Chapter 3: Methodology and methods
3.3. Issues of quality: Reliability, validity, and ethical considerations
While the discussion on the case study and qualitative research is in progress, it is necessary to mention some important issues relevant for the study, as the case study has been criticized for exhibiting a tendency for poor validation and questionable generalizability, due to the lack of statistical techniques (Näslund, 2008). According to Alvesson (1996, p. 456), “Much qualitative research is as superficial as questionnaire studies”. Qualitative methods can have the tendency to be subjective in interpretation;
the methods of data collection, which are characterized by low-inference description, also have difficulties in distinguishing between raw data and analyzed data (Seale, 1999). In order to secure quality in research based on a case study, there has been a focus on the criteria of sound methodology (McNeill, 1990 in Riley et al., 2000), such as: validity, reliability and generalizability.
Validity concerns how accurately collected data represents the social phenomena to which it refers (Hammersley, 1990 in Silverman, 2005). The researcher should be critical regarding whether the study clearly gains access to the experiences of those in the research setting (construct validity) (Fielding, 1986). Thus, it is important to obtain access to data from experts on several levels working with the internationalization issues and with the TW implementation. Dialogues with experts from academic circles, representatives from the board of directors and shareholders were helpful to secure the quality of the information related to the research questions. Construct validity was secured by linking interview questions to the defined theoretical frames of reference.
Reliability refers to the degree of consistency with which instances are assigned to the same category by different observers or by the same observer on different occasions. The focus groups included employees at several levels in HQ and the subsidiaries; “bottom-up” were used for primary data collection, starting from ordinary employees and moving up to top management. To secure reliability,
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after interviewing and processing the results, the following method has been implemented - to deliver texts with interview summaries back to the interviewees, who asked about it for their approval in order to make any corrections or additions to the text.
Bearing in mind that a concept of implementation of TW and its implementation in a multinational context is a global concept, and is international in its nature, generalizability here may be reached only in the sense of acquiring a fundamental understanding of the phenomenon studied (Gummesson, 2000);
knowing that statistical generalization is hardly achieved in case studies: they rely on analytical generalization, e.g. knowledge acquired in one case may be applied to another (Stuart et al., 2002).
Ethical issues of the research
For scientific research, ethical issues always have the aspect of complexity: each research case will involve people and touch on possibly sensitive issues. Research ethics and the researcher’s behavior should be appropriate in relation to the rights of those who will become the subject of the researcher’s work, or might be affected by it (Saunders et al., 2003). To achieve ethical integrity with the parties involved, ethical issues must be the focus at all stages of the study. A process of formulation and clarification of the research questions must satisfy the interests and requirements of at least three parties: the researcher, academic supervisors and employees in “T”. As “T” is fully financing this PhD project, it was made the company interested in contributing to the overall goal’s research. At the same time, it is necessary to be cautious about my role as an independent researcher. To find a constructive compromise in the formal and academic requirements of the university, the expectations of “T” and the personal abilities of the researcher will be satisfied. This compromise and the corresponding adjustments of the research topic and perspectives of the study are achieved through continuous communication with all interested parties.
Since much of the empirical data have been obtained from face-to-face interviews with managers and employees involved in the process of internationalization, it was fully respecting the rights of these people and their organizations. While obtaining access to the interviewees, interviewing, analyzing the data, and disseminating the research results, important issues, such as the privacy of the participants, the voluntary nature of participation and the right to withdraw, confidentiality and anonymity, objectivity, and the avoidance of harm, have been addressed (Saunders et al., 2003). The participants were approached by informing them of the possible benefits of participation in interviews, instead of putting pressure on them.
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The HQ and subsidiaries were opened in sharing their experience, supporting the research and receiving the benefits from better understanding the named processes, by providing access to the information and sharing the documentation and information. Any issue of disclosure of the research results were handled carefully, if it is directly dependent on the depth of data received from the interviewees. The author was aware of this topic and did her best to make the publication of research findings harmless to the parties involved: the interviewees were given the right of anonymity and, in the case of resistance from the interviewees regarding the use of the tape-recorder, it was explained that it is used to ensure data safety and to increase the accuracy of further data interpretation and analysis; if this does not help, a tape-recorder was not used. There is no universal ethics code applicable in all cases (Dalton, 1964 in Saunders et al., 2003); one must operate as a thinking and reflective researcher, repeatedly sorting and re-evaluating one’s own values and obligations during the research process (ibid.).
Validity
It is important to underline the role of one of the authors employed in “T”, in connection with the research process. Being an employee of “T” for 20 years gives unique possibilities in respect of access to information, sources and informal contact with the employees, which provides informal interaction with “T”’s employees, who can be described as the sources of information and colleagues. At the same time, during a long career in “T”, this person has been an active participant in many processes that are now being described and analyzed.
Since much of the empirical data has been obtained from face-to-face interviews with managers and employees involved in the process in “T”, whom the author knows well personally, any issue of disclosure of the research results will be handled carefully.
Exploration of literature and data related to the described processes provided good sources for understanding the reasons of the process of internationalization and development and the implementation of different mechanisms of influence.
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