III. RESEARCH METHODS In addressing these research questions, I employed a number of namralistic or qualitative techniques (e.g. participant-observation, structured interviews, focus groups) to explore the area of institutional culture and intemal govemance relationships and communication. I observed and interviewed faculty in different teaching departments as well as administrators and students. My aim in utilizing these techniques was not only to describe organizational culture, but to understand this institution in the broader social context of a newly established republic of the former Soviet Union.
The use of qualitative research methods calls for engagement with the natural setting through systematic observation, participant interviewing, and the examination of cultural artifacts and materials found in the setting under study. Ultimately, these methods provide insight into the multiple social realities that make up a particular context, examining the diversity of attitudes, beliefs, practices, and relationships within social instimtions such as schools and universities. Underlying assumptions and rationales for organizational behavior may be difficult if not impossible to ascertain given the length of this study and the fact that organizational cultures evolve over a period of years (Schein, 1992). Nevertheless, I have focused on the level of artifacts and espoused values, such as changes in policies, the physical plant environment, behavior pattems, products, and
