The lecture for
theme six: qualitative and case study research was unfortunately cancelled
which meant the only preparation for the seminar was the reading before the
first blog post. I felt that this affected how much I learned during this week
as the lectures have previously helped me get a better understanding of the theme,
what the main concepts are as well as gaining other perspectives on the theme
other than my own.
During the seminar
we were encouraged not to focus too much on the topic of qualitative research
as this was discussed in depth during the week with the theme quantitative
research. The reason for this (as I discussed in the blog post for that week)
is that I think you have to discuss both qualitative and quantitative research
at the same time in order to understand each separately. Know what one research
method entails means knowing what it doesn’t entail or what its opposite is.
Instead of talking
about what qualitative research is, we mainly talked about case study research.
We did this by presenting the article we had chosen and by talking about the 8
steps recommended in "Process of
Building Theory from Case Study Research". During the group discussion
we talked more broadly about case study research which I thought was more
fulfilling than the small group discussion. We discussed how case studies do
not seek out to address a specific hypothesis and it does not start with a
specific hypothesis. A reason for this is that there is simply not enough data
about the subject, which is also when case studies are useful. This form of
research has a tendency to revolve around a specific context and it is a method
that occurs in cycles. What I think is an important aspect of case studies is
that the purpose is to build a theory rather than test a theory. You enter into
a field, knowing very little about the area and use a case study methodology in
order to find out more and construct a theory about the field you are studying.
What I think makes case studies more difficult for me to grasp is that the
method does not have a clear cut structure, which other research methods have.
This makes it harder for me to gain a better understanding of the method and
how it is carried out, but I also think that this is a strength, because it
provides an advantage over other methods.
During the group
discussion at the seminar one person gave an example of when case study is
relevant which I though was interesting and which helped me grasp the concept
of case study better. That person had chosen a paper from 2000 that looked into
internet addiction during that time. A case study methodology had in that case
been chosen to find out if internet addiction existed or not which I think gives
a clear view of when case study is a relevant method.
Hi Denise,
ReplyDeleteAs always your reflection is good to read and inspiring for new understanding of the theme. I agree with you that we already had enough discussion on qualitative research when studying quantitative research, so our small group also discussed more on case study. For case study, I think your group did a good job and your summary is very well. It is good to study case study with relation to the hypothesis, and I like your highlight that the purpose of case studies is to build a theory rather than test a theory. This is a very clear conclusion to help understanding what the case study is. Also the last example you mentioned is indeed useful to gain a feeling of what the real case study is. Again, thanks for sharing your insightful thoughts. Well done!
As this is the one of the last comments, I have to say that all your reflections and pre-blog posts have been especially well done. You always put a lot of thoughts and work into your blog posts. In this blog post I enjoyed that you give your honest opinion about the canceled lecture. I agree with you that they have always been very hepful. In Addition, I like that you draw connections to previous themes as it shows that you have understood the Topic very well. Furthermore, I also think that since this method does not have a clear cut structure it is not so easy to understand. Well done!
ReplyDeleteHi Denise!
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank you for all your well written blog posts with good reflections during the whole course. I agree with you that it is good to have a lecture before the seminar so you get more prepared for the seminar. The discussion you have about what is special for a case study was a interesting reading and I will remember the reason for not using hypothesis in a case study (because of the special context). Good reflection and good work during the whole course.
Hi! I enjoy reading your reflection. I agree that case study is more difficult for understanding as it doesn't have a specific structure. I think that crucial difference of case study to compare with other research methods is that reason to conduct it is lack of information, besides case study doesn't include a hypothesis. You made nice example of case study. I think you understand this theme very well. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteGreat reflection! It is well written and it is easy to follow your thoughts. From my seminar I learned that a case study is not meant to be approached with a hypothesis but I was not certain why. But after reading your reflection it is clear to me that this is because there isn't enough knowledge in the field for a hypothesis to be formulated. This alone says a lot about case studies - there is so little known in the field that the approach is nothing more than a simple question - "what is this?". If the findings are of any interest then a proper investigation can be motivated based on the findings from the case study.
You did a very good job summarizing all important points about last weeks theme and I really enjoyed reading your well structured reflection. I also felt that the cancelled lecture would have made many things clearer and that I because of the missing lecture did not learn that much about this weeks theme compared to the previous ones. The example of internet addiction that you give at the end of the reflection is a great one when you think back at the time where the internet was still not that explored and investigated. It shows how case studies are used to gain knowledge about a specific case where we do not know that much about yet. Although a case study is as you wrote a bit hard to get because they are mostly independent of the method I think it is good to keep in mind that a case study is not defined by any method but you can use any method to gain knowledge from it.
ReplyDeleteI really like your reflection on this theme. You clearly explained what a case study is underlying that the goal is to ”build a theory rather than test” it. Indeed, as you said, at the beginning, researchers don’t have much data about this specific field and they want to gain knowledge about it in order to draw some hypothesis.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that this process is a little bit disturbing because of its blurred and ill-defined structure. Researchers progress without really knowing where they go which could have a twofold consequence: either there are so many possibilities and they don’t know which one choose at the risk of picking the wrong way, or they could see all these possibilities as freedom to choose among them and not being stuck in only one way.
Good job!
Hi!
ReplyDeleteYou have managed to write a great reflection really pointing out the key concepts and things about this theme. I like how you also manage to connect to previous themes and learning. It reminds me as well and helps connect a few things. It's really interesting that you explain Why a case study can not be based on a hypothesis being because it doesn't have enough knowledge about the field prior the case study to make a hypothesis. This was something I had not fully understood, I knew that they could not be based on hypothesis but not why. Thanks for sharing that.
Hi! I like your reflection on case study which we discussed less in our seminar group. I agree that case study is kind of difficult to conduct as it does not have clear frames or steps to follow. This can be both advantage and disadvantage. Researchers can use flexible ways to gain information, but it is also possible for young researchers without much experience to mess up everything and come to nothing. Generally there is much to learn to carry out a good qualitative research or case study. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your reflection and I think you have a better understanding on what the case study is used for. It impressed me that "case studies do not seek out to address a specific hypothesis and it does not start with a specific hypothesis" because it is interesting that many classmates in your seminar had the same idea with you. Maybe the stress point of this theme in your seminar is to discuss whether the case study contains many specific study.It give me many new thought when I read your reflection. Also, I think if we do the research as the instruction of the steps of the case study ,we will do a better job.
Keep it up.