Dr Cate Jerram
09.03 / Nexus 10
# 8313 4757

This course meets weekly for a 4 hour seminar on Wednesdays from 1:00am – 5:00pm
in Room 228 (Computer Suite 3), Nexus10.
Important – there will often be a change of venue, so always check the course website (MyUni) and announcements, in case you need to go somewhere else.

NOTE 1: there is an expectation that members of the Qualitative Methods course will participate actively in the online components of the course, and that MyUni will be accessed (asynchronously) at least 2-3 times per week, in addition to physical attendance at class.

NOTE 2: It is a Business School requirement that all Research Candidates and MBR Students participate in several research seminars each semester. These are mainly scheduled for Fridays in the School of Accounting & Finance. School of Marketing & Management has a much more distributed timetable for both guest speaker and brown bag seminars.

When the University of Adelaide Business School research seminars are less appropriate to a student’s discipline and/or research topic, it is acceptable to attend more relevant research seminars presented in other schools/disciplines/faculties or at UniSA or Flinders. It is recommended that the candidate negotiate such alternative seminar attendances with their supervisor.

By the end of this course students should be able to:

1. Recognise the philosophical (epistemological, ontological and axiological) concepts and approach underlying different research studies, and identify their own philosophical paradigms and the conceptual and methodological approaches or discourses that are consistent with their conceptual approach.
2. Formulate and evaluate research questions and objectives congruent with specific conceptual and methodological approaches; and/or design research with appropriate methodological approach to be congruent with the specific research questions and objectives being investigated.
3. Design a research approach that appropriately and ethically addresses a research objective within a consistent conceptual framework, selecting from a range of methods.
4. Investigate, evaluate and select research methods for data gathering and data analysis that are appropriate to the chosen research approach and design.
5. Understand how question design relates to survey, focus group and interview question creation; and to design and evaluate questions for semi-structured interviews (with understanding of variations for structured and unstructured interviews) and focus groups.
6. Conduct (and record / transcribe) interviews and focus groups in a professional and ethical manner.
7. Apply and evaluate different methods and orders of analysis to rich, complex, qualitative data.
8. Select and use appropriate techniques, methods and tools for management of rich and complex research data and information.
9. Use Nvivo10 (software) to support data management and facilitate data analysis.
10. Present the results of qualitative research in a professional academic manner in both oral and written formats.

[1] (absolutely required)
Symon, Gillian & Cassell, Catherine. 2012. Qualitative Organizational Research: Core Methods and Current Challenges. SAGE Publications Ltd
• eBook ISBN 13:9781446258279
• Print ISBN 13:9780857024114

[2] (very strongly recommended - highly desirable)
Cassell, Catherine & Symon, Gillian (Eds). 2004. Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research [Paperback]
- Pub ISBN-10: 0761948880
         ISBN-13: 978-0761948889

** King, Nigel & Horrocks, Christine (2010) Interviews in Qualitative Research. Sage, London.**
** Gill, J & Johnson, P. (2010) Research Methods for Managers 4th Ed. Sage: London. **

• Checkland, Peter & Holwell, Sue. 1997 Information, Systems and Information Systems: Making Sense of the Field. Wiley.
• Cresswell, John W. (2007) Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: choosing among five approaches. 2nd ed. Sage: London.
• Crotty, M (1998) The foundations of social research: meaning and perspective in the research process. Sage: London.
• Eriksson, Paivi: & Kovalainen, Anne (2008) Qualitative Methods in Business Research. Sage: London.
• Flick, Uwe (2006) An introduction to qualitative research. 3rd ed. Sage: London.
• Neuman, W. Lawrence (2010) Social Research Methods: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches (7th Ed) Allyn & Bacon (6th ed 2005)
• Silverman, David (2005) Doing Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Sage: London.

This course is a combined offering for Honours, MBR, MPhil & PhD students and candidates. Consequently, difficulties are often encountered in enrolling in / accessing MyUni.

IF YOU HAVE TROUBLE ACCESSING the MyUni site for this course: “COMMERCE 7100 Qualitative Methods (M)”, please contact the Lecturer in Charge (LIC) Dr Cate Jerram immediately! (Remember to give your official name, your preferred name, and your student id#.)

Note: An enrollment into MyUni takes 24 hours to take effect, so - the sooner the better!

This course uses Blended Learning (combined face-to-face and online) and is very much geared to developing independent and inter-dependent researchers.

The course is designed to contribute to the overall output of a thesis at the end of the year (ie: as much as possible, all assignments and activities should become a part of your research, your thesis, and journal papers you will write*)**.

This means that:
- participation in face-to-face classes is vital
- participation in online activities is crucial
- participating in and developing a community of practice is not only important now, but will ideally start to build a network of collegial peers who will continue as a support network for life

*Qualitative Methods is primarily designed for students undertaking qualitative or hybrid research. Students who plan to use quantitative methods in their thesis but are required to take this Qualitative Methods course need to communicate with the LiC so some negotiation of applicability can be arranged.

**Important note: in coursework, using material from one course in another is considered "self-plagiarism" and is unethical and unacceptable practice. In Higher Degree by Research (HDR) work - and therefore in this course - an important part of professional practice is peer review and building on works to produce more works (with appropriate referencing). It is acceptable and advisable practice to use the work produced in this course in your thesis (&/or proposal) and any journal articles you write about your research. However, it is NOT acceptable to use material produced in this course to submit  as an assessment activity in any other course during your Honours / MBR / MPhil or PhD program.

This course has a 4 hour per week face-to-face component, and requires multiple (asynchronous) online engagements each week.

Note: The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours (for a three-unit course) or 13 hours (for a four-unit course) of private study outside of your regular classes.

Auditing Students

Being permitted to audit a course is a privilege, and it is requested that students who have been granted this privilege honour the workload, reading, preparatory and participatory requirements to the same degree as enrolled students. Non-participatory auditing of the class is unfair to enrolled students, as engagement, interaction, and peer-learning are critical factors in the success of the class.

Topics (note: This course is constructed on emergent design principles, so is built with a flexible design. Printing in bold refers to fixed topics, other topics are negotiable).

01. The role of philosophy in research (Ontology; Epistemology; Axiology).
02. Fundamental paradigms that underlie Methodological choices: Positivist; Interpretive & Critical. (Also: Post positivist; Critical Realist; Social Constructionist & Constructivist; Modern & Postmodern; Feminist; Queer Theory [Different perspectives selected by student request]).
03. Pragmatics of planning research design (includes iterative and emergent design).
04. Common research methodologies (Case Study; Action Research; Grounded Theory; Historical Method; Hermeneutics; Phenomenology; Ethnography...) [Different methodologies can be studied at student request]
05. How conceptual lenses and theoretical frameworks are used in framing research questions, planning research design, and managing data analysis and different orders of data analysis.
06. Common data gathering Methods (Interviews: Semi-structured (and Structured & Unstructured; and electronic interviews); Focus Groups; Participant Observation; Archival; Oral Histories; Critical Incidents; Journaling & Memos; Repertory Grid; Web Analysis; Hermeneutic Circles) [can vary by student request].
07. Data analysis Methods (various forms of inductive and deductive coding, thematic and pattern analysis; filtering through theoretical lenses; soft systems analysis; data matrices; repertory grids; content analysis). [selection by student request].
08. Building theoretical models and concepts as a posterior formative or summative research output, or implementing them a priori.
09. Analysis and evaluation of methodological literature.
10. Discussant & Peer Review: theory, practice and example.
11. Writing and evaluating the Methodology Chapter of a Research Proposal or Thesis.
12. Use of CAQDAs (particularly NVivo) to conduct many of items 1 – 11 above.

Participation in both face-to-face and online activities is critical and therefore is required.

Any need to deviate from any of the stated expectations must be negotiated with the Lecturer-in-Charge.

This course, with a focus on developing independent and interdependent researchers capable of producing professional journal articles, theses, and peer reviews, moves students to the next stage of collaboration beyond the Small Group Discovery Experience and works at the level of Community of  (Research) Practice. 

Collaboration is encouraged. Collusion is unacceptable.
Peer Review and support is required.
Critical Analysis (of own work and each other's) is absolutely necessary.

Ideally, if a Community of Practice is genuinely developed during this course, it will help each of you create a network that can build to sustain and support you throughout your entire career.

	Assessment Item	Due Date 2014	Value	Related LOs
1	Methodology or Methods Specialty Class: The goal of this assignment is to teach your peers about a method or methodology so that they may understand it well enough to know whether to use it or not themselves, and to be able to recognise and evaluate research using that method. Arrange with the LiC to select two (or one) of the topics from the Method/ology Topics list. • Prepare a 20 minute class on your topic/s with Handouts (may be supported by PowerPoint but whiteboard is preferred) o giving a comparative analysis of two (research) methodological approaches or research methods (or one of each) - [see list] OR o sharing an extensive review of a single methodology or method and how it might best be used to support Business Research for the research topics of at least two members of the class. o Note: activities or exercises that help acquire an understanding of the method through practice are encouraged but not required. • Teach your planned class to your peers. o 20 mins presentation and 10 mins Questions & Answer time = 30 mins (this timing may be modified if there is an activity or practice incorporated) o This presentation MUST NOT BE READ – no reading from notes or slides – TEACH the class, don’t read aloud to them.  Note: sourcing teaching notes from elsewhere is acceptable but must be credited appropriately Rubric available in MyUni.	Individually assigned date during class between weeks 3 & 12 (inclusive)	20%	1-4, 7 & 10
2	Weekly readings, responses and activities: Each week, students are required to do the set readings including text chapters and selected journal articles. (Readings schedule is posted in MyUni.) Some weeks, specific additional activities will be scheduled and required (eg: Participant Observation Exercise). (Activity schedules and deadlines will be posted in MyUni.) Students are required to post analyses of readings in their own blogs (by Sat pm), and read and provide feedback to peers’ blogs (by Mon pm). (Schedule for postings & feedback on MyUni). Readings, analyses, feedback and activities will be discussed in class. Students must be prepared to defend their postings and their feedback. Rubric available in MyUni.	Weekly: Sat 23:59 pm (readings) Mon 23:59 pm (feedback) Wed 13:00 pm (defence)	30%	1 - 10
3	NVivo10 Project: Develop your research project in NVivo, building your literature review, conceptual framework and/or theoretical lenses, data organization, data gathered, data analysis and administrative documents in NVivo10. Rubric available in MyUni.	Wednesday 28 May (week 11) 13:00 pm	20%	8, 9 & 10
4	Proposal Methodology Chapter (100% quantitative researchers can negotiate alternative assessment with the LIC) Write a methodology section of a Research Proposal (appropriate to your current HDR research) including: • your research question/s and/or objectives; • a literature-based methodological justification and explanation; • detailed explication of your chosen method steps for data gathering, data analysis and meta-analysis; • ethics; • participant selection; • and all other relevant detail specific to your thesis and methodology and method-sets; • anticipated problems, and planned strategies for dealing with them. NOTE: First draft submission & deadline are mandatory. Inadequate attempts at first submission, or missed deadline, result in 10% – 30% being deducted from final submission marks. Rubric available in MyUni.	First draft: Friday 09 May (week 8) 12:00 noon Final submission: Friday 13 June (week 13) 12:00 noon	30%	1-7
4b	Alternative Assessment Item for quantitative researchers (must be negotiated with LiC) 1. Source a significant research work (or 2 works maximum) from your discipline, appropriate to your current HDR research, which was conducted using either qualitative research approach or hybrid design with a significant qualitative component. 2. Write a review paper that a. critically evaluates the research study/ies methodologically; and b. can contribute to the literature review for your own research (ie: it/they must be relevant to your thesis study). 3. Your critical evaluation should take into account all aspects of research design including (but not limited to): a. relevance and applicability of methodology to the research question/s or objective/s; b. relevance and applicability of methods to the methodological approach and to the research question/s or objective/s; c. rigour and trustworthiness (eg: credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability, and member checking); d. ethics; e. consistency of methodological language (ie: using qualitative not quantitative terminology); f. how these methodological approaches and methods might be applicable (or not) for your research, and why you have chosen not to use them / why your chosen design and methods are more appropriate. The finished review should require approximately 2500 – 3000 words to address all issues adequately. NOTE: First draft submission & deadline are mandatory. Inadequate attempts at first submission, or missed deadline, result in 10% – 30% being deducted from final submission marks. Rubric available in MyUni.	First draft: Friday 09 May (week 8) 12:00 noon Final submission: Friday 13 June (week 13) 12:00 noon	30%	1-7

The critical things to note about the assessments in this course are that:

1. they are very interdependent - built on the concept of community of scholars and peer support. ie: if you miss deadlines or mess up, your colleagues suffer as well as you.
   
2. the assesment activities all contribute to your actual research project (or your peers') and/or to your future career strengths (whether your future career is as an academic or in the business professional world)

Therefore:

1. be timely - meet deadlines
2. but be sane - when you can only do it by half-killing yourself - negotiate
3. collaborate (note: acknowledged collaboration is a powerful professional and academic strength; UNacknowledged collaboration is called 'collusion' and is seen as cheating)
4. do your best - not just for your own work, but when in investing in others' growth
5. be excited about your learning and growth and about your peers' learning and growth - it is exciting!
6. and have fun (if you don't learn to enjoy it now, it will always be 'unpleasantly hard work' rather than deeply satisfying and rewarding endeavour)
7. know that it DOES get easier - every piece you do makes the next one easier; every impossible-to-understand article you read makes the next one more possible and more readable - and your blogs will help you scale that wall faster and more easily than you can expect... the collaboration with your peers will make a world of difference. Therefore (again() your feedback to one another is critical!

Wherever possible, assessment details remain consistent but due to the emergent design nature of the course can sometimes change. Any and all changes will always be posted in the Assessment Folder in MyUni and in the Announcements, with accompanying Email.

Submission Dates & Times
1	Presentation	in class		individually negotiated
2	Weekly Readings, Responses & Exercises	weekly		due dates & times posted MyUni
3	Proposal Methodology Chapter (Mandatory First Draft)	Week 8		Friday 09 May  12 noon
4	NVivo10 Project	Week 11		(in class) Wed 28 May 1 - 5pm
5	Proposal Methodology Chapter (Final Submission)	Week 13		Friday 13 June 12 noon

Marking Rubrics and greater detail on assessment items are available in MyUni in the Assessments folder.

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Method/ology Specialty Class

The goal of this assignment is to teach your peers about a method or methodology so that they may understand it well enough to know whether to use it or not themselves, and to be able to recognise and evaluate research using that method.
Arrange with the LiC to select two (or one) of the topics from the Method/ology Topics list.
• Prepare a 20 minute class on your topic/s with Handouts (may be supported by PowerPoint but whiteboard is preferred)
o giving a comparative analysis of two (research) methodological approaches or research methods (or one of each)
OR
o sharing an extensive review of a single methodology or method and how it might best be used to support Business Research for the research topics of at least two members of the class.
o Note: activities or exercises that help acquire an understanding of the method through practice are encouraged but not required.
• Teach your planned class to your peers.
o 20 mins presentation and 10 mins Questions & Answer time = 30 mins (this timing may be modified if there is an activity or practice incorporated)
o This presentation MUST NOT BE READ – no reading from notes or slides – TEACH the class, don’t read aloud to them.
 Note: sourcing teaching notes from elsewhere is acceptable but must be credited appropriately
Rubric available in MyUni.

Possible Specialty Class Topics

1	Action Research & Research Action	10	Historical Analysis & Archival
2	Analytic Induction	11	Metaphor as Analysis
3	Cognitive Mapping	12	Netography
4	Content Analysis – quant & qual approaches	13	Pictorial / Imagery & Graphic Method
5	Critical Incident Technique	14	Repertory Grid
6	Discourse Analysis (vs) Paradigms	15	Soft Systems Analysis
7	Ethnography & Phenomenology	16	Story & Narrative
8	Grounded Theory	17	Symbolic Interaction
9	Hermeneutic & Hermeneutic Circles	18	Other topics by negotiation with Cate

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Weekly Readings, Responses & Activities

Each week, students are required to do the set readings including text chapters and selected journal articles.
(Readings schedule is posted in MyUni.)

Some weeks, specific additional activities will be scheduled and required (eg: Participant Observation Exercise).
(Activity schedules and deadlines will be posted in MyUni.)

Students are required to post analyses of readings in their own blogs. These analytical responses to readings must be posted by Saturday 23:59 pm every week.
Students are then required to read and provide feedback to peers’ blogs (by Mon 23:59).
(Schedule for postings & feedback on MyUni).

Readings, analyses, feedback and activities will be discussed in class. Students must be prepared to defend their postings and their feedback.
(In-class discussions will be on Wednesdays between 13:00 and 17:00).

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Methodology Chapter (Mandatory First Draft)

(100% quantitative researchers can negotiate alternative assessment with the LIC - see Alt Assessment below)

Write a methodology section of a Research Thesis or Proposal (appropriate to your current HDR research) including:
• your research question/s and/or objectives;
• a literature-based methodological justification and explanation;
• detailed explication of your chosen method steps for data gathering, data analysis and meta-analysis;
• ethics;
• participant selection;
• and all other relevant detail specific to your thesis and methodology and method-sets;
• anticipated problems, and planned strategies for dealing with them.

NOTE: First draft submission & deadline are mandatory. Inadequate attempts at first submission, or missed deadline, result in 10% – 30% being deducted from final submission marks.

A comprehensive marking rubric is available. It is advisable to use the rubric as a guide for the writing and submitting of this assessment chapter.

[Quant] Alternative to Methodology Chapter (Mandatory First Draft)

(must be negotiated with LiC)

1. Source a significant research work (or 2 works maximum) from your discipline, appropriate to your current HDR research, which was conducted using either qualitative research approach or hybrid design with a significant qualitative component.
2. Write a review paper that
   1. critically evaluates the research study/ies methodologically; and
   2. can contribute to the literature review for your own research (ie: it/they must be relevant to your thesis study).
3. Your critical evaluation should take into account all aspects of research design including (but not limited to):
   1. relevance and applicability of methodology to the research question/s or objective/s;
   2. relevance and applicability of methods to the methodological approach and to the research question/s or objective/s;
   3. rigour and trustworthiness (eg: credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability, and member checking);
   4. ethics;
   5. consistency of methodological language (ie: using qualitative not quantitative terminology);
   6. how these methodological approaches and methods might be applicable (or not) for your research, and why you have chosen not to use them / why your chosen design and methods are more appropriate.
4. The finished review should require approximately 2500 – 3000 words to address all issues adequately.

NOTE: First draft submission & deadline are mandatory. Inadequate attempts at first submission, or missed deadline, result in 10% – 30% being deducted from final submission marks.

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NVivo10 Project

Objective: demonstrate the ability to use fundamental tools in NVivo10 to support research activity
Deadline: this NVivo project will be built (partially) during classes throughout semester, and will be assessed during class commencing 1pm on Wednesday 28 May (week 11).
Details:

1. Create a number of relevant folders for organizing your project and your data. Include:
   • Admin folder
   • Ethics sub-folder
   • Literature folder
   • Folders relevant to your data collection (relevant to your chosen methodology).
2. Import a minimum of:
   • 3 articles (including both Word.docx and .pdf files)
   • 1 image (.jpeg) and
   • 1 one audio or video file
   • 1 dataset (questionnaire, survey or classification sheet) including classifiable & code-able data
   • 1 social media (facebook, linked in, or twitter) or EverNote file
3. that are relevant to the development of your research questions/propositions/(hypotheses if doing a quantitative thesis).
4. Import EndNote meta-data and link to journal articles in your project.
5. Create an internal document named “Research Journal”. Populate your research journal with a number of relevant date-and-time-stamped entries.
6. Create a coding list including at least 10 nodes, incorporating at least two parent/child nodes (child nodes with ‘siblings’).
7. Create a minimum of
   • 2 memos (at least one linked and one unlinked)
   • 1 see-also link
   • 1 annotation
   • 1 hyperlink.
8. Create at least one set.
9. Create at least one relationship type and at least one linked relationship.
10. Create at least one set of node classifications with attributes and assigned values.
11. Create a dynamic Model that is linked to Project Items (minimum 5 shapes connected, including three linked to data). The Model may be a priori, a posteriori, or both, your own creation or a theoretical framework, conceptual lens or theory you are applying to your research.
12. Design, run and save at least three different types of query.
13. Generate at least two different visualisations of some element of your data. These may include 2- or 3-dimensional charts; tree maps; word trees; or cluster analysis.
14. Export (as a Project): One node (entire content) including references from text; audio OR video (both is fine); and a minimum of one (coded) image/picture. Email the export to your LiC (Cate) as a zipped file incorporating the html file and the html folder.

The entire NVivo project must have some basic coherence as a single project that is genuinely representative of the students’ research and proposal or thesis.
* Although this is a Qualitative Methods course, and Literature Reviews are taught and developed in your discipline-specific Readings and Theory courses, Literature Review materials (rather than your research Data Gathering and Analysis) are developed in this assessment activity because:

1. Development of research question / propositions / hypotheses (ie: identifying gap) is a core component of methodology and method and is usually built through and justified in the Literature Review.
2. The timing of this course requires assessment item completion at a date before most students will have completed adequate data gathering, but at a similar time when they will need to use exactly the same processes as data analysis to complete their Literature Review.
3. ALL students taking Qualitative Methods as a course will need to conduct a Literature Review, even if they are not using a qualitative methodology for their research design, thus making this assessment item completely relevant to all students.
4. The design of this course is purposefully geared to ‘usefulness’ in the students’ thesis year, and this assessment item in NVivo will be useful for students’ Literature Review assignment in Readings courses as well as the Literature Review in their theses.
5. For students using qualitative research design or methodology for their thesis, having the Literature Review already complete within an NVivo project will simplify, speed and aid further use of NVivo for data gathering and analysis.

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Methodology Chapter (Final Submission)

(100% quantitative researchers can negotiate alternative assessment with the LIC - see Alt Assessment below)

Write a methodology section of a Research Thesis or Proposal (appropriate to your current HDR research) including:
• your research question/s and/or objectives;
• a literature-based methodological justification and explanation;
• detailed explication of your chosen method steps for data gathering, data analysis and meta-analysis;
• ethics;
• participant selection;
• and all other relevant detail specific to your thesis and methodology and method-sets;
• anticipated problems, and planned strategies for dealing with them.

NOTE: First draft submission & deadline are mandatory. Inadequate attempts at first submission, or missed deadline, result in 10% – 30% being deducted from final submission marks.

A comprehensive marking rubric is available. It is advisable to use the rubric as a guide for the writing and submitting of this assessment chapter.

[Quant] Alternative to Methodology Chapter (Final Submission)

(must be negotiated with LiC)

1. Source a significant research work (or 2 works maximum) from your discipline, appropriate to your current HDR research, which was conducted using either qualitative research approach or hybrid design with a significant qualitative component.
2. Write a review paper that
   1. critically evaluates the research study/ies methodologically; and
   2. can contribute to the literature review for your own research (ie: it/they must be relevant to your thesis study).
3. Your critical evaluation should take into account all aspects of research design including (but not limited to):
   1. relevance and applicability of methodology to the research question/s or objective/s;
   2. relevance and applicability of methods to the methodological approach and to the research question/s or objective/s;
   3. rigour and trustworthiness (eg: credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability, and member checking);
   4. ethics;
   5. consistency of methodological language (ie: using qualitative not quantitative terminology);
   6. how these methodological approaches and methods might be applicable (or not) for your research, and why you have chosen not to use them / why your chosen design and methods are more appropriate.
4. The finished review should require approximately 2500 – 3000 words to address all issues adequately.

NOTE: First draft submission & deadline are mandatory. Inadequate attempts at first submission, or missed deadline, result in 10% – 30% being deducted from final submission marks.

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Presentation of Soft Copy Assignments

Rather than submit an electronic Assignment Cover Sheet for every upload, please upload ONE electronic Assignment Cover Sheet to MyUni for your first upload, committing to the signed acknowledgement of the University’s policy on plagiarism as applicable to all work you will do throughout the duration of the course.

Presentation of Hard Copy Assignments

• Students must retain a copy of all hard copy assignments submitted.
• Please attach an ‘Assignment Cover Sheet’, which is signed and dated by you before submission.

Because of the combined student body nature of this course, grades are published privately either by email or through MyUni. Therefore, final results for this course will NOT be made available through Access Adelaide (https://access.adelaide.edu.au/sa/login.asp), except for MBR students.

Although SELTs are not often conducted in Higher Degree Research courses, this course is continually refined (as well as being conducted on emergent design principles) in response to student feedback. SELTs will be conducted, anyway, but further independent feedback is requested and welcomed.