Qualitative research methods for the exploration of coworking environments

Abstract

Coworking is a flexible workspace arrangement that is characterized by the sharing of resources, socializing between peers, collaborating on mutual projects, and co-crafting a community of work. As a result of the benefits coworkers draw from their experience, the coworking model has grown significantly over the past years, which has also led to increasing attention by scholars. When researching the contemporary workplace's evolving nature, a qualitative approach enables scholars to observe, record, and capture the changing attitudes concerning a given subject. Similarly, field researchers have applied qualitative methods with gradually increasing rigor and complexity. To further enhance future studies, the paper highlights key development patterns and best practices from a review of selected qualitative studies of the past years to draw conclusions for future research practices and the most suitable qualitative research methods for the examination of coworking environments. Finally, the paper discusses advisable qualitative methodological frameworks.