6:3 Comments qualitative and case study research

1.

Kristina NybergOctober 24, 2016 at 4:04 AM

The description of case studies as "mirroring reality" wasn't mentioned in our seminar so I appreciate that you brought it up! It's great that you've mentioned a potential case study from your own experience as it explains pretty well the strengths of using this method. What you could've added is to address potential risks with case studies and also measuring other methods against case studies for this particular savant example. But all in all, thanks for an interesting input.

2.
Kristina Nyberg24. lokakuuta 2016 klo 0.21

Thanks for highlighting the example of "metamethod"; it is helpful to think of case studies as being built upon other methods. Also good that you bring up some weaknesses such as the ability to generalize and that it could be a weakness depending on what is being examined.

3.
Kristina NybergOctober 24, 2016 at 4:29 AM

Even though you missed out due to illness, I think you captured some important questions relating to the theme. As we read many co-student's blogs, we come across similar content but here's an advantage with yours (not to read the same again). 

Especially liked what you highlighted about questioning samples and respondents and how important they are, being at the core of research. It can be easy to spend so much time on preparing a research project that at the end you don't dedicate enough time to controlling the quality and background of your sample. This applies in other methods than case studies but maybe here, due to the focus on a particular group, it becomes even more important.

4.

Kristina Nyberg24 October 2016 at 13:41

That you don't formulate a hypothesis initially I agree with, but I don't think this is necessarily true regarding a research question. In my understanding, research question is formulated in the beginning of a case study and important to give the research focus. Now, you do have a good point in that narrowing it down too much would risk losing out on potential findings. Either way I found it refreshing to read another perspective on this. I also think you highlighted well the risk with crappy researchers mislabeling their work - to be critical regarding sources remains important also when reading research. 

Lastly, the small sample size not necessarily being a limitation a case study was explained by you at the end. This was a nice way to end your post, mentioning how research in the form of a case study can (and did) make a difference.

5.
Kristina Nyberg24 oktober 2016 04:52

The difference between narrowing down the scope of your research by using a hypothesis, compared to a research question is crucial. With a hypothesis, you're focused on finding out if a particular statement is true or false, whereas a research question gives more opportunity to adapt your study as you go along. You also captured the element of flexibility in case studies well at the end of your post.

6.
Kristina Nyberg24 oktober 2016 05:02

To go into a case study with a clean plate is well emphasized by you. What you mention about the quality and background of a sample is also something I find very important. It's a good example to mention a certain experience such as being part of a couple. You also would have to consider the fact that people (might, sometimes) lie. Also, the reason why they want to participate in a study. There's a film wherein a couple pretends to get married so that one of the partners can get a green card in the US. Just saying that no matter the study, these are things to also consider. How can you ensure the authenticity of a sample? Maybe it's also harder within social sciences, when you want to verify the nature of a certain relationship which, in essence, consists of a social contract between (in this example) two individuals.

7.
Kristina Nyberg24 oktober 2016 05:12

It's nice to see someone mentioning the risk of being overwhelmed with data as a part of case studies. What about the risk of lacking data? In the car free year, what if all three families would have died in an accident? To have very few people in your sample could also pose a risk. 

Thanks for also mentioning that generalizing isn't necessarily the purpose with a case study, thus not really a problem.

8.
Kristina Nyberg24 October 2016 at 05:22

Nice example with monitoring one house or many to explain case study vs cross-case.

The blind case study was interesting that you brought up as you mention that never struck your mind. I think it depends on the goals with the study what is a better idea. It's also possible to choose a middle road; tell participants part of the goal with the study but not all of it.

Your own reflection in how case study completely transformed from being very strict according to rules into something more dynamic was interesting to follow.

9.
Kristina Nyberg24 oktober 2016 05:30

To collect data from various mobile devices being used differently during the day, you could use tools such as Google analytics. However, the same weaknesses consists as with the case study; that you only get access to consented user's data which means you miss out on other users. I think a lot of this data is nevertheless fairly easily accessible and perhaps more suited for a quantitative study. What might be interesting for case studies are behaviors behind why people use their devices in the bedroom or toilet in the morning or evening but not the other way around (if that would be the case), how come people want to purchase goods below a particular amount on a mobile device but more expensive stuff from a tablet? To go deeper into certain behaviors, I think case studies are way more powerful.

10.
Kristina Nyberg24 oktober 2016 05:40

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.