Reflections on the value of insider research as a qualitative research methodology

What is it about?

This case study reflects on the lessons learned during a 15 month ‘insider research’ project on the management of international branch campuses. The research project was a qualitative investigation into the ‘lived experience’ of senior managers running international branch campuses of UK universities. The UK universities presently operating international branch campuses are all public universities with a history of being state-funded and politically regulated. The international branch campuses are, in contrast, private for-profit subsidiaries of the UK university, often jointly owned by local partners, which function within an alien cultural, legislative and political environment – the United Arab Emirates, China and Malaysia are the most important host countries for IBCs. While the challenges of managing such campuses are clearly manifold, insider research offers a unique insight into the way these challenges are seen through the eyes of the senior managers involved. This case study explores the strengths and weaknesses of insider research as a qualitative methodology and highlights some of the practical lessons learned during the course of the project.

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Why is it important?

This case study explores the strengths and weaknesses of insider research as a qualitative research methodology, as well as discussing some of the strategies for mitigating the weaknesses. It argues that insider research provides a way of gaining unique insights into senior managerial challenges, which could not be achieved by more traditional research methodologies. In the project under review, insider research allowed me to access senior managers in IBCs who are normally beyond the reach of qualitative investigators because of their geographical location, their seniority and pressures on their calendars. Moreover, many years of management experience in transnational education allowed me to more effectively build rapport with interviewees and to understand the meaning behind the responses given. There are undoubtedly weaknesses and potential pitfalls with this methodology. By being so professionally (and personally) close to the interviewees, there is a risk that the insider researcher lacks objectivity and seeks confirmatory evidence for views and opinions already widely shared by insiders. There is also a risk that the insider researcher subconsciously ‘fills in the blanks’ with his/her prior experience and knowledge, so that the data is unintentionally contaminated. It is crucially important to guard against these possible sources of bias, by constantly being reflective, asking participants to confirm and clarify their responses and repeatedly testing emerging conclusions. On balance, however, insider research provides a valuable way of answering research questions that defy other, more conventional quantitative and qualitative research methodologies.