Embracing qualitative research: an act of strategic essentialism
Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management
ISSN: 1746-5648
Article publication date: 11 October 2018
Issue publication date: 12 October 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue that rather than contest the artificial schism produced by social scientists between “qualitative” and “quantitative” research, we should to accept this binary, however, contingently, and use it productively. This would be an act of “strategic essentialism” that would allow us to be productive in the research and inquiry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses postcolonial theory to make a case for contingent representation, i.e. using artificial categories to carve out a space for heterodox theoretical approaches.
Findings
Researchers devoted to qualitative research must resist thinking, speaking and evaluating that research using quantitative thinking. Also, while ethical considerations are paramount in qualitative research, we need to debunk the narrow understanding of ethics as “following rules.” Also, qualitative researchers need to be aware of the institutional pulls that the research will be subject to, and also be ready to resist them.
Originality/value
This paper discusses how good research resists the siren call of institutionalization. It challenges the “common sense” assumptions of the field and brings them into the realm of the questionable. It seeks to theorize the untheorizable, and anthropologize the dominant.
Keywords
Citation
Mir, R. (2018), "Embracing qualitative research: an act of strategic essentialism", Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 306-314. https://doi.org/10.1108/QROM-09-2018-1680
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited