The theme for this week has been Qualitative and case study research with the assignment to select two media technology research papers, one that is using qualitative methods and one that is using case study research method. For the paper using qualitative methods I selected a paper that investigated whether group texting can improve people’s health and the neighborhood ties in low-income communities. It was quite obvious that the researchers used qualitative methods since the methods used were semi-structured in-depths interviews and an experimental test of texting intervention, which are characterized as qualitative. The case study paper was about developing a framework for the analysis of social media strategies among organizations. The researchers did a literature review as well as studying nine different types of companies in how they worked with social media. In the introduction and throughout the paper the authors stated that the framework was built on case studies. However, when reading these papers I had a hard time understanding why the latter was categorized as a case study research and not as a research using qualitative methods. In other words, I had a hard time distinguish the difference between a case study research and a research using qualitative methods.
In my first blogpost I defined a case study as a research strategy that seeks a deeper knowledge about the examined topic and what characterize a case study is the in-depth examination and research which is often done by focusing on one or a few cases. Having this definition in mind when reading the case study paper I selected I got confused why the authors chose to examine companies from so many different fields and not focusing on one field, for example technology companies. As I interpreted the goal of a case study was to gain deeper knowledge about one specific case, which I thought contradicted the article. However, during the seminar I got the chance to discuss this question with the class which was really helpful. The main things that came out of that discussion were that case studies recognizes the borders of the study and are less generalizable. And what really helped me understand why my selected paper is categorized as a case study research was the explanation that case studies might be about a specific setting, but it might also be about a specific phenomenon which is the case in my selected paper. The authors are studying the phenomenon social media among organizations, and the important factor is not which organizations are examined, but rather how social media is included in the work. The common denominator is that, whether the case study is about a specific setting or a specific phenomenon, it is something we do not know enough about to formulate a research question but is still interesting enough so that you can look more detailed into it and formulate a research question at the end of the research. In other words, case studies are not about answering questions. It is about coming up with them.
Hi!
SvaraRaderaThank you for a very interesting post. It is clear that you developed your understanding of case studies during the week, and it was clear to follow your development from your initial post to this reflection. I liked how you wrote about your own confusion towards the research form, mainly since I believe many students (myself included) to have gone through similar thoughts prior (and perhaps even after) the lecture and seminar.
The way in which you explained what constitutes a case study, and how you took the concept beyond just being "specific" and explained how it could be about a specific phenomena and not just a specific settings. Further, I really appreciated your concluding section about how case studies aren't about answering question, but posing them. I think that fact summarizes the entire notion of case studies; they are about understanding a phenomena well enough to be able to come up with relevant questions regarding it.
Great job!
A very interesting blogpost. Your realization and better understanding of what makes a case study a case study is very intriguing. I think one reason why it is so hard to differentiate between these two is, that case studies still use qualitative methods to, as you so nicely put it, come up with a research question. So I think you are quite right with your revised definition, that case studies serve to pose research questions while looking at a phenomena within a confined space.
SvaraRaderaYou have a summerized your reflection very clearly. And I can understand why many think this is confusing. Some papers are quite hard to interpret. A case study is not a research method in itself, it uses qualitative or quantitative methods or a combination. It is something that you use when you know very little about a phenomenon and can be applied when you don’t know or expect anything and there is a possibility that anything can be found in the research. But the aim is to have found a concept or conceptual framework rather than posing questions?
SvaraRaderaInteresting post. I have also had a hard time thinking whether case study is a qualitative research method or the independent one. Finally I came to conclusion that it can adopt different tools from both of them, dependently on the purpose of the study. For example, if we want to analyse, how actively have Facebook users from and outside USA commented on the presidential elections in the United States, we have to use statistical approaches (quantitative methods) to examine phenomena.
SvaraRaderaHi! Thank you for an interesting post, it was well written, easy to follow, and interesting to read. Great job! I particularly liked what you wrote about case study not being about answering questions, but being about coming up with them. I think that was a great way of putting it and I agree with you!
SvaraRaderaI also agree that it can sometimes be hard to identify what method has been used, as case study can use a mix of different ones. It doesn't necessarily have to be about a specific setting, but can also be about a specific phenomenon. I think that's a big part of what makes case study interesting, it's very free and open minded, and in the end I agree with the comment above, it's about understanding a phenomenon well enough to ask relevant questions regarding it.
The name "case study" can be somewhat confusing indeed. In your case, the conclusion that a phenomena under investigation rather than a "case" can be used was helpful. Nevertheless, to formulate a research question might help to give focus to a case study. You can change the question as the study continues and as you come to the end of the study, the research question may have transformed. But to have a question to set that starting path, I think it's important.
SvaraRaderaI like the narrative of your text, from a general overview regarding this week’s theme to a more specific description about how to distinguish between a case study and a purely quantitative study. I think the discussion that we had during the seminar on your paper shed light on many aspects of this theme. For me, the key insight was that the subject matter was in fact examined in depth, even though the outset were more general. We cover similar themes in our reflections, and I think that you frame and present them in a very nice way. You finish your text by thoroughly concluding the key aspects. Good job!
SvaraRaderaHi, thanks for the interesting post! I agreed that to clarify the definition is not an easy task, either. You mentioned that a case study is more like a research focusing on the deeper knowledge. However, I do think that a case study is more like a form of qualitative descriptive research that is used to look at individuals, a small group of participants, or a group as a whole. Also, researchers collect data about participants using participant and direct observations, interviews, protocols, tests, examinations of record, and collections of writing samples.
SvaraRaderaInteresting post, you seem to have put a lot of thought in it.
SvaraRaderaI definitely shared your confusion about what determines a case study to specifically be a case study, especially as it can show some quantitative features. I think it’s important to keep in mind that case studies can span over multiple approaches, and therefore include qualitative methods (as well as quantitative). I think you make a good point in stating that case studies investigates a specific phenomenon and explores what questions are relevant in that specific area, but I also believe that it is almost necessary to set a research question in the beginning of the process. As long as the research question is ”broad” enough, it won’t eliminate or limit the research. Instead, I think it is the hypothesis that is expected to be presented further down the process.
Thank you for this very interesting reflection and as well for bringing up this specific question during the seminar that you are talking about! If you wouldn’t have brought up that question I don’t think we would have discussed about that and tried to find and answer. Especially in the example of your case study it can be really confusing to see the differences. In the end I agree with you that we sorted it out quite well, that a case study has way more specific borders and and at the same time the openness to upcoming research questions is way higher. In a qualitative research the research question is mostly set, so the focus is more narrow, but the field of interest way bigger than in case studies. so both can be really different or just shaped in really similar way like in your example.
SvaraRaderaThank you for that again. Discussing about that really widened my view on the topic.