Interactive Qualitative Analysis – A Novel Methodology for Qualitative Research

Abstract

This study investigates the use of Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004), as a methodology, to develop an understanding of how Managerial Accounting and Financial Management students experienced learning in a writing intensive tutorial programme. IQA is an innovative methodology providing a structured approach to conducting qualitative research. Participants or constituents are actively engaged in data collection and analysis. Using thematic content analysis of the data, they articulate their experiences of the phenomenon and identify emergent themes, or affinities and the relationship between the affinities. The outcome of the IQA process is a Systems Influence Diagram, a visual representation of the phenomenon, constructed through the lens of the constituents. What sets IQA apart from other forms of qualitative inquiry is that it provides an audit trail of transparent and traceable procedures where the constituents, and not the researcher as expert, do the analysis and interpretation of their data. The analysis of the data is as far as possible free from researcher bias as the researcher is merely a facilitator of the process. The key value of this paper is that it offers a practical methodological approach to using IQA in qualitative accounting education research, in particular, and business management education research, in general.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p11