RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Research Methodology

Overview of Qualitative Research

Research methods can be classified in various ways, however one of the most common distinctions is between qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Quantitative research methods were originally developed in the natural sciences to study natural phenomena. Examples of quantitative methods now well accepted in the social sciences include survey methods, laboratory experiments, formal methods (e.g. econometrics) and numerical methods such as mathematical modeling. See the ISWorld Section on Quantitative, Positivist Research edited by Straub, Gefen and Boudreau.

Qualitative research methods were developed in the social sciences to enable researchers to study social and cultural phenomena. Examples of qualitative methods are action research, case study research and ethnography. Qualitative data sources include observation and participant observation (fieldwork), interviews and questionnaires, documents and texts, and the researcher's impressions and reactions.

The motivation for doing qualitative research, as opposed to quantitative research, comes from the observation that, if there is one thing which distinguishes humans from the natural world, it is our ability to talk! Qualitative research methods are designed to help researchers understand people and the social and cultural contexts within which they live. Kaplan and Maxwell argue that the goal of understanding a phenomenon from the point of view of the participants and its particular social and institutional context is largely lost when textual data are quantified.

Although most researchers do either quantitative or qualitative research work, some researchers have suggested combining one or more research methods in the one study (called triangulation). Good discussions of triangulation can be found in Gable, Kaplan and Duchon , Lee , Mingers and Ragin . An empirical example of the use of triangulation is Markus' paper on electronic mail.

As well as the qualitative/quantitative distinction, there are other distinctions which are commonly made. Research methods have variously been classified as objective versus subjective, as being concerned with the discovery of general laws (nomothetic) versus being concerned with the uniqueness of each particular situation (idiographic), as aimed at prediction and control versus aimed at explanation and understanding, as taking an outsider (etic) versus taking an insider (emic) perspective, and so on. Considerable controversy continues to surround the use of these terms, however, a discussion of these distinctions is beyond the scope of this section. For a fuller discussion see Luthans and Davis , and Morey and Luthans . See also the section on philosophical perspectives below.

»General References on Qualitative Research»ICIS 1996 Panel on Survey Research»ICIS 2000 Panel on Markus' 1983 Classic Study

Philosophical Perspectives

All research (whether quantitative or qualitative) is based on some underlying assumptions about what constitutes 'valid' research and which research methods are appropriate. In order to conduct and/or evaluate qualitative research, it is therefore important to know what these (sometimes hidden) assumptions are.

For our purposes, the most pertinent philosophical assumptions are those which relate to the underlying epistemology which guides the research. Epistemology refers to the assumptions about knowledge and how it can be obtained (for a fuller discussion, see Hirschheim, 1992).

Guba and Lincoln suggest four underlying "paradigms" for qualitative ...