It would not be deemed inaccurate to define Qualitative analysis simply as research based on words as against numbers. This gives an overall view of a subject from a sociological point of view. There are various methods employed in acquiring data based on such qualitative methods. All these methods follow the fundamental principle of ascertaining meaning from actions, words and actions of people while treating the subjects with sensitivity. In this article we will explore three methods of qualitative research.
1. Case Study.
2. Phenomenology.
3. Grounded theory or Ethnography.
The article aims to explore the methodology behind these three by way of research done using them and explains the subtle differences employed by each in its applications. . We will analyze the effectiveness of the chosen research by breaking down the process by way of its process of data collection, data grouping and analysis. The objective of this article however is not to ascertain the effectiveness of one over the other but rather towards a universal understanding of the multifaceted aspect of qualitative approach.
A case study as the name suggests is the study of the causation of success or failure of a program or process or ideology. The use of case studies has found a lot of success in business. It is popular practise for organizations to do case studies in order to analyze the repercussions of certain policies or attitudes taken towards projects, innovations, company policies and the like. These in turn can have influences on the success of the company in general. A case study however is never strictly qualitative and can be combined with Quantitative data results to obtain a conclusion. As explained below,
The case study we have based our article on is the study of the failure of Executive Information Systems (EIS) in a company in New Zealand. The EIS system that was designed for the company GARDENCO, a pseudonym that was used for the purpose of research, is a company that is involved in the main business of seed and bulb production with over 7 branches all over New Zealand. The EIS system that was designed for the company was terminated in 1994. The research conducted in 1995 tried to ascertain the reasons why the system did not work for the company. The gap between the event and the research was chosen deliberately to be able to evoke a more subjective rather than emotional response from the participants.
For this analysis the primary information of the system that was implemented was gathered as one part of the research. This was complemented by news articles, journals and clipping that were focused on the company which might gives us an idea of the progress of the company over the years. Economic data was also collected in this process to test the growth o the company that may have played a role in the failure of the program. Therefore armed with quantitative data the process of the EIS implementation from its beginning in 1989 to its final abandonment in 1994 was studied.
The participants in the process were the key players in the EIS program, the Company secretary who supported the program from its onset and left the company at a very crucial period of launch, the new personnel in Management information Systems (MIS) who came in when the company went through changes in management and expansion. The project manager, the consultant from the company that was handling the project were selected as key players from the outside resources. The general pattern of the executives in the company as also noted by way of interviews. They were identified as the key players as the EIS was being formatted to suit their needs.
As is most essential I case studies complete information of the management and growth patterns within the company was also noted. The MIS manager’s resignation and her technician being assigned her role are also notable. The analysis of the various data showed that the failure of the EIS was highly dependent on variables that were not directly connected to the working of the system.
The various political changes within the company and takeovers played a key issue in the matter. The analyst plays a passive role in analysing it from a more holistic approach than what was evident on the surface. The failure of the system was finally attributed to the length of the project, which was influenced by the lack of a sponsor for the program. After the resignation of the company secretary there was no interest or encouragement for the project. The parameters and specs of the project also kept changing because of the prolonged process. Thus by the time the project was launched the main initiators of the project and ones who understood its objective and purpose were no longer with the company. The same pattern was seen with the consulting company as well. The path to its failure was laid out from the point of decision to customize the system from scratch, choice of the operating system to it gaining redundancy over paper projects. The researcher was also able to understand that “The speed in delivering a prototype is critical to its success as it helps the executives to understand what an EIS is, how it can assist them and what benefits it will bring.” (Bussen and Myers, 1997. P.152)
Thus this case study and the approach taken by the researcher proved the many factors that are at play in its failure. Upon comparison of the available data on the EIS project and growth and managerial patterns in the company with the conservative attitudes of the executives, the lack of technical expertise in the company and the poorly planned evolution of the EIS system, the analyst was able to arrive at a consolidated theory to its failure. We notice that the researcher has utilized the triangulation method and arrived at a credible analysis of the situation, which can be applied in future and used as a study to learn from when ever the company decides to launch systems similar to this.
Phenomenological Study
“The external world is reduced to the contents of personal consciousness. Realities are thus treated as pure ‘phenomena’ and the only absolute data from where to begin.” (Groenewald, 2004.). Therefore when viewing it from the above explanation we can say that the main rule to a phenomenological study asserts that the researcher cannot be removed from the circumstances. Therefore anything that was not experienced or noticed by the researcher would be ignored. The role of the researcher in such a study is one of being a subjective observer.
For the purpose of illustration of this kind of research we have chosen the research example stated by Thomas Groenewald in his illustration of the process of Phenomenological research. Groenewald based his article on the study of the phenomenon of the growing of talent and the contribution of co-operative education in this process. His study was based specifically on South Africa. A Cooperative education process is one where participants spent equal time in an educational and working environment at the same time. The talents as mentioned in this research were people with particular skill-sets, which were valuable to the organization in question.
The research participants chosen for this research were selected by doing searching online as well in the telephone directory. The participants selected were equally divided between educational institutions and organizations, which participated in the above-mentioned co-operative educational endeavour. Groenwald identifies 5 each from both these settings and 10 participants who were recipients or students of this program. The method was identification was done by personal identification and by virtue of recommendations of the selected ones. Care was taken to make sure that all participants were fully aware of the purpose of the test, the procedures that would be employed. The participants were also made fully aware of the positive and negative sides of such a research and given full freedom to remove themselves from the research if they felt compromised. An “informed consent” as Groenwald names it was thus obtained from all participants.
The collection of data was done through a series of open minded interviews where the researcher recorded all the conversations and maintained detailed records of all that transpired during his interactions with each participant. In order to not allow biased interpretation based on universal knowledge or influenced by the researcher’s viewpoints all data recorded and all observations were immediately noted. Since this kind of research is based completely on the participants viewpoints to gather evidence and acquire analysis, care was take to see that all recoding equipment were in good working order to avoid disruptions and incoherency. The main strategy employed by Groenewald was to allow free expression that did not stress on grammar, language or even require the participant to be politically correct. With regards to the group chosen among the students or those who benefitted from the program, Groenewald acquired data from two different groups one focusing on essays and the other on group discussions on the topic. The question directed towards them was to articulate how they felt about the program, the benefits and how they would like it to be applied for other subjects of their preference.
The interviews and the questions were directed with the objective of exhausting all possible angles of looking at the topic where the researcher was as much a participant as the chosen participant itself. Groenewald here played a very passive role and did not initiate any viewpoints in the interview but only served as a moderator who instigated elaboration on certain topics where he deemed fit. This helped in not allowing his personal viewpoints on the subject interfere with actual responses received. This was further enhanced by the fact that once the data was collated. They were sorted based on similar view points taking care to not ignore opposing view points regardless of how small a percentage it was. The notes thus collated and summarized were sounded off to each participant to make sure that it was being interpreted the way they meant it. In order to arrive at the summary Groenewald went through the process of bracketing, delineating, Clustering of Units and summarizing (Groenwald , 2004. P.17).
The research method used by Groenewald used the process of data triangulation as he arrived at his analysis by acquiring data on the same subject from various sources using various methods of extraction fro the participants. From his analysis he concluded that all participants were in support of such forms of cooperative education while there were still some reservations as to how it was being implemented. One gets the impression that the organizations and educational institutions implemented them more from the perspective of a political move for a better South Africa and did not pay too much attention to whether it benefited the students or helped in the nurture of talent, which should be the objective. Since phenomenological analysis does not venture into such suppositions, Groenewald concludes that all are in favour and we must assume that it will grow to benefit more in the future.
Grounded Theory Study or Ethnography
Grounded theory Study or Ethnography “is a qualitative research method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group.”(Phillipsen, 1992). In ethnographic study the research is more of a holistic approach to what people say and what they do. It has a lot of application in analyzing popularity of a brand or market analysis. The analysis is done here by the researcher being an observer and also by conducting interviews and questionnaires. They aim to study the nature of people and are therefore quite significant in the study of social circumstances. Unlike the other two research methods this kind of analysis draws a lot from personal observations
The analysis we have selected is the study of gender politics in golf clubs. The common assumption is that women are given less importance in the field of sports. The particular study was conducted in a gold club in the UK, established in 1935 and “has 550 full, golf playing members and around 30 social members. Of the 550 full members, 400 are male and 150 are female. Apart from the senior section, there are also veteran and junior divisions for the men. The women have a separate section.”(Shotton, Armour & Potrac. n.d. para 10)
True to the style of ethnography study the research was based on observations that were validated by interviews with the various characters or elements that contributed to this notion. The people chosen to interview female and male members of the club, and the administration of the club, Observation was made in casual as well as formal settings in the club. 5 distinct themes were identified and defined on the findings. They were based as seen below. Since the style of research is ethnographic research there was no set of participants identified. The participants were picked at random and based on their specific reactions or sensitivity to the subject. The themes of the analysis was also based on dominant characteristics observed and they were thus classified under:
(a) attitudes towards participation,
(b) social interaction and communication,
(c) organisation and compliance with rules and regulations,
(d) age, and
(e) inferiority.
(Shotton et al.n.d. para 11)
The observation in casual circumstances was made in bar setting within groups of men, women and mixed groups. Conversational and behavioural patterns were observed in these settings. The observations of formal behaviour were based on behaviour during committee meetings and formal club events, which were held in separate groups based on gender. The researchers qualified their observations by holding open interviews with specific members. These interviews were instigated by open-ended questions without any attempts to force any personal viewpoints on the interviewee.
Conclusion
Based on the above research approaches and conclusions it may be safe to conclude that the research methods used by the above researches were effective in analyzing the specific topic of study. The conclusions obtained therefore also prove the validity of the method in achieving the objective of the researchers.
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