Survey of Qualitative Research Methods

Survey of Qualitative Research Methods

There are a number of sources, as presented in the following paragraphs, of data regarding methods employed in conducting qualitative research in information systems. The following is a brief presentation of some of these sources.

Myers maintains a web site associated with ISWorld. The title of the site is Qualitative Research in IS. As Myers (1997) indicated early in the existence of this web site, "The goal was to create a single entry point on the Internet to support novice and experienced qualitative researchers in information systems" (p. 241). The site provides a vast amount of useful information about conducting qualitative research. The following is a list of the types of qualitative research discussed within the web site:

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  Action Research

  
  


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  Case Study

  
  


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  Ethnography

  
  


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  Grounded Theory

  
  

Each of the above topics includes links to more detailed discussions of each subject. Also, each of these topics is discussed further later in this chapter.

Recently, Trauth (2001) presented an edited compendium of issues and trends in qualitative information systems research. The manuscript discusses some methods (ethnography, Grounded Theory, critical research, and interpretive research) as well as some presentations about challenges and considerations when conducting qualitative research. Trauth comments, "A significant portion of established and emerging IS researchers are grappling with the issue of learning about new research methods even as they struggle to keep up with new information technologies. This is especially the case for qualitative methods" (p. i).

There are some journal articles which discuss the topic of qualitative research in information systems. For instance, a special issue of MIS Quarterly (March 1999) discussed the rigor and relevance of information systems research. Some of the discussion related to considerations for qualitative research. Further, Khazanchi and Munkvold (2000) presented a discussion about the nature of information systems as a discipline. They suggest that, while the study of information systems is relatively new, it can be developed into a recognized discipline with the judicious application of proven and acceptable research methods.

Before presenting a discussion of the specific qualitative research methods it should be noted that there are a number of approaches and perspectives which may be related to multiple methods. One example is critical social theory, which may be associated with both ethnography and action research. Cecez-Kecmanovic (2001) presents a definition of critical social theory. She suggests that "a critical social researcher studies the social life of people in order to help them change conditions and improve their lives" (p. 141). She continues by suggesting that information systems researchers must strive to investigate the relationship between the information system and its social context. Thus, she contends, it is incumbent upon the information systems researcher to identify the power relationship amongst the stakeholders and which groups or individuals may manipulate or dominate others.

Further, a general perspective on qualitative research is interpretive research. Klein and Myers (2001) present their definition of interpretive research. They suggest that the "foundational assumption for interpretivists is that most of our knowledge is gained, or at least filtered, through social constructions such as language, consciousness, shared meanings, documents, tools, and other artifacts" (p. 219). They further suggest that the context of information systems should be studied by attempting to understand associated phenomena and their meanings as ascribed by those individuals directly involved.

The following subsections discuss some of the many available qualitative research methods. Table 1 provides an overview of the discussion that follows.

Table 1: Research Methods.

METHOD	DESCRIPTION	ARTICLE(S)
Action Research	Investigate the impact of change on an individual or group	Olesen and Myers (1999)
Case Study	Investigate a phenomenon in its environment	Butler and Fitzgerald (2001) Hasan et al. (2000)
Ethnography	Conduct primary observations over an extended period of time	Nandhakumar and Avison (1999)
Grounded Theory	Approach a research question without adopting a priori a research framework	Urquhart (2000)
Narrative Inquiry	Personal recital of facts relating to a specific person	Hunter and Tan (2001)

Action Research

Action research is about investigating change. Cunningham (1993) suggests that action research is "a continuous process of research and learning in the researcher's long-term relationship with a problem" (p. 4). He further suggests that the action researcher must be prepared to experience the research problem as its context evolves within the problem. The intention of action research is to institute a process of change and then to draw conclusions from this process. More specifically, action research involves the collection of data about an organization in order to identify problems and their underlying causes. After devising and implementing solutions to the problems, further data are collected to determine the appropriateness of the original action and/or to devise subsequent action. This cyclical process may be continued to the satisfaction of the researcher and the organization. Finally, Cummings and Worley (2001) state, "A key component of most action research studies was the systematic collection of survey data that was fed back to the client organization" (p. 9).

The technology associated with information systems facilitates change. Thus, action research is an appropriate method to consider when conducting investigations in this area. The implementation of information systems is associated with the efforts of groups. Action research facilitates providing assistance to groups as they analyze problems and develop solutions (Mumford, 2001).

Olesen and Myers (1999) employed action research in their investigation of the relationship between the introduction of groupware into an organization and the consequent changes in individuals' work habits and the structure of the organization. Their reason for adopting action research was because "it enables a researcher to intervene in the organization while at the same time generate knowledge about the process." (p. 321). Their research perspective was interpretive, allowing them to concentrate their research on how individuals attempted to make sense of the specific situation. They employed a five-stage action research cycle (Susman & Evered, 1978). These stages include:

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   Diagnosing: identify the research question

   
   


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   Action Planning: determine the actions to be undertaken to address the research question

   
   


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   Action Taking: conduct and monitor the planned actions

   
   


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   Evaluation: determine if the actions have addressed the research question

   
   


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   Specifying Learning: document the knowledge obtained by conducting the project

   
   

Data were gathered from seven senior managers and four personal assistants through unstructured interviews and observation. Appropriate corporate documents were also obtained. The conclusions of this research related to process and content. From a process perspective the researchers felt that they were able to employ action research in a way that successfully contributed to addressing the specific research question. That is, the authors considered that their adopted research method allowed them to adequately investigate a work unit's response to the implementation of a specific software product. From a content perspective, while the product was installed successfully, the anticipated change in the organization did not come to fruition. In deed, "existing norms of communication and collaboration were reinforced" (Olesen & Myers, 1999, p. 327). So, the action research method allowed the researchers to delve into the situation beyond the surface responses to the introduction of new software and to determine the groups' internal reaction to an external change.

Case Study

Yin (1994) suggests that case studies are an empirical investigation of phenomena within their environmental context, where the relationship between the phenomena and the environment is not clear. A case, then, is examined in order to develop an understanding of an issue or to provide input into an existing theory or a new theoretical concept.

The unit of measurement in a case study is usually associated with the concept of an entity. Thus, a case study could be about an individual, a group, or an organization. It could also be about an event, such as the implementation of an information system. A research project employing the case study method may employ a single case or multiple cases. In this latter instance, conclusions could be determined based upon similarities and differences among the cases involved in the study.

Butler and Fitzgerald (2001) used a single case study method to investigate "the relationship that exists between user participation in systems development and the issue of organizational change surrounding the development and implementation of information systems" (p. 12). The important aspects of this research project were the relationship between user participation and the process of change and not change itself. Thus, an action research method was not adopted, and instead, a specific situation was investigated using the case study method.

The research philosophy consisted of a "constructivist research approach, incorporating the hermeneutic method … [and a] … qualitative, interpretive, case-based research strategy" (Butler & Fitzgerald, 2001, p. 16). The case consisted of two systems development projects within the same telecommunications company.

The two systems development projects were described with an emphasis on the documentation and analysis of the relationship between user involvement and the process of change. The results determined that:

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  The organizational context influences user participation.

  
  


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  Organizational specific policies and structures are necessary to facilitate change.

  
  


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  User participation is influenced by project complexity, user/analyst relationships, and users' willingness to participate. User acceptance is affected by expected change, power relationships, and user commitment to change.

  
  


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  It is difficult, if not dangerous, to attempt to separate the factors related to user participation and management of change.

  
  

The authors concluded that the organizational context provides the greatest impact on user participation and user acceptance and, consequently, on reducing resistance to change.

Another article included here employed a multiple case study approach. Hasan, Hyland, Dodds, and Veeraraghavan (2000) investigated how an organization may employ data to achieve its objectives through the development of multidimensional databases. Prototype information systems were developed which were intended to respond to a specific business situation. Data analysis followed an interpretive case study approach and was based upon a qualitative approach to group (researchers') discussions of the aspects of effective database development within four cases. Commonalities and differences among the four cases were employed in order to develop conclusions. The authors concluded that "the dimensional view of data [as opposed to the relational view] does provide users with an effective means of making sense of large quantities of data" (Hasan et al., p. 22).

Ethnography

Atkinson and Hammersley (1994) suggest that ethnography involves exploring the nature of phenomena, working with unstructured data, and analyzing data through the interpretation of the meanings attributed by research participants. The ethnographic research method involves primary observations conducted by the researcher over an extended period of time. This type of research is particularly appropriate for investigating the phenomena of social systems. Ethnography is increasingly employed as a research method for investigating information systems. The method is mainly employed to study the social aspects of work practices and the development and use of information systems (Schultze, 2001).

Nandhakumar and Avison (1999) employed an ethnographic method to the investigation of the information system development process in a large organization. The researchers employed this method in order to penetrate the guise of a standard system development approach, which they felt was simply in place to present an image of control. Ethnography involves detailed investigation of an entity within its specific context. In this situation, detailed qualitative data were gathered regarding the information system development practices within this specific context. Data were gathered using participant observation, including field notes and unstructured interviews. The authors concluded that "the development process is characterized by a continuous stream of intervention, bricolage, improvisation, opportunism, interruption and mutual negotiation as much as by regulatory, progress milestones, planning and management control" (Nandhakumar & Avison, p. 185). Further, with regards to the use of ethnography as a research method, the authors state:

We find that the use of an intensive field study approach using participant observation provides an effective means of understanding the complex social process of IS development. We wanted to investigate the IS development process from the perspective of the actors and to understand their interpretation of actions and perceptions, and the context within which these actions took place. For this, the researcher needs to have close access to the actors themselves to obtain their interpretations directly. (Nandhakumar & Avison, p. 185).

Grounded Theory

The major proponents of Grounded Theory suggest it is "the discovery of theory from data systematically obtained from social research" (Glaser & Strauss, 1967, p. 2). They suggest a "category" emerges from the data and may stand by itself as a conceptual element. A "property," they suggest, is an aspect of a category. Both categories and properties are concepts indicated by the data and interpreted by the researchers.

Urquhart (2001) discusses how Grounded Theory may be employed either as a philosophical approach to research or as a technique for analyzing data. As a research philosophy, the researcher approaches a research question without adopting a priori a research framework or theoretical context. Grounded Theory is primarily a technique for analyzing data and includes the process of constant comparison of data with categories which have emerged from previous data. This constant comparison either generates new categories or supports previously identified categories. As Glaser and Strauss (1967) state, "By comparing where the facts are similar or different, we can generate properties of categories that increase the categories' generality and explanatory power" (p. 24). Eventually a situation of theoretical saturation is attained where no new categories emerge from the data.

Strauss and Corbin (1990) describe Grounded Theory's data analysis process via the terms "open," "axial," and "selective" coding. To begin, open coding is conducted by analyzing the data and identifying categories that represent conceptual groupings of data. Then, axial coding involves making connections between the categories to identify an overall theoretical framework. Also, within category data are analyzed to further elaborate on conditions, context, and consequences of associated data. Finally, selective coding represents completing the association of data for all emerging categories and the identification of core categories to support the conceptualization of the theoretical framework.

Urquhart (2000) has presented research which "takes a qualitative view of analyst-client dialogue and is designed to explore analyst-client interaction from a processual perspective" (p. 2). Urquhart contented that because the initial contact and exchange between analyst and client is verbal, communication skills are very important to ensure the appropriate interpretation is gleaned regarding the future system requirements. Participants in the research project were involved in the initial stages of system development or modification. They were asked to prepare a written one-page description of the situation and were then videotaped during an exploratory interview. Grounded Theory was employed to identify concepts used by participants in their initial contact regarding system requirements. Urquhart (2000) determined that analysts "recognized communication as playing a supremely important role in gaining thorough analyses of the system and were actively looking for enhanced ways to achieve this" (p. 11).

Narrative Inquiry

Narrative inquiry entails the documentation and analysis of individuals' stories about or personal accounts of a specific domain of discourse. As Swap, Leonard, Schields, and Abrams (2001) have suggested, employing research where participants relate stories about their personal experiences "would be more memorable, be given more weight, and be more likely to guide behavior" (p. 103). The narrative inquiry method allows the research participant to tell his or her own story. According to Tulving (1972), episodic memory relates to events which have been directly experienced, and it is these events which are most readily remembered.

Narrative inquiry has been defined as "the symbolic presentation of a sequence of events connected by subject matter and related by time" (Scholes, 1981, p. 205). Research employing the narrative approach (Vendelo, 1998) suggests the sequence of the story elements (Bruner, 1990) contribute to the appropriateness of the method. Czarniawska-Joerges (1995) further supports the importance of employing a sequential account when employing the narrative inquiry method.

Narrative inquiry has been employed extensively in other academic disciplines, such as behavioral science (Rappaport, 1993), fiction and film (Chatman, 1978), and strategic management (Barry & Elmes, 1997). However, it has been adopted into the information systems area to a lesser extent. Hirschheim and Newman (1991) employed narrative case studies and have suggested that the roles of myth, metaphor, and magic are alternative approaches which may assist in improving the understanding and interpreting of the social actions of developers and users involved in the development of information systems. Also, Boland and Day (1989) conducted a series of interviews to document information systems designers' interpretations of their experience. The authors concluded that a more thorough understanding had been gleaned of the information systems designers' structures of meaning employed during the design process.

Hunter and Tan (2001) employed narrative inquiry to identify the major career path impacts of information systems professionals. They interviewed a number of information systems professionals at various stages of their careers to determine why these individuals changed jobs. In order to ground the discussion in the research participants' personal experiences, individual resumes were employed as the main instrument to guide the interview and to elicit the narratives. The resume was employed to assist research participants to reflect upon their work experiences and report these experiences in a sequential account of events at they transpired throughout their careers. The resume approach has been used previously in information systems research (Young, 2000). The resume is readily available and an untapped source of data (Dex, 1991), as well as acting as a milestone reference to assist human memory recall (Baker, 1991). Based upon the transcripts of the interviews, common themes were identified. These themes represented two common trends for the profession. First, the information systems professionals interviewed tended to associate more closely with the profession than with a specific organization. Second, there was an increased desire to remain current with technology and to have experience with the leading-edge technologies. Hunter and Tan (2001) were able to provide recommendations and suggest implications for various stakeholders, including information systems professionals, and organizations.