Researching social influences on decision making: The case for qualitative methods

Research on decision making has mainly been based on economic models that have tried to downplay the overall context of decision-making situations. When we look into the social influences on decision making we realize it is crucial that we bring the issue of context back into the spotlight. In the present paper we explore the methodological foundations of selected qualitative approaches for studying social influences on decision-making, focusing especially on their strengths and weaknesses. We conclude that this area has great potential for further research providing academic rigor is maintained when using qualitative methods.