1. 1 Inducing Theory Charles Galunic, INSEAD AOM Meetings Hawaii, August 5 th 2005 PDW on Qualitative Research Methods

2. 2 A Familiar Phrase “Yet, research to date has provided few insights into [topic X]. The purpose of this paper is to explore [topic X] and induce theory. A qualitative research design was chosen…”  Some Qualitative Researcher (Journal ABC, 2005) Implicit assumptions  Useful (just) in the beginning  Qualitative research produces (good) theory

3. 3 So What’s Good Theory? Trade-Offs on the road to Good Theory General AccurateSimple (Weick, 1979) "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.“ Antoine de Saint Exupery

4. 4 Inducing Good Approximations Merton’s Approximations Broad frameworks (but little specification) Conceptualization (but few connections) Post-fact interpretation (but few alternative interpretations or observations) Generalized interrelations (but no further exploration) “Products of the theorizing process seldom emerge as full-blown theories, which means that most of what passes for theory in organizational studies consists of approximations.” Weick, ASQ 1995

5. 5 Qualitative Research: Good Approximations on the Road to Better Theory Roy (1959)  “Banana Time” Allison (1971)  “Essence of Decision” Granovetter (1973, 1974)  “The Strength of Weak Ties” Elsbach (1992, 1994)  “Dealing with Controversial Events” Weeks (2004)  “The Ritual of Complaint”

6. 6 Insights on the Road to Theory Induction 1. Don’t Pretend You Have No Idea 2. Find the Right Tool 3. Describe, Don’t Interpret 4. Look for Trouble 5. Collaborators

7. 7 Don’t Pretend You Have No Idea Like stereotypes, we may have (strong) priors about what we’ll find. Surface to challenge. Prepare many lenses.  Keep reading  Keep reading widely

8. 8 Find the Right Tools There is a basic process…  Data Collection  Coding  Memoing  Strauss (1987), Strauss & Corbin (1998), Glaser (1992)  Understand that, despite appearances, qualitative research relies on discipline and a systematic approach to induce theory.  …but a lot of judgement is required  Collection: interviews, observations, archives, logs  Coding: detailed vs. abstract  Memos: topic, sorting logic There are many analytical tools. Define ones that fit your needs.  Matrices, Tables, Graphs (Miles & Huberman 1984)

9. 9 Describe, Don’t Interpret Theory is not something we “add” People often remember the story better than the summary theoretical points  Remembering theoretical insights from papers often means remembering the stories and then regenerating the insights anew.

10. 10 Look for Trouble Negative emotion, painful. But they can be useful indicators that our interpretations are running ahead of our data and the emerging insights. The best insights are often the non-obvious (and these can be troubling before they are “cool”)  Person-on-the-street test  Granovetter, Weeks… Expect iterations…

11. 11 Collaborators Academics (I)  Methods  Techniques, Self-presentation, Scheduling  Quality  Know the field, Know what’s interesting Academics (II) & Informants  Know the setting Our objects of analysis must be created first  “How can I know what I think until I see what I say?” (Weick 1995) Memos, case histories, tables, graphs, figures Discourse and Argument Timing: not too soon