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Chapter 3: Method
(Exploratory Case Study)
This workbook is intended to help you to write Chapter 3 of your proposal. Each part of this workbook contains information that will help you to understand what should be included in Chapter 3 of your proposal:
- Critical points to include in each section.
- Issues to consider regarding alignment with other sections of the proposal.
- References to enhance your understanding of what is needed. When you have read each part of this workbook, write the corresponding section of your draft proposal. Look for Write Your Dissertation writing prompts throughout the workbook; each one presents a list of everything you should address. Finally, each part of this workbook ends with two tools that will help you self-check your work: a checklist that highlights relevant advice from the Dissertation Handbook , and a list of tips provided by the Research Review Board. When you have completed all parts of this workbook, you can put your work from all the parts together and you should have a finished Chapter 3 of your proposal. The decision tree in Table 1 will help you decide whether a case study is the appropriate design for your research. Examples for the various types of designs are provided so that you can see how other researchers used each design.
Table 1: Decision tree for choosing the correct qualitative design
Design Questions answered When used Example Case Study How, why, What Exploring a phenom- enon in context, using one or more data collection methods. Describing in depth a case or cases. Hew, K. F. & Hara, N. (2007) Knowl- edge sharing in online environ- ments: A qualita- tive case study. American Society for Informa- tion Science and Technology, 58 , 2310–2324. Phenomenology How do people experience a phenomenon? Understanding the essence of the lived experiences of a group of people surrounding a phenomenon Burton, C. R. (2000). Living with stroke: A phenomenological study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32 , 301–309. (Cont.)
Table 1: Decision tree for choosing the correct qualitative design (cont.)
Design Questions answered When used Example Grounded theory What is the theory that explains the com- mon experiences or behaviors of a group of people? Explaining why people behave in a certain manner Harley, A. E., Buckworth, J., Katz, M., Willis, S., Odoms-Yound, A., & Heaney, C. A. (2009). Developing long-term physical activity par- ticipation: A grounded theory study with Afri- can American women. Health Education and Behavior; 36 , 97–112. Ethnographic study What are the shared patterns of a culture or a group? Describing a culture sharing group Baillie J., & Lankshear, A. (2015). Patient and family perspectives on peritoneal dialysis at home: Findings from an ethnographic study. Journal of Clinical Nurs- ing, 24 , 222–234. Narrative What are the stories of the individual experi- ences of a specific individual? Exploring the life of an individual or individuals Patsiopoulos, A. T.; & Buchanan, M. J. (2011). The practice of self- compassion in counsel- ing: A narrative inquiry. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42 , 301–307. The decision tree in Table 2 will help you decide whether the exploratory case study is appro- priate for your study. Examples are provided so that you can see how other researchers used each type of case study for their research. Type of case study Questions answered When used Example Exploratory How, what? Used when there is no single set of outcomes. Seaton, J. X., & Schwier, R. A. (2014). An exploratory case study of online instructors: Factors associated with instructor engagement. International Journal of E-Learning and Distance Education, 29 (1), 2–16.
Table 2: Decision tree for choosing the right case study
(Cont.)
Research Method
(This is the main heading for this chapter) Introduce the Research Method section. (Do not use this heading for this section.) Background Reading for This Section Your introduction to the Research Method section sets the stage for this chapter. Start by restating the purpose of your study and then present what will be in Chapter 3. Critical Points to Address for This Section Start by restating the purpose of your study. This statement is the same as the purpose statement presented in Chapter 1. Briefly preview the focus of Chapter 3, identify the major topics to be covered in the chapter, and end with a transitional sentence to the Description and Justification for Research Method and Description and Justification for Research Design sections. Considerations for Alignment
- Purpose statement must be written exactly the same as it was in Chapter 1.
- Introduction should align with subsequent sections of this chapter. Write Your Dissertation In your dissertation template, write your introduction section, addressing each of the following points:
- Restate the purpose statement.
- Preview what is in Chapter 3.
- Identify major topics covered in this chapter.
- End with a transitional sentence to the next section. Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences.
Describe and justify your research method. Background Reading for This Section Chapter 7 in the Field Guide , particularly Section 7. The method used for an exploratory case study is a qualitative method. Qualitative methods are used to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of people regarding a particular phenomenon (Merriam, 2009). Yin (2010) described qualitative research as collecting data from a variety of resources, evaluating the data, analyzing evaluations to produce findings, and presenting the findings.
Methodology Selected
(This is the main heading for this section) Critical Points to Address for This Section Description of method. In this section, describe in detail why a qualitative study is the best way to do your research. Do not simply provide a tutorial regarding qualitative research. Instead, show the reader that you understand what the qualitative method is and when to use this approach. Be sure to provide citations. Justification of method. Begin by describing the problem you are exploring, and then explain how the problem indicates the need for a qualitative approach in order to under- stand a phenomenon. Explain why a qualitative study is the most appropriate method. Explain why a quantitative approach is not appropriate for your research. Considerations for Alignment
- Qualitative method must align with the purpose of your study.
- Qualitative method must align with the problem statement.
- Qualitative method must align with the research questions.
- Aligns with description in Chapter 1. Self-Check Your Work Against the Dissertation Handbook Begins with the purpose of the chapter, how it fits into the dissertation, and the organization of the chapter. Describes the method of inquiry used (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, mixed method, meta-analysis, program evaluation, etc.). Describes the specific research methodology chosen and how it derives logically from the statement of problem and the research questions.
Introduction
When we speak about bounded systems, we are referring to a case being bound by time and place. Let’s say you want to do a study regarding the use of YouTube by teenagers. The phe- nomenon is the use of YouTube by teenagers. You have a real-life contemporary bounded system (teenagers using YouTube). But you decide that this is too general, so you decide that you will look at four different groups of teenagers and their use of YouTube. You will collect data on Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. The phenomenon is the use of YouTube by teenagers. But what is your unit of analysis? The unit of analysis is what you are actually going to ana- lyze. Remember, in case studies we want to triangulate the data in order to get a full, rich description of the phenomenon in question. You can do this in several ways:
- You can have different methods of data collection. For example, you can do surveys and interviews, collect artifacts, or even review YouTube videos and read articles about their use.
- You can have different cases from which to collect data.
- Or you can have different researchers collecting the data. So you decide that you will break down your teenagers into cultural groups and will interview Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian teenagers who use YouTube. In addition, you will visit some of the chatrooms available for YouTube users to get a sense of what this is all about. Your units of analysis are your four groups of teenagers as well as the data you obtain from the chatrooms. In qualitative research it is very important to define clearly what your units of analysis are because this will form the basis of your actual analysis. So now let’s look at your research.
- What is the phenomenon you will investigate? Remember that a phenomenon is a contemporary event within a real-life context.
- What is the case? Remember that a case is bound by time and place. Is there more than one case? Is your study a single or multiple case study?
- What is your unit of analysis? Remember that the unit of analysis is the data you will collect from within the case. Yin posited three types of case studies: exploratory, explanatory, and descriptive. There are also variations in terms of single case studies and multiple case studies. In addition, there are comparative case studies. Stake (2005) included intrinsic, instrumental, and collective research case studies as well. Each type of case study is unique, and used for different pur- poses and to answer different questions. When you indicate that you are doing a case study, it is important to delineate the type of case study you are doing. The exploratory case study is used when there is no pre-determined outcome. According to Yin (2014), case studies are appropriate when asking “how,” “why,” “what,” and “who” ques- tions. In the exploratory case study, the questions answered are “how” and “what.” Explor- atory case studies are also appropriate when you wish to gain an extensive and in-depth description of a social phenomenon. The exploratory case study is used to explore presumed causal links that are too complex for a survey or experiment (Yin, 2014).
Case studies can be considered theory building or theory affirming. Eisenhardt (2007) stated that building theory from case studies involves using one or more cases to “create theoreti- cal constructs, propositions, and/or midrange theory from case based, empirical evidence” (p. 25). In the exploratory case study we build a theory from our research. In explanatory or descriptive case studies we affirm an existing theory. According to Yin (1994), multiple case studies provide a better basis for theory building because having multiple cases allows for a comparison of those cases, which can lead to a stronger theory. In case studies, we have a conceptual framework rather than a theoretical framework. Jaba- reen (2009) defined the conceptual framework as a network, or “a plane, of interlinked con- cepts that together provide a comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon or phenom- ena” (p. 50). According to Jabareen, conceptual frameworks are comprised of ontological, epistemological, and methodological assumptions. Ontological assumptions are concerned with the nature of reality, while epistemological assumptions relate to how things really are. Methodological assumptions are concerned with building the conceptual framework and what this frame- work can tell us about the real world. Jabareen pointed out that the conceptual framework in qualitative research provides understanding rather than a theoretical explanation. Conceptual frameworks are derived from many discipline-oriented theories that become the data for the conceptual framework analysis. The idea of the conceptual framework in qualitative research is to analyze these theories in order to generate new interpretations and understanding. Critical Points to Address for This Section Description of the design. I n this section, describe the exploratory case study and its uses. First, describe the case study design and its uses and how the case study differs from other qualitative designs. Then focus on the exploratory type of case study. Describe what the exploratory case study is. Then explain how the exploratory case study design differs from other case study designs. Further, explain why the exploratory type of case study is appropriate to your research as opposed to other types of case studies. Again, this is not to be written as a tutorial on case study design. Instead, your writing should show evidence that you understand the design. Be sure to cite references. Avoid text- books and, instead, use scholarly authors such as Yin and Merriam. Justification of the design. Describe the phenomenon being studied and discuss why exploring the perceptions of certain people regarding the phenomenon is the best approach to use. Explain how your research addresses Yin’s three conditions for a case study. Explain how your research aligns with the concept of the exploratory case study. What questions are you addressing with your research and how do those questions align with the “how” and “what” questions of exploratory case studies? In addition, explain why other qualitative designs would not be appropriate for your study. Remember, it is not enough to simply address these issues with a laundry list of facts. This section should be assembled into a logically flowing narrative of your research design and justification for the exploratory case study.
Suggested Resources for Enrichment (cont.) Tellis, W. (1997). Introduction to case study. The Qualitative Report, 3 (2). Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-2/tellis1.html Tellis, W. (1997). Application of a case study methodology. The Qualitative Report, 3 (3). Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-3/tellis2.html Yin, R. K. (1993). Applications of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Yin, R. (1997). Case study evaluations: A decade of progress? New Directions for Evalu- ations, (76) , 69–78. Yin, R. (2004). The case study anthology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Yin, R. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Write Your Dissertation In your dissertation template, write your description and justification for your design, addressing each of these points:
- Explain the phenomenon and why exploratory case study is the best approach to exploring it.
- Explain how your study addresses “how” and “what” questions.
- Explain how Yin’s three conditions are addressed.
- How does the exploratory case study align with the problem and purpose of your study.
- Why are other qualitative designs not appropriate?
- Why are other types of case studies not appropriate? Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences. Address your research questions. Background Reading for This Section Chapter 5 in the Field Guide Your research questions are the questions you will answer with your research. They must align with your problem statement and your purpose statement. You should never include questions that were not addressed in the problem and purpose statements. In qualitative research, there is generally an overarching or central question followed by subquestions. Remember that exploratory case studies use “how” and “what” questions, so your research questions should follow this format. For example, you might ask, “What are the perceptions of online graduate students regarding completing a dissertation?” This would
be your overarching question. Subquestions might be “What difficulties do online graduate students encounter when completing their dissertations?” and “How do online graduate stu- dents overcome these difficulties?” Critical Points to Address for This Section In this section you will address your research questions. These questions must be the same as those you presented in Chapter 1. Remember that your research questions are not your interview questions. They are the questions that will be answered through your research. Also include a narrative to show how your research questions align with the problem and purpose of your study. Considerations for Alignment
- Research questions must align with the methodology being used.
- Research questions must align with the problem by addressing the problem.
- Research questions must align with the purpose.
- Do not include questions that are not mentioned in the purpose of your study.
- Research questions must align with those presented in Chapter 1. Suggested Resources for Enrichment Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Maxwell, J. (2013). Qualitative design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Yin, R. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Write Your Dissertation In your dissertation template, write one to two paragraphs that introduce your research questions and show how they align with the problem and purpose. Then write the overarching question and the subquestions. Be sure to address each of these points:
- In a short narrative, introduce the research questions and explain how they align with the problem and purpose of the study.
- Address your overarching research question.
- Address your subquestions. Remember: This content must be written exactly as it was in Chapter 1. Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences.
Write Your Dissertation In your dissertation template, write your section on your role as the researcher and how you will mitigate any bias.
- Describe your role as the researcher in data collection.
- Explain the potential for researcher bias and ways to mitigate bias. Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences. Suggested Resources for Enrichment Chenail, R. J. (2011). Interviewing the investigator: Strategies for addressing instrumen- tation and researcher bias concerns in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 16, 255–262. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol16/iss1/ Tufford, L., & Newman, P. (2010). Bracketing in qualitative research. Qualitative Social Work, 11 (1) 80–96. Write Your Dissertation Now combine the material you wrote in this part of the workbook on research method and design, research questions, and your role as the researcher into one succinct section. Address all of the following points: Metholdology Selected A. Research method (Cont.) ° Detailed description of case study research, with particular focus on exploratory case study research with references ° Justification for research design, both the case study and exploratory case study ° Why other designs are not appropriate ° Alignment of method with problem and purpose ° Detailed description of qualitative research with references ° Justification for research method ° Why other methods are not appropriate ° Alignment of method with problem and purpose B. Research design
Write Your Dissertation (cont.) Self-Check Your Work Against the Dissertation Handbook Describes which qualitative methodology will be used. Justifies choice of methodology using major and foundational sources. Explains why other possible choices would be less effective. Describes specific research questions and subquestions (where appropriate) that are Clear and succinct. Congruent with the statement of problem. Answerable. Few in number. Clearly stated. Open-ended ( not yes/no questions). Describes the role of the researcher in the data collection procedure. Addresses the potential impact and minimization of researcher bias through methodological approaches. C. Research questions Metholdology Selected ° Short narrative to introduce the research questions and explain how they align with the problem and purpose of the study ° Overarching research question ° Subquestions Remember: Be sure to use references. Avoid textbooks. Use the qualitative researchers famil- iar with this type of study (e.g., Yin). Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences. D. Role of the researcher
Methodology
Critical Points to Address for This Section In this section, clearly describe the population you will be using for your research. The population used must align with your problem, purpose, and research questions. Include a description of the demographics of the population so that the reader will be able to determine whether the sample is representative of the actual population. For example, get an idea of how many Nigerian immigrants reside in New York. Also include such demographics as gender, age, education, and socioeconomic status as well. In addition, explain how you will access this population. If you plan to obtain participants from a specific organization, you must obtain permission from that organization prior to solic- iting your sample. This signed permission must be in an appendix. Considerations for Alignment
- Population must align with the specific problem presented in Chapter 1.
- Population must align with the purpose statement.
- Population must align with your research questions. Suggested Resources for Enrichment Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Maxwell, J. (2012). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Merriam, S. (2014). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Write Your Dissertation In your dissertation template, write the section on your population, addressing each of these points:
- Who is the population?
- What geographic area are they in?
- What are the demographics of the population?
- Are they within a specific group or organization?
- How does the population align with the problem, purpose, and research ques- tions of your study?
- How will you access this population?
- Is permission needed to access the population? If so, the signed permission must be in an appendix. Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences.
Describe and justify sampling in your study. Background Reading for This Section Chapter 10 in the Field Guide Section 12.4 in the Field Guide Sampling technique. Generally, in qualitative research your sampling technique will be non- random purposive sampling because you will be choosing specific people for your sample who meet the criteria for your study. However, there are other techniques available. Creswell (2013) listed 16 types of sampling techniques (p. 158). One approach is snowball sampling. Sometimes the population you are researching may not be readily available, so you would ask people already in your sample to identify others who might fit your criteria. The approach you use depends on the purpose of your study and the population from which you draw your sample. Sample criteria. It is important to clearly describe the criteria you will use to define your sam- ple. These criteria must be in alignment with your problem, purpose statement, and research questions. For example, if you plan to do a study on how high school teachers perceive the use of standardized tests, one criteria would be that your sample consist of only high school teachers. You might also want to use seasoned teachers, so you might note that your teach- ers must have at least five years of teaching experience. You may also wish to delineate the subjects taught by the teachers, so you might say that your sample will be high school algebra teachers with at least five years of experience teaching in a specific geographic location. Be certain that the information you provide regarding sample is aligned with the description of your sample in Chapter 1. Sample size. Identify the anticipated sample size for each group of participants. For example, if you plan to collect data from teachers and parents regarding bullying, identify the estimated sample size for both the parents and the teachers. In qualitative research, we continue to collect data until data saturation has occurred. Stebbins (2001) described the conventional approach for determining sample size, theoretical saturation, as the point when no new infor- mation is produced from additional cases. There are various views on how many cases are needed to achieve data saturation. Some researchers indicate that it can be as few as three to five cases, while others believe that case studies require as many as 30 respondents. The number of respondents for data saturation is dependent on how homogeneous the sample is as well as on the qualitative design. The more homogeneous the sample, the fewer cases needed for data saturation. The more heterogeneous the sample, the more cases needed for data saturation. Indicate how many participants you will have in your sample and justify this number. If you have more than one group, indicate how many participants you will have in each group.
Considerations for Alignment
- Sample must align with the population.
- Sample must align with the specific problem of the research.
- Sample must align with the purpose of the research.
- Sample must align with the research questions.
- Sample must align with information provided in Chapter 1.
- Sample must align with the population. Suggested Resources for Enrichment Carlsen, B., & Glenton, C. (2011).What about N? A methodological study of sample-size reporting in focus group studies. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 11 (1), 26. Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (3rd. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Marshall, B., Cardon, P., Poddar, A., & Fontenot, R. (2013). Does sample size matter in qualitative research: A review of qualitative interviews in IS research. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 54 (1), 11–22. Retrieved from http://iacis.org/jcis/ articles/JCIS54-2.pdf Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. O’Reilly, M., & Parker, N. (2013). Unsatisfactory saturation: A critical exploration of the notion of saturated sample sizes in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 13, 190–197. Stebbins, R. A. (2001). Exploratory research in the social sciences [Kindle edition]. Thou- sand Oaks, CA: Sage. Write Your Dissertation In your dissertation template, please write the section on study participants, addressing each of these points:
- Describe the general population and specific population.
- Describe your sampling method.
- Identify the criteria for selecting respondents.
- Describe the appropriateness of the sampling method based on the population and the purpose of your study.
- Describe how the characteristics of the sample align with the general population.
- Describe how you will access your sample.
- Describe how you will recruit participants.
- Discuss sample size and data saturation. (Cont.)
- Clearly describes the population and how it is being accessed.
- Clearly identify your sampling approach.
- Justify that your sample size is sufficient to achieve data saturation.
Self-Check Your Work Against the Dissertation Handbook
Describes and justifies the context (including site) for the study. Clearly defines both the general study population and the specific population. Demonstrates (and documents) the ability to access the population. Describes and justifies the sampling approach. Describes how the characteristics of the sample population align with the general population. Discusses how the sample selection impacts the generalizability of the study. Identifies strategies for recruiting participants. Specifies appropriate criteria for selecting participants. Addresses the relationship between the researcher and the participants. Justifies the number of participants.
from the Research Review Board
Write Your Dissertation (cont.)
- Justify the sample size for each unit of analysis.
- Discuss issues of transferability. Remember: Ensure that your writing is cohesive. The ideas should flow logically and with appropriate transitions between sentences.
Population and Sampling
TIPS
