Qualitative Research Methods Assignment - Essay Example

Meanwhile, Cox (2003) discovered that intrapersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflict have negative impacts on work satisfaction and team effectiveness. On the other hand, Gilson, et al. (2005) found out that standardization is capable of influencing the relationship between creativity and team effectiveness. Research Question and Setting Cognizant of the differences in perceptions of team effectiveness, this qualitative study will attempt to address the research question: Do the perceptions of team effectiveness of selected members of virtual teams in INT Corporation EMEA closely approximate the theoretical components of team effectiveness?

A qualitative research is deemed most appropriate for this study because the study intends to explore attitude and behaviours by obtaining in-depth opinions from the respondents of the study (Dawson, 2004). Needless to say, therefore, that the setting will be INT Corporation EMEA. Sampling and Data Gathering Since interviews will take much longer than a questionnaire survey, a qualitative research can not accommodate as many respondents as a survey. Sample size was determined using randomised parameters: (1) margin of error of 7%; (2) confidence level of 90% (3) company population of 60,000; and (4) response distribution of 10%.

The minimum required sample size is 50. However, selection of respondents will not anymore be randomised, but through purposive sampling. Dane (2011) describes purposive sampling as the selection of sampling elements grounded on characteristics of interest for the study, which in this case is, membership in a virtual team. Purposive sampling does not involve probability sampling, but combining sampling procedures in this regard are allowed and practiced according to Teddlie and Tashakkori (2009).

Data for the study will be collected using one of the most common methods of qualitative research – a semi-structured interview using an interview guide as the main instrument of the study. A semi-structured interview may be described as one which “consists of predetermined questions related to the domains of interest, administered to a representative sample of respondents to confirm study domains and identify factors, variables or attributes of variables for analysis or use in a survey” (Schensul, et al., 1999, p. 149).

The study can benefit from semi-structured interviews since this data gathering procedure harmonises the flexibility of unstructured or open-ended interviews and the directionality of the survey questionnaire, capable of generating focused qualitative data. The best thing about a semi-structured interview is that the questions are formulated before the actual interview, but the answers are open-ended and may be expanded based on the discretion of the interviewer. The main limitation of interview as a data-gathering technique is the time required to conduct the interview.

This is usually offset by using a smaller number of respondents. Hence, in-depth information can be gathered from the respondents or interviewees. In this study, perceptions of team effectiveness will be categorised into five areas, namely: atmosphere, relationships, communication, direction and objectives. Five main questions corresponding to the five categories named will be included in the interview guide. These questions are: 1. How will you describe the