ha ndy during his preliminary visits. From OSHA website he had obtain vital statistics about each factory. These included the number of employees in each factory, products manufactured, and the mission assignment of each organization on their safety and health programs. The following(a) 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, training materials, and other bear witnesss germane to his investigations. Browns subsequent visits represented the third and last phase of his plan. This was the stage at which he conducted open-ended interviews to representatives of both management and labor in the exposit of the two factories earlier chosen. Equal numbers of representatives of labor and management were interviewe d.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 consent was individually obtained originally 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 relieve and friendly 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 usual questions pertaining to their working experiences at the factory. Subjects were also asked questions of personal interest to the respondents with respect to the offspring central to the research This phase formed the preliminary stage as speculate by Holstein and Gubrium. The next set of questions centered on the perception of the respondents regarding the effectiveness of the program of the committee in which they were members.The subjects were asked of the perception of their fellow workers on their election 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 process of their duties as committee members. Questions on the perceived quality of the content of their training, the methods of dissemination 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 procedures adopted during the meetings and the dissemination of information to members before and after each meeting. The last set of specific 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 unresolved 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 MethodologyThe methodologies applied by Brown in his dissertation are identifiable and well structured. They follow the pattern of a well organized q ualitative 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 copy 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. play down 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 the subject of his research. Initial visits to the premises of the firms under study, were made by Brown.He got himself familiarized 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 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 at this initial stage, helped him to take the interview to a less black-tie 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 reliable and transparent 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 importance 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 curse, accuracy in record keeping, and validity 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 informal conversational title will be inhibited.(McCracken,1988). Hence the first objective 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 inability to import a reliable heart and soul of recording his interviews made his transcripts of such interviews less than accurate.The third problem of validity of his subjects responses, Brown admits to be his most difficult. There is no easy solution to the issue of whether a respondent is truthful, e xcept 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 guidebook on which further research study can be undertaken to obtain knowledge of the interpersonal relationships within an industrial workplace. By using modern information technological innovations like teleconferencing and remote control recording devices, greater objectivity can be introduced into Browns qualitative research methodology. (Harris,1995).Overall, 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 Management 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, Marketing News, 29(12), 17-17 6. Hignett, S. , Wilson, R. (2004), The role for qualitative methodology in ergonomics a case study to explore theoretical issues, Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 5(6 ), 473-493 7. Holstein, James A. , and Jaber F. Gubrium. 1995. The Active Interview. m 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 insight 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