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Fifth Edition
Emma Be
A an Bryman
Bi Hare
..
Abbreviations XXVII
...
About the authors XXVI 11
About the students and supervisors xxx

..
Guided tour of textbook features XXXII
•
Guided tour of the on line resources XXXIV
•
About the book XXXVI
Acknowledgements xiii
Ed itoria I Advisory Panel xiii i
• • ONE THE RESEARCH PROCESS 1
Chapter 1 The nature and process of business research 3

Introduction 4
What is 'business research'? 4
Why do business research? 4
Business research methods in context 5
Relevance to practice 6
The process of business research 8
Literature review 8
Concepts and theories 8
Research questions 9
Sampling 11
Data collection 11
Data analysis 12
Writing up 12
The messiness of business research 13
Key points 15
Questions for review 15
Chapter 2 Business research strategies 17

Introduction: the nature of business research 18
Theory and research 19
What is theory? 19
Deductive and inductive logics of inquiry 20
Philosophical assumptions in business research 25
Ontologica I considerations 26
Objectivism 26
Construction ism 27
Epistemological considerations 29
A natural science epistemology: positivism 30
Interpretivism 30
Research paradigms 34
Detailed contents
Developing a research strategy: quantitative or qualitative? 35

Other considerations 37
Values 37
Practicalities 39
Key points 42
Chapter 3 Research designs 44

Introduction 45
Qua Iity criteria in business research 46
Reliability 46
Rep Iica bi lity 46
Validity 46
Research designs 48
Experimental design 48
Cross-sectional design 58
Longitud ina I design 61
Case study design 63
Comparative design 68
Level of analysis 71
Bringing research strategy and research design together 72
Key points 73
Chapter 4 Planning a research project and developing

research questions 75
Introduction 76
Getting to know what is expected of you by your university 76
Thinking about your research area 76
Using your supervisor 77
Managing time and resources 79
Developing suitable research questions 80
Criteria for evaluating research questions 85
Writing your research proposal 86
Checklist 87
Key points 88
Chapter 5 Getting started: reviewing the literature 89

Introduction 90
Reviewing the Iiterature and engaging with what others
have written 91
Reading critically 92
Systematic review 92
Narrative review 97
Searching databases 98
Online databases 98
Keywords and defining search parameters 100
Making progress 102
Referencing 103
The role of the bibliography 104
Detailed contents
Avoiding plagiarism 105

Checklist 107
Key points 107
Chapter 6 Ethics in business research 109

Introduction 110
The importance of research ethics 112
Eth ica I pri nci pies 114
Avoidance of harm 114
Informed consent 118
Privacy 123
Preventing deception 123
Other ethical and legal considerations 124
Data management 124
Copyright 125
Reciprocity and trust 126
Affiliation and conflicts of interest 127
Visual methods and research ethics 129
Eth ica I considerations in on Ii ne research 130
The political context of business research 132
Checklist 135
Key points 135
Chapter 7 Writing up business research 137

Introduction 138
Writing academ ica Ily 138
Writing up your research 140
Start early 141
Be persuasive 141
Get feedback 142
Avoid discriminatory language 142
Structure your writing 143
Writing up quantitative and qua Iitative research 147
An example of quantitative research 147
Introduction 148
Role congruity theory 148
Goals of the present study 148
Methods 149
Resu lts 149
Discussion 149
Lessons 150
An example of qualitative research 152
Introduction 152
Loving to labour: identity in business schools 153
Methodology 153
Research findings 153
Discussion 153
Summary and conclusion 154
Lessons 155
Detailed contents
Reflexivity and its implications for writing 156

Writing differently 156
Checklist 157
Key points 158
• • TWO QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH 161
Chapter 8 The nature of quantitative research 163

Introduction 164
The main steps in quantitative research 164
Concepts and their measurement 167
What is a concept? 167
Why measure? 168
Indicators 168
Dimensions of concepts 169
Reliability of measures 172
Stability 172
Internal reliability 173
Inter-rater reliability 173
Validity of measures 174
Face validity 174
Concurrent validity 174
Predictive va Iid ity 174
Convergent validity 175
Discriminant validity 175
The connection between rel iabi Iity and val id ity 175
The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers 175
Measurement 176
Causality 177
Genera Iization 177
Replication 178
The critique of quantitative research 180
Criticisms of quantitative research 181
Is it always like this? 182
Reverse operationism 182
Reliability and validity testing 182
Sampling 183
Key points 183
Chapter 9 Sampling in quantitative research 185

Introduction 186
Introduction to sampling 187
Sampling error 189
Types of probabi Iity sample 191
Simple random sample 191
Systematic sample 191
Stratified random sampling 192
Detailed contents
Multi-stage cluster sampling 192

The qua Iities of a probabi Iity sample 193
Sample size 195
Absolute and relative sample size 195
Time and cost 196
Non-response 196
Heterogeneity of the population 197
Types of non-probabi Iity sampling 197
Convenience sampling 197
Quota sampling 198
Lim its to generalization 201
Error in survey research 202
Sampling issues for on Ii ne surveys 202
Key points 204
Chapter 10 Structured interviewing 207

Introduction 208
The structured interview 208
Reducing error due to interviewer variability 208
Accuracy and ease of data processing 210
Other types of interview 210
Interview contexts 212
More than one interviewee 212
More than one interviewer 212
In person or by telephone? 212
Computer-assisted interviewing 214
Conducting interviews 215
Know the schedule 215
Introducing the research 215
Rapport 216
Asking questions 216
Recording answers 217
Clear instructions 217
Question order 217
Probing 219
Prompting 220
Leaving the interview 221
Training and supervision 221
Other approaches to structured interviewing 222
The critical incident method 222
Projective methods, pictorial methods, and photo-elicitation 223
The verbal protocol approach 226
Problems with structured interviewing 226
Characteristics of interviewers 226
Response sets 227
The problem of meaning 228
Key points 229
Detailed contents
Chapter 11 Self-completion questionnaires 231

Introduction 232
Different kinds of self-completion questionnaires 232
Evaluating the self-completion questionnaire in relation to
the structured interview 232
Advantages of the self-completion questionnaire over the
structured interview 233
Disadvantages of the self-completion questionnaire in
comparison to the structured interview 234
Steps to improve response rates to postal and online
questionnaires 235
Designing the self-completion questionnaire 237
Do not cramp the presentation 237
Clear presentation 237
Vertical or horizontal closed answers? 238
Identifying response sets in a Likert scale 239
Clear instructions about how to respond 239
Keep question and answers together 240
Email and online surveys 240
Email surveys 240
Web-based surveys 241
Comparing modes of survey administration 242
Diaries as a form of self-completion questionnaire 245
Advantages and disadvantages of the diary as a method
of data collection 24 7
Experience and event sampling 248
Key points 251
Chapter 12 Asking questions 252

Introduction 253
Open or closed questions? 253
Open questions 253
Closed questions 254
Types of question 256
Rules for designing questions 258
General rules of thumb 258
Specific rules when designing questions 258
Vignette questions 263
Piloting and pre-testing questions 265
Using existing questions 265
Checklist 268
Key points 269
Chapter 13 Quantitative research using naturally occurring data 272

Introduction 273
Structured observation 273
The observation schedule 275
Strategies for observing behaviour 27 5
Detailed contents
Sampling for structured observation 276

Sampling people 276
Sampling in terms of time 276
Further sampling considerations 276
Issues of reliability and validity 278
Reliabil ity 278
Va Iid ity 278
Criticisms of structured observation 279
On the other hand ... 280
Content analysis 280
What are the research questions? 281
Selecting a sample for content analysis 282
Sampling media 282
Sampling dates 282
What is to be counted? 283
Significant actors 283
Words 283
Subjects and themes 284
Dispositions 284
Images 284
Coding in content analysis 285
Coding schedule 286
Coding manual 286
Potential pitfalls in devising coding schemes 288
Advantages of content ana lys is 290
Disadvantages of content analysis 290
Key points 291
Chapter 14 Secondary analysis and official statistics 294

Introduction 295
Other researchers' data 295
Advantages of secondary analysis 296
Limitations of secondary ana lysis 301
Accessing data archives 302
Archival proxies and meta-analysis 304
Official statistics 306
Rel iability and va lidity 308
Official statistics as a form of unobtrusive measure 308
Key points 308
Chapter 15 Quantitative data analysis 310

Introduction 311
A smal I research project 311
Missing data 313
Types of variable 316
Univariate analysis 318
Frequency tables 318
Diagrams 319
Detailed contents
Measures of central tendency 320

Measures of dispersion 320
Bivariate analysis 321
Relationships, not causality 321
Contingency tables 322
Pearson's r 323
Spearman's rho 324
Phi and Cramer's V 325
Comparing means and eta 325
Multivariate analysis 326
Could the relationsh ip be spurious? 326
Could there be an intervening variable? 326
Could a th ird variable moderate the re lationship? 326
Statistical significance 327
The chi-square test 328
Correlation and statistical significance 330
Comparing means and statistical significance 330
Key points 331
Chapter 16 Using IBM SPSS statistics 333

Introduction 334
Getting started in SPSS 335
Beginning SPSS 335
Entering data in the Data Viewer 335
Defining variables: variable names, missing va lues,
variable labels, and value labels 337
Recoding variables 338
Computing a new variab le 340
Data analysis with SPSS 341
Generating a frequency table 341
Generating a bar chart 342
Generating a pie chart 342
Generating a histogram 343
Generating the arithmetic mean, median,
standard deviation, range, and boxplots 343
Generating a contingency table, chi-square,
and Cramer's V 343
Generating Pearson's rand Spearman's rho 344
Generating scatter diagrams 345
Comparing means and eta 346
Generating a contingency table with
three variables 346
Further operations in SPSS 347
Saving your data 347
Retrieving your data 351
Printing output 351
Key points 351
Detailed contents
353
Chapter 17 The nature of qualitative research 355

Introduction 356
The main steps in qualitative research 357
Theory and research 360
Concepts in qua Iitative research 361
Reliability and validity in qualitative research 362
Adapting reliability and validity for qualitative research 362
Alternative criteria for evaluating qualitative research 363
Overview of the issue of criteria 365
The main preoccupations of qualitative researchers 366
Seeing through the eyes of people being studied 366
Description and emphasis on context 367
Emphasis on process 368
Flexibility and limited structure 369
Concepts and theory grounded in data 369
Not just words 369
The critique of qua Iitative research 374
Qualitative research is too subjective 374
Qualitative research is difficult to replicate 374
Problems of generalization 374
Lack of transparency 375
Is it always like this? 376
Contrasts between quantitative and qualitative research 376
Similarities between quantitative and qua Iitative research 378
Researcher-participant relationships 379
Action research 379
Feminism and qualitative research 381
Postcolonial and indigenous research 384
Key points 385
Chapter 18 Sampling in qualitative research 388

Introduction 389
Levels of sampling 390
Purposive sampling 391
Theoretical sampling 391
Generic purposive sampling 394
Snowball sampling 395
Sample size 397
Not just people 399
Using more than one sampling approach 400
Key points 401
Chapter 19 Ethnography and participant observation 403

Introduction 404
Organ izationa I ethnography 405
Detailed contents
Access 407
Overt versus covert? 410
Ongoing access 411
Key informants 413
Roles for ethnographers 413
Active or passive? 414
Shadowing 415
Field notes 416
Types of field notes 417
Bringing ethnographic fieldwork to an end 418
Feminist ethnography 419
Global and multi-site ethnography 420
Vi rtua I ethnography 421
Visua l ethnography 425
Writing ethnography 426
Rea Iist tales 426
Other approaches 428
Key points 431
Chapter 20 Interviewing in qualitative research 433

Introduction 434
Differences between the structured interview and the
qualitative interview 435
Asking questions in the qualitative interview 436
Preparing an interview guide 439
Kinds of questions 441
Using an interview guide: an example 443
Recording and transcription 445
Non-face-to-face interviews 450
Telephone interviewing 451
Online interviews 451
Interviews using Skype 452
Life history and oral history interviews 454
Feminist interviewing 455
Merits and Ii m itations of qualitative interviewing 457
Advantages of qualitative interviews 457
Disadvantages of qualitative interviews 458
Checklist 459
Key points 460
Chapter 21 Focus groups 462

Introduction 463
Uses of focus groups 464
Conducting focus groups 465
Recording and transcription 465
How many groups? 466
Size of groups 468
Level of moderator involvement 468
Selecting participants 470
Detailed contents
Asking questions 470

Beginning and finishing 471
Group interaction in focus group sessions 472
Online focus groups 473
The focus group as an emancipatory method 476
Limitations of focus groups 478
Check Iist 479
Key points 480
Chapter 22 Language in qualitative research 482

Introduction 483
Discourse analysis 483
Main features of discourse analysis 484
Interpretive repertoires and detailed procedures 486
Critical discourse analysis 488
Narrative analysis 489
Rhetorical ana lysis 491
Conversation analysis 493
Overview 496
Key points 497
Chapter 23 Documents as sources of data 499

Introduction 500
Personal documents 500
Public documents 503
Organ izationa I documents 504
Media outputs 506
Visual documents 507
Documents as 'texts' 510
Interpreting documents 511
Qualitative content analysis 511
Semiotics 512
Historical analysis 512
Checklist 514
Key points 515
Chapter 24 Qualitative data analysis 517

Introduction 518
Thematic analysis 519
Grounded theory 521
Tools of grounded theory 521
Outcomes of grounded theory 522
Memos 524
Criticisms of grounded theory 525
More on coding 530
Steps and considerations in coding 531
Turning data into fragments 531
The critique of coding 533
Detailed contents
Secondary analysis of qua I itative data 534

Key points 537
Chapter 25 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis: using NVivo 538

Introduction 539
Is CAQDAS I ike quantitative data analysis software? 539
No industry leader 539
Limited acceptance of CAQDAS 539
Learning NVivo 541
Coding 542
Search ing data 550
Memos 552
Saving an NVivo project 553
Opening an existing NVivo project 553
Final thoughts 553
Key points 553
555
Chapter 26 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 557

Introduction 558
The natural science model and qualitative research 558
Quantitative research and i nterpretivism 560
Quantitative research and construction ism 561
Epistemological and ontological considerations 561
Problems with the quantitative/qualitative contrast 562
Behaviour versus meaning 562
Theory tested in research versus theory emergent from data 562
Numbers versus words 562
Artificial versus natural 563
Reciprocal analysis 564
Qua litative analysis of quantitative data 564
Quantitative analysis of qualitative data 565
Quantification in qualitative research 565
Thematic analysis 565
Quasi-quantification in qualitative research 566
Combating anecdota lism through limited quantification 566
Key points 566
Chapter 27 Mixed methods research: combining quantitative

and qualitative research 568
Introduction 569
The arguments against mixed methods research 569
The embedded methods argument 569
The paradigm argument 570
Two versions of the debate about quantitative and
qualitative research 570
Detailed contents
The rise of mixed methods research 571

Classifying mixed methods research in terms of priority
and sequence 571
Different types of mixed methods design 573
Approaches to mixed methods research 574
The logic of triangulation 574
Qualitative research faci litates quantitative research 576
Quantitative research faci litates qualitative research 576
Filling in the gaps 576
Static and processual features 578
Research issues and participants' perspectives 579
The problem of generality 579
Interpreting the relationship between variables 579
Studying different aspects of a phenomenon 581
Solving a puzzle 583
Quality issues in mixed methods research 585
Key points 586
Glossary 589
References 599
Name index 623
Subject index 629
1.1 Key concept What is evidence-based management? 7
1.2 Key concept What are research questions? 9
1.3 Research in focus A research question about gender bias
in attitudes towards leaders 10
1.4 Thinking deeply What is big data? 13
2.1 Key concept What is empiricism? 20
2.2 Research in focus A deductive study 22
2.3 Research in focus An inductive study 23
2.4 Key concept What is abductive reasoning? 24
2.5 Key concept What is the philosophy of social science? 25
2.6 Key concept What is objectivism? 26
2.7 Key concept What is constructionism? 27
2.8 Key concept What is postmodernism? 28
2.9 Research in focus Constructionism in action 28
2.10 Key concept What is positivism? 30
2.11 Key concept What is empirical realism? 31
2.12 Key concept What is interpretivism? 31
2.13 Research in focus lnterpretivism in practice 33
2.14 Key concept What is a paradigm? 34
2.15 Research in focus Mixed methods research an example 36
2.16 Thinking deeply Factors that influence methods choice in
organizational research 38
2.17 Research in focus Influence of an author's biography on research values 39
3.1 Key concept What is a research design? 45
3.2 Key concept What is a research method? 45
3.3 Key concept What is a variable? 47
3.4 Research in focus An example of a field experiment to
investigate obesity discrimination in job applicant selection 49
3.5 Research in focus Establishing the direction of causality 53
3.6 Research in focus A laboratory experiment on voting on CEO pay 54
3.7 Research in focus The Hawthorne effect 55
3.8 Research in focus A quasi-experiment 56
3.9 Key concept What is evaluation research? 57
3.10 Research in focus An evaluation study of role redesign 57
3.11 Key concept What is a cross-sectional research design? 59
Learning features
3.12 Key concept What is survey research? 59

3. 13 Research in focus An example of survey research: the Study of
Australian Leadership (SAL) 60
3.14 Research in focus A representative sample? 62
3 .15 Thinking deeply The case study in business research 64
3.16 Research in focus A longitudinal case study of ICI 65
3 .17 Research in focus A longitudinal panel study of older workers' pay 68
3.18 Key concept What is cross-cultural and international research? 69
3.19 Research in focus A comparative analysis panel study of female employment 71
4.1 Thinking deeply Marx's sources of research questions 81
4.2 Research in focus Developing research questions 84
5.1 Key concept What is an academic journal? 90
5.2 Thinking deeply Composing a literature review in qualitative research articles 93
5.3 Key concept What is a systematic review? 94
5.4 Research in focus A narrative review of narrative research 97
6.1 Key concept Stances on ethics 111
6.2 Research in focus A covert study of unofficial rewards 112
6.3 Research in focus Two infamous studies of obedience to authority 112
6.4 Thinking deeply Harm to non-participants? 114
6.5 Thinking deeply The assumption of anonymity 117
6.6 Research in focus An example of an ethical dilemma in fieldwork 124
6. 7 Research in focus Ethical issues in a study involving friends as respondents 127
6.8 Thinking deeply A funding controversy in a university business school 128
6.9 Research in focus Invasion of privacy in visual research 129
6.10 Research in focus Chatroom users' responses to being studied 131
7 .1 Key concept What is rhetoric? 138
7.2 Thinking deeply How to write academically 139
7.3 Thinking deeply An empiricist repertoire? 151
7 .4 Key concept What is a rhetorical strategy in quantitative research? 151
7 .5 Thinking deeply Using verbatim quotations from interviews 154
8.1 Research in focus Selecting research sites and sampling respondents:
the Quality of Work and Life in Changing Europe project 166
8.2 Key concept What is an indicator? 169
8.3 Research in focus A multiple-indicator measure of a concept 170
8.4 Research in focus Specifying dimensions of a concept: the case of
job characteristics 171
8.5 Key concept What is reliability? 172
8.6 Key concept What is Cronbach's alpha? 173
8.7 Key concept What is validity? 174
8.8 Research in focus Assessing the internal reliability and the concurrent
and predictive validity of a measure of organizational climate 176
Learning features
8.9 Research in focus Testing validity through replication: the case of burnout 179
8.10 Key concept What is factor analysis? 183
9.1 Key concept Basic terms and concepts in sampling 188
9.2 Research in focus A cluster sample survey of Australian workplaces
and employees 193
9.3 Key concept What is a response rate? 197
9 .4 Research in focus Convenience sampling in a study of discrimination in hiring 199
10.1 Key concept What is a structured interview? 209
10.2 Key concept Major types of interview 211
10.3 Research in focus A telephone survey of dignity at work 213
10.4 Research in focus A question sequence 219
10.5 Research in focus An example of the critical incident method 223
10.6 Research in focus Using projective methods in consumer research 224
10.7 Research in focus Using pictorial exercises in a study of business
school identity 225
10.8 Key concept What is photo-elicitation? 225
10.9 Research in focus Using photo-elicitation to study tourist behaviour 225
10.10 Research in focus A study using the verbal protocol method 226
10.11 Research in focus A study of the effects of social desirability bias 228
11.1 Research in focus Combining the use of structured interviews with
self-completion questionnaires 233
11.2 Research in focus Administering a survey in China 235
11.3 Key concept What is a research diary? 246
11.4 Research in focus A diary study of managers and their jobs 247
11.5 Research in focus A diary study of text messaging 248
11.6 Research in focus A diary study of emotional labour in a call centre 249
11.7 Research in focus Using diaries to study a sensitive topic: work-related gossip 249
12.1 Research in focus Coding a very open question 254
12.2 Research in focus Using vignette questions in a tracking study
of ethical behaviour 264
12.3 Research in focus Using scales developed by other researchers in a study
of high performance work systems 266
13.1 Key concept What is structured observation? 274
13.2 Research in focus Mintzberg's categories of basic activities involved
in managerial work 274
13.3 Research in focus Structured observation with a sample of one 277
13.4 Key concept What is Cohen's kappa? 278
13.5 Key concept What is content analysis? 281
13.6 Research in focus A content analysis of courage and managerial
decision-making 283
13. 7 Research in focus A computer-aided content analysis of microlending
to entrepreneurs 284
Learning features
13.8 Research in focus Issues of inter-coder reliability in a study of text messaging 289
13.9 Research in focus A content analysis of Swedish job advertisements
1960- 2010 291
14.1 Key concept What is secondary analysis? 295
14.2 Research in focus Exploring corporate reputation in three
Scandinavian countries 296
14.3 Research in focus Combining primary and secondary data in a single study
of the implications of marriage structure for men's attitudes to women in
the workplace 297
14.4 Research in focus Cross-national comparison of work orientations:
an example of a secondary dataset 299
14.5 Research in focus Workplace gender diversity and union density:
an example of secondary analysis using the WERS data 299
14.6 Research in focus Age and work-related health: methodological issues
involved in secondary analysis using the Labour Force Survey 300
14.7 Research in focus The use of archival proxies in the field of
strategic management 304
14.8 Key concept What is meta-analysis? 305
14.9 Research in focus A meta-analysis of research on corporate social
responsibility and performance in East Asia 305
14.10 Key concept What is the ecological fallacy? 306
14.11 Key concept What are unobtrusive measures? 307
15.1 Key concept What is a test of statistical significance? 328
15.2 Key concept What is the level of statistical significance? 329
17 .1 Thinking deeply Research questions in qualitative research 359
17 .2 Research in focus The emergence of a concept in qualitative research:
'emotional labour' 361
17 .3 Key concept What is respondent validation? 363
17 .4 Key concept What is triangulation? 364
17 .5 Research in focus Seeing practice-based learning from the perspective
of train dispatchers 367
17 .6 Research in focus Studying process and change in the Carlsberg group 368
17.7 Research in focus An example of dialogical visual research 370
17 .8 Research in focus An example of practice visual research 372
17 .9 Thinking deeply A quantitative review of qualitative research
in management and business 375
17 .10 Research in focus Using visual methods in participatory
action research study of a Ghanaian cocoa value chain 380
17 .11 Thinking deeply Feminist research in business 383
17 .12 Research in focus A feminist analysis of embodied identity at work 384
17 .13 Research in focus Indigenous ways of understanding leadership 385
18.1 Key concept What is purposive sampling? 389
18.2 Key concept Some purposive sampling approaches 390
Learning features
18.3 Key concept What is theoretical sampling? 392

18.4 Key concept What is theoretical saturation? 394
18.5 Research in focus An example of theoretical sampling 394
18.6 Research in focus A snowball sample 396
18. 7 Thinking deeply Saturation and sample size 399
19.1 Key concept Differences and similarities between ethnography
and participant observation 404
19.2 Research in focus An example of an organizational ethnography
lasting nine years 405
19.3 Research in focus Finding a working role in the organization 408
19.4 Research in focus A complete participant? 410
19.5 Research in focus An example of the difficulties of covert observation:
the case of field notes in the lavatory 411
19.6 Key concept What is 'going native'? 414
19.7 Research in focus Using field note extracts in data analysis and writing 417
19.8 Research in focus An ethnography of work from a woman's perspective 419
19.9 Research in focus 'Not one of the guys': ethnography
in a male-dominated setting 420
19.10 Research in focus A multi-site ethnography of diversity management 421
19.11 Research in focus Netnography 422
19.12 Research in focus Using blogs in a study of word-of-mouth marketing 423
19.13 Research in focus Ethical issues in a virtual ethnography
of change in the NHS 424
19.14 Key concept What is visual ethnography? 425
19 .15 Key concept Three forms of ethnographic writing 426
19 .16 Research in focus Realism in organizational ethnography 427
19 .17 Key concept What is the linguistic turn? 429
19.18 Key concept What is auto-ethnography? 429
19 .19 Research in focus Identity and ethnographic writing 430
20.1 Research in focus An example of unstructured interviewing 437
20.2 Research in focus Flexibility in semi-structured interviewing 437
20.3 Research in focus Using photographs as prompts in a study
of consumer behaviour 439
20.4 Research in focus Part of the transcript of a semi-structured interview 444
20.5 Research in focus Getting it recorded and transcribed: an illustration
of two problems 446
20.6 Research in focus Constructionism in a life history study
of occupational careers 455
21.1 Key concept What is the focus group method? 463
21 .2 Research in focus Using focus groups to study
trade union representation of disabled employees 467
21.3 Research in focus Moderator involvement in a focus group discussion 469
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Kate Crandall’s voice, though somewhat subdued, could be distinctly
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“I can tell you in a nutshell, Jim, just where we stand and what must be
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mark. He has become suspicious. He begins to feel sure that I am in love
with you, instead of with him, and that I intend to throw him down. That’s
why he has balked at making over half of his fortune to me, and at putting it
in my hands before I marry him. That’s what has kept us hung up in the
Ashburton Chambers for a whole week since the supposed suicide.”
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eh? This man Sheldon must be Cyrus Darling, then, as sure as there is juice
in a lemon.”
Chick needed only one glance at the face of the crouching man to
convince him that he was right.
“I know all that, Kate,” Dacey responded, with a growl. “But what’s the
answer? What’s to be done?”
“We must blind him still farther and contrive to get his coin. That done,
we must get rid of him and bolt for Europe.”
“Get rid of him?”
“Exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen!” Kate Crandall’s voice took on more vicious accents. “He has
turned all of his fortune into cash and has it in a deposit drawer downtown.”
“Well?”
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get the bundle of money from the safety deposit in order to take it with us.”
“Well?” Dacey repeated grimly.
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pressed, but they do not yet suspect that Sheldon and Cyrus Darling are one
and the same.”
“Surely not.”
“They are the only persons on earth who really believe that Darling is
alive. No one else suspects it, even.”
“Surely not,” Dacey again repeated.
“If we were to kill him, then, and get rid of his body, who the devil would
ever suspect the crime? Only the Carters! But they could not prove anything.
They could not even show that Darling did not kill himself. He’s as good as
dead already, as far as that goes, and they can never learn where Moran got
the body that was substituted for Darling at the time of the supposed
suicide.”
“By Heaven, Kate, you’ve got all the makings of a devil in you,” said
Dacey, with a growl.
“I’m only showing you the way,” Kate Crandall replied. “It can be done
easily enough. It’s the only way by which we can make Darling produce the
coin.”
“What’s your plan?”
“We’ll keep Carter and Garvan here till the trick is turned. We’ll fake a
marriage ceremony with Darling. That done and his money on his person,
we’ll end him forever and bolt with the coin.”
“I see,” Dacey nodded.
“When Carter and Garvan are liberated, they’ll have only a guess coming
to them,” Kate added. “They cannot prove that Floyd and I were one. They
cannot show that Sheldon and Darling were one. All they can do, Jim, will
be to look wise and guess at the whole business. It can be done like breaking
sticks. What do you say?”
“Kill Darling, eh?” queried Dacey.
“Why not? There is no risk. He’s dead already—in the eye of the law.”
“That’s true.”
“We surely can turn the trick and get away without serious suspicion.”
“It does look so, Kate, I’ll admit,” Dacey thoughtfully agreed.
How this enterprising colloquy would have ended, and at what final
conclusion the plotters would have arrived, will never be known in this
world.
Chick Carter, glancing at the crouching man, saw him withdraw from his
position and cautiously descend the cellar stairs.
Chick suspected a genuine suicide, and he stole quickly from his
concealment and noiselessly followed him. When part way down the stairs,
he again discovered his man.
Sheldon was tearing the disguise from his face in frantic haste, and was
casting it fiercely upon the floor.
Chick waited and watched him.
The disguise removed, revealing a weak-featured man of forty, Darling
hastened to open the door of the laundry, into which he vanished.
Chick crept down the stairs and to the open door.
Darling was hurriedly cutting the bonds from Nick and Patsy, at the same
time crying in nervous, frantic, agonized whispers:
“Enough of this—enough of it! I’m going to confess; going to tell the
whole truth. I’ve been a blinded, cursed fool, an infernal madman, crazed
with love for an unscrupulous woman. I am Cyrus Darling—Cyrus Darling
himself. I’ll tell the whole truth and take my medicine. Come with me, Mr.
Carter. Come with me, for God’s sake, and arrest that she-devil and her
knavish confederate. Come with me and——”
“Hush!”
Nick calmly interrupted him. He then was free and on his feet, as was
Patsy. He saw Chick entering the room, also, and he knew that the case was
precisely what he had asserted, that of a man with a lost head, and that the
finish was but the work of moments.
Nick waited only to hear Chick’s statement.
Half a minute later, still engaged in discussing their devilish plot, Dacey
and Kate Crandall beheld the three detectives and the undisguised man enter
the sitting room. Both instantly guessed the truth, and while Dacey
weakened perceptibly, only a loud laugh came from the woman.
“Oh, it’s all off, then,” she cried, with mingled disgust and defiance. “You
have called the turn on us, Carter, have you?”
“You’ll find that I have,” Nick replied.
“Oh, well, that don’t rattle me any,” Kate sharply asserted. “You have got
nothing on us, Carter. I told you I never would lay myself liable. Any man
may pretend to commit suicide, if he wants to, and turn all of his fortune into
cash. The more fool he, in that case, and he’s the one who must pay the
price. You’ve got nothing on us, Carter, and well you know it. Otherwise,
you’d have had us in irons by this time.”
Nick Carter knew that there was some truth in this, yet he said sternly:
“Don’t you be so sure of it, Kate Crandall. I can send you up for a term of
years for conspiracy, abduction, and opposing officers of the law. If I don’t
do so—there will be but one reason,” he added pointedly.
“What reason is that?” Kate demanded, with color fading.
“You have made an infernal fool of this man, and he knows it, now. I
think he will behave himself in the future, and I’m going to give him a
chance. I shall do so for the sake of his wife, who is as fine a woman as you
are the reverse. I shall invent a story to account for all that has occurred, and
shall send Cyrus Darling home to his wife. Neither she nor the public must
know the truth. Your only hope, Kate Crandall, and that of your
confederates, lies in your permanent secrecy.”
“I agree to that, Carter,” cried Kate quickly. “The truth shall never be
told.”
“Does that go with you, Dacey?” Nick sternly demanded.
“You bet!” Dacey eagerly cried.
“And you will silence Moran?”
“Silence him? You bet I’ll silence him—if I have to cut his tongue out.”
Nick turned to Cyrus Darling, who had sunk upon the nearest chair, with
his head bowed in his hands.
What Nick said to the erring man is of minor importance. It is enough to
add that he adjusted the matter in the manner suggested; that Cyrus Darling
returned home a few days later with a story that Nick had invented for him,
and that the real truth was, indeed, never disclosed.
THE END.
Two convictions on Nick’s part, however, were verified later. One that
Cyrus Darling thereafter would be a man. The other, that Nick had not seen
the last of Kate Crandall. You will read about the verification of these two
convictions in the story that you will find in the next issue of this weekly,
No. 123, out January 16th, entitled “Half a Million Ransom; or, Nick Carter
and the Needy Nine.”
RUBY LIGHT.
By BURKE JENKINS.
(This interesting story was commenced in No. 120 of Nick Carter Stories. Back numbers can
always be obtained from your news dealer or the publishers.)
CHAPTER VII.
A DASH IN THE DARK.
I enjoyed that ride into the darkness that was, by now, fast settling over
Casco Bay; at least, I relished the first part of it. And it was in momentary
forgetfulness of my dislike of my companion that I said cheerfully:
“Somethin’ like, eh?”
“Uh!” grunted Pawlinson; and I resolved to make no further overtures.
Some more minutes elapsed in this dark dash—straight away we were
making it, and we flew no lights. Then Pawlinson swirled us to a tangent.
“You’re not going past Orr’s Island, then?” I cried; but I might have
saved my breath for all the attention he paid me.
Perhaps three more minutes it was that we ran thus. Then he whirled on
me with a short:
“Off!” I was bewildered, for speed had certainly been the desideratum up
to now.
“Off, I said!” he ripped out vexedly. “I’m giving orders here, remember.”
I threw out the switch, and we slumped down to wabbling in the light sea
that was running.
Even in the gloom I could see his features working. Then I followed his
gaze out over the water toward where Peak’s Island showed darker against
the night sky.
And more showed in that direction than that; for two trim masts were
swaying slightly against the starred background.
“The schooner!” said I.
“Right—for once.” Pawlinson came out of his silence. “And now maybe
you can see why I didn’t run right past the island, eh?”
“But surely speed boats are plentiful enough nowadays,” I answered.
“There couldn’t have been much to arouse suspicion, even if we had shot
directly alongside. The lad said it was shortest.”
“It’s easy to see you don’t know Carl Stroth. Look!”
The steady, bright-eyed glare of a powerful searchlight ate into the night.
It came from the schooner’s fore crosstrees.
“Get it through your noddle at last?”
“Yes,” said I humbly enough.
For some minutes the searchlight played over the waters; but it was
noticeable that it confined its attentions to a small arc; and that arc,
fortunately or unfortunately, did not include that portion of the bay where lay
our inert, low-lying craft.
But its radiance suddenly found and rested upon something well ahead of
us—a something that made both Pawlinson and myself let out an oath.
“The police launch!”
“But it’s headed back to town from Trawly’s Rock!” I cried.
“Well, and why not?” he snapped. “Even a policeman can sometimes fall
to the fact that there’s such a thing in this world as a bunk.”
“You think, then,” said I, “that they have found out the wire was bogus?”
“I think that when they got out to that desolate chunk of rock and didn’t
find me there, that possibly something like that did enter their heads.”
“But——”
“But Stroth is right this minute chuckling happily; for, by the time that
launch gets back to headquarters for new orders, he’ll be hull down,
seaward.”
“But he’s waiting for that gasoline.”
“Oh, he is, is he? Take a squint at the schooner again, and see if he’ll
have to wait long.”
Much as I hated the fellow, I couldn’t but admire his perception. I
followed his pointing, and discerned that a small lighter had been brought
alongside the vessel, and, by the light of the lanterns that had been hung to
the rigging at the rail, I could see men transferring barrel after barrel to the
schooner’s hold.
“The gasoline!” I cried.
“Probably,” came the reply.
“Then Hallins’ man who got aboard to-day was wrong as to the time they
could get it?”
“I have known mistakes, such slight ones, to be made before,” snarled
Pawlinson.
“But we can beat ’em to it yet,” I said, with enthusiasm.
“How? What are you driving at?”
“There’s a good twenty-five-mile-an-hour gait bottled up in this little
tube,” I explained. “And here we are in a triangle. The police launch is
headed cityward, but ahead of us, eh?”
“Right enough.”
“Then out there lies the schooner at another corner of the triangle, and to
our port side.”
“Right again.” Pawlinson’s sarcasm was, for the moment, absent.
“I take it you are planning force from the first. You asked as to my gun,
you know.”
“Yes, yes. Go ahead, man!”
“Then,” I cried, “what’s the matter with us uncorking every bit of ginger
there is in this hydro—shoot past the schooner—overtake the patrol launch
—give ’em the news, and——”
“You think we could make it before Stroth’d get wise? He’s got a good
engine himself, remember; and, should he tumble, he’d have a head start on
the launch.”
“But, being auxiliary,” I interrupted, frantic for action, “he is bound to be
as much slower than the police boat than it is to our hydro. Besides, he’s not
to up-anchor or cut. It’ll work!” I cried enthusiastically as I fished in my
pocket for my jackknife and turned back quickly toward the taffrail.
“Here, what’re you up to?” snapped Pawlinson.
“Why, we’ve got to cast that blamed punt adrift now,” I answered sharply.
“We’ve got to be clear of everything.”
Ice came into the voice that met my warmth.
“Start the engine. We’ll keep the punt.”
“But, man——”
“Start the engine.”
There was that in Pawlinson I’ve met in few men; for I had that machine
barking the next instant—and I’m not an oversweet-tempered individual
myself, as I have intimated.
I threw in the clutch, and we fairly jumped out of the water when she
began to “plane.”
There was no shunning the island now on Pawlinson’s part.
Instead, he headed almost directly for it—a course that was calculated to
bring us within a furlong of the anchored schooner on our way to intercept
the patrol launch, which was pointed, as near as we could judge, directly
cityward.
The exact angle was a thing of estimation to a nicety; but, with the speed
we were soon attaining, it certainly looked as if it would work.
The wind had fallen flat, as it often does between the day and night
breezes, and this helped. So we cut a swath of boiling spume over an
unrippled mirror which heaved only to a slight swell.
“Now, man”—Pawlinson let me into his thoughts—“once clear of the
schooner’s stern, and we’ve got ’em; no matter which way the cat jumps.”
“Yes,” I agreed enthusiastically. “By that time they wouldn’t have a
chance to clear before we’d have the patrol launch veered for her.”
“And now for it!” His tone was calm and collected enough; but I read
tenseness in it, nevertheless.
As for myself, I was fairly rigid with the moment, for it was the crucial
one. We were about to pass the schooner.
Then came the sickening disgust.
Out from the fore crosstrees blazed the white glare of the searchlight
again.
This time we were in for it. The rattling exhaust of our engine had told its
story; or, at least, it had told enough to excite sufficient curiosity for a look
at us.
The light oscillated once or twice in search; then it steadied, and our eyes
blinked in its glare. Everything about us sprang into daylight, and the brass
cylinder heads before me fairly glittered.
I imagined I could hear the wielder of the light chuckle at his find; but I
didn’t have to imagine the imprecation that Pawlinson hissed venomously. I
have seldom heard such fervor; but I seconded it heartily.
“All up!” I groaned; for it took no clairvoyant to fathom that the alarm
had been sounded.
Even above the sound of our engine we heard a sharp command given,
and the lines were cast from the lighter alongside. Then came some quick
blows on metal.
“Make that out?” queried Pawlinson shortly.
“Cutting the cable,” I muttered. “They know the game. Her engine’s
going already. Where’s the police boat?”
“The fools in her smell something up; but, being fools, they’ve stopped to
see what it is.”
Sure enough, off there about a quarter mile, the lights of the patrol stood
fixed, showing that either her engine had been shut off or was running free
from load.
“At any rate,” I growled, “she’s too far off to help, anyway. That
schooner’s certainly fast under power. Once started, she’s a good match for
the launch, and besides——”
“Stop the engine!”
I whirled in amazement at the deadly animosity that came into
Pawlinson’s voice; and the searchlight—which had kept us steadily in its
radiance—showed a countenance an equal match to the tone. Then a smile
came over his face as he corrected:
“Throw her into the neutral!”
I did so, and our screw stopped.
“Now, haul up that punt’s painter and get into the tub.”
“Get into the punt?” I cried, mystified.
“Into the punt, I said, didn’t I?” shrilled the man with me. I can scarcely
call him Pawlinson. I have never seen rage mount much higher as he busied
himself setting the steering wheel to a certain spoke. The gear was a good
one, and would hold to any setting of rudder.
“But why?” I ventured further; then regretted the words, and forthwith
did as he had ordered.
I brought the punt alongside, sprang into it, and stood steadying, awaiting
what would come next.
But I snatched a second for a peek over my shoulder.
The schooner was almost upon us by now; for, of course, she was headed
for the nearest way out of the bay; and that way happened to be our way.
But I was brought sharply back to Pawlinson.
“And now,” said he, “I think we’ve got something that’ll work.”
As he said this, he, too, clambered from the speed boat into the punt
along with me.
Now, mind you, the engine was still running in the neutral.
“Reach over there!” he ordered. “Full speed ahead! You can reach the
lever from where you stand. You know best how to do it. You start her, and
the rudder’ll do the rest.”
Then it was, on that very instant, that there flashed over me a light of
understanding as brilliant as the calcium that still played about us.
“You don’t mean it, man?” I cried; for I remembered now the strong
metal stringers of the hydroplane’s structure; the weight of her engine; the
impact that it meant at a twenty-five-mile-an-hour clip. The boat lay low in
the water; and the hole she’d make in that yacht-planked schooner would be
well along, and even below the water line.
“I do mean it!” he yelled. “And now’s the time! About amidships she’ll
catch it, I think. We’ll watch it from the punt.”
I felt myself boil as would any civilized man.
“And I think not!” The words sounded as from some other throat than my
own. “Sink that schooner with all the men in her, and——”
“And what?” I could feel his breath hot with wrath as he brought his face
pugnaciously close to mine.
“The girl!” I cried.
“What do you know about her?”
“Enough to know that I’ll not——”
I don’t remember the end of that sentence; for he suddenly whirled his
broad back upon me, and, fending my interference off thus, reached over
into the speed boat’s cockpit and threw back the starting lever.
But the steering wheel was aft, a side steerer attached to the coaming—
the port coaming at that, and right to my hand.
I grabbed that wheel, and flung it around desperately, in the second I had
before the hydroplane shot from us.
She didn’t veer far from her course of intended destruction; but it was
enough, and I had the inner glow of satisfaction for the one instant that was
allowed me before I met him as he turned and gripped me in deadly
embrace.
In an iron clutch I felt myself borne bodily aloft. I struck the water
breathless, and I cannot swim.
CHAPTER VIII.
IN STRANGE QUARTERS.
I have my own theory as to just what becomes of us when we—the real,

thinking we, that is—enter that somewhat uncanny realm which men have
agreed to let ignorance call unconsciousness. But this is neither the time nor
place to air it.
Sufficient to state, now, that from the moment I felt the chill of the waters
of the bay, and strangled in its brine, I knew nothing of what we name
actuality until I was sensible of an easy, steady sway of body as I was rocked
cradlewise.
A distinctly delicious semiconsciousness made me forget a decided
stiffness and cramp of muscle, and it was with reluctance that I opened a
tentative eye.
I am not ordinarily one of those who jump up immediately upon
wakening, anyway.
And slowly it was that the nature of my surroundings came to me.
A faint swish directly beside the bunk whereon I found I was lying
proved to come from a hung-up suit of Cape Ann oilskins; and a further
exploring peek beyond revealed several rows of bunks like my own.
A ladder of steep incline, topped by a hatch; a semicircle of seat lockers;
tar in the air, and a faint reek of bilge—the combination ended all conjecture.
A hearty chuckle from directly alongside my head made me up-on-elbow
for a nearer scan of the chuckler.
I have never seen a bundle of more jovial rotundity, or a larger. A perfect
giant of a man he was, with good nature popping from him. And a sailor he
was to the gnarled crooks of his “fishhook” fingers, which at this moment
were ramming home a husky charge of palm-rolled cut plug into a broken-
stemmed “ha’penny clay.”
“Ho, ho!” he burbled when he saw that I had caught sight of him. “An’
where away now, m’ bucko?”
I passed a hand over my features, and my question was trite enough:
“Where am I?”
Again merriment rippled in folds up and down him as he replied:
“On board the Ruby Light, m’ lad, and a better vessel’s keel was never
laid!”
“Ruby Light?” I echoed hesitatingly, for a bit of mistiness still held me.
“Why, I thought—that is——”
“That is,” he rumbled gleefully, “this here’s about the last place you
expected ter come ter life in. An’ mebbe it are jest about the last place you’d
’a’ picked out. He, he! Shouldn’t wonder, m’ lad, shouldn’t wonder!” And
he drifted off into a falsetto titter.
But there certainly was no malice in his merriment; it seemed rather to
make me a comrade.
“But how in thunder did I get here?” My voice was putting on more
heartiness. “And who——”
“Hold on, now Billy-boy! One at a time, and slow,” he chided. “As to the
how and the who, why—I m’self was the who; an’ a good long boat hook
was the how. Managed ter ketch under the belt as you slid by our quarter
during said episode last night. An’, by time, boy, you were heavier’n you
look, shore!”
“But what I should like to know is, why——”
“An’ that thar’s just what I’m going ter pass up ter sooperiors. Orders is
orders, y’ know, matie; an’ I shore am some strong when it comes to ’em.
But I tell you what I can do an’ it ought’r sound like screeching good news; I
can tumble a cup o’ b’iling hot coffee into you. Eh, what? A mug along ’ith
some salt horse?”
“Sounds good to me!” I strove to echo his strain, as I threw my legs over
the side of the bunk. “But how about my clothes?” For the first time I
realized that I was wearing nothing but a coarse, sailor’s blue flannel shirt.
“Right t’ hand, an’ bone dry!” he chortled, as he edged his huge bulk
through a narrow opening, beyond which I caught the glow of a small
“shipmate” range.
Next instant he reappeared with my clothes over his arm.
“Did m’ best, laddie, ter get ’em into some sort o’ shape. Kind o’
draggled they was, as is natural. An’ the shoes are durned stiff, believe me.
But they’ll come around——”
“Well, I should say!” said I, delighted to get into my own togs, “and I
don’t see how you managed to get ’em as good as you did.”
The old fellow had actually made a pretense of pressing the trousers,
though truth compels me to say that he had run the seams decidedly awry.
I was surprised to see how weak I was, for, even though there was
scarcely any sea running, I lurched abominably as I put on my trousers.
“Coffee’s in order!” he announced, and once more sought the range.
Two minutes after I had drained that mug and chewed off some chunks of
“junk,” and I was still doing business at the old stand.
“And now,” said I, “next?”
“Well,” came the hearty response, “seein’s I’m the doctor, why, I jest says
the deck for yourn. Besides, them’s the orders.”
Before I mounted the ladder I stood before the old fellow, and put out my
hand.
“My name’s Tom Grey,” said I, “and somehow I’m not much when it
comes to thanks; but——”
“Aw, shucks!” he roared back at me, as he fairly enveloped my hand with
his big paw. “Nawthin’ ’tall! Kind o’ fun, ’twas, fishin’ you out thataway!
Besides, I warn’t doing nothin’ but obeyin’ orders; an’ as mebbe I’ve before
let out, I’m quite some when it comes t’ orders. Yep! Why, any o’ the lads on
deck’ll second the motion that old Steve, bos’n o’ this here Ruby Light, jest
eats ’em—orders, that is. Now, tumble out and mind your eye, matie. Me fer
a cat nap.”
Whereupon he rolled into the bunk I had quitted.
CHAPTER IX.
A PLEASURE TRIP.
It was fully fifteen minutes after I gained the deck before the slightest
attention was paid to my appearance, and this period I made full use of in
close scrutiny of my surroundings.
Never, even aboard a man-of-war, have I seen such decks. Holystoned
they were, every inch of them, and at that very instant four fellows were
scouring away for dear life.
And that immaculateness was everywhere apparent. I could see well
enough why it was that I had awakened alone in the forecastle with only old
Steve to watch over me.
Brass shone to brisk burnishing; mahogany glowed to the chamois; every
man jack of ’em was furbishing, except the helmsman.
And the craft was well worth such grooming. Even in the anxiety that, of
necessity, was mine at the moment, I glowed over such fitness; everything
O. K. to the dot. Bowsprit to taffrail I scanned her, and didn’t find an “out.”
Her forestay she carried pretty well inboard, for the ’sprit was short,
according to the modern custom.
The masts, clear Oregon pine, raked a trifle, giving a dash that was a bit
reminiscent of the old America. It may not make for speed, but I never saw a
real sailor that didn’t favor it.
Guessing the direction by the sun, I reckoned our course to be somewhat
east of south, and the freshening west wind bellied the creamy canvas into
unwrinkled corpulence. Besides her lower standing, she was carrying
ballooner and club topsail.
But no foretopsail met my upward search, and it didn’t take long to see
why. Between her masts stretched wireless rigging.
Now, all this time of my survey of the schooner, not one of the full score
of sailors that were working all about me, as I paced the forward deck, gave
me a word. But I judged, from an occasional furtive glance or two I caught,
that I was nothing if not interesting.
I suppose, though, as old Steve had intimated, “orders were orders.” But
that kind of thing gets on a man’s nerves as only such inactive suspense can,
and I was upon the very point of striding aft to stir up something when I
spied some gilt emerging from the companionway.
The little captain gave a word to the man at the wheel, then whirled and
faced forward.
“Stevens once more!” said I to myself, though I was not oversurprised at
the recognition.
His grin when he caught sight of me was all the satisfaction I got before
he popped immediately back down the companionway. But I didn’t have
long to wait for further developments, for I don’t believe it was a full minute
before a little Jap glided up the steps, and came directly toward me.
“You come follow me,” said the flunky abruptly, as he whirled a most
ridiculous rightabout. But naturally I was in no mood to read humor in
things, so I followed meekly enough.
The Jap led down the steps, and across a saloon; then he tapped almost
reverently at a door that gave off from a passageway beyond.
To a sharp summons to enter, he opened the door, and stood aside for me
to pass him, which I did. Then the door closed behind me, and I faced the
strangest stateroom I ever saw.
But it was not the room itself, remarkable as it was, that focused the
entire attention, for a man in a broad-backed chair, busied at something on
the table before him, sat facing me.
The whole breadth of the room was between us, but I could feel every
nerve of my ill-controlled features pass under the appraising scrutiny of that
pair of half-closed gray eyes that drilled at me as he glanced up from what
had been engrossing his attention.
It will be remembered that on the two occasions I had seen this man, Carl
Stroth, I had not got a fair and square look at him. Back there on the launch
at Port Washington he had stood steadily at the wheel, peering ahead, while
I, of necessity, was busied with the engine.
And that other time when, as the accommodating “deck hand,” he had
made a fool of me, his disguise had been of the cleverest.
But now I had ample opportunity for a searching survey of the man, for
he let a minute pass in silence. And I availed myself of this opportunity to
the full; though now, as I attempted to word the impression his face made
upon me, I am forced lamely to state that its strongest characteristic lay in its
very indefinableness; a sort of haunting fitting of something I decidedly
didn’t like across features which seemed more naturally to fit themselves
into something I instinctively did like.
Even seated as he was, there came to his shoulders suddenly that forward
hunch which I had before noted, and which now I could see was
accompanied by a forward craning of the neck in riveting his eyes upon me.
Vulturelike it was, and more.
And then, as suddenly, the posture shifted to ease as he said quietly:
“None the worse for the episode, Mr. Grey?”
It was not so much surprise at his knowing my name—which I knew his
methods well enough by now to see would be easy—as it was the lightness
and even friendliness of the tone; a friendliness which consorted ill with the
stare he had favored me with the moment before. But I strove to match it as I
replied:
“It was more for adventure than money that I entered the detective
service, Mr. Stroth.”
I know now that nothing I could have said would have had more effect
upon him, or quicker.
“Ah!” he cried delightedly, as he sprang to his feet, shoved back his chair,
and strode toward me. “Good! There we have it—adventure—spice—zest!
The only thing worth while, isn’t it?”
It certainly was an unexpected way to open conversation, under the
circumstances; and, next second, he seemed to realize it, for his tone altered
to one of less enthusiasm:
“But first it’s probably best for us to understand each other.”
He nodded for me to be seated, and resumed his own chair.
“Mr. Grey,” said he, “who is, or was, your employer in this case?”
My smile was almost a wince at his shift of tense to the past; then I
replied evasively:
“This case?”
“Come, now, man,” he retorted sharply, and I regretted my attempt at
fencing; “you look like more sense. And I believe, if you’ll remember our
several positions at the present minute, that probably out-and-out frankness
will strike you as the best policy. It is natural that I am puzzled about you at
some points in reviewing the events of the past two days, and I see no better
or quicker method of clearing the air than direct question and answer. So
now, what say you? Of course, I can handle my own end in either course you
choose to pursue, though personally I prefer candor.”
He was right; the upper hand was his, and it didn’t take me many seconds
to reconcile my conscience to my superior’s, by saying:
“Let it be the truth, then, Mr. Stroth. And I certainly hope that
something’ll come out that will make things a bit clearer to me. The Lord
knows I’m in the dark deep enough myself. I’m ready.”
“First, then,” said he, as he handed me over a humidor of dusky-hued
panetelas—though I noticed he didn’t take one himself—“perhaps it would
be best for me to state my difficulties, eh?”
“As you will, sir,” I agreed, lighting the welcome cigar, which I really
stood in need of.
“Here we have it, then,” he continued. “First I see you on the dock at Port
Washington, and it’s the first time I ever saw you in my life, I believe.”
“Exactly,” I broke in, “and I believe I was at that time instrumental—was
of some service?”
“Wait! That’s just the point. You were of service, immense service, I
admit. I never would have thought that Pawlinson would have the nerve to
risk fooling Stevens into hiring him for engineer of my own launch. And it
might very well have succeeded but for you, as you say.”
“But then?”
“But next I stumble on you at the Portland wharf. Apparently your rôle
had, by that time, decidedly shifted. Stevens, who came from Stamford,
where he left the launch, even tells me that both you and Pawlinson traveled
in the same sleeping coach with him to Boston.”
“I didn’t know it at the time,” I said, but he paid no attention to the
interruption as he concluded:
“And now, last night, came the final mystery, for my searchlight revealed
both you and Pawlinson at fisticuff loggerheads in a wabbly punt, with a
speed-boat accompaniment. As to your place in this little series of events, I
confess myself completely mystified; and so it is that I ask you—who was
your employer in this thing, and where do you stand, anyway?”

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About the students and supervisors xxx

• • ONE THE RESEARCH PROCESS 1

Chapter 1 The nature and process of business research 3

Chapter 2 Business research strategies 17

Developing a research strategy: quantitative or qualitative? 35

Chapter 3 Research designs 44

Chapter 4 Planning a research project and developing

Chapter 5 Getting started: reviewing the literature 89

Avoiding plagiarism 105

Chapter 6 Ethics in business research 109

Chapter 7 Writing up business research 137

Reflexivity and its implications for writing 156

• • TWO QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH 161

Chapter 8 The nature of quantitative research 163

Chapter 9 Sampling in quantitative research 185

Multi-stage cluster sampling 192

Chapter 10 Structured interviewing 207

Chapter 11 Self-completion questionnaires 231

Chapter 12 Asking questions 252

Chapter 13 Quantitative research using naturally occurring data 272

Sampling for structured observation 276

Chapter 14 Secondary analysis and official statistics 294

Chapter 15 Quantitative data analysis 310

Measures of central tendency 320

Chapter 16 Using IBM SPSS statistics 333

Chapter 17 The nature of qualitative research 355

Chapter 18 Sampling in qualitative research 388

Chapter 19 Ethnography and participant observation 403

Chapter 20 Interviewing in qualitative research 433

Chapter 21 Focus groups 462

Asking questions 470

Chapter 22 Language in qualitative research 482

Chapter 23 Documents as sources of data 499

Chapter 24 Qualitative data analysis 517

Secondary analysis of qua I itative data 534

Chapter 25 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis: using NVivo 538

Chapter 26 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 557

Chapter 27 Mixed methods research: combining quantitative

The rise of mixed methods research 571

3.12 Key concept What is survey research? 59

18.3 Key concept What is theoretical sampling? 392

A DASH IN THE DARK.

I have my own theory as to just what becomes of us when we—the real,

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