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Managers basically do business research to understand how and why things happen. If the
manager needs to know only what happened, or how often things happened, quantitative
research methodolo- gies would serve the purpose. But to understand the different
meanings that people place on their experiences often requires research techniques that
delve more deeply into peoples hidden interpre- tations, understandings, and
motivations. Qualitative research is designed to tell the researcher how (process) and why
(meaning) things happen as they do. While qualitative research currently accounts for
about 20% of research expenditures by businesses, that is set to change. With technology
help- ing to rapidly expand the insights drawn from social media analysis (netnography),
ethnography, crowdsourcing (tasking an undefined public with a problem or task),
marketing research online communities (MROCs), and virtual groups, the use of
qualitative research by business is expected to explode.1
business decisions. Manag- ers deal with the issue of trustworthiness of qualitative data
through exacting methodology:
Executing the chosen methodology in its natural setting (field study) rather than a highly
controlled setting (laboratory).
Choosing sample participants for relevance to the breadth of the issue rather than how
well they represent the target population.
Developing and including questions that reveal the exceptions to a rule or theory.
Carefully structuring the data analysis.
Comparing data across multiple sources and different contexts.
Conducting peer-researcher debriefing on results for added clarity, additional
insights, and reduced bias.
D > Qualitative versus Quantitative Research
Quanlitative
Quantitative
Focus of
Research
Researcher
Involvement
Limited; controlled to
prevent bias
Research
Purpose
Sample Design
Nonprobability; purposive
Probability
Sample Size
Small
Large
Research
Design
Determined before
commencing the project
Uses single method or mixed
methods
Consistency is critical
Participant
Preparation
Pretasking is common
No preparation desired to
avoid biasing the participant
Verbal descriptions
Computerized analysis
statistical and mathemat- ical
methods dominate
Data Analysis
References
Business Research Method 12th `edition Donald cooper 2012
Introduction to qualitative data and methods for collection and analysis in food security
assessments, February 2009.