Page 68 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

Cross-Disciplinary Scientific Foundation for Sustainability Chapter j 3 45

Most qualitative studies require that the researcher live and work in a
particular environment to understand the people in their everyday life activ-
ities. In addition to the traditional anthropological methods, other related
qualitative methods are used. Collection of prior data is always a method used
by a qualitative researcher before going into the “field.” In the context of
business, this method would be called “market assessment,” whereby the
researcher/business person would want to know what information is already
available about the culture. However, the researcher needs to be “objective”
about these materials since previous studies may be biased. As outlined, field
or site visits are used to gather data, analyze it, and then draw conclusions.
Today, the use of electronic data is more and more common. However, in
particular, legal data such as depositions, court testimony, and the like are a
large part of qualitative data collection since it is legally factual and variable.
What remain critical in the qualitative economic perspective are the
interactive methods utilized in the actual data collection process along with the
interpretation itself. These methods are akin to the scientific methods used in
physics, chemistry, biology, or engineering among the natural sciences. Actual
verbal data from linguistic interactions are similar to the data collected in
physics or chemistry.
The “site or field visit” through extensive interaction with the actors such
as action research as participant observation and use of interviews is the single
most important method in qualitative research. Here the researcher/business
person must actually go and see what the culture looks like. The researcher/
business person must live in another place and experience the culture and
people. It is not enough to visit or tour. There are a number of subtle, but often
critical facts learned from such visits. Among others, is the local infrastructure
of a community or region such as transportation, communications, housing,
and commerce, which may influence a business and economic development.
However, observing and recording data are not enough. And in many cases,
observations can be wrong or misleading. In-depth interviews are necessary
from a variety of people. Usually, anthropologists identify key individuals or
“opinion leaders,” that is, those whose information is variable as consistently
“correct” and “adequate.” Such people are not always the leaders in the cul-
ture, but they have rare insights into how the culture operates. Opinion leaders
can verify and correct observations. More importantly, through interactions
with them, a deeper understanding of the everyday phenomenon, situation,
event, and local markets can be made.
Sørensen and Nedergaard (1993) have described how “intuition” plays a
role in business, which can be seen as that of the visionary. In other words,
business persons who uses their own sense of what product or market works
may also be those with a vision. Often that concept (vision) is applied to
business persons. These individuals have an idea and then pursue it. Although
others may have had the same idea or vision, it is the business person who
actually does something about it.