QUALITATIVE_METHODOLOGY_AND_GROUNDED_THEORY_定性的方法，扎根理论.pdf

QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY AND GROUNDED THEORY IN PROPERTY RESEARCH DEBORAH LEVY University of Auckland ABSTRACT Much of the research p ublished in the p rop erty discip line consists of work utilising quantitative methods. While research gained using quantitative methods, if app rop riately designed and rigorous, leads to results which are typ ically generalisable and quantif iable, it does not allow f or a rich and in-dep th understanding of a p henomenon. This is esp ecially so if a researcher ’s aim is to uncover the issues or f actors underly ing that p henomenon. Such an aim would require using a qualitative research methodology, and p ossibly an interp retive as opp osed to a p ositivist theoretical p ersp ective. The p urp ose of this p ap er is to p rovide a general overview of qualitative methodologies with the aim of encouraging a broadening of methodological app roaches to overcome the p ositivist methodological bias which has the p otential of inhibiting p rop erty behavioural research. Keywords: Qualitative research methods, grounded theory INTRODUCTION In property research, as with social science research, there has in the past been a reliance on a positivist approach that posits beliefs and scrutinises them through empirical testing (Hirschheim, 1985: Orlikowski and Baroudi, 199 1; Levy and Henry, 2003). However, more recently researchers in a number of disciplines have been acknowledging the difficulties in studying human behaviour within the confines of traditional conceptions of science (Hirschheim, 1985; Myers, 1997; Levy and Henry 2003; Carson et al., 200 1). It is argued that in order to understand many behavioural aspects of property markets, the real estate academic communi