Storytelling

The art of storytelling is an ancient method of conveying information to the masses with certain intent in mind (i.e., as in setting morals or cultural development). It starts from childhood, where children grow up with stories of great heroes and mystical happenings in an age where Gods and humans dwell together. As time went by the stories lost their sheen but they are making a comeback of a different kind – as a learning tool for individuals, whether employees or students. These stories are adapting to the modern world lifestyle, medium is now digital though. Therefore, this chapter explores this journey of stories and gives instances to showcase the effectiveness of storytelling as a tool for training employees.

Becoming Familiar With Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a field of study that deals with exploring, describing, and interpreting the innate quality of entities and the social processes. In the recent past, an extensive growth in qualitative field of research has been witnessed, particularly in the occupational settings. It is a dynamic and exhilarating area that seeks to explain the research observations by means of insights which are hard to produce with quantitative methods. Most of the work is concerned with developing a theory (i.e., an inductive way to find out new solutions or identify new questions related to social being). In this chapter, the author has targeted the segment which is mostly the students pursuing research courses or conducting empirical work; the faculties and the mangers who are handling the diversity of the social beings at their workplaces, whose varied needs are persistently evolving, would be able to understand the notion of technique which is qualitative in nature. Certain studies conducted in past and present have also been illustrated to maintain the reader's interest.

Ethnographic Study

This chapter is about ethnographic study. Ethnography is the subset of social research. The term ethnography originated in the nineteenth century in Western anthropology, where ethnography was an evocative description of the culture of group of people, generally one placed in the outskirts of the west. The endeavor of ethnography is to assess another way of life from the native point of view. This chapter highlights the characteristics of ethnography, when to use ethnography, types of ethnography, procedure, and benefits and issues involved in carrying out ethnographic research.

Action Research

This chapter is about action research. Action research is defined as the comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action. This chapter highlights the history of action research, definition of action research, characteristics of action research, stages of action research, issues of action research, credibility and validity of action research. In action research, the ultimate objective is in the perceived functionality of chosen actions to produce desirable consequences for an organization.

Vignette Methodology

This chapter initially introduces vignette methodology and explains the use of it in social research. It clarifies the various methodological challenges while designing the vignette. Drawing on the experience, while designing vignette for conflict research, this chapter provides a detailed presentation of the procedural and pragmatic issues that need to be considered when using vignette. Categorizing the design of vignette in three stages—predesign, design, and post-design—provides complete clarity in understanding this process. This chapter can help budding researchers get a perfect insight into the entire process of vignette development.

Sampling in Qualitative Research

The chapter discusses different types of sampling methods used in qualitative research to select information-rich cases. Two types of sampling techniques are discussed in the past qualitative studies—the theoretical and the purposeful sampling techniques. The chapter illustrates these two types of sampling techniques relevant examples. The sample size estimation and the point of data saturation and data sufficiency are also discussed in the chapter. The chapter will help the scholars and researchers in selecting the right technique for their qualitative study.

Behavioral Event Interview

The behavioral interview is used to bring forth the understanding of the competencies of a person. The interviews and aptitude tests we conduct will tell us about the educational and expertise factors of the interviewee's life. To understand specific components of his/her talents there is a requirement for a much more guiding narrative technique which will help the interviewee recount the specific acts he/she has done with respect to the competency the interviewer is looking for. There are certain preparations required for this as well. This chapter outlines the procedure for conducting the BEI with the competency clusters given. It also attempts to explain competencies and the process of how it can be used.

Thematic Analysis in Qualitative Research

The popularity of qualitative methods in social science research is a well-noted and most welcomed fact. Thematic analysis, the often-used methods of qualitative research, provides concise description and interpretation in terms of themes and patterns from a data set. The application of thematic analysis requires trained expertise and should not be used in a prescriptive, linear, and inflexible manner while analyzing data. It should rather be implemented in relation to research question and data availability. To ensure its proper usage, Braun and Clarke have propounded the simplest yet effective six-step method to conduct thematic analysis. In spite of its systematic step-driven process, thematic analysis provides core skills to conduct different other forms of qualitative analysis. Thematic analysis, through its theoretical freedom, flexibility, rich and detailed yet complex analytical account has emerged as the widely used and most effective qualitative research tool in social and organizational context.

Deductive Approach to Content Analysis

This chapter initially introduces content analysis and elicits different approaches to content analysis. These include the distinctions based on qualitative and quantitative content analysis. It clarifies the differences between inductive and deductive content analysis. It then moves on to deductive content analysis. Through an example, this chapter explains how deductive content analysis is used to elicit different factors that affect job performance of call center workers. The steps of coding, grouping, abstraction, and model development are explained with excerpts from two interview transcripts. The interview transcripts that deal with developing a model for the factors that affect job performance of call center employees in India.

Case Study as a Method of Qualitative Research

Qualitative case study methodology provides tools for researchers to study complex phenomena within their contexts. When the approach is applied correctly, it becomes a valuable method for health science research to develop theory, evaluate programs, and develop interventions. The purpose of this chapter is to guide the novice researcher in identifying the key elements for designing and implementing qualitative case study research projects. An overview of the types of case study designs is provided along with general recommendations for writing the research questions, developing propositions, determining the “case” under study, binding the case, and a discussion of data sources and triangulation. To facilitate application of these principles, clear examples of research questions, study propositions, and the different types of case study designs are provided. The great contribution of qualitative research is the culturally specific and contextually rich data it produces. This is proving critical in the design of comprehensive solutions to general problems in developing countries.