Qualitative Methods in Business Research

Citation

Ruel, S. (2017), "Qualitative Methods in Business Research", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 87-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-08-2016-1410

Imagine for a moment that its 40 below 0 outside, the depth of winter is upon you, and you roll yourself up into the warmest blanket you can find to keep out the chill. This image – of being surrounded by this warm blanket – kept playing out in my mind as I read through the second edition of Qualitative Methods in Business Research by Paivi Eriksson and Anne Kovalainen. I fondly remember the first edition that was assigned to us in my first year as a doctoral student. When I started reading through the first edition, I thought that finally I could understand this journey I was on! The language in the first edition was clear, concise, and such a relief from the ontological and epistemological debates I had been exposed to. The second edition, thankfully, keeps this tradition alive: the book is attainable for its intended student audience and I might add for those that want a refresher in qualitative methodologies that the reader may have skipped over upon first reading.

There are five important changes within the structure and content of this second edition. The first two changes consist of renaming a few key chapters (chapter 4, “Research questions and literature review;” chapter 8, “Interviews and observations;” chapter 9 on “Digital data”), and the addition of new chapters on “Qualitative content analysis,” “Visual research,” and “Publishing.” The next change involves the addition of new and updated literature references (i.e. books and academic publications) to support the various chapters, and to instigate the student to do further independent study via the further reading section found at the end of each chapter. Finally, the two remaining changes involve more editorial issues such as restructuring problems and questions for the reader to practice their acquired knowledge and the tightening up of language for clarity. Within these editorial changes, there are now four parts to this edition (“The business of qualitative research,” “Working with qualitative data,” “Qualitative research approaches,” and “Writing, evaluating and publishing”) as opposed to initial three parts found in the first edition.

The new chapters on “Qualitative content analysis,” “Visual research,” and “Publishing” are very much welcome additions to this book. The “Qualitative content analysis” chapter was present in the first edition, but was lost in the “Electronic research” chapter. The “Visual research” chapter was, I found, an exciting addition as this method gains traction in studying businesses and their environment. Finally, the “Publishing” chapter was a surprise addition that was much needed. Many doctoral students question where and how to publish their research, some to make a difference within the business world and others to build their own academic pursuits. While this last chapter is brief, it allows for the beginning of a conversation on what avenue to follow (i.e. practitioner publications, conferences, book chapters, academic publications, etc.).

I identify in my academic work as a postfeminist poststructuralist. As controversial as this may sound, I must make this distinctive identification clear when I consider my expectations with respect to the “Feminist approach” chapter in this second edition. The authors point out right away that many textbooks do not identify feminism let alone as a method of study. While I was and continue to be ecstatic that these authors recognize this shortcoming within the business research literature, I really wanted to see some major updates to this chapter which unfortunately did not happen in this edition. Suggested improvements include considering introducing different types of feminism, and then suggesting matches of these types with appropriate methods. Too much focus was given to postmodernism as a feminist method, potentially confusing the audience into believing such avenues such as liberal feminism could be dealt with effectively say via a critical discourse analysis. Feminist studies span many different ontological states which necessitate a variety of potential approaches to bring forth feminist epistemologies, and thus different feminist approaches that can span an extensive continuum of possibilities. While I embrace this book as an introductory one to various qualitative methodologies, the authors have simplified the idea of feminism too much I believe.

On the whole, this is a wonderful warm blanket of a resource book for its intended audience. It provides a level of security to students in understanding the beginning of the conversation on a variety of qualitative methodologies. My first edition book is dog-eared, with many scribbles and tags throughout. I found myself doing the same thing with this second edition – writing down notes for myself, flipping corners of pages, etc. – and it is a welcome addition to my ever growing library of resource books that keep out the cold.