Exploratory research concepts and methods

¶ … insufficient to express the concepts in the research question. Both are valid research methods, but are typically used to cover different subjects. quantitative approaches are used with refined questions that can be subject to statistical analysis, such that the outputs can be proved mathematically. This is called intersubjective certifiability. Qualitative methods are more subjective, but can have a much greater breadth to the information that they convey.

Exploratory research designs rely on qualitative research techniques because it allows for open-ended questions and answers. Furthermore, probing "provides the participant with the opportunity to respond in their (sic) own words, rather than forcing them to choose from fixed responses, as quantitative methods do" (FHI, 2012). Open-ended questions have the benefit of allowing the questions to be meaningful to the participant, or can yield results that were not anticipated by the researcher. Essentially, qualitative research allows for greater exploration of the subject by removing the limits that are inherent in quantitative research.

3. Causal designs rely so much on quantitative techniques because statistical analysis is a proven method of determining relationships between variables. In particular statistical approaches can allow the researcher to make causal inferences without bias, something that is almost impossible to do in qualitative research because the researcher must suppose the link between the variables. In quantitative research, the link between the variables can be tested (Harvard, 2012).

4. The basic orientations of qualitative research are phenomenology, ethnography, grounded theory and case studies. The former is the study of phenomena, and is based on psychology and philosophy. Ethnography comes from anthropology and reflects the study of societies and cultures. Grounded theory originates from sociology and is "an inductive investigation in which the researcher poses questions about information provided by respondents," with the objective of driving deeper into the issue. Case studies use cases either as prompts to explore key issues, or as anecdotal evidence of observable phenomena. They focus mostly on a single event, person or company (Zikmund, 2013).

5. To define a business situation prior to conducting confirmatory research would require an exploratory technique. Phenomenology is probably the best starting point to try and narrow down a research question from an issue. The use of open-ended questions provides valuable insight into the best lines of inquiry, for example. By identifying key trends that might be worth exploring, the researcher benefits from taking a phenomenological approach. Grounded theory can provide further refinement of the key issues, because the issue can be refined through the questioning of the researcher. Furthermore, grounded theory "is particularly applicable in highly dynamic situations involving rapid and significant change" (Zikmund, 2013).