Colloqium on Qualitative Research
An increasing number of research communities in social science acknowledge the need for qualitative research methods in business and accounting. Understanding established and emerging qualitative research methods and their practical use becomes crucial for qualitative researchers and PhD students.
The aim of this course is to learn and reflect upon the emerging qualitative research methods and their application to business and accounting research. The colloquium covers a wide variety of qualitative research methodologies and includes both formal presentations from professorial research leaders as well as interactive forums and exercises engaging all participants. Specifically, the course's ambition is to equip PhD students with a deeper understanding of the emerging qualitative research methods, and how these streams can be connected to their own research projects. The course will cover the following sessions based on different qualitative research methods.
- Photo and Film Elicitation (contemporary and historical photo and film construction, sourcing, sampling, interviewing, analysis and interpretation including reviews of published studies and ongoing research)
- Netnography (What Now Constitutes netnography? uses and benefits of netnography; types of netnography; stages in netnography research; netnography as a standalone method or in combination with others?; examples of netnography in business and accounting studies)
- Interviewing in non-Western and non-English speaking contexts (“translating culture”, interviewing, researching and publishing non-English speaking contexts)
- Qualitative feminist and vulnerable group research (methodological considerations, accountability and ethics when conducting feminist research and research with marginalised and vulnerable group)
- Applying historical methods for current and future issues (using a series of published examples, this session covers the nature of historical research; why it is worthy in terms of some current day and emerging issues; sources for historical study; use of sources; and, outlets for history in business studies)
- Visuals content analysis (explore how to consider the ‘visuals’ in the content analysis, both in terms of images and figures and in terms of tables and graphs)
- Participatory action research (is science useful to solve managerial problems? Participatory action research (PAR) brings about organisational change by actively involving employees in the formulation of solutions to address the identified problems)
These emerging qualitative research methods. are becoming increasingly valuable in business accounting. At the same time, they are challenging to use under methodological pluralism agendas. In this regard, the opportunities and challenges of these emerging qualitative research methods will be examined during the course. The course seeks to contribute to the development of PhD students’ methodological skills, and therefore facilitate publication successes in applying qualitative research methodologies
Knowledge
On completion of the course, the candidate should be able to:
- have advanced knowledge and understanding of emerging qualitative research methods;
- evaluate and analyze the characteristics between different emerging qualitative research methods;
- understand the challenges connected with the applications and combination of the emerging qualitative research methods;
- contribute to the development of qualitative research methods in business and accounting research;
Skills
On completion of the course, the candidate should be able to:
- critically assess the analytical value of the qualitative research methods treated in the PhD course;
- connect own research projects with the analytical frameworks presented in the PhD course in both oral and written form;
- critically examine the work of peers and deal with the challenges of applying emerging qualitative research methods to own research projects.
Competence
On completion of the course, the candidate should be able to:
- identify relevant theoretical problem statements, their applicability and potential contribution to the literature with the use of emerging qualitative research methods;
- apply emerging qualitative research methods;
- discuss and give feedback to research ideas drawing upon the qualitative research methods used
The course consists of preparatory work, attendance and active participation in two days of class work and one final individual assignment (i.e. course paper). The course foresees obligatory participation and integrates lectures by the course faculty, discussions of the course literature and presentations by the participants. The colloquium covers a wide variety of qualitative research methodologies and includes both formal presentations from professorial research leaders as well as interactive forums and exercises engaging all participants.
The grades passed/not passed apply.
