Content area
Full text
Introduction
As the topical problems that society faces continues to change, the importance of methods that can better understand complex situations increases. Qualitative research has played a vital role in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (Teti et al., 2020). The pandemic has been a major challenge for crisis management. Qualitative research shows the full breadth of experience, as evidenced by our interpretative phenomenological analysis–existential hermeneutic phenomenology (IPA-EHP) research. While for some, a crisis compounds their existing problems and deepens any critical moments that are experienced, for others it becomes a significant meaning-creating reality.
There are a large number of differing qualitative approaches. This diversity is important for choosing a suitable approach with regard to the research question. This article is a methodological guide to a method combining two approaches, namely IPA and EHP. These two methodological approaches, which find inspiration in philosophy, represent suitable tools for working with the lived experience. The aim of this article is to provide guidance for implementing similar research plans and to create space for discussion on this method and possibilities for its improvement.
The first part of the article deals with IPA and the EHP in the context of management. It describes several important studies that our research builds on. The second part describes the process of selecting suitable participants and presents a communication strategy. The third part specifies the important steps in conducting an interview, depending on the various stages of management crisis. The fourth part discusses the analysis of interview transcripts and notes any emergent themes. The fifth part describes in detail our original interpretive framework, which has proven its worth in the context of frequently emerging themes. After that we reflect on the limits of research.
IPA and EHP in the context of management
In the last two decades, researchers in the field of qualitative research in management have argued for the importance of qualitative methods. As Gummesson (1999, p. 1) notes, on the one hand some academics are aware that qualitative methodology is a valuable tool for research in management, leadership, organization studies and other related fields, yet on the other hand, there is mistrust within many universities and business schools, and their representatives often consider qualitative methods to be of secondary importance.
Currently, we...