Qualitative Research Methods in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Registration: https://nettskjema.no/a/375852
The course consists of three digital sessions of 4 hours each and a 3-day physical workshop. There is considerable reading to do in the weeks leading up to the course and the students have to prepare in groups and individually for assignments to be presented at the workshops. There will be a fair amount of time to be spent before and after the course in writing up the reflection note for course evaluation. Overall, we expect the time spent to be no less than 200 hours distributed as follows:
- 10 hours for pre-course assignment (900 words)
- 75 hours for reading course literature (400-500 pages)
- 35 hours for sessions (digital and physical)
- 30 hours for assignments during the course
- 50 hours for final reflection note (5000 words) to be graded pass/no pass
Registration: https://nettskjema.no/a/375852
This course is aimed at PhD candidates in innovation and entrepreneurship. The course will help participants understand the benefits and challenges associated with qualitative research designs, and learn specific methodologies and techniques for collecting and analyzing qualitative data. The participants will engage in sessions to learn techniques and put them into practice. This will enable the participants to develop confidence in their chosen approach and eventually apply it in their independent studies. Being offered as an advanced course we will provide an overview of qualitative research designs and delve deeper into specific topics such as data collection techniques, case studies, process studies, coding of qualitative data, and publishing qualitative research.
This course is designed using an activity-based learning approach and will involve active participant involvement. The course will include readings from innovation and entrepreneurship journals that have applied the above approaches. The participants will also learn the nuances connected with carrying out the various steps involved in these methodologies. Individual feedback sessions will provide an opportunity for students to receive feedback from both peers and faculty. The course will also have plenary sessions with researchers who practice qualitative approaches in their research. These will be in the form of short lectures and interactive Q&A sessions. Participants will also have numerous opportunities to have informal interactions with the faculty.
Upon successful completion of the course, participants will possess the following:
Knowledge
- Advanced understanding of the qualitative research tradition in innovation and entrepreneurship
- Overview of commonly used approaches to conducting qualitative inquiries
- Deeply understand a few specific methodologies used to conduct qualitative research and the specific steps and techniques needed to apply them
Skills
- Ability to identify research gaps and relevant research designs in the qualitative tradition which can be used in a PhD thesis
- Ability to choose among various research designs
- Ability to design and implement specific qualitative methodologies that are widely used in innovation and entrepreneurship journals
- Design interview guides and protocols for qualitative studies
- Be equipped with various analytical techniques that can be directly used to enhance the standard of the qualitative papers in a PhD thesis
General Competence
- Understand and appreciate situations and phenomena which are suitable for being investigated using qualitative inquiry
- Ability to critically read, review, present, and discuss top-quality qualitative research papers
- Ability to participate in high-quality academic dialogue at both conferences and scientific journals
The students have to participate actively during all four workshops. The following compulsory work needs to be completed during the course to get credits:
• An extended abstract (900 words) submitted before the course
• Presentation of example articles during the course
• Presentation of own research paper/proposal during the course
The final assessment will be based on the submission of an individual reflection note (about 5000 words). The reflection note should contain 1) a description of how your paper/proposal has developed during the course and reflections on how and why it has improved, 2) a reflection on your learning during the course, and 3) a plan for how you can further develop and refine your qualitative research methods skills. The reflection note will be graded pass/not pass by the faculty.
Necessary: A basic overview of research methods.
Optional: A brief overview of innovation and entrepreneurship research literature in general.
