The value of qualitative research for positive organizing

As empirical work in Positive Organizational Scholarship continues to become both more prevalent and influential, the unique contribution made by qualitative research is increasingly clear. Through methods such as in-depth narrative interviews, ethnographic immersion, and the close observation of often taken-for-granted organizational practices, qualitative scholarship brings a new and different set of insights to our understanding of how people flourish and how organizations become generative sites of excellence. Several characteristics of the qualitative approach make this possible. First, qualitative research is often motivated by a desire to understand individuals’ lived experience (people’s subjective experience of work, relationships, time, and so on), and enabled by methods (e.g. life history interviews or participant observation) that involve a close relationship between those studied and those studying. This intimate feature of qualitative research is especially important for the exploration of sensitive, or deeply personal issues, such as the experience and impact of suffering, care, and compassion at work (e.g. Lilius et al., 2008; Maitlis, 2009; O’Donohoe & Turley, 2006; Powley, 2009). Such studies reveal what is often hidden: in this case, the debilitating suffering present in organizations and the profound individual, unit and organizational effects of having that suffering noticed, empathically felt, and partially alleviated. Further, presented through the stories of those studied, such research not only reflects their lived experience but conveys it in a way that sustains its life for the reader. Second, some qualitative research involves deep immersion in a workplace and the close observation of people as they perform their daily routines. Methods such as action research and ethnography allow the exceptionally deep examination of a phenomenon or set of practices, and one that is highly sensitive to context. The result is a very rich, contextualized analysis of a group, organization, or community. For example, unpacking the recursive relationships between structure and action can provide a particularly nuanced understanding of work practices and their effects (e.g. Carlsen, 2008; Lilius, Worline, Dutton, Kanov, & Maitlis, 2011). Grodal, Nelson, and Siino’s (2015) study of helping behavior in an innovative IT company, for example, revealed the entwined nature of help-seeking and help-giving, recasting interactions previously seen as brief and potentially costly exchanges as an interdependent process of joint engagement by giver and receiver. Moreover, third, because qualitative scholars often study less conventional settings, their research opens the door into ‘extreme cases’ – worlds where positive organizing can be seen especially clearly, or plays out in novel forms. A striking example of this is Quinn and Worline’s (2008) study of UA Flight 93, which used a close analysis of extensive documentary data to explore the narratives that enabled passengers’ courageous collective action on a hijacked plane. Other studies in this vein draw language from a novel setting to provide new ways of thinking and talking about what happens in more traditional kinds of organizations. One such instance is Harrison and Rouse’s (2014) examination of creativity in modern dance groups, which revealed the importance of ‘elastic coordination’ in their production of ‘emerging creative compositions’. A fourth important feature of qualitative research is its capacity to examine team or organizational processes over time, often through interviews, observation, discourse analysis, or a combination of such methods. Such work (e.g. Dutton, Worline, Frost, & Lilius, 2006; Howard-Grenville, Metzger, & Meyer, 2013; Sonenshein, 2014) not only helps us to understand how complex processes unfold and the multiple influences that shape their trajectories, but also highlights the dynamic relational, emotional, and symbolic mechanisms that drive such processes. In sum, qualitative research brings a perspective and set of methods that is invaluable to Positive Organizational Scholarship, identifying positive practices and processes previously hidden or overlooked, and offering new and more nuanced ways of understanding traditional positive phenomena.