Qualitative Research (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

0-5

Objective

You will acquire the knowledge, understanding and applied skills of qualitative research including its conceptual and methodological aspects. You will understand the role and relevance of qualitative methods in the context of empirical research including their limitations.

You have developed an overall picture of epistemological and ontological considerations of qualitative research and its methodology. You can identify the applicability of various types of qualitative data and methods for solving different types of research questions. You understand the strengths and the weaknesses of qualitative research and have an ability to conduct a qualitative research and assess it as well as its applicability to your own field of research and development work.

You are expected to acquire the following competencies in this course:

Learning to learn
• You recognize your strengths and needs for learning.
• You make use of learning methods and tools that support your learning best.
• You seek, acquire, and critically assess information from reliable sources.

Proactive development
• You identify development areas by anticipating the future of your field.
• You apply existing knowledge and utilize appropriate research methods in development projects.
• You develop the ability to think out of the box and challenge the limits to come up with creative and innovative solutions.

Sustainable global business management
• You critically review and understand core concepts of global business management and sustainability from multidisciplinary perspectives of marketing, sales, strategy, finance, and management.
• You apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge to analyze global business challenges and propose sustainable business solutions to grow new ventures in global markets.

Content

Qualitative researches information theoretic basis, defining the research topic and the research task / problem, qualitative research process, the main data collection methods in qualitative research, different types of literature review, the main methods of data analysis in qualitative research, the reliability and validity of qualitative research, qualitative research ethical issues

Location and time

The course is held in the autumn semester.

Materials

Handbook of qualitative research. 2011. Toim. N. K. Denzin, & Y. Lincoln. 4. edition. London: Sage.
OR
Eriksson, P. & Kovalainen, A. 2008. Qualitative Methods in Business Research. London: Sage.
OR
Bryman, A. 2012. Social research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press cop.

Teaching methods

Teaching will take place only in the classroom.

International connections

There are several possibilities to participate in the international projects.

Student workload

Lectures 27 h
Assignments 54 h
Independent study 54 h
Total 135h ( one credit equals 27 hours of student work)

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

1 (Sufficient):
You know the theoretical basis of qualitative research as well as the strengths and weaknesses. You identify different types of qualitative data and methods that are applicable to different types of research tasks solving. You understand how to evaluate qualitative research. You know how qualitative research has been applied in research and development.

You have demonstrated a basic level of knowledge, skills, applications in all the three competences: Learning to learn, Proactive development and Sustainable global business management.

2 (Satisfactory):
You apply the theoretical basis of qualitative research. You are able to identify and select the various kinds of qualitative data and methods, which are applicable to different types of research tasks solving. You can apply qualitative research in your own field.

You have demonstrated an intermediate level of knowledge, skills, applications in one and basic level in the remaining two competences out of a total three competences: Learning to learn, Proactive development and Sustainable global business management.

Assessment criteria, good (3)

3 (Good):
You master the theoretical basics, strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research. You are able to analyze the suitability of different qualitative data and methods, in your own field research. You can analyze the qualitative research and its suitability in your field of research and development.

You have demonstrated an excellent level of knowledge, skills, applications in one and intermediate level in the remaining two competences out of a total three competences: Learning to learn, Proactive development and Sustainable global business management.

4 (Very good):
You are able to synthesize and summarize theoretical basics, strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research. You are able to create new knowledge by utilizing qualitative data and methods. You are able to create new knowledge by utilizing qualitative research in your own field.

You have demonstrated an excellent level of knowledge, skills, applications in two and intermediate level in the remaining competence out of a total three competences: Learning to learn, Proactive development and Sustainable global business management.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

You are able to determine critically the reasons for the qualitative research information theoretical foundations and methods. You evaluate strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research. You can evaluate a variety of qualitative data and methods for the purpose of different types of research tasks solving. You evaluate critically qualitative research and its applicability in their own field of research and development.

You have demonstrated an excellent level of knowledge, skills, applications in all the three competences: Learning to learn, Proactive development and Sustainable global business management.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree

Further information

Diploma in IBM students: 39
Exchange and Degree students: 11