Research Philosophies, Approaches and Strategies Levent Altinay

Research Philosophies  How the knowledge can be created and constructed in a rigorous and meaningful way in order to answer a research problem. 1. It can help you to choose the research methods – type of evidence gathered and its origin, the way in which the collected evidence will be analysed and interpreted. 2. It can enable and assist you to evaluate different research methods and avoid inappropriate use and unnecessary work by identifying the limitations of particular approaches. 3. You may choose or adapt research methods that are outside your experience.

Choosing a research approach Deduction emphasizes:  Moving from theory to data  The need to explain causal relationships between variables  The collection of quantitative data  A highly structured approach  Researcher independence of what is being researched  The necessity to select samples of sufficient size in order to generalize conclusions

Choosing a research approach Adopting a deductive approach 1. Develop a hypothesis or hypotheses 2. Express these hypotheses in operational terms (showing how they will be measured) 3. Test the hypothesis (through an experiment or survey) 4. Examine the specific outcome of the inquiry (corroborate the hypotheses or refute them). 5. If necessary, modify the theory in the light of the findings.

Choosing a research approach Induction emphasizes  Gaining understanding of meanings human attach to events  A close understanding of the research context  The collection of qualitative data  A more flexible structure to permit changes of research emphasis as the research progresses  A realization that the researcher is part of the research process  Less concern with the need to generalize

Qualitative versus Quantitative Research  Quantitative research aims to determine how one thing (variable) affects another by quantifying the relationships between variables (things you measure).  Qualitative research aims to develop an understanding of the context in which phenomena and behaviours take place.

Research Strategies Experiment  Classical form of research that owes much to the natural sciences  Usually conducted in laboratories by physicians, food scientists and chemists.  Involves allocation of samples to different experimental conditions  Introduction of planned change on one or more of the variables  Measurement on a small number of variables

Research Strategies Survey  Usually associated with the deductive approach  Allow collection of a large amount of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way.  Often obtained by using a questionnaire.  Should give you more control over the research process.  Much time will be spent in designing and piloting the questionnaire

Research Strategies Case Study  A strategy of doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence.  Has considerable ability to generate answers to the question ‘why?’ as well as the ‘what’ and ‘how questions’. Grounded Theory  Can be associated with inductive approach.  Data collection starts without the formation of an initial theoretical framework.  Theory is developed from data generated.

Research Strategies Ethnography  Firmly rooted in the inductive approach.  Emanates from the field of anthropology  Aims to understand the culture of a society and/or tribe. Action Research  Aims to investigate the management of change  It might require the involvement of practitioners in the research and in particular to a close collaboration between practitioners and researchers, for example, academics and consultants. Time Horizons: “Snapshot” taken at a particular time or a ‘diary’ and be a representation of events over a given period.

Exercise: Research Philosophies, Approaches and Strategies Case 1: Lucy was trying to establish whether consumers choose hotels on the basis of brands or product attributes. She selected a sample of consumers who were asked individually to describe how they would choose a hotel from a list provided. Was Lucy’s research qualitative or quantitative? Case 2: Sven is exploring consumers’ experiences of long- haul holidays. He decides to take a long-haul holiday himself to collect data while enjoying himself watching others on holiday. Is his research inductive, deductive, qualitative or quantitative?

Exercise: Research Philosophies, Approaches and Strategies Case 3: Yueh-Hsin was researching the literature on strategy implementation in the context of hospitality industry, and found that much had been written on factors that influence strategy implementation process. From the analysis and evaluation of this literature, she was able to propose a framework that incorporates the main factors and hypothesize the relationship between different variables. Was her research inductive or deductive? Case 4: Saskia has taken a vacation job with a hotel company. The company is in the process of opening its first hotel in a new city. Saskia has been asked to join the pre-opening sales and marketing team to help launch the new hotel into the marketplace. As the company knows that she is doing a Master’s degree, they have asked her to report back on her experience of the hotel opening and to suggest how the company could improve its practice in this area. She decides to gather data from her daily experiences and from a range of sources. What research strategy has Saskia adopted? Ethnography, survey, grounded theory or action research?

Other ways to achieve research aim  Other research strategies and data collection techniques  More inductive and exploratory  Other possible data collection techniques: observation of meetings, shadowing people, document analysis  Longitudinal study could be an option  Another organisation as a case study to replicate/confirm/disconfirm the findings obtained from the first one.  Action research might lead to researcher bias. Another strategy could have been followed.

Benefits of using multiple data collection techniques  Overcome the limitations of each.  Minimize the researcher bias.  Minimize the informant bias.  Response rate might be low with one particular data collection technique (i.e questionnaires, interviews).  Observation is a good one but ethical concerns?  Document analysis – overcomes the problems associated with access.