The CAQDA Paradox: A divergence between research method and analytical tool

A wide range of software tools are available to assist researchers with the process of qualitative data analysis. These include tools that emphasise manual handling of data, (e.g. NVivo, Atlas.ti) and tools that provide some automated analysis based on statistical properties of texts (e.g. Leximancer). These tools are enhancing research, making research activities less complex and tedious, and rendering the process more transparent and portable (Dohan et al. 1998; Welsh 2002; Andrew et al. 2007; Jones 2007). The use of these tools in published works over the last five to ten years has become increasingly more evident. However, in many cases, this increase in frequency of use is also masking the actual method of research. Many researchers who use terms like “Data were analysed using NVivo” are using their chosen analytical package as a proxy for actual embedded methods of analysis. It is possible therefore that Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDA) tools are becoming a substitute for actual, and perhaps valid, techniques for research, analysis and discovery. This paper investigates the extent of this problem, examining CAQDA based papers which have been published over the last five years and reporting on their use, or misuse, of methodology. Further, this paper proposes a solution to the problem by adopting a CAQDA technique which utilises a generic style of methodology. A tool used by Quantitative researchers, known as ‘R’, is available which is a free, open source statistical programming language. Within the last five years R has become the lingua franca for statisticians and applied workers to publish reference implementations for novel quantitative techniques. No such tool with sufficient flexibility exists for qualitative researchers. We describe the initial development of a transparent file format and research process which keeps the researcher close to the data and provides strong safeguards against accidental data alteration. This has two main effects. The transparency of the file format keeps the researcher close to the data, and ensures that the researcher keeps in mind the process used to analyse the data rather than the tool in use. The second effect, also related to the open source, transparent plain text basis of the tool, means that an environment for fostering innovation in qualitative data analysis can be easily provided and freely distributed among workers in the field

Electronic Documentation in Residential Aged Care Facilities – A Review of the Literature on Organisational Issues and Early Findings on Initial Conditions from a Case Study

This paper discusses the theoretical rationale for an empirical study of organisational change arising from introduction of electronic nursing documentation in residential aged care facilities. The study draws on a processual view of organisational change, which is related to the theory of complex adaptive systems. First we review existing literature on electronic nursing documentation with an organisational focus to provide a context to help outline the research aims of the present study. Then we describe a method to explore the hierarchical nature of the work environment based on the sociological theory of Institutional Ethnography. Finally we use this approach to describe the differences in initial conditions between two different sites implementing the same software over the same timeframe. Results suggest that our method is sensitive enough to detect subtle but substantial differences in initial conditions between the two study sites

Are R&D collaborators bound to compete? Experience from Cooperative Research Centres in Australia

Increasingly, research of potential socio-economic value is being conducted within cross-sector (government, university, business) inter-organizational networks. Such networks encourage innovation and learning by breaking down rigidities in existing institutions and by providing for ‘knowledge creation in the context of application’. In the process, new organizational forms for research and development (R&D) are emerging. The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) is the dominant organizational model for cross-sector collaborative R&D in Australia. Joining a cross-sector collaborative R&D centre poses a significant challenge for public sector research managers. Success depends on cooperation with businesses and other organizations whose interests, objectives, expectations and strategies at various times converge or conflict. The game is a risky one, with the possibility of unforeseen and unwelcome consequences such as partner opportunism and competition for resources. Yet little empirical evidence exists on how researchers perceive and manage the risks and rewards of participation in cross-sector R&D centres. Our study gives voice to the researchers within these inter-organizational networks. We draw evidence from a written survey of 370 respondents from public sector organizations involved in the management and conduct of CRC-based research. The survey questions permit an assessment of the main benefits and problems in CRC participation; the management strategies adopted; and the effect of CRC participation on careers. Responses to open-ended questions in the survey convey the ‘CRC experience’ in the participants own words. We find the concepts of risk common in the management and organizational studies literature inadequate to explain the dynamics of interaction in cross-sector R&D. We therefore extend these through notions of the domains of ‘academic’, ‘scientific’ and ‘organizational’ risk. There are two broad implications of our findings: (1) participants in the CRC need to look beyond the traditionally acknowledged risks of contractual arrangements and consider risks that relate to the nature of scientific knowledge structures and the actual concerns and careers of research scientists; and (2) once these ‘academic’ and ‘scientific’ considerations are properly assessed, government research agencies and universities may need to adopt different management responses to their participation in inter-organizational R&D. We speculate that the way these potentially competing domains are dealt with has implications for (1) the survival of individual CRCs and (2) whether cross-sector collaborative R&D organizations remain ephemeral ‘staging posts’ or become entrenched in the national research system. We argue that cross-sector collaborative R&D organizations are an important component of a dynamic ‘science system’, but that they are inherently unstable organizations. They require organizational management that recognises their differences from business IORs that involve firms alone

Organisational change associated with introduction of an electronic health record in residential aged care homes

Since the turn of the century, many residential aged care homes in Australia have made the transition from paper-based documentation to computer-based health records. This thesis explores issues pertaining to organisational change associated with this process based on longitudinal interviews with care staff in three residential aged care homes under the same management group over an eighteen month period during and after the system\u27s introduction

How demographic characteristics affect mode preference in a postal/web mixed-mode survey of Australian researchers

Early promise for the Internet as a tool to make social research questionnaires easier and cheaper to deliver is not fully realized. This study reports a mixed-mode survey of 1,100 Australian researchers. When respondents were given the choice to complete either web- or paper-based versions of a questionnaire, the majority chose the paper-based mode. Web respondents were more likely to be young, male, middle ranking, and working in information technology–related sectors. The authors highlight the need to determine how far alternate delivery modes increase response rates. For mixed-mode surveys to be financially and methodologically worthwhile, the authors propose that the initial sample size be at least 1,000 individuals, this figure depending on the demographic characteristics of the sample

A preliminary investigation of complex adaptive systems as a model for explaining organisational change caused by the introduction of health information systems

This paper documents the preliminary development of a framework for evaluating organisational change processes during the implementation of an electronic nursing documentation system in residential aged care facilities. It starts with a brief outline of organisational change processes. This is followed by a more detailed exposition of the principles underlying complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory, where we explain how mathematical concepts can be used to illuminate qualitative research approaches. Finally we present some preliminary findings on the facilitators and barriers for the introduction of the electronic documentation system, explained with reference to the CAS theory, based on analysis of interviews with care staff members in a residential aged care facility. While there are clear benefits from electronic nursing documentation, we also identified significant risks, and possible unintended consequences, both positive and negative

Piloting a logic-based framework for understanding organisational change process for a health IT implementation

This paper describes how a method for evaluating organisational change based on the theory of logical types can be used for classifying organisational change processes to understand change after the implementation of an electronic documentation system in a residential aged care facility. In this instance we assess the organisational change reflected by care staff\u27s perceptions of the benefits of the new documentation system at one site, at pre-implementation, and at 12 months post-implementation. The results show how a coherent view from the staff as a whole of the personal benefits, the benefits for others and the benefits for the organization create a situation of positive feedback leading to embeddedness of the documentation system into the site, and a broader appreciation of the potential capabilities of the electronic documentation system

Careers and organisational objectives: managing competing interests in cooperative research centres

Research of potential socio-economic value is often conducted within cross-sector (government, university, business) centres. There has been growing interest among science policy researchers in seeking to understand the organizational dilemmas confronted in cross-sector research collaboration. While there is clearly a coalition of interests among partners engaged with collaborative research their broader organizational objectives and strategies may converge, diverge, or even compete. Yet little empirical evidence exists on (a) how individual researchers perceive the benefits of their participation, (b) how far the structures and functions of particular collaborative R&D centres coalesce around of researchers’ expectations and, (c) what problems arise for researchers who opt for a ‘second job’ in the centre. Within the broad policy and organizational context of the Australian Cooperative Research Centres this chapter presents a qualitative analysis of a survey of respondents from public sector organizations and universities involved in the centres. We use the perspective of the individual research scientists to illuminate the management issues of trust, governance, and competition between functional domains, which emerge from the field of inter-organizational relationships (IOR) and which have been inadequately recognized in the context of collaborative R&D centres. The findings have implications for the management of the centres, for the careers of research scientists and for public policy

Complex Adaptive Systems as a Model for Evaluating Organisational Change Caused by the Introduction of Health Information Systems

This paper documents the preliminary development of a framework for evaluating organisational change processes during the implementation of an electronic nursing documentation system in residential aged care facilities. It starts with a brief outline of organisational change processes. This is followed by a more detailed exposition of the principles underlying complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory, where we explain how mathematical concepts can be used to illuminate qualitative research approaches. Finally we present some preliminary findings on the facilitators and barriers for the introduction of the electronic documentation system, explained with reference to the CAS theory, based on analysis of interviews with care staff members in a residential aged care facility. While there are clear benefits from electronic nursing documentation, we also identified significant risks, and possible unintended consequences, both positive and negative

Scientists, career choices and organisational change: managing human resources in cross sector R&D organisations

The resource based view (RBV) of the firm has drawn attention to the role of human resources in building innovative capacity within firms. In ‘high technology’ firms scientific capability is a critical factor in achieving international competitiveness. Science, however, is a costly business and many firms are entering into cross sector R&D partnerships in order to gain access to leading edge scientific capability. The Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) program is typical of the ways many governments are seeking to promote such cross-sector R&D collaboration. Scientists are key resources in these organisational arrangements. However, there is only fragmentary information available about why and when scientists choose to work in these cross-sector organisations rather than others, nor the impact of changing funding regimes on their career choices. Similarly, there has been little research into the impact of such partnerships and career choices on the organisations in which scientists work. This paper presents some findings from two new ARC funded studies in Australia designed to investigate the careers of scientists and the organisational and career implications of participation in cross sector R&D collaboration. One of our findings is that CRCs may not endure as long term ‘hybrid’ organisational arrangements as some observers have suggested, but rather remain as transitional structure influencing the partners involved and the careers of scientists. This has important implications for the managers of CRCs as well as those responsible for partner organisations