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Case Research - Coggle Diagram

- - - - First, case research can be used for either theory building or
        theory testing, while positivist methods can be used for theory testing only.
        
        Second, the research questions can be modified during the
        research process if the original questions are found to be less relevant or salient.
        
        Third, case research can help derive richer, more contextualized, and more authentic interpretation of the phenomenon of interest than most other research methods by virtue of its ability to capture a rich array of contextual data.
        
        Fourth, the phenomenon of interest can be studied from the perspectives of multiple participants and using multiple levels of analysis.
        
        At the same time, case research also has some inherent weaknesses. Because it involves no experimental control, internal validity of inferences remains weak.
        
        Case research is a difficult research method that requires advanced research skills on
        the part of the researcher, and is therefore, often prone to error.
        
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- - - - Second, what is the appropriate unit of analysis for a case research study?
        
        Since case research can simultaneously examine multiple units of analyses, the researcher must decide whether she wishes to study a phenomenon at the individual, group, and organizational level or at multiple levels.
        
        Third, should the researcher employ a single-case or multiple-case design?
        
        The single case design is more appropriate at the outset of theory generation, if the situation is unique or extreme, if it is revelatory (the situation was previously inaccessible for scientific investigation), or if it represents a critical or contrary case for testing a well-formulated theory.
        
        Fourth, what sites should be chosen for case research?
        
        Given the contextualized nature of inferences derived from case research, site selection is a particularly critical issue because selecting the wrong site may lead to the wrong inferences.
        
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- - - - Define research questions. Like any other scientific research, case research must also start with defining research questions that are theoretically and practically interesting and identifying some intuitive expectations about possible answers to those research questions or preliminary constructs to guide initial case design.
        
        Select case sites. The researcher should use a process of "theoretical sampling" (not random sampling) to identify case sites. In this approach, case sites are chosen based on theoretical, rather than statistical, considerations, for instance, to replicate previous cases, to extend preliminary theories, or to fill theoretical categories or polar types.
        
        Create instruments and protocols. Since the primary mode of data collection in case research is interviews, an interview protocol should be designed to guide the interview process. This is essentially a list of questions to be asked.
        
        Select respondents. Select interview respondents at different organizational levels, departments, and positions to obtain divergent perspectives on the phenomenon of interest.
        
        Start data collection. It is usually a good idea to electronically record interviews for future reference. However, such recording must only be done with the interviewee's consent.
        
        Conduct within-case data analysis. Data analysis may follow or overlap with data collection. Data analysis is done in two stages. In the first stage (within-case analysis), the researcher should examine emergent concepts separately at each case site and patterns between these concepts to generate an initial theory of the problem of interest. The researcher can interview data subjectively to "make sense" of the research problem in conjunction with using her personal observations or experience at the case site.
        
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- - - - Fourth, case research tends to examine unique and non-replicable phenomena that may not be generalized to other settings.
        
        Lastly, British philosopher Karl Popper described four requirements of scientific theories: (1) theories should be falsifiable, (2) they should be logically consistent, (3) they should have adequate predictive ability, and (4) they should provide better explanation than rival theories.