What does Qualitative Research Look Like???

I analyzed three qualitative studies that used micro-ethnography, literary, inductive and exploratory methods to identify the factors that contributed to particular outcomes.

In the first study, micro-ethnographic study used a sociomaterial theoretical lens to observe how the organization of a room can affect the productivity of newly formed groups.  Susan Bridges and crew used video analysis of evolving physical configurations to observe movement patterns to discover how the organization of a physical space can affect the productivity of a group of people (Bridges,  et al., 2020).  It was found that peer identification of leaders may influence learning processes but not learning outcomes in the first IPE team meeting. The design of the physical and virtual learning environments contributed to the developing, sociomaterial processes of group cohesion in interprofessional team-based learning  (Bridges,  et al., 2020).

In the second study, literary and inductive studies were done to analyze the  ancient wisdom in the story of Antigone on how the characters in the story demonstrated good and bad leadership qualities.  Alessia Contu (2023) uses literary and inductive studies to explore how the storyline of the book led to the democratic policies that we enjoy today.  Contu (2023) looks at how Creon and Antigone represented bad leadership and good leadership.  The story also describes how Anitgone was (good and timely) while she exemplified the Greek word of  Phronesis, which comprises the viewpoints of prudence, sensibility to context, as well as an openness to dialogue and to the other (Contu, 2023).  Creon, on the other hand, was (Bad and untimely) which led to him being in Hamartia, the Greek word for error, due to his “blindness” and inability to allow for other voices to be heard in his decision making (Contu, 2023). 

In the third study, exploratory qualitative research was done to examine how design leaders guide their in-house teams while operating in a commercial context using paradox theory (Gemser, et al., 2023).   Interviews were retrospective, semi-structured, and focused on three main topics: the leaders’ backgrounds and prior and current roles; their activities and behavior that sought to provide structure and direction to the design team and the organization at large; and the activities and behavior that enabled them to successfully foster and scale design excellence within the organization (Gemser, et al., 2023).  The group of researchers concluded that a balanced approach of “we/together” versus “us/separate” needs to be implemented by design Leaders (Gemser, et al., 2023).

References:

Bridges, S. M., Chan, L. K., Chen, J. Y., Tsang, J. P., & Ganotice, F. A. (2020). Learning environments for interprofessional education: A micro-ethnography of sociomaterial assemblages in team-based learning. Nurse education today, 94, 104569. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0260691720314192.

Contu, A. (2023). Antigone: On Phronesis and How to Make Good and Timely Leadership Decisions. Academy of Management Review, 48(1), 149–164. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2021.0022. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=bth&AN=161246844&authtype=sso&custid=s9008876&site=ehost-live&scope=site&custid=s9008876&authtype=sso.

Gemser, G., Calabretta, G., & Quint, E. (2023). Leadership to Elevate Design at Scale: balancing conflicting imperatives. California Management Review, 65(3), 48–72. https://doi.org/10.1177/00081256231169070.