Formal Methods of Qualitative Analysis as a Tool for Understanding the Formation of Co-operative Enterprises

The paper elaborates on one of the formal methods of qualitative analysis - Event Structure Analysis (ESA) - which can capture and unfold the complexity of organisational processes. It is a formal and replicable technique of qualitative data research used for analysing and interpreting events. The method is formal as it uses a set of logical rules to analyse cases. The formal rules produce results that can be replicated and generalised to other cases. The method is qualitative in the sense that it draws on some subjective criteria and understanding of the researcher, and tries to preserve the context of circumstances in which events take place. Using the literature on co-operative enterprises, the paper demonstrates the advantages of using the formal methods to examine the formation process, and to systematise and analyse narrative data collected across the cases (Stevenson & Greenberg, 2000). Event Structure Analysis (ESA) can map causal factors leading towards the formation of a co-operative in a rigorous and replicable way in order to answer the questions such as: What are the similarities between actions which led towards the formation of co-operatives? Can we compare causal factors across the cases to uncover themes in explaining the formation process? ESA is considered appropriate for causal analysis with an emphasis on process and contingency, and conceptualises causal relations as complex conjectures of factors and conditions (Griffin & Ragin, 1994). ESA can be applied to the narrative of a process of co-operative formation to clarify temporal ordering and sequences of actions in leading towards the formation of co-operative enterprises.