Vignettes in Collaborative Business Research

Our main intention with this chapter is to describe vignettes as a way to do collaborative business research, exemplified from a critical-theoretical perspective. This chapter defines vignettes as short narratives of one or more persons in a social situation, for example, portraying an everyday event. Vignettes can be used in quantitative and qualitative research designs or combinations thereof. Vignettes are particularly well-suited to explore situational context, understand individual judgments (often in relation to moral dilemmas), and discuss sensitive experiences. Three real-world exemplars illustrate using vignettes as methodological procedures. They show how theory, documents, and preceding empirical research can be used as vignettes—or turned into vignettes—in critical business research. Critical theory is, therefore, also briefly introduced as an alternative paradigm to mainstream paradigms. Finally, evaluation (validity) criteria specific to critical business research are discussed in that effective vignettes contribute to emancipating participants and empowering them to social action. Thus, vignettes can have particular relevance in collaborative business research, where their highly normative participative nature can act as stimuli to engage and empower business stakeholders and engender thought, understanding, and action.