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Qualitative research tends to be used in three ways:
The approach adopted here is the last-mentioned. The investigation project should be seen as a pilot study, in terms both of the extent of the analysis undertaken so far and of its relationship to a wider research programme. That wider research programme, being undertaken by staff of the Business School at the University of North London, is concerned with the study of the social processes by and through which individuals achieve occupational identities as higher-level skilled employees.
The nature of the research methodology, as primarily qualitative, raises different issues from those appropriate to a quantitative study. The key issue is that of generalisability, the extent to which findings may be transferred to other settings and populations from those which provided the material for analysis. In quantitative studies, the extent to which the findings can be taken as generalisable is dealt in terms of statistical significance. The relationship of the data set to the sampling frame is critical if the findings are to be accepted as representative of social setting under investigation. Such an approach assumes, implicitly or explicitly, that the key relevant characteristics of the population are known, such that the sampling frame can be constructed. In contract, the form of qualitative approach adopted in this investigation makes no such assumptions. For example, it is not assumed in advance that the key issues for investigation, regarding graduates' experiences in smaller organisations, are related to size or type of firm.
In qualitative studies, it is normal to warrant generalisability by reference to the theoretical framework or perspective which guides the data collection and analysis (Marshall and Rossman, 1989). This we do in the following section, presenting a basic outline of a relational perspective on identity which has informed our study. A second method for warranting generalisability is that of triangulation, the use of differing sources and types of data to 'corroborate, elaborate, or illuminate' the research (op cit.). This has not been undertaken within this project, which is intended to be seen as a pilot study.
A total of 14 graduates were interviewed (see table 1). Five of these were in 'micro-firms (fewer than 10 employees), four were in 'small firms' (10-99 employees), one was in a 'medium-sized firm' (100-250 employees), and three in large companies. This was not intended to be representative of the proportions of graduates in these sizes of firms generally (see Williams and Owen, 1997). The graduates were located by various methods, mainly through existing contacts within the University. As the discussion of the theoretical perspective (below) indicates, our concern was with how individual graduates make the transition from their degree studies into their post-graduation employment experience, rather than with statistical relationships. The latter would require the large-scale survey type of research which has been already undertaken. Our plan was to undertake a qualitative study, which would complement such survey studies.