This paper provides an overview of qualitative research to encourage finance researchers to apply a more diverse approach to current research practices. Social science researchers recognize that research questions should determine what research paradigm is best for each study. Imagine the benefits to finance if we expand our empirical sources of data to include what people have to say, which then allows us to explore the complex reasoning behind these conversations. It is the intent of this paper to enhance our current research practices in finance through the use of qualitative methods and to view this approach as an invaluable supplement or prelude to existing practices.

This paper discusses the application of qualitative theory in finance research. Six qualitative theoretical orientations are presented to demonstrate a range of philosophical perspectives which a researcher may consider when conducting qualitative inquiry. Finance examples are provided for applied ethnography, content analysis, social constructivism, grounded theory, systems theory, and critical change theory. By aligning and bringing theory into practice, researchers engaged in qualitative inquiry may investigate specific social actions so as to make credible sense of complex circumstances.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstrActThis paper explores graduate students' misconceptions about qualitative research and demonstrates how a learner-centered approach can support formative adjustments in instructional design and delivery of a qualitative research course. Among the qualitative data sources used in the study was students' work in the course, as well as observations made by the instructor. A two-stage analysis process, using NVivo software, generated two broad categories of students' misconceptions: technical skills and design considerations. An examination of the depth of students' work provided insight into how they approached and corrected misconceptions. Among the implications of these findings is the need for qualitative research instructors to continually anticipate, monitor, and actively respond to students' misconceptions to counter negative effects of students' faulty thinking. An instructor who gives little forethought to the issue of systematically and formatively adjusting course content to resolve learning dissonance may be hindering student learning and encumbering the development of future qualitative researchers. On one level, students' misconceptions become a diagnostic tool to help the instructor correct students' flawed thinking; on a higher level, an in-depth exploration of the origins of the misconceptions can engage educators in curriculum reform efforts to promote cross-curricular building of research competencies. Rather than supporting the divisions between qualitative and quantitative research, graduate reform should promote a learner-centered systemic approach to formative improvements, thus strengthening cohesion among all forms of research methodology.

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