51E00500 Academic Skills (6 ECTS)

October 8, 2013Professor Rebecca Piekkari

Who is Rebecca Piekkari?

• Professor of International Business• Vice Dean for Research and International Relations• Area of interest in teaching and research: qualitative

research methods, particularly the case study; management of multinational corporations; people issues, language and multilingualism in international organisations

• Visiting professor and researcher: Copenhagen Business School, INSEAD, University of Sheffield, University of Bath, University of Sydney, St Petersburg State University, and Warsaw School of Economics

After today’s lecture you should be able to: differentiate between positivism, interpretivism/

social constructivism understand how differences in philosophical

assumptions influence decisions concerning research design and research methods

be able to argue for your own philosophical position

Social constructivism Positivism

Where do you see yourself as a researcher on the continuum? Be prepared to advocate your philosophical stance to others in class.

The positivist cycleThe positivist cycle

Data

Theory

Inductive theory

building

Theory testing

Positivist vs interpretivist Positivist vs interpretivist approachesapproaches• ‘Positivist definitions of theory treat it as a statement of

relationships between abstract concepts that cover a wide range of empirical observations. In this view, the objectives of theory are explanation and prediction …

• An alternative definition of theory emphasizes understanding rather than explanation… Interpretive theories allow for indeterminacy rather than seek causality and give priority to showing patterns and connections rather than to linear reasoning … Interpretive theory calls for the imaginative understanding of the studied phenomenon’

Source: Charmaz (2006, pp. 125-126)

The traditional ‘linear’ model of the The traditional ‘linear’ model of the research processresearch process

Identify target area of interest

Read theliterature

Develop research questions

Design a study

Collectandanalysedata

Writeup results

Publish!!

Choice of research method

Organisational properties

Personal properties

Evidential properties

Ethical properties

Political properties

Historical properties

Trends in organizational research: boundaries, paradigms and methodologicalinventiveness

Source: Buchanan and Bryman (2007, p. 488)

Research topic

Choice of research methods

Traditional view:- a step in the research

process between setting the objectives and commencing field work

- a stand-alone decision reached at an early stage of the research process

- assumes that the research process flows logically from the research questions to findings

Contextualised view:- A multicriteria decision

involving not only technical and theoretical considerations related to the research topic and objectives of the study, but also epistemological, historical, political, ethical evidential and personal factors

- choice of research method evolves as the research process unfolds

Source: Buchanan and Bryman (2007)

Introduction to Qualitative Methods, 25-26 September 2006

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ResearcherElite

interviewee

• junior• academic• gender• culture and language skills

• senior• business practitioner• gender• culture and language skills

The interview situation with a corporate elite

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An interview with a corporate elite

Q:What kind of gender policies do you have in your organisation?

A: I’m tempted to say that this conversation will be very short if we discuss this issue. Let me rephrase the question: Why would you have gender policies in the first place?

Q:Well, what I’m asking is that... [interrupted]

A: Yes, yes, but in our [company] culture, everyone is equal and there isn’t a need for such policies. Whether this is the reality, whether the practices promote equality is another story... [fingerpointing]

Source: Hearn and Piekkari (2005, p. 441)

Introduction to Qualitative Methods, 25-26 September 2006

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Another interview with a corporate elite Q: Is there now something you would like to add or

emphasize which I didn’t ask?

A: When I think about this research topic, there is a strong hypothesis that you are testing ... the effect of gender on certain issues ... But the challenge is to frame the problem in such a way that you will arrive at the right results ... It is very central to get real objective information based on facts about the situation.

Introduction to Qualitative Methods, 25-26 September 2006

Interview context Source: Marschan-Piekkari et al. (2004, p. 246)

SETTING INTERVIEWER INTERVIEWEE

ORGANISATION ORGANISATION

Physical location

Time constraints

Logistics

Introductions

Hiring interpreters

Developing rapport

RoleplayingNATIONAL CONTEXT

Academic vs professional language

Interpersonal dynamics

Cultural norms

Interruptions

Trust

Access Field notes

Tape recording

A sample structure of a methods A sample structure of a methods chapter in a thesischapter in a thesis

1. Ontology and epistemology2. Research design3. Unit of analysis4. Sampling decisions5. Data collection6. Data analysis and interpretation7. Ethical issues8. Quality criteria9. Limitations of the study

Source: Adapted from Zalan and Lewis (2004, pp. 527-528)

What is abduction? What is abduction? Concept coined by Charles Peirce ‘who argued that

discovery rests primarily on abductive reasoning. As a foundation for inquiry, abduction begins with an unmet expectation and works backward to invent a plausible world or a theory that would make surprise meaningful … abduction is a continuous process, taking place in all phases of the research process. Analysis proceeds by the continuous interplay between concepts and data … What makes for interesting scholarly work is the discontinuity of some (but not all) of the theoretical assumptions of the researcher and the research audience and some (but not all) of the discovered and claimed facts of the matter.’

Source: Van Maanen, Sorensen and Mitchell (2007, p. 1149)

Abductive approach Abductive approach notnot a mix a mix between inductive and deductivebetween inductive and deductive

‘One major difference, as compared with both deductive and inductive studies, is the role of the framework. In studies relying on abduction, the original framework is successively modified, partly as a result of unanticipated empirical findings, but also of theoretical insights gained during the process.’(Dubois & Gadde 2002, p.559)

Making the abductive process of Making the abductive process of theorising explicittheorising explicit

- a non-linear process- abductive logic: matching i.e. going backwards and

forwards between framework, data sources and analysis (Dubois and Gadde 2002, p. 556)

- direction and redirection: data collection as a discovery process, leading to new dimensions of the research problem (Dubois and Gadde 2002, p. 556)

Writing up an abductive thesisWriting up an abductive thesis

• Explain the redirections and reinterpretations that took place in the course of the research – Why did you redirect your study? – What were the consequences of redirecting the study

for the next phase or the study as a whole– What insights did you gain due to shift in focus?

Source: Guest lecture on ‘case research’ by A Dubois, HSE, 13 February 2007

Your ontological and epistemological positions influence....Source: Partington (2002)

Research Design

Purpose

Theoretical Perspective

Research Question

Different philosophical positionsDifferent philosophical positionson interviewingon interviewing

1) Neopositivist: extracting accurate information from the interviewee, need for neutrality and objectivity

2) Romantic: aim to create “a situated friendship” building rapport and trust with the interviewee essential

3) Localist: interview data co-produced by the interviewer and the interviewee

Source: Alvesson (2003), Welch and Piekkari (2006)

What is the approach to What is the approach to interviewing here?interviewing here?

‘Rather than denying or failing to see the situation of the interview as a determinant of what goes on in the questioning and answering processes, creative interviewing embraces the immediate concrete situation; tries to understand how it is affecting what is communicated; and, by understanding these effects, changes the interviewer’s communication processes to increase the discovery of the truth about human beings… Creative interviewing… involves the use of many strategies and tactics of interaction, largely based on an understanding of friendly feelings and intimacy, to optimize cooperative, mutual disclosure and a creative search for mutual understanding.’ (p. 22, p. 25)

Source: Jack D. Douglas, Creative Interviewing, Beverly Hills: Sage 1985

What is the approach to What is the approach to interviewing here?interviewing here?

‘the value of interview data lies both in their meanings and in how meanings are constructed. These what and how matters go hand in hand … The entire [interview] process is fueled by the reality-constituting contribution of all participants; interviewers, too, are similarly implicated in the co-construction of the subject positions from which they ask the questions at hand’.

Source: J.F. Gubrium and J.A. Holstein (eds), Handbook of Interview Research, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2001, p. 16

Why do I need to understand philosophical debates in management research?

• Philosophical positioning assists in making concrete decisions concerning research design and methods: it is practical!

• Depending on your philosophical position • the reader is able to appreciate your findings• the practitioner is able to apply your findings

• A philosophical stands provides you with an academic worldview and road map