Qualitative research limitations in agricultural management case study

Structure and Management Practice

Briefing Memo: Case Study Evaluation

Type of Business: Agriculture

Reported Issue: Management personnel structure, functioning, and corrective action.

As the situation being reported upon was designed to gather data through observation, interviews, and questionnaires with respect to the organizational structure of the agricultural organization, and without committing the measurement data to a selected statistical analysis tool, the research is classified as qualitative rather than quantitative. For there to have been a quantitative analysis the measurement data, especially the questionnaire and survey data, would have to generate numerical values that can be subjected to descriptive and inferential statistical analysis.

Research Method

Effectiveness: Qualitative research is primarily reserved to investigate issues that depict industry trends and these trends must be supported by previous investigative research endeavors. The current management report, although depicting a trend of mismanagement, improper hiring practices, and wage discrepancies, did not supply previous research data with respect to industry trends. As such the data garnered is only useful on an ad hoc subjective basis and not for strategic planning and change management programming.

Recommendations to Supervisor: Because the resulting data was not quantified and subjected to statistical data analysis, as well as not being supported by previous industry trend data, recommendations to the supervisor can be cursory but not definitive. The supervisor would be informed that although the retrieved data was not quantified "it appears that the infrastructure of the agricultural operation does not demonstrate operating procedure in the best interest of the company and/or for the employee. Therefore, based on employee response information it is highly recommended that the significant information garnered through surveys, questionnaire, and interviews be used to develop a reliable and valid assessment procedure and tool to measure operating effectiveness, including but not limited to, hiring practices, wage differentiations, and communication pathways. The resulting descriptive statistical data will be properly analyzed in accordance with the Ohlson (1996) Best Fit Statistical Practices in Business Model. Results from the data analysis will pinpoint wherein specific areas of the organization need improvement and what area would 'best fit' the corrective action.