2Schurink.qxd


Denzin and Lincoln (1998), two renowned scholars in qualitative

research, are correct when they point out that a quiet methodological

revolution has been taking place in the social sciences and

humanities, resulting not only in a blurring of disciplinary

boundaries but also in the mutual focus on an interpretive,

qualitative approach to research and theory. Qualitative research

has a long and distinguished history in the intellectual enterprise.

Well known is the pioneer work in sociology undertaken by the

“Chicago school” in the 1920s and 1930s during which the

importance of qualitative research for the study of human group

life was established. In anthropology, during the same period, the

path-breaking studies of Boas, Mead, Benedict, Bateson, Evans-

Pritchard, Radcliffe-Brown and Malinowski outlined the execution

of the fieldwork method, wherein the researcher/observer went to a

foreign setting to study the customs and habits of another society

and culture (cf. Denzin & Lincoln 1998). Qualitative research soon

invaded other social disciplines. The extent of this invasion of the

social sciences and its related professional fields, and the host of

textbooks, journals, Web sites, international conferences, research

monographs and readers that have consequently been published in

the mid-1970s are nothing but remarkable! Among the professional

areas that have thus far responded enthusiastically to qualitative

methods and theory are: anthropology, sociology, education,

psychology, criminology and criminal justice, social work, health,

human development, family studies, communications, information

studies, gerontology, industrial psychology and organisational 

and management studies. Merriam and associates (2002: xv) are

correct when they conclude: “… qualitative research is an 

accepted methodology in all the social sciences and applied fields 

of practice”.

In this special edition of the Journal of Industrial Psychology that

is devoted to qualitative studies undertaken by local industrial

psychologists and other colleagues working in the management

and organisational fields, it seems appropriate, if not necessary,

(i) to take a brief look at the nature of qualitative research

abroad, (ii) to take stock of the state of the art in South Africa,

and (iii) to obtain a sense of the status of qualitative research in

the management and organisational field as well as South

Africans’ approach to qualitative research in these two areas.

While this is a pleasant task, qualitative research’s long-

distinguished history, the divergent disciplines, philosophies,

theories and traditions that contributed to this research style

over a century, and the current key issues, like its “double crisis”,

namely the inclusion of the Other and the legitimation of the

field, make this a demanding undertaking. However, a few

cautionary words are in order. First, in tackling these three tasks,

it must be cautioned that the article can at best scratch the

surface, resulting in a discussion that is far from exhaustive, and

represents, in the final analysis, an incomplete discussion that at

would best pave the way for hopefully more discussions of

qualitative-related issues to appear in subsequent issues of the

Journal. Second, while reference will inevitably be made to more

philosophical dimensions of social research such as ontology

and epistemology, the emphasis will be on methodology1.

Finally, although, methodological issues will be addressed,

because of the constraints of an introductory article, it is not

possible to deal with methodical and technical matters, such as

data collection, and data analysis here2. 

INTERNATIONAL QUALITATIVE STUDIES: 

SOME BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

A brief overview of the literature on qualitative research reveals

among others, as already indicated, (i) an increase in social

science attention to qualitative research and its associated terms

particularly over the past three decades, which has been

exceptional since it resulted in a large variety of books and

journals on qualitative research; and (ii) which has grown out of

a wide range of intellectual and disciplinary traditions, resulting

in its contemporary adherents not using a unified set of

philosophies or methods. Not unexpected, these developments

have resulted in contemporary scholars not reaching consensus

on what qualitative studies entail. In fact, “qualitative research”

means different things to different people. While this state of

affairs has surely complicated researchers’ decision to choose

qualitative methods when embarking upon research, it has not

prevented them from utilising these methods. But what are the

key assumptions and characteristics of these studies? I will now

briefly discuss core aspects of this type of research. 

WILLEM J SCHURINK
Guest Editor

Social Science Research Consultancy 

ABSTRACT
This introduction to this special edition of the Journal dealing with recent qualitative work undertaken by local industrial

psychologists, sketch the nature of qualitative research globally, its position in South Africa, and finally, the status of such

research as applied to the management/organisational field abroad as well as in South Africa. From this and the other articles

it is clear that qualitative research is healthy in management related areas in South Africa, but that local scholars have work

on their hands to train promising researchers in this research style in order to sustain it and developing it further. 

OPSOMMING
Hierdie inleiding tot die spesiale uitgawe van die Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur wat handel oor kwalitatiewe studies

wat deur plaaslike bedryfsielkundiges onderneem is, skets die aard van globale kwalitatiewe navorsing, die stand van die

tipe navorsing in Suid-Afrika, en, ten slotte, die stand van hierdie tipe navorsing in die bestuurs-/organisasieveld in sowel

die buiteland as plaaslik.Vanuit hierdie artikel en die ander bydraes is dit duidelik dat kwalitatiewe navorsing organisasie

verwante areas in Suid-Afrika gesond is maar dat werk op plaaslike geleerdes wag om belowende navorsers in hierdie

navorsingstyl op te lei ten einde dit te handhaaf en verder te ontwikkel.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT AND

ORGANISATIONAL STUDIES WITH REFERENCE TO 

RECENT SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCH

Requests for copies should be addressed to: W Shurink, Department of Human

Resource Management, RAU University, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006

2

SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 2003, 1 (3), 2-14

SA Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 2003, 1 (3), 2-14

1 Readers interested in these and other dimensions need to consult the various excellent works that are available (cf. in management research and excellent epistemological source is

Johnson and Duberley’s Understanding management research. An introduction to epistemology (2000), dimensions of qualitive research).

2 A number of excellent textbooks dealing with specific decision taking steps in research generally and organisational qualitive specifically are available (regarding management

research methods, recent examples are: Gill and Johnson (2002), Lee (1999), Gummesson, (2000), Symbol and Cassell (1998).



Explaining qualitative research

Although sharing an anti-positivistic set of basic beliefs or

paradigms3, qualitative researchers hold different perspectives,

based on their worldviews, particularly with regard to ontology

and epistemology, i.e. what should be researched and what

scientific truth entails. This implies that the term “qualitative

research” means different things to different people (cf. Strauss

& Corbin, 1990). Hence, it is difficult to describe qualitative

research in a way that will satisf y everybody. The following

views of t wo prominent scholars illustrate some of the

differences as well as key commonalities of qualitative research: 

� “[Q]ualitative research is: (i) grounded in a philosophical

position which is broadly interpretivist in the sense that it is

concerned with how the social world is interpreted,

understood, experienced or produced. Whilst different

versions of qualitative research might understand or

approach these elements in different ways (for example,

focusing on social meanings, or interpretations, or practices,

or discourses, or processes, or constructions) all will see at

least some of these as meaningful elements in a complex –

possibly multi-layered – social world; (ii) based on methods

of data generation which are flexible and sensitive to the

social context in which data are produced (rather than rigidly

standardized or structured, or removed from ‘real life’ or

’natural’ social context, as in some forms of experimental

method); and (iii) based on methods of analysis and

explanation building which involve understandings of

complexity, detail and context. Qualitative research aims to

produce rounded understandings on the basis of rich,

contextual, and detailed data. There is more emphasis on

‘holistic’ forms of analysis and explanation in this sense, than

on charting surface patterns, trends and correlations.

Qualitative research usually does use some form of

quantification, but statistical forms of analysis are not seen as

central” (Mason 1996, p. 4).

� “We use qualitative research as an umbrella term to refer to

several research strategies that share certain characteristics. The

data collected have been termed soft, that is, rich in description

of people, places, and conversations, and not easily handed by

statistical procedures. Research questions are not framed by

operationalizing variables; rather, they are formulated to

investigate topics in all their complexity, in context. While

people conducting qualitative research may develop a focus as

they collect data, they do not approach the research with

specific questions to answer or hypotheses to test. They also

are concerned with understanding behavior from the subject’s

own frame of reference. External causes are of secondary

importance. They tend to collect their data through sustained

contact with people in settings where subjects normally spend

their time – classrooms, cafeterias, teacher’s lounges,

dormitories, street corners” (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998, p. 2).

Some of the differences and commonalities are also reflected in

the concepts and terms found in the field of qualitative research,

as shown by the ensuing discussion. 

Terms used for qualitative research

Qualitative research is, as John and Lyn Lofland (1984) note, a

“many-labelled tradition”. The most commonly used labels appear

to be “field research”/“fieldwork”, “naturalism”, “ethnography”,

“interpretative research” and “constructivist research”. 

“Field research” or “fieldwork” is t ypically used by

anthropologists and derives its use from “the fact that data tend

to be collected in the field as opposed to laboratories or other

researcher-controlled situations” (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998, p. 3).

“Naturalism” or “naturalistic research” implies the minimising

of the presuppositions with which the researcher approaches the

phenomenon under study as well as a close and searching

description of the mundane details of everyday life (Lofland &

Lofland, 1984, p. 3). Researchers typically frequent places where

the events they are interested in occur naturally. Data is gathered

in the course of natural behaviour such as talking, visiting,

looking, walking, working, eating, etc. 

The term “ethnographic” is applied to qualitative research as

well. Some scholars use the term in a formal sense to refer to a

particular variant of qualitative research. Others use it more

generally and equate it to qualitative research, particularly

when doing qualitative research of a predominantly

descriptive nature.

The term “interpretative” refers, according to Mouton (1986,

p. 2), to the fact that qualitative research is not aimed at

explaining human behaviour in terms of universally valid laws

or generalisations, but rather at understanding and

interpreting the meanings and intentions that underlie

everyday human action. 

“Constructivism”, just as “interpretivism”, relates to the

theory of meaning (hermeneutics). However, constructivism

breaks away from the assumption that realit y can be

understood by interpreting the meanings that people in a

specific setting attach to it. To constructivists, reality is

relative and the construction of the life worlds of subjects 

can never reflect the true picture. Findings are actually

created through interaction bet ween the researcher and 

the subject.

Finally, the term “qualitative research”, probably the 

most general, encompassing and widely accepted term, is an

indication that this approach concentrates on the qualities 

of human behaviour, i.e. on qualitative aspects and not

quantitatively measurable aspects of human behaviour

(Mouton, 1986, p. 2). Bogdan and Biklen (1998, p. ix) write 

that in the early 1970s, “qualitative research” broke out of 

the boundaries of anthropology and sociology and “came 

on the scene as a crossover designation for field research

people not weeded to a particular discipline … Not belonging

to any one tradition, the phrase heralded twenty years of

increased inf luence, development, and cross-fertilization.

While some in the traditional disciplines resisted the use of 

the term, for most it united the old timers with those who are

new to the approach”. 

At this juncture, it is important to emphasise what has been

suggested in the preceding is that “qualitative research” has seen

many changes during especially the last thirteen years, which

has resulted in the field becoming much more diverse and

“challenging”, if not, reflecting controversy and turmoil.

Bogdan and Biklen (1998, p. x) describe this vividly: 

“While “qualitative research” gave affiliation to people in

the 1970s and 1980s, in the 1990s shifts in the field began

pulling adherents apart. The approach has attracted many

who were trained in a more quantitative approach to

research. They have championed a brand of qualitative

research which is more structured and systematized than

earlier methods, an approach which emphasizes qualitative

technique more than a qualitative way of thinking. At the

same time, other qualitative researchers were attracted by

scholarship in the humanities which emphasised

postmodern approaches to enquiry. These researchers de-

emphasized the careful collection of field data and

concentrated more on research as representation through

writing, and on the politics of research.”

Taking the early 1900s as the early stages of qualitative research,

Denzin and Lincoln (2000) distinguish between six moments to

describe its history. Since these stages of qualitative development

provide a good explanation of how the field became diverse and

controversial, it is useful to take a closer look at them. 

QUALITIVE RESEARCH IN ORGANISATIONAL STUDIES 3

3 A paradigm is a set of beliefs that constitutes the researcher’s ontology (i.e. the researcher’s perceptions regarding the nature of reality/the world and what there is to know about

it); epistemology (i.e. the researcher’s perceptions of where s/he stands in relation to reality/the world); and methodology (the researcher’s perception of how s/he can find out

about reality/the social world).



A brief historical account of developments in 

qualitative research

By now it should be clear that qualitative research as a field of

enquiry in its own right crosscuts disciplines, fields and subject

matters, and there is a complex, interconnected family of terms,

concepts and assumptions surrounding the term qualitative

research. These conditions and beliefs include the traditions

associated with positivism, post-structuralism and the many

qualitative research perspectives or methods, connected to

cultural and interpretive studies. These features of qualitative

research, according to Denzin and Lincoln (2000), operate in a

complex historical field that crosscuts six historical moments,

which simultaneously operate in the present. Hatch (1997)

points out that the assumptions raised from within these

moments have crystallized into three paradigms of enquiry: the

modernist, the interpretive and the postmodernist. 

The six moments can be summarized as follows:

� Traditional period (1900 to the 1940s). Researchers such as

Malinowski, Margaret Mead and Radcliffe-Brown employed

ethnography, phenomenology or ethnomethodology to study

human phenomena. These strategies are characterised by

observation (participant observation) and a description of the

actions of a small number of subjects and the meanings that

they attach to their actions. 

Data analysis is mainly interpretative, involving descriptions

of the phenomena. The main aim is to write objective

accounts of lived experiences (fieldwork experiences). This

notion of objectivity has however fallen into disrepute

because ethnographers in particular have been accused of

complying with imperialism, and their works have come to be

seen as relics of the colonial past. However, in order to solve

the qualitative researcher’s problems regarding objectivity and

representation of subjects, proponents of phenomenology and

ethnomethodology recently broadened their field of interest

by linking lived experience with social context. 

� The modernist phase (the 1940s to the 1970s). The modernist

phase was built on the works of the traditional period, social

realism and naturalism. This phase is characterised by the

interpretation of reality by means of formalised qualitative

methods and the undertaking of rigorous data analysis (e.g.

analytical induction and grounded theory). Examples of this

perspective (which still prevails in recent studies) include the

symbolic interactionist perspective as reflected in the works

of Bogdan and Taylor (1975), Glaser and Strauss (1967) and

Lofland (1971).

Between the 1940s and the 1970s, the modernist approach

included phenomenology, ethnography, symbolic inter-

actionism, critical theory, and applied and action research.

Strategies of enquiry ranged from grounded theory and the

case study to the methods of historical, biographical,

ethnographic and clinical research. Methods of data collection

varied from interviewing and participant observation to the

study of human documents. Data was analysed by means of

analytical induction and grounded theory.

� Blurred genres (1970 to 1986). Critics of the modernist phase

argued that it is impossible for qualitative researchers to

discover the real world, as the people living in it know it.

Qualitative studies are thus the researcher's interpretations of

the subject's experiences. What we take to be objective

knowledge and truth is the result of a particular perspective.

Knowledge and truth are thus constructed and not discovered

by the mind. Critical theory, including neo-positivism, neo-

marxism, materialism and participatory enquiry, was

developed during this period of blurred genres.

� Crisis of representation (the mid-1980s). New models of truth

and method that would best describe and interpret the

experiences of other people and settings were continually

being sought in the mid-1980s. The basic assumption in this

period was that the researcher cannot be objective and value

free and that rigorous studies of social processes (such as

advocated by symbolic interactionism) are impossible. This

assumption demanded a serious rethinking of concepts such

as validity, reliability and generalisability. Issues such as class,

gender, race and values were also pertinent. The research

process therefore had to become more reflective and

fieldwork and writing had to converge. Researchers and

subjects thus became partners in the research process. This

perspective has given rise to cultural studies as well as

feminist and action research.

� The fifth moment (the 1990s). This phase is defined and

shaped by the assumption that qualitative researchers cannot

directly capture lived experience. Data should therefore not

be interpreted or analysed. The researcher should rather

gather and present data in such a way that the subjects speak

for themselves (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p. 21). Lived

experience cannot be created in the social text written by the

researcher. Theories are therefore written in narrative terms

as tales of the field. Researchers remain preoccupied with the

representation of the Other and the question of how to

develop a social science that includes the Other. When

analysing the development of the qualitative research

paradigm, the move to include the Other in a larger research

process is evident. However, the question of how the Other

could be included has not been solved. 

This trend in qualitative research, namely to become more

“messy”, requires serious rethinking in terms of scientific

validit y and reliabilit y. As neither the issue of

representation nor the issue of legitimation has been

solved, a double crisis is presently confronting qualitative

researchers (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994). The question is

whether the truth can ever be captured and represented by

means of qualitative research, because even if the Other is

empowered to become a researcher, differences in power,

knowledge etc. remain part of the relationship between

researchers and subjects. The final product will still be that

of a researcher and not that of the subjects. Therefore,

uncontaminated truth cannot be established. After all, the

researcher, even by not positioning him/herself, does not

relate to reality in the same way as his/her research subjects.

It is clear that in order to solve this crisis of legitimation,

qualitative researchers need to develop new criteria that

allow them and their readers to make a connection between

the text and the real world written about.

The Other should be empowered to undertake their own

historical or social investigations, or researchers should

engage together with the Other in “narrative adventures” and

“experimental” or “messy” texts. The researcher is therefore

merely the link between the field text and the community.

S/he empowers the Other to become a co-researcher who will

speak for him/herself. 

In their later discussion of the qualitative phases, Denzin and

Lincoln (2000) talk of “a triple crises of representation,

legitimation, and praxis” “in which the inevitably creative

and interpretive nature of qualitative writing is put under the

microscope, including the perspective of the qualitative

writer, and searching questions are raised about how to

evaluate the quality of qualitative research and evaluation”

(Patton, 2002, p. 79-80).

� The sixth moment or “postexperimental” phase. Here qualitative

research’s boundaries are expanded in order to accommodate

creative non-fiction, autobiographical ethnography, poetic

representations and multimedia presentations. 

The brief overview of these six phases in qualitative research

development will suffice. Regardless of the possibility of more

moments developing in future, it is clear that qualitative

research should be seen as a discipline reflecting many

interesting varieties. Let’s take a closer look at some of these. 

Types of qualitative research

Qualitative research is found in virtually all recognised social

science disciplines and study areas (cf. Patton 2002; Merriam

2002), and therefore it should come as no surprise to find that

SCHURINK4



different disciplines and fields have drawn on, and contributed

to, qualitative research differently. These diverse terminologies,

strategies and procedures have confused particularly newcomers

to qualitative enquiry and have led to the realisation that there

is presently no consensus on how to classif y qualitative research.

Examples of the diverse ways in which scholars writing on

qualitative texts have organised qualitative research are: 

(a) Jacob (1987) distinguishes between ecological psychology,

holistic ethnography, ethnomethodology of communication,

cognitive anthropology and symbolic interactionism. 

(b) Crotty (1998) draws a distinction between positivism (and

postpositivism), interpretivism (including phenomenology,

hermeneutics, and symbolic interactionism), critical

enquiry, feminism and postmodernism. 

(c) Creswell (1998) identifies the following five “traditions”:

biography, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography

and case study. 

(d) Bogdan and Biklen (1998), in their textbook on qualitative

research for education, emphasize the phenomenological

perspective and differentiate between phenomenology,

symbolic interaction, culture, ethnomethodology, and cultural

studies, feminisms, post modernism, and critical theory. 

(e) Tesch (1990) listing 45 approaches, divides them into designs

(e.g. case study), data analysis techniques (e.g. discourse

analysis), and disciplinary orientation (e.g. ethnography). 

(f) Denzin and Lincoln (2000) identified the following research

strategies: case study, ethnography, phenomenolog y,

grounded theory, biographical, historical, participatory 

and clinical. 

(g) Merriam (2002). Using the more commonly used

approaches to doing qualitative research, she distinguishes

between: basic interpretive, phenomenology, grounded

theory, case study, ethnography, narrative analysis, critical

and postmodern-poststructural approaches. 

(h) Patton (2002) distinguishes between the following 16

varieties of qualitative enquiry: ethnography, reality testing

(e.g. positivist and reality approaches), constructionism/

constructivism, phenomenolog y, heuristic enquiry,

ethnomethodology, symbolic interactionism, semiotics,

hermeneutics, narratology/narrative analysis, ecological

psychology, systems theory, chaos theory (e.g. non-linear

dynamics), grounded theory and orientational (feminist

enquiry, critical theory, and queer theory). 

When one takes a closer look at these classification attempts of

traditions and approaches to qualitative enquiry, one is bound

to conclude that the field is currently rather confusing. Even

seasoned researchers using this style of research, like Miles and

Huberman (1994 p. 5), find qualitative enquiry rather

bewildering: “As comprehensive and clarif ying as these catalogs

and taxonomies may be, they turn out to be basically

incommensurate, both in the way different qualitative strands

are defined and in the criteria used to distinguish them. The

mind boggles in trying to get from one to another”. 

The preceding brief overview of the field of qualitative research

will have to suffice since this survey should now be

supplemented by an outline of the state of the art in South Africa. 

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IN SOUTH AFRICA: BRIEF

OBSERVATIONS ON ITS CURRENT STATUS

As far as could be established, there is no systematic historical

analysis of qualitative studies in South African. A synoptic study

of the local literature clearly reveals that while this research style

has been institutionalized at certain South African universities,

most notably sociology, psychology and education, and at

certain centres and organisations, this is certainly not

widespread (cf. Mouton & Muller, 1998).  

According to Mouton and Muller (1998), who include qualitative

studies in their “Tracking trends in theory and method: past and

future”, ethnographic studies, participant observation,

unstructured interviewing methods and the use of documentary

sources have enjoyed, a long tradition especially in

anthropological (cf. scholars such as Wilson, Kuper, Radcliff-

Brown, Hammond-Tooke, Preston-Whyte, Boonzaaier, Sharp,

Kotze, Gordon, and Thornton) and historical studies (cf. Bozzoli,

1990) in South Africa. 

These scholars (Mouton & Muller 1998) seem to be correct in

stating that as one moves outside South African anthropology

and history, examples of qualitative empirical studies become

harder to find. While this might be the case, there is no doubt

that many local qualitative studies have been undertaken rather

sporadically and are quite diverse. 

From my reading of Mouton and Muller’s (1998) and some other

recent local methodological textbooks (cf. Terre Blanche &

Durrheim, 1999, Mouton, et al. 1998, De Vos, 1998) the following

inferences seems reasonable: 

� A significant non-positivistic tradition is found in psychology

in Kruger’s and other’s phenomenological work (cf. Kruger,

1988, Stones, 1988, Van Vuuren, 1991), resembling the

Duquesne tradition in the USA (see the work of Giorgi, 1997),

and which is based on the European phenomenology of

Husserl and Van den Berg. 

� Incidentally local qualitative work is quite similar to that of

the modernist paradigm and especially to the extent that

South African researchers make use of the “real” world in

informing and shaping their theorizing. The following work

provides good examples of these studies: Crause and Botha’s

(1977) study of prostitutes and deviants in Port Elizabeth's

harbour area4; Schurink’s (1979) unstructured interview

studies of various deviant and criminal worlds in a north

eastern community of Pretoria, Schurink and co-workers’

work on sex workers and other sex industry participants in a

number of South African cities (cf. Schurink, 1985, Schurink

& Winterbach, 1979; Minnaar, Venter & Schurink, 1980;

Schurink & Levinthal; 1983; Schurink & Ndabandaba, 1991;

Schurink, Liebenberg & Schurink, 1993); Marais’ (1989) study

of the relationship between the living context of a group of

local liberation theologians and their interpretation of the

Bible; Schurinks’ (1990a) participant observant study of a

1970s Pretoria gay club; Schurink’s studies of biographical

sketches of homosexual women and men (1981; 1989), Lötter

and Schurink’s (1984) study of prison gangs; Ferreria’s (1988)

sociological analysis of medical encounters of aged people at

an outpatient centre, Engelbrecht’s (1991) study of

Johannesburg bomb victims, Trollip’s (1991) study of the

meaning particular women in a Ndyundya-Ndebele kinship

group attached to acculturated clothing practices;

Steenkamp’s (1991) situation analysis of swimming-pool

managers at local authorities; Graser's (1992a & 1992b)

research into family murder; Ferreira’s (1992) qualitative

investigation of the emotional experiences of South African

divorced men; Schurink, et al.’s (1992) family murder

research; Schurink’s (1994) study of prison managers’ views

on the 1994 election and prison violence; Maree’s (1995 &

1996) criminological inspection of bankrobbers; Schurink,

Molope & Tshabalala’s (1997) study of child labour; Nomoyi

and Schurink’s (1998) study of insider accounts of necklacing

in three Port Elizabeth townships; and Roos et al’s (2002)

study of final-year medical students’ social construction/

experiences of ‘soft skills’ in the ‘old’ MBChB curriculum of

the University of Pretoria.

� The phenomenon of an increasingly wide variety of local

qualitative st udies that utilize different methods and

traditions of such research. Examples here are: Danziger

(1963); Meyer and Pinto (1982); Pretorius (1984); Mouton

(1983, 1985 & 1986); Siwani (1986); Graham and Zungu

QUALITIVE RESEARCH IN ORGANISATIONAL STUDIES 5

4 The latter two researchers selected a girl who had to infiltrate the meeting places of prostitutes and other people in this subculture, and on the basis of her five-week-long

observations made a functional analysis of the social system of prostitution centred in the harbour area of Port Elizabeth by night.



(1987); Levett (1998 & 1990); Siwani, et al. (1990), Mazibuko

(1990); Lindegger and Bosman (1990); Berger (1990);

Davidoff and Van den Berg (1990); McNaught and

Raubenheimer (1991); Ballen et al. (1991); Steyn (1992);

Potter and Moodie (1992); MacDonald, (1993); Ramphele

(1993); Van Zyl (1993); Oliphant (1993); Van Vlaenderen and

Gilbert (1993); Walker (1994); Butchart, et al. (1994); Sliep

(1994); Maconachie, et al.(1993); Dixon, et al. (1994);

Cleaver and Pallourios (1994); Kaminer & Dixon (1995);

Modungwa (1995); Shantall (1995); Duncan (1996); Ashley et

al. (1996); Swartz (1995 & 1996); Wilbraham (1996);

Sehlapelo and Terre Blanche (1996); Terre Blanche (1997);

Davies and Terre Blanche, (1997); Payze (1997); Suffla (1997);

Levett, et al. (1997); Stevens and Tighe Doerr (1997);

Durrheim & Dixon (1998); Butchart (1998), Minnaar, et al.

(1998); Thatcher and Feldman (1998); Esterhuizen (1999)

and Macleod (2002). 

A closer look at qualitative research locally leads to, among other

things, the following observations:

First, while qualitative research has been conducted for at least

four decades in South Africa, there has been keen interest among

scholars to utilise qualitative methods in local research,

particularly starting in the late 1970s and escalating since the

1990s. It seems fair to state that in terms of Denzin and Lincoln’s

(2000) developmental stages of qualitative research, many local

qualitative studies resemble the modernist paradigm, and there

is some interest in the postmodernist phases, most noticeably

the blurred genres and crisis of representation paradigms. While it

is conceivable that there would be local qualitative research that

could be typified as belonging to the so-called fifth moment, it

seems from the limited literat ure performed for this

contribution unlikely that much of South African work would

reflect the so-called sixth moment or “postexperimental” phase.

Similar to the state of qualitative research abroad, but to a lesser

degree, “contemporary qualitative research in South Africa is

characterised by plurality based on the variety of philosophical,

theoretical and methodological approaches utilised in the field”

(Mouton & Muller, 1998: 14). While one might expect that local

debate and controversy might increase locally as local qualitative

research reached the same level of development as such research

abroad, it is interesting to note that there has been, except for a

workshop Lipsey presented in Pretoria in 1994 (Louw, 1998), no

real recent antagonism between proponents of qualitative and

quantitative approaches in South Africa as was evident in many

American universities (cf. Mouton, 1983 & 1985; Schurink &

Schurink, 1988; Mouton & Muller, 1998). 

Second, all the known traditions and types of qualitative

research are found in local qualitative studies. South Africans

have often used single methods, like unstructured interviews,

but more recently, many have started employing multi-

methods, i.e., in-depth interviews, participant observation

and/or documents of life. 

Third, not uncommon to what is found in qualitative research

abroad, local scholars, started utilising qualitative methods and

approaches in evaluation research particularly since the late

1980s. While evaluation research is still very much a fledging

discipline in South Africa, it seems that Guba and Lincoln’s

(1989) qualitative approach to evaluation has been quite

popular. While many local scholars in the evaluation field

would like researchers in general probably agree to the use of

both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research

generally, and evaluation particularly, there are indications that

local scholars are to an increasing extent employing both

qualitative and quantitative methods in research in our part of

the world. Examples are the works of Van der Burgh (1984),

Schurink and Schurink (1990b), Schurink et al. (1993),

Schurink, (1999), and Page, et al. (2001). 

Fourth, as far as analytic traditions of qualitative research are

concerned, while local scholars have used all the known

methods, like analytic induction, (AI) phenomenological

analysis, discourse analysis and grounded theory (GT), the latter

is particularly popular. Mouton et al. (2001, p. 501) write:

“Grounded theory is one of the most commonly used

approaches in qualitative research in South Africa, especially in

theses and dissertations”. 

Fifth, a particularly distinct example of local postmodernism is

found in a debate surrounding the relevance of “the discursive

paradigm”. This debate, which is according to Macleod (2002),

related to discourse analysis and progressive or critical politics,

involved quite a few prominent local scholars including Van

Staden (1998), Painter and Theron (2001), Terre Blanche (1998),

and Durrheim (2001). 

Finally, much of local qualitative data analysis, especially of

small qualitative studies involving a few research participants,

has been done manually, but there is an increasing interest in

employing Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis software,

or CAQDAS. Mouton et al. (2001) found that most local usage,

training and support currently in South Africa is for winMA X

and ATLAS.ti.

Having briefly considered the status of qualitative research both

abroad and locally, we now turn to a concise review of

qualitative research in the organisational/management field. 

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND ORGANISATIONAL/

MANAGEMENT STUDIES: BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

In reviewing the application of qualitative research in the

organisational/management field, we first take a look at 

the international scene, after which we turn to the situation 

in South Africa. 

International qualitative management research

A few good sources of qualitative organisational/management

studies5 are currently available that discuss the origin, evolution

and current state in the field6. From a scan of these works, the

following inferences seem to be practically striking: 

(i) Origin and development. Qualitative research has been used

intermittingly in management and organisational studies

since their inception (Locke & Golden-Biddle, 2002).

During the 1950s and 1960s classic studies were undertaken:

(a) Dalton’s (1959) study into managerial practices in four

companies in North America, (b) Sayles’s (1964) research

into the nature of managerial tasks in a particular division

of a large American manufacturing organisation, (c)

Gouldner’s (1954b) research into aspects of a bureaucracy in

a gypsum mine, (d) Sayles’s (1958) work on shop-floor

matters of industrial work groups, (e) Gouldner’s (1954a)

wildcat strike research, and (f) Lupton’s (1963) study of the

work organisation and culture of the shop-floor in two

manufacturing plants attempting to explain the occurrence

of restriction of output by employees (Gill & Johnson,

2002). Hatch (1997) points out that as far as the history of

qualitative research is concerned, the so-called moments or

phases in its development are also found in management

studies. It is consequently currently common practice to

speak of qualitative research as falling within one of the

three paradigms: modern, interpretive and postmodern. 

(ii) Modenist qualitative research is inter alia evident in content

analysis. Boyatsis (1982), attempting to determine which

managerial features were related to effective performance,

draws on this and related practices. Locke (2001, p. 8)

writes: “In one phase of the study, transcripts were

developed from interviews during which respondents were

asked to describe incidents of on-the-job effectiveness and

SCHURINK6

5 “Organisational” and “management” researchers and research will be employed interchangeable here.

6 Arguably the most important of these works are those of: Symbol and Cassel (1998), Lee (1999), Lee, et al. (1999), Gummesson (2000), and Collins and Hussey (2003)



ineffectiveness. A coding system was developed to analyze

these interview-based observations. Previous work provided

the basis from which 19 concept ual categories that

comprised this study’s coding system were developed. The

interview transcripts were independently coded by two

coders for frequency of occurrence of each of the 19

categories. The frequencies determined for the conceptual

categories then formed the basis for making comparisons of

managers in high, average, and low performance groupings.

The resulting correlations pointed to those characteristics

that distinguished high from low performance”. From this

study, it is clear that modernist qualitative researchers share

with their quantitative colleagues an apprehension for the

nature of the relationship between their revealed facts and

the observable world that these claim to explain.

(iii) Interpretive and related constructivist paradigms. Exponents

of this paradigm are interested in understanding the world

of lived experience from the point of view of those who live

it. They focus on particular situated actors who they see as

compromising out of events and phenomena through long-

lasting processes of interaction that include history,

language and action. As a result, social reality is not a given

but is built up over time through shared history, experience

and communication so that what is taken for “reality” is

what is shared and taken for granted as to the way the world

is to be perceived and understood. In order to appreciate the

lived world of experience, qualitative researchers must

engage with and participate in it; they must actively

interpret it (Locke, 2001). Examples of qualitative

management work include: Weick’s (1969) enactment

theory, which highlights the active role that organisation

members play in creating the very organisations in which

they work; Gephart’s (1978) study of organisation

succession that concentrate on the language and activities

through which succession is developed; Isabella’s (1990)

research of middle managers in a financial service

institution, accent uating that changes in managers’

understanding and interpretations of organisational events

are necessary in order for change process to develop; and

Bartunek’s (1984) study of a religious order that looks at the

relationship between organisation members’ interpretive

schemes and organisational structure (Locke, 2001).

(iv) The postmodern paradigm. Popularized in the arts, literacy,

criticism and philosophy, “postmodern” entails a variety of

ideas, among others examining how power relations benefit

particular worldviews while silencing others. “Post-

modernism suggests that what is taken for ‘reality’ is

constructed by the discursive or language systems put in

play by a particular social historical context – what is ‘real’

then is what is represented as such. And, researchers’ own

attempts at uncovering ‘reality’ should also be seen as forms

of discourse…Indeed, postmodern theory has as one of its

aims the deconstruction of grand narratives of truth and

knowledge…” (Locke, 2001, p. 11). 

Examples of post-modern work in management studies are,

among others: Calas and Smircich’s (1990) work that study

organisational theoretizing on leadership, drawing on

feminist deconstructive schemes to draw attention to the

cultural influences and constraints on this ‘knowledge’;

Martin’s (1990) illumination of gender in an organisation’s

response to the maternity leave of one of its female officials;

Boje’s (1995) explanation of the numerous and concealed

realities that form Disney; and Covaleski et al.’s (1998) use

of Foucault’s ideas about power and knowledge to describe

how mentoring and management by objectives work as

techniques of control (Locke, 2001). Finally, a recent

thoughtful discussion and evaluation of postmodern theory

and research is Hancock and Tyler’s (2001) work. 

(v) Approaches of qualitative research widely used in organisational

studies. The preceding paradigms do not account for all the

diversity found in present- day qualitative management

research. “Besides working from different research paradigms,

qualitative investigators also work in various approaches or

styles that reflect their orientation to particular communities

of research practice. Three such communities that are

significantly represented among qualitative researchers are

ethnography, action research, and case work” (Locke, 2001). 

(vi) The repertory grid technique. This technique used in

qualitative organisational research is derived from the

personal construct theory (Kelly, 1955). It provides a formal

method of quantif ying qualitative data. According to Stewart

and Stewart (1981, p. 5), it allows the researcher when

conducting an interview, to obtain a mental map of how the

research participant/interviewee views the world, and to

write this map up with the minimum of observer bias. 

(vii) Mixing qualitative and quantitative research methods. While

limited, there are instances where qualitative organisational

researchers supplement their studies with quantitative

methods (cf. Barley, 1990, Eisenhardt, 1989).

(viii) Vague information on qualitative data analysis.

Management researchers utilising qualitative methods

generally provide weak descriptions of how they analysed

their data. Nevertheless, the most important analytical

methods of qualitative research are utilized. Particularly

noticeable is grounded theory (GT)7, analytic induction (IA)8,

content analysis9 and phenomenological analysis. While

symbolic interactionism underpinning grounded theory (GT)

has not surfaced in management and organisational studies, it

seems to be appealing to researchers including those trained at

the business school, who tend to emphasize a logico-deductive

approach. Notwithstanding their interest in GT resources and

discussions of the method, it is spread across various social

science disciplines making it difficult for organisational and

management scholars to track them down, resulting in their

selective applying of its logic and practices. This invisibility of

GT leads Locke (2001) to restore and reveal more fully the

future usage of the grounded approach in organisational and

management studies. She attempts to materialize this by (i)

detailing the disciplinary school of thought and procedural

details of the approach as it has been articulated by its

architects, and social scientists since the 1970s, and by (ii)

discussing the use of GT in organisational and management

studies over the same period. 

(xi) Organisational researchers take a relatively narrow view of

qualitative research. “Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) now classic

book on grounded theory was the most common

methodological citation. Eisenhardt’s (1989) case study

research design on the speed in strategic decision making was

the reference cited next most often (Larson & Lowendahl,

1996, suggest that Eisenhardt’s study appears to be moving

towards the status of a ‘classic work’). Finally, Yin’s (1984)

book on case study research was the methodological

reference cited third most often” (Lee, 1999, p. 15).

Before concluding this overview of qualitative organisational

research abroad, it is worthwhile to present the views of Crafford, a

scholar of the Department of Human Resource Management at

the Rand Afrikaans University, on qualitative trends in local

organisational studies, as set out in an email to me in 2001:

“I see Human Resource Management drawing from amongst

other disciplines, from psychology (particularly industrial

psychology) and the management sciences. Traditionally both

psychology and management sciences have been placed

firmly in an empirical-analytical paradigm and have been

fairly positivistic in nature. I think the idea of prediction and

QUALITIVE RESEARCH IN ORGANISATIONAL STUDIES 7

7 Argubly the most prominent qualitive organisational researcher in the grounded theory tradition is Locke (2001).

8 While examples of A1 in management research are hard to find, Lennon and Wollin (2001) represent a recent example. In addition, Johnson (1998) discussess the usage of analytic

induction in management research.

9 Content analysis entails a way of systematically translating text to numerical variables for quantitive data analysis. When applied to qualitive data it has a number of advantages.

Silverman (1993) provides a qualitive usage of this method. By analysing advertisements for information systems professionals placed in four major newspapers between 1970 and

1990, Todd, McKeen and Gallupe (1995) examined changes represented in the knowledge and skills requirements of information systems positions.



control appealed in an organisational setting where people

needed to be managed towards productivit y and

effectiveness. The idea of being able to control people in

service of profit was a good one. The field was (and I think

still is) dominated by quantitative research because numbers

give one a sense of exactness, which is appealing. I think over

time people have become more aware that exactness is not

always possible and there is a lot in organisations that has to

do with meaning – something you can't really quantif y –

immediately things like organisational culture, symbols and

identity come to mind. One is working with people's

perceptions and thus other methods are necessary –

qualitative methods.

I see three paradigms in research: empirical-analytical,

interpretive and the critical (constructionist) paradigm. I believe

qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in any of the

paradigms although the underlying assumption of the paradigm

will determine how the method is used and what the

implications are for reliability, objectivity and validity. I also

believe that each has its place in organisations and that one

should be guided by the research problem as to which paradigm

and method will be most appropriate. I do however think that

quantitative methods have dominated the scene for too long and

to the detriment of the field. I think there is a lot still to be

explored in organisations, using qualitative methods

particularly from an interpretive perspective. I think the critical

paradigm with its focus on change and intervention is also

important in organisations – very often this work is done all the

time, for example change in management interventions – but is

never really viewed as research” (Schurink, 2001). 

In the light of the present state of qualitative organisational/

management research abroad, it seems fitting to conclude with

the following two recommendations: 

� Lee (1999, p. 17): “As such, it may be timely for organisational

scientists to take a deeper look at methods and tactics of

qualitative research for both generating and testing

management theories.”

� Locke and Golden-Biddler (2000, p. 115-116): “While the

variety (in qualitative research in the study of life at work)

opens the doors to studying many different features of life at

work, it brings serious challenges to those interested in

pursuing and those who have to review qualitative research.

Coherence in paradigmatic stance, research operations, and

the written research accounts become a central issue. For

example, the modernist, interpretive, and postmodernist

viewpoints make assumptions about the nature of reality and

the nature of the act of research that are incommensurate. To

avoid mixing and muddling paradigms and research

approaches, researchers need to make explicit choices about

their epistemological viewpoints and their research

approaches and to execute their research projects accordingly

… And journal editors need to ensure they have the requisite

variety in their set of reviewers and to assign manuscripts

appropriately. This is critical to ensuring the ongoing

development of the practice of qualitative research and its

ability to contribute to our understanding of life at work."

Qualitative research in local management/

organisational studies

From a literature search I conducted, I was unable to find any

state of the art literature on organisation science and qualitative

research in South Africa, confirming Mouton and Muller’s

(1998) observation that qualitative studies are difficult to find

outside the local disciplines of anthropology and history.

Therefore the following conclusions I reached must be regarded

as tentative and awaiting systematic scrutiny: 

(i) As is the case with qualitative research in South Africa local

institutions of higher learning generally do not appear to

have a tradition of training in qualitative research methods

in their Departments responsible for human resources

management and related study areas. This unfortunate state

of affairs is due to inter alia the exclusion of research

methodology of tertiary institutions in favour of the “need

for the operational relevance of knowledge”. Schreuder

(2001, p. 4) writes: “A subject such as research methodology

is increasingly being excluded at undergraduate level. It is

probably not regarded as a key subject in human resource

management. The development of a scientific approach to

problems is hampered by those who plan to make a career

in industrial psychology”. Except for a few exceptions, most

notably the Department of Human Resource Management at

the Rand Afrikaans University, it appears that local university

departments have neither developed particular curricula for

qualitative research in management studies nor industrial

psychology, and when they do provide such training, it

generally takes place on an ad hoc basis10. 

(ii) At least two local journals, namely the SA Journal of

Industrial Psychology and South African Journal of Psychology,

accept articles based on qualitative management research,

and have already published quite a few excellent articles.

These journals together with the South African Qualitative

Methods Conference presented annually provide a platform

where interchange of ideas bet ween South Africans

undertaking qualitative work in life at work could take

place, which might in turn contribute to the development of

this field in the country.

(iii) At least some organisational qualitative research in South

Africa resembles at least the modernist paradigm (cf. Vosloo

& Barnard, 2002; Vermeulen, 2002; Vermeulen, et al. 2003). 

(iv) As is the case with qualitative research in South Africa

qualitative organisational research in South Africa generally

does not represent only one type or a single tradition; it

utilizes different methods and traditions. Some recent

examples are: focus groups (De Beer & Barnes, 2003; Vosloo

& Barnard, 2002), repertory grid technique (Vermeulen,

2002; Vermeulen, et al. 2003), interviews (Linde, Rothmann

& Sieberhagen, 1999) and documentary sources (Tlou &

Schurink, this volume). 

(v) As far as data analysis methods are concerned, South

Africans have used different methods: general informal

methods (Vosloo & Barnard, 2002), grounded theory: Du

Toit, 2002; Groenewald, Strümpfer & Lessing, 2001;

Williams, Crafford & Fourie, 2003; phenomenological

analysis (Linde, Rothmann & Sieberhagen, 1999), and

analytic induction (Tlou & Schurink, this volume). 

(vi) There are indications that local scholars are to an increasing

extent employing both qualitative and quantitative

methods in research in our part of the world. Two recent

examples are found in the work of Vermeulen (2002),

Vermeulen, et al. (2003) and Cilliers (2002). 

Having reviewed the variet y of theoretical perspectives

informing qualitative research, we now leave the world of theory

and enter the world of practice and pragmatism. Differently

stated, we present nine qualitative studies that have recently

been undertaken in the local study of life at work.

INTRODUCING THE ARTICLES

Apart from not having been published before and apart from

their quality, the articles that are presented in this volume have

been selected on their illustration of a particular variety of

qualitative research in management studies, for example, the

data collection and inferential methods used and/or tradition or

paradigm represented. 

Article one written by De Villiers and Kotze entitled: Work-life

balance: A study in the Petroleum Industry, represents an example

of a case study as well as how interviews could be used in

qualitative research. 

SCHURINK8

10 Particularly welcome is the fact that at least one local textbook on research methods for business and administrative sciences devotes one chapter to qualitive research designs

and while it does not discuss any South African work, it provides brief but useful discussions of historical research, the phenomenological approach, the case study, participant

observation and individual and focus interviews (Welman & Kruger, 1999).



Articles two and three, both by Tlou and Schurink and dealing

respectively with a gay woman's experiences during her career

in the Department of Defence and relating relevant social

science constructs to her views, in addition to illustrating a

particular type of case study, reflect the usage of a solicited

human/personal document and a particular formal technique of

qualitative data analysis, known as analytic induction.

Article four by Hodgson and Zaaiman (Facilitative Project

Management: A model for Integrated Change Implementation)

presents an interesting illustration of how they went about in

analysing a number of case studies.

Article five “From the worst to the best”: an explorator y

qualitative study of the process of social change at a South African

secondar y school created by Van Aswegen and Schurink,

illustrates how the methodology they used and the analytic

process utilized during the study were guided by certain

assumptions of phenomenology, symbolic interactionism and

grounded theory. Second, it provides an example of the

utilization of multi-methods, e.g. solicited essays and focus

groups. Finally, it indicates an inductive form of analysis,

called grounded theory. 

Article six by Chawane, Van Vuuren and Roodt, entitled Personal

change as a key determinant of the outcomes of organisational

transformation inter ventions, demonstrates how content analysis

could be performed, and how electronic mail could be employed

to contact research participants and distribute research

questions to them. 

Article seven, by Whitehead and Kotze, which reports on a study

of the career and life balance of local professional women,

provides another example of the utilization of multiple

qualitative data collection techniques, in-depth interviews and a

focus group session, as well as the analytic technique of

grounded theory. 

De Jager, Cilliers and Veldsman in their Leadership development

from a systems psychodynamic consultancy stance (article eight)

furnish another illustration of focus groups as a data collection

method, and grounded theory as an inferential method.

The final contribution (article nine) by Groenewald and

Schurink, entitled The contribution of co-operative education in

the growing of talent in South Africa, offers an example of the

usage of phenomenology in a qualitative exploration. 

CONCLUSION

From the preceding discussion and borne out by the nine

qualitative contributions in this volume of the Journal, it is clear

that qualitative research is “alive” in organisational/

management and related areas and disciplines in South Africa,

but as to its being “well”, hard work seems to be required not

only to sustain it in our part of the world, but also to expand it

by taking advantage of developments and trends abroad. 

I firmly believe that anyone who is truly committed to create

an optimally managed and profitable industry in the “Rainbow

Nation” and believes that the social sciences generally and

qualitative research particularly are necessary for such a course

will recognise the tremendous responsibility resting on the

shoulders of the younger generation of qualitative researchers

in the organisational and other fields of study to undertake

quality research that can inform local management policy.

From my own experience of lecturing local students on

qualitative research methods, I am convinced that only

experienced researchers who are ready to lend committed

youngsters who display particular personal qualities a hand

can fulfil this task. More particularly, we need to develop and

employ experimental pedagogies that are in line with the

characteristics of our students and facilitate joint ventures with

them in order for the young Turks to develop into dedicated

and creative researchers who are well-equipped to explore,

describe and explain the many ways people in post-Apartheid

South Africa creates their work – and assigns meaning to other

areas of their lives. 

I have been very privileged over the last two and a half decades

to have been intermittently part of various local training courses

and schools on qualitative research methods and I thought it

might be appropriate and hopefully of some value to share, in

conclusion, some experiences and thoughts on the training of

local qualitative researchers in the field of industrial psychology

and organisational research. 

From my recollection of some training courses, lectures and

workshops, it was apparent that being taught qualitative

research is often quite a threatening experience for students

and attendants. This has been borne out by a scan of the

limited literature available on qualitative research training

courses. Such anxiety appears to be caused mainly when

st udents’ taken-for-granted assumptions about various

philosophical and theoretical assumptions are infiltrated and

confronted. From my own experience, I have found that some

course attendants, particularly colleagues from research

institutions and universities, attended my lectures out of sheer

curiosity and/or because their superiors or colleagues expected

them to attend any course presented in order to bring back new

ideas to their institutions. In my view, very few, if any, of these

attendants have ever seriously considered conducting

qualitative research themselves or guiding students who

wanted to undertake such research. From discussions with

them, it became clear that many of these young colleagues

hold positivistic-oriented scientific beliefs that prevent them

from participating fully in qualitative training courses, let

alone undertaking qualitative research. 

The fact that a great variety of traditions are nested under 

the qualitative umbrella today as well as the very nature 

of qualitative research contribute to the complexit y of 

training students. 

It appears that field-based qualitative training courses, where

students are taken through key aspects, if not the entire

qualitative study, and are given guided experience doing

field-based research, have proven to be particularly successful

since the students experience how methods take shape as they

become immersed in actual social life. However, there are

obstacles inherent in the t y pical universit y course,

specifically temporal constraints, e.g. the inclusion of

qualitative research methods alongside quantitative methods

and theory. 

My own local qualitative research courses where I have 

been presenting formal lectures on the nat ure of qualitative

research, its underpinning philosophies and theories, its

various data collection and analysis methods, involving 

the course attendants in role-plays in class, and enrolling

them in a few hour visits to nat ural semi-public settings or

small-scale worlds, like pubs, restaurants, emergency hospital

wards, and streets where prostitutes solicit passers-by, have

proved to be remarkably successful. Feedback received 

from the course attendants, including lecturers, postgraduate

students, police officials, employees and researchers working

in provincial legislative offices, have thus far been very

positive without exception. These attendants’ evaluation

accounts which vary from the course having provided hands-

on experience of qualitative methods, having being active

and excit ing instead of passive of ten boring learning

experience, have introduced innovative and creative ways of

unpacking peoples’ experiences and feelings, and have

provided insight into everyday life activities of communities

in which the attendants themselves live. Excluding attendants

QUALITIVE RESEARCH IN ORGANISATIONAL STUDIES 9



who because of their particular scientific views are opposed

to qualitative research, the negative assessments received

were t ypically that the course was too short and that more

time should have been provided – especially for the study of

local nat ural settings.

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