Qualitative Research Methods
DTC Core Module
Module Handbook, 2015-16
Convenor and contact
Davide Nicolini, Room R3.23 (Ramphal, until Xmas 2015 only)
Email: Davide.Nicolini@wbs.ac.uk
Phone: +44 (0)24 7652 4282
Introduction
The module aims to address the practical, analytic and intellectual questions related to the collection
and analysis of qualitative data. It will alternate taught sessions on the principles, practicalities and
issue of using a specific methods with the practical use of the method. In other words, we will
practically ‘have a go at’ different qualitative research methods. At the same time, we will reflect
upon theoretical issues relating to the practice of doing qualitative research.
The module will position you as qualitative researchers so that the learning will be directly relevant
to your future research. This means that the responsibility to carry out the required activity and to
solve the inevitable issues that will likely arise sit firmly with you. This will allow you to decide
whether this approach –and possibly this career, is right for you. One topic will be addressed per
week. The lectures will be delivered by members of the Social Science Faculty, each of whom
supplied a list of pre –readings and recommended sources. There is no single recommended core
text.
At the end of the module you should expect:

To understand what are the available options for conducting a “qualitative” piece of social
research and how this orientation differs from other traditions.

To have gained some understanding and first-hand experience of the different ways to
collect and analyse qualitative data.

To understand what are (some of) the affordances, challenges and issues associated with
each method so that you can make an informed choice when designing your own PhD
project.
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Assessment
The module is assessed via a 3000 word essay assignment. The question will be issued and discussed
during the introductory class on 13th January. The submission date for the essay assignment is Friday
15th April 2016.
Lecture Schedule
Session
Date
Topic
Faculty
1
2
3
4
5
6
13 January
20 January
27 January
3 February
10 February
17 February
Davide Nicolini
Ola Henfridsson
Chris Warhurst
Gaby Atfield & Sally-Anne Barnes
Gaby Atfield & Sally-Anne Barnes
Davide Nicolini
7
24 February
(whole day
workshop)
2 March
(date subject
to possible
to change to
3 March)
Introduction
Case study design
Doing Research Interviews
Analysing interview data
Analysing interview data
Participant observation and
Ethnography
Principles and practicalities of
doing thematic analysis and
Grounded Theory
Video based methods in social
research
Discourse analysis
Johannes Angermuller
Documentary analysis
David Arnott
8
9
10
10 March
(an
exceptional
Thursday
session 2:30-6pm in
Westwood
Lecture
Theatre)
16 March
Natalia Levina
(Not on Warwick email)
Jeanne Mengis
2
Lectures outline and pre-readings
1. Introduction to Qualitative Research – Davide Nicolini
This session poses the simple question, what is ‘qualitative’ about qualitative research? It is a session
about practical and intellectual boundaries: what links ‘qualitative researchers’ whilst distancing
them from other scholars? This will be addressed positively and critically. Positively, we shall
consider similar things qualitative researchers practically do and similar ways they think and talk
about their work. We will also think critically about the question and explore the differences among
qualitative scholars. Will conclude by problematizing the established but in many ways increasingly
problematic label of “qualitative research” noting that this category increasingly brings together
very unlikely bedfellows.
Pre-readings
Halfpenny, P. (1979). Analysing Qualitative Data. The Sociological Review, 27(4): 799-827.
Silverman ,D. (2007). A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative
Research. London: Sage. (At least chapter 1 ‘Innumerable Inscrutable habit: Why Unremarkable
Things Matter’).
Jovanovic, G. (2011). Towards a Social History of Qualitative Research. History of the Human
Sciences, 24(2): 1-27.
2. Case study design- Ola Henfridsson
The session will cover three main aspects of case study design: case definition, case(s) selection
principles, and study process. The purpose is to offer an overview of relevant considerations when
developing a case study design. First, the session will present different ways of thinking and defining
the case as an instance of the phenomenon studied. Second, it will give an overview of different case
selection techniques and consider the implications of such selection. Lastly, it will cover different
ways of organising the case study process.
Pre-readings
Gerring, J. 2007. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. (chapters 2-5, especially 5)
Ragin, C.C. 1992. "Introduction: Cases of "What Is a Case?"," in: What Is a Case? Exploring the
Foundations of Social Inquiry, C.C. Ragin and H.S. Becker (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, pp. 1-17.
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3. Doing Research Interviews – Chris Warhurst
This session is designed to introduce participants to the nature of the qualitative research interview
and to provide the practical knowledge and skills that will allow them to use this as a method for
gathering data. The lecture will introduce the research interview and discuss different forms of
interview. As well as identifying a number of ‘dilemmas’ which can provide the basis for a critical and
reflective approach to qualitative interviewing, it will consider ‘parameters of sensitivity’ designed to
help participants develop a reflective approach to carrying out, analysing and reporting on
qualitative interviews. The workshop will focus on the practicalities of research interviewing
(developing an interview guide, setting up, question types and strategies, degrees of directiveness,
etc.) and interview evaluation. It will provide the tools not only for conducting interviews but also for
improving and refining interview technique.
Pre-readings
Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2003) Business Research Methods, Oxford: OUP, chs. 5 & 15.
Gillham, B. (2000) The Research Interview, London: Continuum.
Roulston, K. (2010). Considering quality in qualitative interviewing. Qualitative Research, 10(2): 1-30.
Warhurst, C. (1999) Between Market, State and Kibbutz, London: Mansell, Appendix.
4. Analysing Interview Data – Gaby Atfield & Sally-Anne Barnes
This session will introduce participants to the interview data analysis and the process of handling,
interpreting and understanding data collected through a variety of interview methods. The lecture
will introduce different processes, techniques and theories for analysing interview data and
summarising the results – both inductive and deductive processes. It will focus on coding,
identification of themes, interpretation, testing theory and theory building. The second part of the
session will be a practical workshop getting participants to start thinking about the analysis process.
To support the practical session, it would be helpful if students could read and bring a copy of the
following:
Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L. (1964). The Social Loss of Dying Patients, The American Journal of
Nursing, 64(6), pp. 119-121.
Pre-readings
Charmaz, C. (2001). Qualitative interviewing and grounded theory, in Gubrium, J.F. and Holstein, J.A.
(eds) Handbook of interview research: Context and method. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications (pp.675-694).
Packer, M.J. (2011). The science of qualitative research. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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5. Analysing Interview Data (part 2) – Sally-Anne Barnes & Gaby Atfield
This session will focus on different approaches to analysing interview data in practice, namely
deductive analysis and grounded theory. Validating qualitative analysis and problems with analysing
process will be explored. The debates around manual and computer-aided coding will also be
explored, as well as the role of the researcher in the analysis process. The second part of the session
will again be a practical session getting participants to work with interview data exploring different
techniques for analysing and coding data. Participants will be asked to reflect upon the process in
terms of their own research and what methods of analysis would be appropriate.
Participants who have interview data and would like to start analysing are welcome to bring to the
session. For those who have not undertaken any interviews, transcripts to be used in the session will
be available in week 3.
Pre-readings
Coffey, A., Holbrook, B. and Atkinson, P. (1996). Qualitative Data Analysis: Technologies and
Representations, Sociological Research Online, 1(1): http://www.socresonline.org.uk/1/1/4.html
Denzin, N.K., and Lincoln, Y.S. (2012). (eds) Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials, (4th Ed).
Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
6. Participant observation and Ethnography - Davide Nicolini
This session explores ethnography; a research approach that focuses on researching everyday
processes. Documenting and analysing the mundane elements of social process and human
interaction is at the centre of ethnographic inquiry. Ethnography has a long history tied to
Anthropology but has been applied extensively in a range of social organisations (school, churches,
hospitals and bars) as well as public sector bodies and corporations. We will explore the planning,
approaches to data collection, the role of the researcher and application of modern technologies in
ethnographic investigation.
Pre-readings
Star, S, L. (1999). The ethnography of infrastructure. American Behavioral Scientist 43: 377–391.
John Van Maanen, J. and Deborah Kolb, D. (1983) The Professional: Observations on fieldwork roles
in two organizational settings. In S.B. Bacharach (ed) Perspectives in Organizational Sociology, Vol. 4.
Greenwich, CT: JAI Press; 1-33.
Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: Principles in Practices, (2nd Edition) London:
Routledge. Chapters 1, 8 and 9.
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7. Principles and practicalities of doing thematic analysis and Grounded Theory – Natalia
Levina
Format: One full day workshop
3 hours of general discussion of GTM Paradigm
3 hour hand-on coding workshop
This one-day workshop explores classic grounded theory as a research approach enabling emergent
theory development from data. The workshop will explain what grounded theory is, and how it has
and can be done. We will go through the steps of Grounded Theory Method (GTM) making sure key
concepts of theoretical sampling, theoretical saturation, and constant comparison are clarified. In
addition tools like “memoing” would be discussed. We will also clarify and debate the strengths and
weakness of this method as well as novel developments with the use of mixed-methods. Finally, we
will discuss publishing “grounded theory” studies.
The afternoon session is the space for the students to do their own thematic coding of data they
have collected previously. Behind identifying themes we will discuss how further data collection
would be shaped by emergent findings and the role of extant literature in data analysis and writing.
This will be a hands-on workshop where participants will play with their data under the supervision
of the faculty involved.
Required Pre-Readings:
Walsh, et al., 2015 “What grounded theory is… A critically reflective conversation among scholars,”
Organizational Research Methods, (published online January 2015)
Commentary by Locke, Corley, and Dougherty in Organizational Research Methods (published
online in March 2015: )
Rejoinder by Walsh et al. “Rejoinder: Moving the Management Field Forward,” in Organizational
Research Methods (published online in June 2015).
Birks et al., 2013 “Grounded theory method in information systems research: its nature, diversity
and opportunities” Editorial for European Journal of IS, 22(1):1-8. (skim)
Eisenhardt, K.M. 1989. Building Theories from Case Study Research. AMR 14(4):532-550.
Holton J., “The Coding Process and Its Challenges” in The Grounded Theory Review (2010), vol.9,
no.1
8. Visual Methods in social research - Jeanne Mengis
Nowhere is the inseparability of theory, technology and method more apparent than in the
recent rise of visual methodologies in the social sciences. The latest theoretical
developments of our fields are co-implicated with the technological developments and
media practices that shape our empirical studies. Today, a variety of visual methods are
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used for data collection and analysis, ranging from photography- and video-based studies to
visual mapping techniques, sketching, or direct visualization techniques (e.g. geomediabased visualizations of social relations).
In this half-day seminar, the student will practically engage with two, more widely used
visual methods, namely photography- and video-based research. We will address and
experience practical challenges the researcher faces, such as how to use visual material in
the interaction with research participants, when and how to video-record (e.g. how to
combine with other methods, when to turn camera on/off, who makes the recording, what
camera position, angle and camera movement to deploy), and how to analyze the (moving)
image. We will then critically reflect upon the implications these merely technical choices
have for the manifestation, understanding and theorizing of our object of inquiry.
Selected References
Banks, M. (2001). Visual methods in social research. Sage.
Knoblauch, H., Baer, A., Laurier, E., Petschke, S., & Schnettler, B. (2008). Visual analysis. New
developments in the interpretative analysis of video and photography. In Forum Qualitative
Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, (Vol. 9, No. 3).
Mengis, J., Gorli, M., & Nicolini, D. The Video Production of Space: How Different Recording
Practices Matter (under review)
Pink, S. (2007). Doing Visual Ethnography. Sage.
Pink, S. (2009). Visual Interventions: Applied Visual Anthropology (Vol. 4). Berghahn Books.
Pink, S. (Ed.). (2012). Advances in visual Methodology. Sage.
Rose, G. (2001). Visual Methodologies. An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual
Materials. Sage.
Van Leeuwen, T., & Jewitt, C. (Eds.). (2001). The Handbook of Visual Analysis. Sage.
Yanow, Dvora (2014) Methodological ways of seeing and knowing. In: Bell, E., Warren, S.
and Schroeder, J. (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Visual Organization, Chapter 11, pp.
165-187, Routledge
9. Discourse Analysis - Johannes Angermuller
Discourse analysis is a transdisciplinary field which investigates the social production of meaning. In
this session, we will discuss theoretical orientations and methodological choices available to the
discourse researcher. Our focus will be on the social uses that can be made of language, i.e. on the
way signs, utterances and texts contribute to the construction of the social.
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Pre-readings
Angermuller, Johannes/Maingueneau, Dominique/Wodak, Ruth (eds) (2014): The Discourse Studies
Reader. Main Currents in Theory and Analysis. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins
http://johannes-angermuller.net/pub/html/AngermullerMaingueneauWodak2014Reader.html
Angermüller, Johannes (2012): Fixing meaning. The many voices of the post-liberal hegemony in
Russia. Journal of Language and Politics, 11 (2), 115-134
http://johannes-angermuller.net/pub/html/Angermueller2010FixingMeaning.html
2013a: "How to become a philosopher. Academic discourse as a multi-levelled positioning practice",
Sociología histórica 3: 263-289
http://johannes-angermuller.net/pub/html/Angermuller2013Howtobecomeaphilosopher.html
10. Documentary Analysis – David Arnott
Documentary analysis is a collective term for methods of sampling and analysing populations of
documentary evidence. However, documents take many forms – public records, the media, private
papers, company reports and accounts, case studies, biographies, diaries, narratives, recollections,
social histories, to mention just a few, and they may be episodic or continuous in nature. The range
of approaches to analysis is equally diverse. This session will focus on two interrelated techniques:
Content Analysis and Grounded Theory
Content Analysis spans the qualitative/quantitative boundary and is invaluable when analysing
existing documents. It has been used since the late 1930’s to codify and research communication
issues as diverse as political speeches, literary censorship, authorship authentication, and early
memories of psychological patients. Grounded Theory relates to the extraction and testing of
theoretical constructs and concepts from qualitative data and documents but, most often, from data
and documents created by the researcher.
Pre-readings
Kassarjian, H.H. (1977). Content analysis in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. 4(1).
8-18.
Schilling, J. (2006). On the pragmatics of qualitative assessment: Designing the process for content
analysis. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. 22(1). 28-37.
Binder, M. & Edwards, J.S. (2010). Using grounded theory method for theory building in operations
management research: A study on inter-firm relationship governance. International Journal of
Operations and Production Management. 30(3). 232-259.
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