Reconceptualizing Bias in Teaching Qualitative Research Methods

Roulston, Kathryn; Shelton, Stephanie Anne

doi:10.1177/1077800414563803

Cited by 189 publications

(205 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

200

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This situation may account for the difference in where SSM pieces have been published as well, with European journals significantly more represented than in USA journals. This condition could indicate either an implicit or explicit bias among journal editors and researchers against soft research methods, and qualitative approaches more broadly, in different fields that must be overcome with better teaching and training [25].…”

Section: Ssm Most Common and Most Impactful Publication Outletsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Bibliographic and Visual Exploration of the Historic Impact of Soft Systems Methodology on Academic Research and Theory

Warren

Sauser

Nowicki

2019

Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soft systems methodology (SSM), an analytic method commonly employed in engineering and business research, produces models focused on human activities and relevant structures used to explain complex, engineered systems. The original version of SSM involves seven stages; five address real-world aspects and observable data, while two stages leverage a systems thinking viewpoint. This approach allows the development of a simplified depiction of complex systems representative of the multi-perspective lenses used to comprehend the systemic complexity of a problem and provide a clearer picture to analysts and decision makers. This bibliometric meta-analysis of 286 relevant publications in engineering, business, and other social sciences fields explores the historic impacts of SSM on academic research and systems thinking in relevant publications that described or employed SSM for research from 1980-2018. This study produced descriptive narrative outcomes and data visualizations including information about top SSM authors, author citation impacts, common dissemination outlets for SSM work, and other relevant metrics commonly used to measure academic impact. The goal of this piece is to depict who, what, why, when, and where SSM had the greatest impact on research, systems thinking, and methodology after nearly 40 years of use, as we look towards its future as a methodological approach used to comprehend complex problem situations.Systems 2019, 7, 10 2 of 15 their research, which may limit the method's effectiveness [3]. Other criticisms of the method include its slow speed, difficulty in using it with stakeholders during analysis or to implement suggested solutions; further, the complexity of the problems under study may limit its acceptance as a valuable research methodology by some academics or managers [4].Checkland [5] noted that there are different ways of thinking about systems. Systems are a group of interacting elements or subsystems with a unified goal and defined by its boundary as well as the nature of the internal structure linking its elements (e.g., physical, logical, functional). "Hard systems thinking assumes that the world is a set of systems (i.e. is systemic) and that these can be systematically engineered to achieve objectives. In the soft tradition, the world as it naturally exists is assumed to be problematic; but, it is also assumed that the process of inquiry into the problematic situations that make up the world can be organized as a system" (p. S49-50). "Hard" systems may be considered as organized systems with features and goals upon which stakeholders agree. "Soft" systems often contain identified elements such as outcomes, processes, strategies, or other features about which there is imperfect stakeholder agreement. Further, the system elements may change dynamically in response to local needs as system participants learn new information about their own or external, related systems. However, it is difficult to retain agreement about the best way to organize complex systems permanently, requi...

show abstract

Section: Ssm Most Common and Most Impactful Publication Outletsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Bibliographic and Visual Exploration of the Historic Impact of Soft Systems Methodology on Academic Research and Theory

Warren

Sauser

Nowicki

2019

Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…age, tenancy, development modes, location, size and HVAC systems. The sample of buildings, and therefore interviewees, was thus random enough to avoid the potential for interviewer confirmation bias (Roulston & Shelton, 2015), but it is unavoidably biased towards buildings that were advertised to a wider public (and therefore may have been struggling to let space). The intention to pursue a mixedmethods case study approach (Creswell, 2013) combined with advice from the initial interviews determined that in stage two, interviews with the actors most influential on design would help to interrogate the available documentary data.…”

Section: Methods and Research Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy-related standards and UK speculative office development

Cass

2017

Building Research & Information

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Non-domestic buildings have great potential for energy-related emission reductions in response to climate change. However, high-specification office buildings in the UK demonstrate that regulation, assessment and certification ('standards') have not incentivized the development of lower-energy office buildings as expected. Making use of the concepts of 'qualculation' and 'calculative agency', qualitative case studies of 10 speculatively developed office buildings in London, UK, provide new insight into why this is the case. Interview data (n = 57) are used to illustrate how 'market standards' substitute for user needs, and ratchet up the provision of building services to maximize marketability competitively. The examples of energy modelling and the market's (mis)use of British Council for Offices guidelines are used to explain how such standards perversely bolster energy-demanding levels of specification and building services, and militate against lowerenergy design, in the sector researched. The potentials for alternative, performance-based standards and new industry norms of quality are discussed. It is concluded that at least the London speculative office market by its very constitution and operation, including the reliance on standards, continues to create increasingly energy-demanding buildings.

show abstract

“…At first, it may seem difficult to fit interactionist qualitative research experiences into this format; however, it is the expected form of communication in the peer review process (Roulston & Shelton, 2015). Researchers often need to work with this format because it is a common language for sharing results and experiences from empirical work even though it is best suited for works that follow the experimental design framework.…”

Section: Writing About the Sense Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactionist Qualitative Research as a Semiotic Mediation Activity

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, we introduce qualitative research from an interactionist perspective. We specifically explore qualitative research itself as a semiotic process with associated actions. This enables researchers to make sense of human interactions in the world rather than solely focusing on semiotic analysis of qualitative data. We introduce Peirce's semiotics and Vygotsky's mediated action as tools for conceptualizing qualitative research in a semiotic mediation process. Understanding qualitative research as a semiotic mediation can help social scientists better understand their own role in research, while vicariously gaining experiences about human interactions that they later present to others.

show abstract

Reconceptualizing Bias in Teaching Qualitative Research Methods

Cited by 189 publications

References 54 publications

A Bibliographic and Visual Exploration of the Historic Impact of Soft Systems Methodology on Academic Research and Theory

A Bibliographic and Visual Exploration of the Historic Impact of Soft Systems Methodology on Academic Research and Theory

Energy-related standards and UK speculative office development

Interactionist Qualitative Research as a Semiotic Mediation Activity

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About