A500.6.3.RB - Qualitative Research

A500.6.3.RB - Qualitative Research
Now that you have read a bit about Qualitative Research, summarize the main elements of this research method in a Blogger entry. Make sure that you reflect on the prompt as it relates to your experiences and/or aspirations.

Qualitative research is defined as:

1. market research into the attitudes, concerns, and behavior of an organization's members in relation to the organization
2. research that gives detailed descriptions and explanations of the phenomenon studied rather than providing and analyzing statistics (Bing search, 2015)

The main elements of this type of research are "understanding and interpreting social interactions and behavior, specially chosen small groups over randomly selected large groups, words over numbers, using the subjective over the objective, observations and interviews instead of facts and surveys, open-ended questions over controlled responses and a narrative report versus statistical results. (Hunt Library, 2015)

In my experience working with qualitative research this week I have found this type of research to be more personal and relatable. Qualitative research and analysis is what I work with more often at work and it is refreshing to work with a more subjective type of research. It's possible to dismiss qualitative research in favor of the facts and data of the quantitative research but just because qualitative research works more with the sociology of the topic doesn't mean that it isn't valid. The best part of doing research, to me, is talking to people about their thoughts on lessons learned and ideas about the topic.

When my team goes to the shop in reaction to a problem or an anomaly that needs understanding, we start by asking questions. We interview the people impacted and get their side of the story. This is very subjective but by listening to the people impacted, you get a sense for what the real problem is and when we get to the part where we are analyzing the data collected, we can use the information garnered from the interviews to know how to best solve the problem for the people impacted. For example, we have an inventory system that is fairly reliable. Every so often, we have a mis-pick and something wrong goes to the downstream customer. If we were providing little widgets, this wouldn't be a problem. We supply gigantic kits for the wings of massive airplanes and when we send something wrong to a downstream customer, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to rectify. This is a problem that needs attention. I am fortunate enough to be part of the team that is trying to automate the checklists and bring visibility to these post-production inventory stores. We were working on the software and gadgets we were going to use to solve this problem and all was going well. One day, we went to the shop to watch the part picking process when one of us asked one of the loaders about what he was doing. From this, we learned that we had started further into the problem than we should have. We started bringing at least one representative into the planning meetings for their practical experience and we have redirected our plan and found a really cool solution. By using qualitative research, we not only came up with a more meaningful solution, but we created ownership in the process with the shop personnel which will make implementation a lot smoother. 

My aspirations as a leader are to not forget the qualitative aspects of my job and provide meaningful solutions to conflicts. As an industrial engineer, I need to remember who the end user will be and make sure to interview them and listen to what they need. Facts and data are important to be sure...but getting the human element to the story will add depth, ownership and true direction to the process.

References:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=qualitative+research+definition&qs=AS&pq=qualitative+research&sk=AS6&sc=8-20&sp=8&cvid=
8e14fa36ff85479dbdb24b0909709318&FORM=QBRE&ghc=1

Hunt Library, 2015. http://guides.erau.edu/qualitative-quantitative

A500.5.3.RB - Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

Take some time to reflect on the current state of your critical thinking competencies. Consider your thinking processes when you started the course. Have they changed at all? Have you been able to internalize any of the techniques and concepts you have learned? What will it take to make lasting, positive changes in the way you think?

When I started this course, I was fairly confident in my abilities as a critical thinker. I used to pride myself in being able to not jump at the first thing I heard or read but instead to step back and ask questions about what I was hearing or reading. It was a "trust no one" situation that sometimes made me seem combative and pessimistic but in my mind, at least I wasn't a "yes-man" at work. It wasn't a "pick your battles" situation either and I didn't realize that a person doesn't have to be all or none with critical thinking. This might be going to deep but upon reflection, it appears that sometimes, in deference to the "greater good" or the "bigger picture" one doesn't always have to be so critical. Knowing when to fold, for the greater good, is just as important as understanding why you folded. That in itself is critical thinking. I think.

My thinking processes are all over the map since I started this course. I thought I had a better grip on my intellectual intelligence and critical thinking skills. I am challenged but feel incompetent at times. I realized that I sort of go into most things (non-math related) feeling capable, not cocky just capable, but am often proven wrong. This isn't necessarily always a bad thing though. I am optimistic and ready to do the work but am not always ready for the amount of work needed to make up for what I thought I knew but indeed did not. So this is a learning curve and while I feel like my thinking processes are all over the map, I am optimistic that they will all lead somewhere and the journey will be cathartic.

I haven't really been able to internalize the techniques that we have learned as much as I would have liked because I've been on medical leave away from work for six weeks so my human interaction has been limited to my husband and a doctor or two. I am returning in three days and am (once again) optimistic that the techniques will prove helpful as I rejoin my team and help them navigate the craziness of our new director. It will be a true test because this director is absolutely insincere and doesn't listen to recommendations which is really demoralizing. He is headstrong, arrogant and difficult to work with most of the time. This being the case, he has requests of my team and we can counter those requests with inquiry but ultimately, we have to comply. The best way to do this, as I'm learning, is through the virtues of critical thinking like intellectual autonomy, intellectual humility, and confidence in reason. I'm sure that I will fail at times but I will get back up.

In order to make lasting changes in the way I think I will have to work very hard at not getting emotionally attached to my projects. This is going to be very difficult for me because, like anyone, I put my whole self into projects and things that are expected of me so when the work is ignored or rejected without explanation, it hurts. It shouldn't...but of course it does. I will need to work with my team and as a (little more) senior member, set a positive example for the newer folks and interns to follow. By expecting that of myself and working hard at trying to live the critical thinking virtues and traits...I might succeed in making a lasting change to the way I think.

A500.4.3.RB - Ballet Slippers or Adorable?

A500.4.3.RB - Ballet Slippers or Adorable? View the TED video (Links to an external site.) by Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing. Dr. Iyengar assumes that Americans believe the following when it comes to making choices:

1. Make your own choices,
2. More options leads to better choices, and
3. Never say no to choice.

Reflect on these assumptions in your Leadership blog. Do you agree with Dr. Iyengar? What is the implication of her comments on leadership? Make sure to stay tuned through the end to see Dr. Iyengar's Action Research on pink nail polish.

Oh how I loved this video! Iyengar was brilliant to listen to and realizing that she is blind made her subject all the more provocative. I think that her three assumptions are mostly correct. However, do I think they are mostly correct because I genuinely agree or is it because that is what I have been told is the great thing about choice and therefore, those assumptions must be true? I watched every single episode of Mad Men (The AMC show about the advertising world in the late 1950's through 1970 in New York City.) and was shocked to see how even some of the most poignant ads we see on TV are all just a manipulative way to sell something. So, did Madison Ave ad execs tell me that those three assumptions are true or do I honestly believe that more options lead to better choices? Sheena Iyengar's points on the nail polish colors was absolutely wonderful. I love that when she took the labels off the bottles people thought that she was playing a joke on them and that the two colors were the same. The sales people used words like 'glamorous' and 'elegant' to sell her shades of nail  polish that were virtually the same thing. (And what does 'glamorous' or 'elegant' mean to someone who is blind? How do they qualify those descriptions?) I wonder how we would fair if we tested ourselves in this manner? What if we honestly and critically looked at the choices we made and asked ourselves why we made the choices that we did? Who is being fooled indeed!

Iyengar's story about the babies having the birth defect and the difference in culture where in America, the parents made the choice to remove the life support and in France, the doctors made the decision was absolutely mind blowing. The American parents couldn't even imagine the doctors making the choice for their baby but yet some of them felt as if they were made to be part of an execution. That is the truest example of what a double-edged sword choices can be. We, as Americans, are so aware of our civil rights and our right to choose that even when faced with making a choice that is heart wrenching, we'd rather have to suffer through that than have someone else make it for us. I think that the doctors in France were actually more compassionate to the parents by limiting the choice and taking that guilt upon themselves. I don't have children though so my perspective is purely hypothetical. This need to make these choices ourselves must come from a place of insecurity though. We need to have control at all times and someone else making a choice for us is taking that control from us and that is scary. God forbid any red-blooded American let someone else make choices for them...but don't we do that every day? We let advertisers and our peers make decisions for us all the time. We wear certain clothes and eat certain foods for a reason, yes? We just think that we make the decisions ourselves when in fact, we are choosing from a selection that has been made for us.

(Think "The Devil Wears Prada" -

 Miranda Priestly: 'Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select... I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. ...[T]hat blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff."

Quoted from http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0009660/quotes )

When I think about choice, another thing that comes to mind is that dreaded soda machine that is in some fast food restaurants. I think it is full of Coke products but there are literally thousands of options on this touch-screen machine. I don't know how people aren't spending hours standing in front of this thing trying to figure out what they want. This machine gave me anxiety! I have navigated through the anxiety by just bypassing all of the choices and going straight for the Mello-Yello because to me, it is the most benign choice. Not only is it Mello...but it is Yello...and that is good to me. Too many choices, like this soda machine, are just too much. It feels almost decadent and indecent to live in a society where we spend time choosing from 4,700 soda options when across the world, a child is making pennies a day to make the shoes we wear and take for granted, or a single mother is trying to feed her children on scraps of leftover rice while going without food herself.

That being said...some choices are good. Never saying no to choice is tough sometimes though. There is a lot of unnecessary stress and pressure on Americans to make these truly pointless choices. But, I don't think I want to be told what to eat, when to sleep or what to do with my children. However, there should be a medium ground where common sense and control rule with a modicum of dignity. What Iyengar didn't discuss at length was the repercussions of our choices. (I know that probably wasn't part of the scope of her discussion though.) With less choices, or no choices, we relinquish responsibility for the choices we made or are made for us. Americans have virtually limitless choices in pretty much every aspect of our lives, but not everyone is aware of the accountability in our choices, for better or worse. When we purchase goods that perpetuate child labor, we need to take responsibility for that. When we buy local produce at a farmer's market, we are contributing back to the community. The awareness that comes from understanding that our choices have consequences help us become a more compassionate, educated and critical thinking society.

Back to the original question though, do I agree with the three assumptions Sheena Iyengar started with? I'm conflicted with conscience and awareness but do admit that having choices is better than not having choices! So after reflecting on choices, I'll admit to agreeing that those assumptions are correct in general but on an individual basis do vary.