CHAPTER 13

Case Study Research

Case study research

Case study research is . . .

‘an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between the phenomenon and context are not clearly evident’

(Yin, 1994: 13)

Case study research is not . . .

• any old research that happens to take place in an organisation

• a random collection of secondary organisational data

• a description of an organisational project

Suitability for case study research

The crucial issue in determining suitability for a case study approach is whether or not the research question can be isolated from the wider organisational features.

To illustrate . . .

Imagine a project which evaluates the success of a new IT system.

There is a continuum:Focus on metrics

and efficiencyFocus on people

and reactions

Case study approach not appropriate

Case study approach may be

appropriate

But there is a grey area in between the two extremes

When is case study research appropriate?

Case study approach is appropriate where issues are embedded within the fabric of the organisation

but this embeddedness means that they are difficult to investigate using single simple research methods.

Case study research and multiplicity

Case study research is based on multiple sources of data:

Multiple methods– probably both quantitative and qualitative

methods

Multiple cases– themes and issues are investigated

across organisations. This can be a useful approach for secondary-data-only research

Multiple levels of data– data gathered from different positions in

the organisational hierarchy

Multiple sources– data gathered from different groups

within the organisation or from both primary and secondary sources

Investigations over time– longitudinal studies which revisit the

organisation for further investigations

Going for it

Having decided that your research question is best suited to a case study approach, you need to:

• Map out the connections and boundaries

• Use mind maps, relationship maps, etc, to clarify which literatures should inform your research and where you can (and cannot) access data

Then,• Gain stakeholder agreement

Case studies take time, require paths of access and even then might not meet the demands of the stakeholders.

However, multiple methods is often a good way to meet different demands.

Then,

Make sure that you have access to all the resources you need:– time– costs incurred in data-gathering

time

travel

costs of production

etc

Lastly,

Select appropriate research methods:

• What skills do you need?• What resources (IT systems) do you

need?• What are the demands, constraints

and choices (Stewart, 1983)?• How will you pull together data from

different sources?