Assignment: Small-Scale Qualitative Research Project
Submit your completed Interview Guide, including the following components:
• Primary Business Research Phenomenon
• Research Question (Level 2)
• Primary Research Goal(s)
• Initial Probe Questions
• Targeted Interview Questions (Level 1)
• Targeted Follow-up Questions
• Wrap-up Question
Note: Be sure to use the Interview Guide Template to complete this Assignment.
In Chapter 3 of his text, Yin (2018) referred to Level 1 and Level 2 questions when conducting case study research. Level 1 questions include specific interview questions, while Level 2 includes the overarching research question. Furthermore, well-crafted qualitative research questions are open-ended and typically restate the purpose of a study in specific terms. These questions should start with "what" or "how" instead of "why."
To prepare for this Assignment, review the Small-Scale Qualitative Research Project: Interview Guide Template, provided in this Part's Required Readings, and consider what type of research questions to ask. Keep in mind that your research question (Level 2) for this Assignment should be one that can be answered, at least in part, by the Level 1 questions asked in each interview. Questions that provoke a yes/no response are not permitted in a Doctoral Study interview guide.
Small-Scale Qualitative Research Project Overview
Introduction
The primary Assignments for this course (done over multiple Parts) involve the completion of a small-scale qualitative research project, which is intended to walk you through some of the conceptual challenges you will face when doing qualitative research and to help you build skills in doing such research. This series of Assignments focuses on you conducting interviews with at least two individuals and then transcribing the interviews and coding the interview transcriptions into a qualitative research format.
The purpose of this handout is to provide supplemental information to help you successfully complete this series of Assignments.
Elements of Your Study - By Part
Part 1: Selecting Your Small-Scale Project Subject
During Part 1, you should identify at least two potential interviewees and the topic for your small-scale qualitative research study. Ideally, you would seek to identify individuals who may be related to a general topic that you intend to examine for your Doctoral Study (that is, choose a "purposive sample").
However, given the short timeframe in which you are to choose a topic and identify your interviewees, you may have to rely on what is termed "convenience sampling." That is, you could choose a topic and people that will allow you to run through the processes of conducting a good qualitative research interview and write-up, but that have nothing to do with your Doctoral Study-or even business. In other words, you would choose a topic and people that you can access conveniently in order to complete the project in a timely manner.
What is important is that you structure the interviews to talk about an issue of substance and that you choose a topic that you can then analyze and write up. The closer you can get to conducting interviews about a topic related to business, or related directly to your Doctoral Study, the better, but that is not a formal requirement for this series of Assignments.
Once you have chosen your topic and interviewees, post (a) a two-paragraph summary of the process by which you selected your business problem, your interviewees (two or more), and how you will gain access to your participants and (b) a brief rationale for why you have chosen this topic and detailed information identifying why the interviewees are appropriate.
Part 2: The Interview Guide
During Part 2, you will prepare for your interview by completing the Interview Guide Template, which models similar activities that you will have to complete if you are doing a qualitative research design for your DBA Doctoral Study.
You will submit your completed Interview Guide Template, which will include the following components:
• Primary Business Research Phenomenon
• Research Question (Level 2)
• Primary Research Goal(s)
• Initial Probe Questions
• Targeted Interview Questions (Level 1)
• Targeted Follow-up Questions
• Wrap-up Question
Part 3: Conducting the Interviews
During Part 3, you will begin planning the interview process and preparing for your interviews. You will review the Required Media on planning and conducting interviews in preparation for conducting your interviews and submitting your interview transcriptions next Part. Remember, your interviews should last 15-20 minutes and must be audio-recorded, since this is the standard for good practice in qualitative research interviews. As a reminder, there is no submission due this Part, but you should work to complete your interviews and transcriptions for next Part.
Part 4: Conducting the Interviews
During Part 4 (if you have not already done so), you should conduct the actual interviews. Seek to conduct the interviews in a location that is comfortable and quiet for both you and your interviewees. Bring your prepared Interview Guide Template and a dependable recording device that can accommodate 20 minutes of interview material. Note: This does NOT have to be a tape recorder; you could use a computer, iPhone or other smartphone that has a recording application, or other recording device.
You are required to record the interviews, as that is a baseline practice for effective qualitative research. You should also take notes, however, that would allow you to reconstruct the interviews should your recording fail. This means that you should write down, within quotations, key phrases and important segments so you can reconstruct if need be. You will submit your completed interview transcriptions, which each should include no more than 20 minutes of transcribed material.
Part 5: Coding of the Interview and Theme Analysis
In Part 5, you will use your completed transcription document, and you will code your transcriptions and identify themes. You will complete and submit the Transcript and Coding Template for both interviews, to include the following components:
• Your research questions for these interviews
• A list of the codes you developed from your interview transcripts
• A description of your thinking or working process, explaining how you developed your codes, including any evolution of your coding system
• In-text coding for your interviews (This means that you are to select and identify chunks of data [codes]. Then create a list of themes and their descriptions developed from the codes. Keep your interview transcripts intact, and show where you have applied the codes to the text.)
Part 6: Small-Scale Qualitative Research Project Write-Up
Finally, in Part 6, you will write up and submit a 5- to 7-page synthesis in which you detail the process and results for your small-scale qualitative research project. Your synthesis, which you will complete using the Small-Scale Qualitative Project Write-Up Template, should include the following components:
• Background of the Problem
• Research Problem
• Interview Questions
• Data Collection (Interview Transcripts)
• Data Analysis (Coding and Theme Analysis)
• Presentation of Findings
• Conclusion
• References (in APA format)
Conclusion
At the completion of this series of Assignments, you will have a small working model of the process that one undertakes during a qualitative research project! Remember, you worked on just a 20-minute sequence, based on two interviews. When you begin to work on your actual Doctoral Study using qualitative methods (should you use a qualitative or mixed design), the research design will be much more complicated, and you will spend considerable amounts of time preparing for multiple interviews, collecting data from various sources, analyzing and coding large segments of data, and writing up the final results.
Qualitative research is extremely rewarding, but it requires considerable planning and time to execute properly. You now have experience with some of the basic techniques required for successful qualitative research!
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
Attachment:- Interview-Guide-Template.rar