Journal Article•
Interpreting qualitative data
About: This article is published in The practising midwife.The article was published on 2010-03-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1501 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Qualitative property.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine what rigor types authors report and how they report them by content analysis of case studies published 1995-2000 in 10 management journals and reveal three strategies for insuring rigor.
Abstract: To provide evidence-based strategies for ensuring rigor of case studies, the authors examine what rigor types authors report and how they report them by content analyzing all case studies published 1995—2000 in 10 management journals. Comparing practices in articles addressing rigor extensively and less extensively, the authors reveal three strategies for insuring rigor. First, very few case study authors explicitly label the rigor criteria in terms of the concepts commonly used in the positivist tradition (construct, internal, and external validity, as well as reliability). Despite this, papers addressing rigor extensively do report concrete research actions taken to ensure methodological rigor. Second, papers addressing rigor extensively prioritized rigor types: more, and more detailed, strategies were reported for ensuring internal and construct validity than for external validity. Third, emergent strategies used in the field were reported, such as setbacks and serendipities, that necessitated changes ...
613 citations
Cites background from "Interpreting qualitative data"
...…the studied context particularly suitable for the application of certain rigor criteria, thereby greatly enhancing the ‘‘credibility’’ of the research (Silverman, 2005, 2006): To make access to data easier, a clear trade-off was made in favor of the retrospective analysis of relatively recent…...
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...…these criteria have been adapted for use in case studies by Yin (1994), as well as other scholars from both interpretivist as well as positivist traditions (e.g., Campbell, 1975; Denzin & Lincoln, 1994; Eisenhardt, 1989; Kidder & Judd, 1986; Kirk & Miller, 1986; Silverman, 2005, 2006; Stake, 1995)....
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...Similarly, rigor—often seen as one of the key weaknesses of case studies—often seems to lie in the eye of the beholder and may even involve ‘‘persuading’’ readers and reviewers (Siggelkow, 2007) of the ‘‘credibility’’ of methodological procedures (e.g., Silverman, 2005, 2006)....
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...For example, Silverman’s influential interpretivist text suggests that ‘‘the two central concepts in any discussion of the credibility of scientific research are ‘validity’ and ‘reliability’’’ (Silverman, 2006, p. 225)....
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...For instance, Silverman’s influential interpretivist text explicitly rejects construct validity from his list of criteria to ensure ‘‘credible’’ research (Silverman, 2005, 2006)....
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TL;DR: The most common way across paradigmatic camps is to spot various 'gaps' in the literature and, based on that, to formulate specific research questions as mentioned in this paper, which are likely to promote the development of interesting and influential theories.
Abstract: This article examines ways of constructing research questions from existing literature, which are likely to promote the development of interesting and influential theories. We review 52 articles in organization studies and develop a typology of how researchers construct their research questions from existing literature. The most common way across paradigmatic camps is to spot various 'gaps' in the literature and, based on that, to formulate specific research questions. The dominance of gap-spotting is surprising, given it is increasingly recognized that theory is made interesting and influential when it challenges assumptions that underlie existing literature. The article discusses why assumption-challenging approaches are rare, and it identifies a range of social norms that favour gap-spotting. Finally, the article proposes some ways of constructing research questions that move beyond gap-spotting, and discusses how these ways are likely to promote more interesting and significant theories.
569 citations
Cites background from "Interpreting qualitative data"
...Some textbooks (e.g. Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Silverman, 2001; Van de Ven, 2007) advise that formulating good research questions does not only involve defining domain, topic and type of questions, but also considering contextual issues, such as how various stakeholders may influence the…...
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: The authors provide insights into the particularities of interviewing elites for those new to researching this group, focusing on gaining trust and gauging the tone of the interview, how to present oneself during the interview and the appropriate length of an interview.
Abstract: This paper addresses some strategies for conducting elite interviews. It draws upon material from a significant number of interviews that the author has conducted with this group in a variety of economic sectors and countries, as well as from the social sciences literature on elites. The aim of the paper is to provide insights into the particularities of interviewing elites for those new to researching this group. In particular, it focuses on gaining trust and gauging the tone of the interview, how to present oneself during the interview, asking open and closed questions, the appropriate length of an interview, whether to record the conversation, coping with difficult scenarios, asking awkward questions, managing respondents who do not answer the question, keeping respondents interested in the interview and finally gaining feedback from respondents.
483 citations
Cites background from "Interpreting qualitative data"
...The article does not pretend to provide definitive answers to the above issues, many of which have been extensively addressed in general social science texts on research methods (Bryman, 2004; Creswell, 2003; Silverman, 2006)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a conceptualization of liminality, a state of in-betweenness and ambiguity, as it applies to identity reconstruction of people in organizations, is presented and analyzed.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to contribute a conceptualization of liminality, a state of in-between-ness and ambiguity, as it applies to identity reconstruction of people in organizations. Liminality is discussed in anthropological and organizational literatures and a composite understanding is developed here. This incorporates a dialogical perspective and defines liminal practices along with varying orientations of dialogue between the self and others. Application of this conceptualization is illustrated by analysis of two cases and a broader application of the concept to the identity work literature is discussed.
421 citations
Cites background or methods from "Interpreting qualitative data"
...The analysis followed a pattern set out by Silverman (2001) and Sims (2003; Beech and Sims, 2007)....
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...Then the nature and order of events are analysed (Silverman, 2001)....
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TL;DR: This paper used NVivo and Leximancer to analyse the same set of data derived from interviews with sport management experts on high performance sport to showcase the differences in findings depending on the type of software used.
Abstract: As the use and availability of qualitative software analysis tools increase, so does ambiguity regarding the choice of the most appropriate software in sport management research. This paper uses NVivo and Leximancer to analyse the same set of data derived from interviews with sport management experts on high performance sport to showcase the differences in findings depending on the type of software used. The findings alert sport management and social science researchers to the importance of closely examining the choice of software for qualitative data analysis. Researchers may base their decision on aspects such as the type and size of data set, their competence and skills in data interpretation and the level of engagement with data analysis they plan on undertaking. This paper discusses the implications for researchers in the sport management field using these tools for data analysis and highlights the value that software can add to the research effort.
410 citations
Cites result from "Interpreting qualitative data"
...This proximity to the data and the importance of ascertaining what the data is telling the analyst is also supported by previous work (Silverman 2011)....
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine what rigor types authors report and how they report them by content analysis of case studies published 1995-2000 in 10 management journals and reveal three strategies for insuring rigor.
Abstract: To provide evidence-based strategies for ensuring rigor of case studies, the authors examine what rigor types authors report and how they report them by content analyzing all case studies published 1995—2000 in 10 management journals. Comparing practices in articles addressing rigor extensively and less extensively, the authors reveal three strategies for insuring rigor. First, very few case study authors explicitly label the rigor criteria in terms of the concepts commonly used in the positivist tradition (construct, internal, and external validity, as well as reliability). Despite this, papers addressing rigor extensively do report concrete research actions taken to ensure methodological rigor. Second, papers addressing rigor extensively prioritized rigor types: more, and more detailed, strategies were reported for ensuring internal and construct validity than for external validity. Third, emergent strategies used in the field were reported, such as setbacks and serendipities, that necessitated changes ...
613 citations
TL;DR: The most common way across paradigmatic camps is to spot various 'gaps' in the literature and, based on that, to formulate specific research questions as mentioned in this paper, which are likely to promote the development of interesting and influential theories.
Abstract: This article examines ways of constructing research questions from existing literature, which are likely to promote the development of interesting and influential theories. We review 52 articles in organization studies and develop a typology of how researchers construct their research questions from existing literature. The most common way across paradigmatic camps is to spot various 'gaps' in the literature and, based on that, to formulate specific research questions. The dominance of gap-spotting is surprising, given it is increasingly recognized that theory is made interesting and influential when it challenges assumptions that underlie existing literature. The article discusses why assumption-challenging approaches are rare, and it identifies a range of social norms that favour gap-spotting. Finally, the article proposes some ways of constructing research questions that move beyond gap-spotting, and discusses how these ways are likely to promote more interesting and significant theories.
569 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The authors provide insights into the particularities of interviewing elites for those new to researching this group, focusing on gaining trust and gauging the tone of the interview, how to present oneself during the interview and the appropriate length of an interview.
Abstract: This paper addresses some strategies for conducting elite interviews. It draws upon material from a significant number of interviews that the author has conducted with this group in a variety of economic sectors and countries, as well as from the social sciences literature on elites. The aim of the paper is to provide insights into the particularities of interviewing elites for those new to researching this group. In particular, it focuses on gaining trust and gauging the tone of the interview, how to present oneself during the interview, asking open and closed questions, the appropriate length of an interview, whether to record the conversation, coping with difficult scenarios, asking awkward questions, managing respondents who do not answer the question, keeping respondents interested in the interview and finally gaining feedback from respondents.
483 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptualization of liminality, a state of in-betweenness and ambiguity, as it applies to identity reconstruction of people in organizations, is presented and analyzed.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to contribute a conceptualization of liminality, a state of in-between-ness and ambiguity, as it applies to identity reconstruction of people in organizations. Liminality is discussed in anthropological and organizational literatures and a composite understanding is developed here. This incorporates a dialogical perspective and defines liminal practices along with varying orientations of dialogue between the self and others. Application of this conceptualization is illustrated by analysis of two cases and a broader application of the concept to the identity work literature is discussed.
421 citations
TL;DR: This paper used NVivo and Leximancer to analyse the same set of data derived from interviews with sport management experts on high performance sport to showcase the differences in findings depending on the type of software used.
Abstract: As the use and availability of qualitative software analysis tools increase, so does ambiguity regarding the choice of the most appropriate software in sport management research. This paper uses NVivo and Leximancer to analyse the same set of data derived from interviews with sport management experts on high performance sport to showcase the differences in findings depending on the type of software used. The findings alert sport management and social science researchers to the importance of closely examining the choice of software for qualitative data analysis. Researchers may base their decision on aspects such as the type and size of data set, their competence and skills in data interpretation and the level of engagement with data analysis they plan on undertaking. This paper discusses the implications for researchers in the sport management field using these tools for data analysis and highlights the value that software can add to the research effort.
410 citations