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Qualitative Inquiry in Management: Methodological Dilemmas and Concerns in Meta‐Analysis
Author(s) -
Point Sébastien,
Fendt Jacqueline,
Jonsen Karsten
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european management review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.784
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1740-4762
pISSN - 1740-4754
DOI - 10.1111/emre.12097
Subject(s) - heuristics , epistemology , qualitative research , principal (computer security) , management science , sociology , order (exchange) , engineering ethics , knowledge management , computer science , social science , business , philosophy , engineering , finance , operating system
We posit that qualitative inquiry is essential to management science but is insufficiently capitalized on and that, if aggregated through meta‐studies, such research could yield rich insight on emergent properties and enable the development of higher‐order knowledge and theory. We introduce a pragmatic approach along four ontological perspectives to conducting meta‐studies from qualitative inquiries. We identify principal epistemological, ethical and methodological concerns and dilemmas that occur in the understanding, review and aggregation of qualitative studies and propose concrete remedying heuristics.