The 5th European Conference on Research Methods in Business and Management attracted a wide range of papers. The conference fell naturally into a number of key themes organized into mini tracks. These included a number of different methods (Action research, Grounded Theory, Ethnography), specific issues (Teaching Research Methods) and philosophical paradigms (Critical approaches to research). A strong sub theme within all tracks was the concern with the complex problems that business and management research poses. The quality of the papers was high and the selection of those papers for the Journal presented a difficult choice. The papers selected were chosen for their quality of writing and relevance to the Journal’s objective of publishing papers that offer new insights or practical help in the application of research methods in business research.

The papers deal with the problems facing management researchers in a variety of ways. Most papers focus on the problems of applying research qualitative methods. The papers by Chester et al, Gehrels, Rodon and Pastor, and Vasconcelos all present case examples analysed from an interpretivist view using methods like Action Research and Grounded Theory Methods. Several papers confront the ambiguity and conflict inherent in researching people and their actions as they carry out their jobs (Mendy, Wagner and Brooke). The teaching research mini track was received with particular enthusiasm and one of the chosen papers is from this group (Sayce). A few papers adopt a traditional positivist stance creating new constructs (Schutz et al; Phillips and Phillips).

The 7th European Conference on Research Methods in Business and Management attracted a wide range of papers. The conference fell naturally into a number of key themes organized into mini tracks. These included a number of different methods (Action Research, Grounded Theory, Mixed Methods), specific issues (Teaching Research Methods, Information Systems Research) and philosophical issues (the role of Paradigms). The quality of the papers was particularly high and the selection from those papers for the Journal presented a difficult choice. The papers selected were chosen for their quality of writing, their relevance to the Journal’s objective of publishing papers that offer new insights or practical help in the application of research methods in business research and to represent as many of the major themes of the conference as possible.

The papers dealt with the problems facing management researchers in a variety of ways. The majority of the papers focused on the problems of applying a variety of techniques – some through the discussion of theoretical issues, others by case examples. The technique of mixed methods was discussed at the conference for the first time and two papers have been chosen to represent this theme – both of which describe case examples using the tool (Branka Krivokapic‑Skoko and Grant O'Neill, Barbara Crump and Keri Logan). This technique combines both qualitative and quantitative tools. Two papers have been chosen for their contribution towards improving our understanding of quantitative analysis tools (Daire Hooper, Joseph Coughlan and Michael R. Mullen; Elisa Chami‑Castaldi, Nina Reynolds and James Wallace). One of the tracks was on ‘researching sensitive issues’. For most contributors this meant an exploration of ethical issues for researchers or the complexity inherent in researching the life world of people as they carry out their jobs. One paper stood out from this track (Gisela Schulte‑Agyeman) for its insight and practical advice when researching such topics. Grounded Theory and the challenge of coaxing meaning from the vast mass of qualitative data that this approach creates, was a major issue for several tracks. Three papers discuss this approach to qualitative research (Svetla Georgieva, Teresa Waring and David Wainwright, Linda Dawson). The track on teaching research methods attracted several papers and one was chosen from this group (Martin Rich). The paper by Peter Bednar and Christine Welch, revisited the important topic of paradigm choice and its impact on research methods.