BusinessMethods

Alan BrymanEmma Bell

Third edition

OXFORDUNIVERSITY PRESS

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Detailed cohtents

Abbreviations

About the authors

About the students and supervisors

Guided tour of textbook features

Guided tour of the Online Resource Centre

About the book

Acknowledgements

Reviewers

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Chapter 1 Business research strategies

Introduction

The nature of business research

Theory and research

What type of theory?

Deductive and inductive theory

Epistemological considerations

A natural science epistemology: positivism

Interpretivism

Ontological considerations

Objectivism

Constructionism

Relationship of epistemology and ontology to

business research

Competing paradigms

Research strategy: quantitative and qualitative

Influences on the conduct of business research

Personal values

The politics of business research

Practical considerations

Key points

Questions for review

Chapter 2 Research designs

Introduction

Criteria in business research

ReliabilityReplicationValidity

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Research designs 45Experimental design 45Cross-sectional design 53Longitudinal design(s) 57Case study design 59Comparative design 63Level of analysis 67

Bringing research strategy and research design together 68Key points 69Questions for review 69

Chapter 3 Planning a research project and formulating researchquestions 71

Introduction 72Get to know what is expected of you by your institution 72Thinking about your research area 73Using your supervisor . 74Managing time and resources 76Formulating suitable research questions 79Writing your research proposal 84Preparing for your research 85Doing your research and analysing your results 86Checklist 88Key points 88Questions for review 88

Chapter 4 Getting started: reviewing the literature 90

Introduction 91Reviewing the existing literature and engaging with whatothers have written 91

Getting the most from your reading 94Systematic review 94Narrative review . 101

Searching the existing literature and looking for businessinformation 103

Electronic databases 104Keywords and defining search parameters 108

Referencing your work 111The role of the bibliography 115

Avoiding plagiarism 116Checklist 119Key points 119Questions for review 119

Chapter 5 Ethics in business research 121

Introduction 122Ethical principles 128

Harm to participants 128Lack of informed consent 132Invasion of privacy 136Deception . 136

Part Twow

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Other ethical and legal considerationsData management

Copyright

Reciprocity and trust

Affiliation and conflicts of interest

The difficulties of ethical decision-making

Checklist

Key points

Questions for review

The nature of quantitative research

Introduction

The main steps in quantitative research

Concepts and their measurement

What is a concept?

Why measure?

Indicators

Using multiple-indicator measures

Dimensions of concepts

Reliability and validity

Reliability

Stability

Internal reliability

Inter-observer consistency

Validity

Face validity

Concurrent validity

Predictive validity

Construct validity

Convergent validity

Reflections on reliability and validity

The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers

Measurement

Causality

Generalization

Replication

The critique of quantitative research

Criticisms of quantitative research

Is it always like this?

Reverse operation ism

Reliability and validity testing

Sampling

Key points

Questions for review

SamplingIntroduction

Introduction to sampling

Sampling error

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Types of probability sample 179Simple random sample 179Systematic sample 180Stratified random sampling 181Multi-stage cluster sampling 181

The qualities of a probability sample 185Sample size 187

Absolute and relative sample size 187Time and cost 188Non-response 188Heterogeneity of the population 189Kind of analysis 189

Types of non-probability sampling 190Convenience sampling 190Snowball sampling 192Quota sampling 193

Limits to generalization . 195Error in survey research 196Key points 198Questions for review 198

Chapter 8 Structured interviewing 200

Introduction 201The structured interview 202

Reducing error due to interviewer variability 202Accuracy and ease of data processing 203Other types of interview 204

Interview contexts 205More than one interviewee 205More than one interviewer 206In person or by telephone? 206Computer-assisted interviewing 209

Conducting interviews . 210Know the schedule 210Introducing the research 210Rapport 211Asking questions 211Recording answers 212Clear instructions 213Question order 213Probing 215Prompting 216Leaving the interview 217Training and supervision 217

Other approaches to structured interviewing 218Critical incident method 219Projective methods, pictorial and photo elicitation '220Verbal protocol approach 221Repertory grid technique 223

Problems with structured interviewing 225Characteristics of interviewers 225Response sets 226

The problem of meaning 227The feminist critique 227

Key points 228Questions for review 228

Chapter 9 Self-completion questionnaires 230

Introduction 231Self-completion questionnaire or postal questionnaire? 231Evaluating the self-completion questionnaire in relationto the structured interview 232

Advantages of the self-completion questionnaire over thestructured interview 232Disadvantages of the self-completion questionnaire incomparison to the structured interview 233Steps to improve response rates to postal questionnaires 234

Designing the self-completion questionnaire 238Do not cramp the presentation 238Clear presentation 238Vertical or horizontal closed answers? 238Identifying response sets in a Likert scale 240Clear instructions about how to respond 240Keep question and answers together 240

Diaries as a form of self-completion questionnaire 240Advantages and disadvantages of the diary as a methodof data collection 243

Key points 245Questions for review 246

Chapter 10 Asking questions 247

Introduction 248Open or closed questions? 248

Open questions 248Closed questions 250

Types of question 253Rules for designing questions 255

General rules of thumb 255Specific rules when designing questions 255

Vignette questions 261Piloting and pre-testing questions 262Using existing questions 263Checklist 265Key points 266Questions for review 267

Chapter 11 Structured observation 269

Introduction 270Problems with survey research on behaviour 270So why not observe behaviour? 271The observation schedule 275Strategies for observing behaviour 276Sampling 277

Sampling people 277Sampling in terms of time 277

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Further sampling considerations

Issues of reliability and validity

Reliability

Validity

Other forms of structured observation

Field stimulation

Organizational simulation

Criticisms of structured observation

On the other hand . . .

Checklist

Key points

Questions for review

Content analysis

Introduction

What are the research questions?

Selecting a sample

Sampling media

Sampling dates

What is to be counted?

Significant actors

Words

Subjects and themes

Dispositions

Images

Coding

Coding schedule

Coding manual

Potential pitfalls in devising coding schemes

Advantages of content analysis

Disadvantages of content analysis

Checklist

Key points

Questions for review

Secondary analysis and official statistics

Introduction

Other researchers' data

Advantages of secondary analysis

Limitations of secondary analysis

Accessing the UK Data Archive

Official statistics

Reliability and validity

Condemning and resurrecting official statistics

Official statistics as a form of unobtrusive measure

Key points

Questions for review

Quantitative data analysis

Introduction

A small research project

Missing data

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Types of variable 340Univariate analysis 342

Frequency tables 342Diagrams 343Measures of central tendency 344Measures of dispersion 344

Bivariate analysis 346Relationships not causality 346Contingency tables 347Pearson's r 347Spearman's rho 349Phi and Cramer's V 350Comparing means and eta 350

Multivariate analysis 350Could the relationship be spurious? 351Could there be an intervening variable? 351Could a third variable moderate the relationship? 352

Statistical significance 352The chi-square test 355Correlation and statistical significance 355Comparing means and statistical significance 356

Checklist 356Key points 356Questions for review 357

Chapter 15 Using SPSS for Windows 359

Introduction 360Getting started in SPSS 362

Beginning SPSS . ' 362Entering data in the Data Viewer 362Defining variables: variable names, missing values,variable labels, and value labels 363Recoding variables 364Computing a new variable 367

Data analysis with SPSS 368Generating a frequency table 368Generating a bar chart 368Generating a pie chart 371Generating a histogram 371Generating the arithmetic mean, median, standard deviation,the range, and boxplots 372Generating a contingency table, chi-square, and Cramer's V 372Generating Pearson's r and Spearman's rho 374Generating scatter diagrams 374Comparing means and eta 377Generating a contingency table with three variables 380

Further operations in SPSS 381Saving your data 381Retrieving your data 381Printing output 381

Key points 381Questions for review 382

PartTHree

Chapter 16 The nature of qualitative researchIntroductionThe main steps in qualitative researchTheory and researchConcepts in qualitative researchReliability and validity in qualitative research

Adapting reliability and validity for qualitative researchAlternative criteria for evaluating qualitative researchRecent discussions about quality criteria for qualitativeresearch

The main preoccupations of qualitative researchersSeeing through the eyes of the people being studiedDescription and the emphasis on contextEmphasis on processFlexibility and limited structureConcepts and theory grounded in data

The critique of qualitative researchQualitative research is too subjectiveDifficult to replicateProblems of generalizationLack of transparency

Is it always like this?Some contrasts between quantitative and qualitativeresearchSome similarities between quantitative andqualitative researchResearcher-subject relationships

Action researchCognitive mappingFeminism and qualitative researchCollaborative and participatory research

Key pointsQuestions for review

Chapter 17 Ethnography and participant observationIntroductionOrganizational ethnographyAccess

Overt versus covert?Ongoing accessKey informants

Roles for ethnographersActive or passive?

SamplingPurposive samplingTheoretical samplingNot just people

Field notesTypes of field notes

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Bringing ethnographic fieldwork to an end 448Can there be a feminist ethnography? 449Visual ethnography 451Key points 462Questions for review ' 462

Chapter 18 Interviewing in qualitative research 464

Introduction 465Differences between the structured interview and thequalitative interview 466Unstructured and semi-structured interviewing 467

Preparing an interview guide 473Kinds of questions 477Using an interview guide: an example 480Recording and transcription 482Telephone interviewing 488

Sampling . 489Feminist research and interviewing in qualitative research 493Qualitative interviewing versus participant observation 494

Advantages of participant observation in comparison toqualitative interviewing 495Advantages of qualitative interviewing in comparison toparticipant observation 496Overview 498

Checklist 498Key points 499Questions for review 499

Chapter 19 Focus groups / 501

Introduction 502Uses of focus groups 503Conducting focus groups 505

Recording and transcription . 505How many groups? 507Size of groups 508Level of moderator involvement • 510Selecting participants 511Asking questions 511Beginning and finishing 513

Group interaction in focus group sessions 513The focus group as a feminist method 514Limitations of focus groups 515Checklist 517Key points 517Questions for review 518

Chapter 20 Language in qualitative research 519

Introduction 520Fine-grained approaches 520

Conversation analysis 521Discourse analysis 525

Narrative analysis 531Rhetorical analysis 533Context-sensitive approaches 537

Critical discourse analysis 538Overview " 540Key points 541Questions for review 541

Chapter 21 Documents as sources of data 543

Introduction . 544Personal documents 545Public documents 548Organizational documents 550Mass media outputs 552Visual documents 553Virtual documents 557The world as text ' 558

Readers and audiences—active or passive? 558The reality of documents 559Interpreting documents 560

Qualitative content analysis 560Semiotics 561Hermeneutics 563Historical analysis 564

Checklist 567Key points 567Questions for review 568

Chapter 22 Qualitative data analysis 570

Introduction 571General strategies of qualitative data analysis 574

Analytic induction 574Grounded theory 577

More on coding 584Steps and considerations in coding . 585Turning data into fragments 587Problems with coding 588

Secondary analysis of qualitative data 590Key points 591Questions for review 591

Chapter 23 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis:using NVivo 592

Introduction 593Is CAQDAS like quantitative data analysis software? 594

No industry leader 594Lack of universal agreement about the utility of CAQDAS 594

Learning NVivo 596Coding 597Searching text 603

MemosSaving an NVivo projectOpening an existing NVivo projectFinal thoughts

Key pointsQuestions for review

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Chapter 24 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 613

Introduction 614The natural science model and qualitative research 615Quantitative research and interpretivism 617Quantitative research and constructionism 618Epistemological and ontological considerations 619Problems with the quantitative/qualitative contrast 619

Behaviour versus meaning • 619Theory tested in research versus emergent from data 620Numbers versus words 621Artificial versus natural 621

Reciprocal analysis 623Qualitative analysis of quantitative data 623Quantitative analysis of qualitative data 623

Quantification in qualitative research 624Thematic analysis 624Quasi-quantification in qualitative research 624Combating anecdotalism through limited quantification 625

Key points 625Questions for review 626

Chapter 25 Mixed methods research: combining quantitative andqualitative research 627

Introduction 628The argument against mixed methods research 629

The embedded methods argument 629The paradigm argument ' 629

Two versions of the debate about quantitative andqualitative research 630The rise of mixed methods research 630Approaches to mixed methods research 631

The logic of triangulation 631Qualitative research facilitates quantitative research 634Quantitative research facilitates qualitative research 635Filling in the gaps 636Static and processual features 637Research issues and participants' perspectives 637The problem of generality 638Qualitative research may facilitate the interpretationof the relationship between variables 639Studying different aspects of a phenomenon 640Solving a puzzle 643

Reflections on mixed methods research 643Key points 645Questions for review 645

Chapter 26 E-research: Internet research methods 646

Introduction 647The Internet as object of analysis 648Using websites to collect data from individuals 651Virtual ethnography 652Qualitative research using online focus groups 655Qualitative research using online personal interviews 659Online social surveys 661

Email surveys 661Web surveys 662Mixed modes of survey administration 663Sampling issues . 663Overview . 669

Ethical considerations in e-research 669The state of e-research 673Key points 673Questions for review 674

Chapter 27 Writing up business research 675

Introduction 676Writing up your research 677

Start early 677Be persuasive 679Get feedback 679Avoid sexist, racist, and disablist language 681Structure your writing 681

Writing up quantitative, qualitative, and mixedmethods research 684An example of quantitative research 684

Introduction 685Theory and hypotheses 686Methods ' 686Results 687Discussion 687Lessons 687

An example of qualitative research 689Introduction 690Review of the literature 690Methods 691Presentation of main themes 691Discussion 691Implications 691Lessons ' 692

An example of mixed methods research 692Introduction 694The Russian context 694Organizational culture and effectiveness 694

Research questions 695Testing the model: a comparative study 695Taking a closer look: four case studies 695Discussion 696Lessons 697

Postmodernism and reflexivity ( 697Writing ethnography 703

Experiential authority 703Typical forms 704The native's point of view 705Interpretative omnipotence 706Ways of writing differently 706

Checklist ' 708Key points 710Questions for review 710

Glossary 712

References 721

Author index 745

Subject index 751