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This chapter discusses the use of qualitative content analysis in the field of hospitality and tourism. The primary objective of this chapter is to draw attention to the use of a content analysis approach for the treatment of data. As a further objective, the chapter contributes to current knowledge by underscoring a qualitative content analysis approach that would be of benefit to hospitality and tourism scholars. Overall, the chapter serves to inform hospitality and tourism scholars of how to increase the trustworthiness of qualitative content analysis approaches, which is seen as one of the most crucial impediments to its use.

Considering the significant increase of studies in the hospitality and tourism field that use content analysis as a research method, this chapter aims to describe the research process when the methodology of qualitative content analysis is utilized. Particular attention is placed on the operational procedures of this method—from the initial planning and preparation to presentation of findings and evaluation of the process, as this is often omitted by hospitality and tourism researchers. Four distinct stages are described in this chapter: preparation, data collection and analysis, reporting findings, and evaluation of the process. The discussion in this chapter helps to clarify how qualitative content analysis should be undertaken in a systematic manner, which would be of particular benefit to hospitality and tourism researchers. Advantages and disadvantages of the qualitative content analysis and its contribution to hospitality and tourism studies are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a methodology by which qualitative analyses serve as rich source materials for discovery of theoretically cogent interrelations between latent variables.

In an illustrative case, qualitative data are collected from US franchisee managers from a single branded franchise of automotive repair outlets. Qualitative analysis of franchisee experiences and attitudes is critical for construction of a causal model used to predict conflict intensity between franchisee managers and franchisors.

The model is based on franchisees' normative expectations for resource allocation within the franchise; and their perceptions of franchisor normative violations, which are determinative of grievances, distrust, and hostility. This theoretical orientation serves to generate a system of interrelated empirically testable propositions.

In principle, the primary limitation of using qualitative analysis for the construction of causal models is the fruitfulness of the theoretical orientation shared by the qualitative analyst and the causal modeler.

The methodological approach advanced in this paper advances qualitative research and causal modeling beyond the individual contributions. Qualitative analysis infuses variables and process imagery into causal modeling. In turn, causal modeling elaborates the qualitative analysis and makes explicit logical connections between variables.

This paper advances a methodology by which qualitative analysis and causal model construction may be usefully integrated. Theory‐based qualitative analysis may be formalized to map latent concepts and their interrelations. Further, operational measures of these concepts may be adduced from the analysis of textual data.

The analysis of unstructured information, particularly in the form of text, has long been a technique in the armory of social scientists, who have to deal with conversational records, historical documents, unstructured interviews, and the like. Unsurprisingly, a considerable amount of methodological literature has developed on the subject. The methods of “qualitative data analysis” have now spread to areas of information analysis as diverse as market research and legal evidence analysis. Related computer techniques, from database management systems and word‐processors to specialized qualitative data analysis software, have been pressed into use. This article discusses the information processing methodology and theory assumed by computer‐based qualitative data analysis software; and, in particular, describes and analyzes the methodology of the NUDIST system developed by the authors.

The grounded theory method is more appropriate than just a grounded theory “approach,” for teasing out the detail of the level of analysis of constructs. Also, triangulation is important to this kind of research, but the methodological distinctions between qualitative and quantitative data and qualitative and quantitative analysis need to be made clear when mapping out a methodology. The contention here is that the qualitative analysis of quantitative data is more important than the quantitative analysis of qualitative data. Qualitative analysis in line with the full grounded theory method will generate explanations of how and why a construct is represented at various levels of analysis. In turn, such an explanation can illustrate whether the questionnaire instrument is representing the levels of analysis of the construct adequately or not.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

This chapter aims to explicate the use of computer software for qualitative data analysis. Drawing on both a review of relevant literature and a reflexive commentary on an ongoing ethnography, this chapter argues that the use of computer software for qualitative data analysis facilitates rigour and reliability in research, whilst also contributing to wider debates regarding the distinctions made between different research paradigms.

The chapter is divided into two sections. In the first, a review of literature pertaining to the use of computer software for qualitative data analysis is reported. The key themes to emerge from this review are then explored in the second section, which consists of a reflexive commentary on the use of computer software for qualitative data analysis within an ongoing three-year Canadian/UK research project.

The chapter concludes firstly by foregrounding the methodological benefits of using computer software for qualitative data analysis, and secondly by commenting on wider debates relating to the historical distinctions between quantitative and qualitative research paradigms.

The chapter suggests that the uptake of computer software for qualitative data analysis should be considered as an integral element of the research design process.

The originality of this chapter rests in its focus on methodology rather than method, on a reflexive discussion of the place of computer software within the research process rather than a technical description of how software should be used. This chapter is of value not only to researchers who are using or considering using software for their research, but also to researchers who are engaged in wider methodological discussions relating to qualitative and quantitative research paradigms, and to research quality and generalisability.

The critical incident technique (CIT) is widely used in many disciplines; however, scholars have acknowledged challenges associated with analyzing qualitative data when using this technique. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to address the data analysis issues that have been raised by introducing some different contemporary ways of analyzing qualitative critical incident data drawn from recent dissertations conducted in the human resource development (HRD) field.

This article describes and illustrates different contemporary qualitative re-storying and cross-incident analysis approaches with examples drawn from previously and recently conducted qualitative HRD dissertations that have used the CIT.

Qualitative CIT analysis comprises two processes: re-storying and cross-incident analysis. The narrative inquiry–based re-storying approaches the authors illustrate include poetic narrative and dramatic emplotting. The analytical approaches we illustrate for cross-incident analysis include thematic assertion, grounded theory, and post-structural analysis/assemblages. The use of the aforementioned approaches offers researchers contemporary tools that can deepen meaning and understanding of qualitative CIT data, which address challenges that have been acknowledged regarding the difficulty of analyzing CIT data.

The different contemporary qualitative approaches that we have introduced and illustrated in this study provide researchers using the CIT with additional tools to address the challenges of analyzing qualitative CIT data, specifically with regard to data reduction of lengthy narrative transcripts through re-storying as well as cross-incident analyses that can substantially deepen meaning, as well as build new theory and problematize the data through existing theory.

A strength of the CIT is its focus on actual events that have occurred from which reasoning, behaviors, and decision-making can be examined to develop more informed practices.

The CIT is a very popular and flexible method for collecting data that is widely used in many disciplines. However, data analysis can be especially difficult given the volume of narrative qualitative data that can result from data collection. This paper describes and illustrates different contemporary approaches analyzing qualitative CIT data, specifically the processes of re-storying and cross-incident analysis, to address these concerns in the literature as well as to enhance and further evolve the use of the CIT method.

To explore the cases for and against the use of computer‐assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) in qualitative organisation and management research.

Reflecting the debate inherent in the questions raised about the use of CAQDAS, a dialogue between the authors is used.

There are risks associated with using CAQDAS without considering its underpinning principles and assumptions about data analysis. If these are considered explicitly as part of a research methodology, then CAQDAS may be a valuable analytical tool. If not, there is risk of distortion and bias in results from the use of CAQDAS.

The paper addresses a commonly posed question for qualitative researchers, in a format and structure that is likely to stimulate further debate.

Discussions of the use of computer‐assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) in social science research studies are still few and isolated. In fact, much of the literature takes an uncritical approach to CAQDAS programs based on unrealistic expectations of the software as a methodology in and of itself. This has significant implications for learning and teaching qualitative data analysis software and the way it is used in research. The study on which this article is based combined formal narrative analysis, thematic coding, and deconstruction techniques to analyse the data using a dedicated qualitative data analysis software NVivo. A discussion is given of how the qualitative analysis software was used in a social constructionist study, particularly outlining how it fitted with the methodological perspective adopted, and where, why and in what way rigour fitted with the underpinning epistemological position. Thus, this article illuminates how rigour can be integrated with relevance with the aid of the power and possibilities that qualitative research software possesses. In addition, an attempt is made to demonstrate how the use of CAQDAS enhances the validity of a qualitative project.