Qualitative research practices and family business scholarship : a review and future research agenda

Fletcher, Denise and De Massis, Alfredo and Nordqvist, Mattias (2016) Qualitative research practices and family business scholarship : a review and future research agenda. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 7 (1). pp. 8-25. ISSN 1877-8585

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Abstract

In spite of various calls for a wider application of qualitative research in the family business field, it is our contention that the full potential of qualitative inquiry is not being fully realized. Part of the reason for this relates to the tendency to promote methods choice and diversity rather than addressing the foundational questions and processes which underlie qualitative research choices. These tendencies obscure attention to the reasons why researchers choose qualitative methods and the kinds of foundational issues about family businesses that are brought to light through qualitative research. To address this, we undertake an analysis of the most-cited articles using qualitative methods from an annotated bibliography of family business studies. From this, we identify the strengths and weaknesses of extant qualitative studies in family business research and argue for the need to re-orientate calls in family business research towards the foundational questions (rather than methods) that underline qualitative inquiry.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Family Business Strategy
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Family Business Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Family Business Research, 7, 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2015.08.001
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1408
Subjects:
?? qualitative researchqualitative methodsepistemologyinterpretivismfamily businessfuture researchstrategy and managementeconomics and econometrics ??
ID Code:
76527
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
10 Nov 2015 10:26
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
30 Jan 2024 00:28