Methodologies and data collection help!
Good afternoon
I am in first year of my PhD in management studies and need to select an appropriate data collection and analysis method. My problem is that I can’t really understand the methodologies like grounded theory, phenomenology, thematic analysis etc.
What I have thought is to use a mixed method approach for data collection (qualitative + quantitative). For that, I am thinking about conducting semi-structured interviews with the key participants of my study. I settled for this as most of the researchers have used interviews and surveys as the means for data collection. I have also prepared the questionnaire but I am unable to get my head around the theoretical perspective. How will I analyse the qualitative data?
Any help regarding this matter would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Discuss your Dissertation 
sophiaw740 11:55 am on March 15, 2016 Permalink |
Hey tedg8, I can very well understand your difficulty as I have too struggled with methodologies. It’s too grey and complex and massive, I must add. There are so many methods that are can be used in management studies. Have you read all the methods? Ever considered observational and case study as data collection methods?
The best means to select the methods is to read the previous researches. Look what methods they opted for. And for the methods you don’t understand, read this amazing book by Creswell, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design Sage Publications. All the research methods are clearly defined, which methods to use, when to use, which one is best for which type of study and so on. He has explained with examples and is quite useful and maybe it’ll solve your doubts.
tedg8 6:24 am on April 5, 2016 Permalink |
Hi, I am sorry for replying so late. Got a bit engrossed in the studies. I read a lot of literature and the book suggested by you. Thanks for that, it’s quite informational. But I am still facing some difficulties. What if the research method I choose is wrong and my findings turn unreliable due to that? Even after studying so much about it, I am still not sure. Can’t anyone just do it for me??
sophiaw740 6:06 am on April 6, 2016 Permalink |
We aren’t professionals, so no I can’t tell you the correct method. Every research is unique and demands different approaches and it’s the perspective of the researcher that makes the complete difference. As you said, you have read a lot of literature and its still confusing you, then take help from a friend or discuss it with your supervisor. Later on, if you feel you chose the wrong approach, then you can always trace bake to where you started.