I’ve read the article Exploring consumer adoption of mobile payments – A qualitative study,
published in the Journal of Strategic information Systems.
Which
qualitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and
limitations of using these methods?
The qualitative method used in the paper is focus groups interview. The researchers performed interviews with 6 different groups which were to represent the different phases of the consumer life cycle, for example teens, students and parents. The group members all new each other since before, as a way of making sure that all the participants would feel at ease in conversation.
As mentioned in the paper the strength of using a focus group lies in the interaction between participants, which can provide the researcher with more elaborated perspectives.
I think that the biggest limitation is that it is hard to draw any broader conclusions based on answers in a focus group, though as mentioned in the paper the idea is to contribute to existing theories on mobile payments.
The qualitative method used in the paper is focus groups interview. The researchers performed interviews with 6 different groups which were to represent the different phases of the consumer life cycle, for example teens, students and parents. The group members all new each other since before, as a way of making sure that all the participants would feel at ease in conversation.
As mentioned in the paper the strength of using a focus group lies in the interaction between participants, which can provide the researcher with more elaborated perspectives.
I think that the biggest limitation is that it is hard to draw any broader conclusions based on answers in a focus group, though as mentioned in the paper the idea is to contribute to existing theories on mobile payments.
What did
you learn about qualitative methods from reading the paper?
Since I haven’t read that much research based on focus groups I learned how this can be used.
Since I haven’t read that much research based on focus groups I learned how this can be used.
Which are
the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the
qualitative method or methods have been improved?
I think that perhaps the most important part when using this method of research is the way you choose to compose your focus groups. Obviously the participants will feel more comfortable in a group with familiar people then they would with strangers, but with this group composition you also get a predetermined group dynamic, which I think might influence the outcome and answers of the discussion. I think the study would gain from using participants that haven’t met prior to the focus group discussion. This would put more pressure on the researcher moderating the conversation, but if he or she manages to create a good conversational atmosphere, I think that the result would gain from this.
Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is.
Using existing qualitative and quantitative data to study a case, which one think is suitable for testing a theory or further develop an existing theory.
I think that perhaps the most important part when using this method of research is the way you choose to compose your focus groups. Obviously the participants will feel more comfortable in a group with familiar people then they would with strangers, but with this group composition you also get a predetermined group dynamic, which I think might influence the outcome and answers of the discussion. I think the study would gain from using participants that haven’t met prior to the focus group discussion. This would put more pressure on the researcher moderating the conversation, but if he or she manages to create a good conversational atmosphere, I think that the result would gain from this.
Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is.
Using existing qualitative and quantitative data to study a case, which one think is suitable for testing a theory or further develop an existing theory.
Use the "Process of Building
Theory from Case Study Research to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your selected paper.
I’ve read the article Customer knowledge management via social media: the case of Starbucks published in the Journal of Knowledge Management. The case study aims to see how Starbucks have acquired information about their customers by using social media. They use Starbucks as they are mainly a brick and mortar business. While I don’t have any critique against their choice of company (which is well motivated), I couldn’t find any theories in their article that actually opposed their idea of this being a good thing. Obviously customer’s use of social media will allow your business to gather intelligence which you previously couldn’t. They would have gained from doing an additional study on online based business, and used this for comparison. Their conclusion is as follows: The lessons gleaned from the case study suggest that social media is not a tool exclusive to online businesses. It can be a potential game-changer in supporting CKM efforts even
for traditional businesses. So
they really provide some brilliant insight. I’ve read the article Customer knowledge management via social media: the case of Starbucks published in the Journal of Knowledge Management. The case study aims to see how Starbucks have acquired information about their customers by using social media. They use Starbucks as they are mainly a brick and mortar business. While I don’t have any critique against their choice of company (which is well motivated), I couldn’t find any theories in their article that actually opposed their idea of this being a good thing. Obviously customer’s use of social media will allow your business to gather intelligence which you previously couldn’t. They would have gained from doing an additional study on online based business, and used this for comparison. Their conclusion is as follows: The lessons gleaned from the case study suggest that social media is not a tool exclusive to online businesses. It can be a potential game-changer in supporting CKM efforts even
About your sentence: "While I don’t have any critique against their choice of company (which is well motivated), I couldn’t find any theories in their article that actually opposed their idea of this being a good thing." I agree with what you say and I also find this an important matter to consider. I reflect upon Haibo Li's lecture and his comment about charts and statistics; "It it when two lines intersect or cross each other that something interesting happens". If no arguments or theories meet each other or are put to comparison it takes away from the weight of the results and conclusions.
SvaraRadera