Qualitative Methods

Purpose Successful marketing communication campaigns require a thorough assessment of the public's current perceptions and attitudes toward the topic of the campaign. Such insights are most likely attained if a range of research methods are employed. However, in the area of pro-environmental campaigns, there has been an over-reliance on quantitative surveys. To illustrate the benefits of complementary, qualitative approaches, this paper reports a qualitative investigation of perceptions of climate change among young South Koreans. Design/methodology/approach – The study employed a variant of the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), a hybrid protocol which combines photo elicitation with metaphor analysis of subsequent in-depth individual interviews. Unlike survey research, ZMET uncovers the emotional, interpretive and sensory mental structures which, along with factual knowledge, make up the public mindset about climate change. Findings – The analysis revealed a multif...

Understanding death in long-term care (LTC) facilities and the preexisting standards and policies pertaining to the death experience in LTC is essential. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 administrators of CCRCs and data analyzed through content analysis. Results of the current study reveal that administrators spoke of approaching death in their facility similar to any other procedural task, removal of the residents' bodies varied by community, and coordination responsibilities ranged from maintenance crews to management. Notification practices for residents and staff were also inconsistent. Differences existed in internal cultures on providing forms of respect. These practices were standard for some facilities while others were flexible to accommodate family requests. The majority of the sites did not offer additional training on death and dying for staff members. Findings suggest the need for consistency regarding how senior housing administrators approach the deat...

Market and marketing researchers are increasingly required to work within the global context as the world of internationalisation and globalisation expands. Despite meta-reviews of cross-cultural research (CCR) dating back as far as 1999 (Sin, Cheung, & Lee, 1999), many of the issues raised remain unaddressed. This chapter provides formative advice for emerging research in the cross-cultural domain.

ABSTRACT Market and marketing researchers are increasingly required to work within the global context as the world of internationalisation and globalisation expands. Despite meta-reviews of cross-cultural research (CCR) dating back as far as 1999 (Sin, Cheung, & Lee, 1999), many of the issues raised remain unaddressed. This chapter provides formative advice for emerging research in the cross-cultural domain.

Qualitative research is an ongoing disruptive innovation in educational research all around the world. For a century or more, the world has predominantly been under the dominion of quantitative research. In fact, when qualitative research was introduced a few decades ago, it met strong resistance and repugnance, just as is the case of any groundbreaking innovation. Today, this opposition to the different way of thinking that qualitative research promotes still exists in many countries around the world. One of the reasons why scholars resist qualitative research is that they simply do not know what it is and what makes a good qualitative research study. This paper uses leading qualitative research texts to propose a list of criteria to evaluate the quality of a qualitative research paper. Keywords: qualitative research, triangulation, quality in qualitative research, evaluation of qualitative research, myths of qualitative research, importance of qualitative research, evaluating qualitative research

There is no doubt that the need for qualitative research has increased and has been felt all around the
world. Once feared, detested, or even not much valued by some, qualitative research has now become the rare bird many people are trying to catch. Unfortunately, as more and more people and institutions try to embrace qualitative research, maybe more damage is being done in the process because of the lack of solid understanding of qualitative research. To pave a strong way to excellence in qualitative research conduct and dissemination, it is important to have an idea of the current state of qualitative research. This paper is based on content analysis of the input from 197 higher education professors, administrators, researchers, graduate and doctoral students from 40 higher education institutions in the Philippines. It is based on 10 most commonly asked questions about qualitative research. These questions are grouped into three major themes: the fundamentals, the methodology, and the trustworthiness of qualitative research. Understanding these commonly asked questions can help us pave better the way to quality capability training in qualitative research.

Qualitative research continues to grow around the world. More and more scholars and institutions of higher education continue to embrace it. Publications must continue to be on practical ways of conducting qualitative research in general and conducting it especially ethically. This paper is focused primarily on practical ways of enhancing ethical practices in qualitative research. While many qualitative research books and articles discuss ethical considerations, it is good to have a paper that synthesizes effective strategies to enhance ethics in a much more practical way. This paper goes from the definition of ethics to the importance of ethical practices and to the implementation of practical considerations before, during, and after data collection in qualitative research. This paper is not meant to be exhaustive; however, it should be a good guide for qualitative researchers who wish to avail of practical strategies for good ethical practices.

As qualitative research production continues to increase worldwide, it is important to synthesize it. Although there have been some attempts to structure the best ways to synthesize qualitative research, steps provided so far in the literature may not be user-friendly for novice qualitative researchers. This paper defines meta-synthesis, the qualitative research design used to systematically synthesize an existing body of research. The paper provides different orientations of meta-synthesis, as well as a step-by-step guide in conducting a meta-synthesis. This paper is meant to generate more interest and discussion on this less-used and yet much needed qualitative research design. The discussion generated should help improve the practice of meta-synthesis in general. With this knowledge, more qualitative research may be systematically synthesized to help orient new directions of inconclusive research. Expertise in meta-synthesis can also help generate more informed practical guidelines needed by different policymakers and practitioners in their respective fields. Such a contribution would take the relevance of qualitative research one step higher. Last, more systematic synthesis of primary qualitative research studies can help generate new theories or strengthen existing ones.

Research in social sciences is or at least should be, primarily about improving people's lives. This is especially important in qualitative research. It is not uncommon to find many qualitative research books and articles encouraging qualitative researchers to give voice to participants who do not have any. In the literature, one branch that is concerned with this specific ethical duty of qualitative researchers is advocacy or advocating. While some qualitative research books and articles have referred to advocacy in passing, it is not a topic that is frequently discussed in the qualitative research fora, despite its significant importance. This paper defines what advocacy is, its importance in qualitative research, and the challenges of advocating. The ultimate goal of this paper is to discuss effective ways of advocating through qualitative research. This is especially important when conducting qualitative research with alienated, marginalized, dehumanized, and powerless groups of people.

The year 2020 will go down in history as the year when the whole world was challenged with one invisible enemy that changed everything in human society in the 21st Century. It is the worst modern pandemic that has shaken all aspects of human life. It is clear that no one in any field was well prepared, if prepared at all, for COVID-19. The newness of this pandemic has given room for several qualitative research opportunities to help understand and address the social implications. In this paper, we discuss the social trends of COVID-19, the role qualitative research should play during a disaster such as this pandemic, and how to conduct qualitative research about and during such a disaster. This paper also introduces the Crisis Recovery Stages model that can help researchers move effectively in the production mode despite the disaster. The paper also generates ideas for current issues that can be addressed through and about qualitative research.

ABSTRACT Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to share the authors' experiences of using the repertory grid technique in two supply chain management studies. The paper aims to demonstrate how the two studies provided insights into how qualitative techniques such as the repertory grid can be made more rigorous than in the past, and how results can be generated that are inaccessible using quantitative methods. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents two studies undertaken using the repertory grid technique to illustrate its application in supply chain management research. Findings – The paper presents insights into supply chain research that otherwise would not have emerged using traditional methods. Both studies derive a comprehensive list of empirical categories of constructs, many of which have not been identified in the extant literature. Moreover, the technique demonstrates that frequently-mentioned constructs are not necessarily the most important. Research limitations/implications – The paper demonstrates how quantitative calculations can strengthen qualitative research. Importantly, from the authors' experience of using the technique the paper details how to focus on demonstrating validity, reliability, and theoretical saturation. Originality/value – It is the authors' contention that the addition of the repertory grid technique to the toolset of methods used by logistics and supply chain management researchers can only enhance insights and the building of robust theories. Qualitative studies that adopt the technique cannot only provide rich insights, but also counter the common criticism aimed at qualitative research – that of failing to provide clear and transparent accounts of the analysis process and how findings are generated from the data set.

Drawings are employed by qualitative researchers in many creative ways, and in many different contexts, and a variety of different terms are used to describe similar techniques. I present here a concise description of two basic approaches to integrating participants’ produced drawings into verbal qualitative research interviews, along with characteristic cases of empirical research demonstrating how these approaches have been applied. I also provide a list of best practices and I discuss ethical issues. It is common for qualitative researchers to mix techniques in order to creatively address real-world research challenges. The proposed categorization, augmented by the list of best practices, can help researchers to effectively integrate drawings and verbal interviews into a multimodal research project.