Case study: a strategic research methodology

American Journal of Applied Sciences, Nov, 2008 by Khairul Baharein Mohd Noor

THE CHOICE OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The choice of which method to employ is dependent upon the nature of the research problem, Morgan and Smircich (1980) argue that the actual suitability of a research method, derives from the nature of the social phenomena to be explored (1). There are basically two basic methodological traditions of research in social science, namely positivism and post-positivism (phenomenology).

Positivism is an approach to the creation of knowledge through research which emphasizes the model of natural science: the scientist adopts the position of objective researcher, who collects facts about the social world and then builds up an explanation of social life by arranging such facts in a chain of causality (2).

In contrast, post-positivism is about a reality which is socially constructed rather than objectively determined. Hence the task of social scientist should not be to gather facts and measure how often certain patterns occur, but to appreciate the different constructions and meanings that people place upon their experience (3).

Positivism, thus, which is based on the natural science model of dealing with facts, is more closely associated with quantitative method of analysis. On the other hand, post-positivism that deals with understanding the subjectivity of social phenomena, requires a qualitative approach.

In explaining qualitative research, Denzin and Lincoln (4) state that, qualitative implies an emphasis on processes and meanings that are not rigorously examined, measured (if measured at all), in terms of quantity, amount, intensity, or frequency. Thus, there are instances, particularly in the social sciences, where researchers are interested in insight, discovery, and interpretation rather than hypothesis testing (5).

CASE STUDY AS A STRATEGIC METHODOLOGY

In explaining what a case is, Yin suggests that the term refers to an event, an entity, an individual or even a unit of analysis. It is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence (6). Anderson (7) sees case studies as being concerned with how and why things happen, allowing the investigation of contextual realities and the differences between what was planned and what actually occurred. Case study is not intended as a study of the entire organization. Rather is intended to focus on a particular issue, feature or unit of analysis. In order to understand and examine the processes of training activities in organizations, case study method was chosen. This method enables me to understand the complex real-life activities in which multiple sources of evidence were used. The used of case study to probe an area of interest in depth is particularly appropriate as described by Patton (8) Case studies become particularly useful where one needs to understand some particular problem or situation in great-depth, and where one can identify cases rich in information.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF USING CASE STUDY METHOD

Case studies have been criticised by some as lack of scientific rigour and reliability and that they do not address the issues of generalizability (9). However, there are some strengths of case study. For example, it enables the researcher to gain an holistic view of a certain phenomenon or series of events (10) and can provide a round picture since many sources of evidence were used.

Another advantage is that case study can be useful in capturing the emergent and immanent properties of life in organizations and the ebb and flow of organizational activity, especially where it is changing very fast (11).

Case studies also allow generalizations as that result of findings using multiple cases can lead to some form of replication.

HOW TO UNDERTAKE CASE STUDY RESEARCH?

According to Yin (12) there are there types of case study research exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. Researchers in business related subjects sometimes limit case studies to the exploratory use. For example, pilot case study can be used as a basis for formulating questions or hypothesis testing. Descriptive case study is an attempt to describe, like what happen to a product when it is launched. Explanatory research can be useful for example to study processes in companies.

In my research I subscribed to descriptive case study where observations were conducted in four organizations and reporting them. The entire process of undertaking the case studies research is as shown in the diagram in Fig.1.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

As shown in Fig. 1, the first stage of the research was doing an extensive literature on the subject studied by computer and manual methods. In addition, several discussions with the academic supervisor, colleagues and professional staff in selected organizations were also conducted to extract valuable information in order to construct a framework for this research. Opinions from professional staff and documents from selected companies were useful in gaining an early understanding of the topics that needed to be explored. This was followed by the formulation of a theoretical framework which formed a structure for the study. A set of research questions to be used in interviews was later constructed.