Research Methods. Uses and Limitations of Questionnaires, Interviews, and Case Studies

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Business economics - Didactics, Economic Pedagogy, printed single-sided, grade: 2.2 (B), University of Manchester (Manchester School of Management), 22 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: At the beginning of any type of research, it is important for the researcher to determine the most appropriate methodology to carry out the study. The Dictionary of Sociology (1998) defines methodology as a the methods and general approach to empirical research of a particular discipline . It is implied that various methods exist to approach a particular research problem, and the researcher should give his or her own set of methods considerable thought.While factors such as time and costs certainly play an important part in deciding how to approach a particular research problem, the subject of the research itself should ultimately determine the methods used. A good researcher will evaluate all available options prior to making a decision as to which methods to adapt in the light of being the most useful for the study at hand.Scandura and Williams (2002) note that the impact of management studies often depends upon the appropriateness of the research methods chosen . This further highlights the importance the researcher needs to place at the selection of the right approach if the end-result is expected to be valuable and meaningful from a management perspective.When the most appropriate research method - or a mix of various methods - has been established, it is time to start what Gilbert (2001) calls detective work: Social research involves detective work. You begin with a problem and then ask a number of questions about it, such as what? , who? , where? , when? , how? and why? . A variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods are available to the researcher, ranging from interviews, questionnaires, observation, experiments, to case studies. This paper will focus on three of the above methods, namely questionnaires, interviews, and case studies, in chapters two, three, and four respectively. Each chapter will give a brief introduction about the method, and then highlight the main strengths and limitations of each approach. For the purpose of this paper, induction is defined as a data-driven approach to research, while deduction is seen as theory-driven.1 As such, the notion of data-driven versus theory-driven will also be explored briefly for each method. Lastly, chapter five will offer a conclusion and the main findings of this paper.