'Standing on [Transparent] Shoulders': Applying Open Source Approaches to Qualitative Management Research

The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Research in Organization Studies (Raza Mir and Sanjay Jain, eds.), Forthcoming

25 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2017

Date Written: May 2, 2017

Abstract

Qualitative management research, like most every field of research, faces questions of transparency and reproducibility. In this chapter, I argue that qualitative researchers can learn and benefit from the practices of free and open-source software. I thus detail key challenges that qualitative research confronts, as well as ways in which an open-source approach can address these challenges. I then turn attention to the barriers to implementing such an approach. Finally, I reflect on how the field might work to overcome these barriers. Ultimately, I argue, free and open-source software simultaneously serves as a template, a cautionary tale and a source of inspiration for increasing transparency in qualitative research.

Keywords: Qualitative research, open source, transparency, reproducibility, cumulative research, data sharing, software

JEL Classification: B4, C80, M1, N01

Suggested Citation

Nelson, Andrew J., 'Standing on [Transparent] Shoulders': Applying Open Source Approaches to Qualitative Management Research (May 2, 2017). The Routledge Companion to Qualitative Research in Organization Studies (Raza Mir and Sanjay Jain, eds.), Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3003341

Andrew J. Nelson (Contact Author)

University of Oregon ( email )

Eugene, OR 97403-1208
United States

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