Methodology for Researching Practitioner Perspectives in the Corporate Sector Partnership Programs

Chapter Summary

This chapter reviews the considerations and details of the methodology of the original research and the modifications to that methodology which have been made to produce a distinctive work in this book. The intent of the investigation is to reveal, examine, and retell the experiential stories of faculty impacted by corporate sector partnerships; therefore, qualitative methods are appropriate, as these approaches can help in "understanding how participants perceive their roles or tasks in an organization" and in "determining the history of a situation". Inquiry grounded in qualitative methodology takes for granted a generative, constructed reality which is both multidimensional and in a continuous state of change. This chapter has detailed the procedures for recruitment, data collection and analysis, and the restorying of participants' stories as a means of providing the reader with confidence in the methods employed in the inquiry on which this volume is based.

Keywords: corporate sector partnerships; experiential stories; methodology; original research