The virtues of closet qualitative research
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Sutton, RI
刊物名称：
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
ISSN/ISSBN：
1047-7039
DOI：
10.1287/orsc.8.1.97
发表日期：
1997
页码：
97-106
关键词：
摘要：
This essay asserts that, although qualitative methods now enjoy wide legitimacy among organizational researchers, there are still times when it is best to conceal or downplay the role that qualitative data played in developing an author's ideas. I identify four circumstances where treating qualitative research as a closet rather than an open activity may help authors write papers that flow better, are more convincing, and are more readily accepted for publication. These circumstances are when weak qualitative data lead to good insights, when describing the qualitative research reduces the quality of the writing, when an outlet does not publish ''empirical'' papers, and when writing for an audience that remains biased against qualitative research. I illustrate these points primarily with my own closet qualitative research, but also draw on Cialdini's writings on the qualitative inspiration for his experimental research and discussions with colleagues about how they have used closet qualitative research.