Finally, after the literature review, the development of a research question and a research model, the selection of the appropriate research strategy, and after data collection, it is about data processing. This session offers you a brief introduction and focuses on points of interest.
There is a common misbelief that a greater sample is better and allows you to generalise your results. This is only partially true. A larger sample has opportunities, as the p-value (significance) becomes better (or smaller) with a larger sample, (this is the reason that there is a significant correlation of the stork population and babies). However, this does allow you per se to generalise your research results. In this session, we will talk about criteria for sample construction and about pitfalls.
As mentioned previously, survey design research is quite common. That is the reason why this session focuses on this topic. We will talk about the structure of a questionnaire, pitfalls, pretests and various other important topics.
Once you have specified the central constructs and/or concepts and their relationships (hypotheses), you need to develop measures that allow you to have specific numbers that you can specify your ideas empirically. There are different approaches to measurement development, all faced with different pros and cons.
In stage three we will elaborate on different qualitative and quantitative research approaches. While quantitative research is narrowly defined with clear criteria and boxes to tick, qualitative research offers you much more freedom. This also reflects the epistemological and ontological considerations we discussed in Stage one.
Further reading
Recommended:
- Bryman, A. (2006). Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: how is it done?. Qualitative research, 6(1), 97-113.
- Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. (corresponding chapter)
- Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students. Pearson education.
Qualitative Research
- Berger, R. (2015). Now I see it, now I don’t: Researcher’s position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative research, 15(2), 219-234.
- Cho, J., & Trent, A. (2006). Validity in qualitative research revisited. Qualitative research, 6(3), 319-340.
- Dyer Jr, W. G., & Wilkins, A. L. (1991). Better stories, not better constructs, to generate better theory: A rejoinder to Eisenhardt. Academy of management review, 16(3), 613-619.
- Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. Academy of management review, 14(4), 532-550.
- Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory building from cases: Opportunities and challenges. The Academy of Management Journal, 50(1), 25-32.
- Ghauri, P. (2004). Designing and conducting case studies in international business research. Handbook of qualitative research methods for international business, 109-124.
- Seawright, J., & Gerring, J. (2008). Case selection techniques in case study research: A menu of qualitative and quantitative options. Political Research Quarterly, 61(2), 294-308.
- Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications, Inc.
- Temple, B., & Young, A. (2004). Qualitative research and translation dilemmas. Qualitative research, 4(2), 161-178.
Quantitative Research
- Dillman, D. A. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method(Vol. 19). New York: Wiley.
- Dillman, D. A., Phelps, G., Tortora, R., Swift, K., Kohrell, J., Berck, J., & Messer, B. L. (2009). Response rate and measurement differences in mixed-mode surveys using mail, telephone, interactive voice response (IVR) and the Internet. Social science research, 38(1), 1-18.
- Dillman, D. A., Sinclair, M. D., & Clark, J. R. (1993). Effects of questionnaire length, respondent-friendly design, and a difficult question on response rates for occupant-addressed census mail surveys. Public opinion quarterly, 57(3), 289-304.
- Gabriel, A. S., Podsakoff, N. P., Beal, D. J., Scott, B. A., Sonnentag, S., Trougakos, J. P., & Butts, M. M. (2018). Experience Sampling Methods: A Discussion of Critical Trends and Considerations for Scholarly Advancement. Organizational Research Methods, 1094428118802626.
- Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (1986). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of management, 12(4), 531-544.
- Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual review of psychology, 63, 539-569.
- Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2016). Recommendations for creating better concept definitions in the organizational, behavioral, and social sciences. Organizational Research Methods, 19(2), 159-203.
- Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of applied psychology, 88(5), 879.
- Stern, M., Dillman, D. A., & Smyth, J. D. (2007, December). Visual design, order effects, and respondent characteristics in a self-administered survey. In Survey Research Methods(Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 121-138).
In this session, we will discuss different kinds of qualitative research and e.g. different approaches to conduct interviews. Additionally, you will find several hints on how to develop interview-guidelines.
