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Outline on the
Social Science Method of the Case Study
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External
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- Overview of Research Methods |
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- Research Instruments |
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The Case Study (CS) is a type of Field Research which examines a site
using a combination of personal interviews, analyses of written documents,
& observations |
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The CS attempts to bring in several perspectives to understand a site
such as a workplace including, for example, the views of workers, supervisors,
customers, suppliers, union leaders, & others |
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Thus, the CS brings in perspectives from all of the major vantage points
w/in the site |
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A CS is like an ethnography, but larger in scope, using more types
of data, & is usually conducted over a longer period of time |
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In a CS, official documents & personal records of subjects should
be examined |
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CS's frequently examine entire companies or large division w/in companies |
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The findings & conclusions of CS's emerge from all the material
& people that the researcher consults |
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Action Research is a type of a Case Study whose goal is to provide
action initiatives for change w/in the setting as opposed to a simple CS
where pure research is the goal |
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Thus Action Research is Applied Research whereas the CS is Pure Research |
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Through the use of written documents, the CS provides info about the
history of a work site & how existing arrangements come about (Feagin,
Orum, & Sjoberg, 1991) |
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CS examine how orgs identify & solve problems, & the effects
of recent change |
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A CS might examine a before & after situation where the researcher
wants to examine the effect of some major change in the workplace |
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See Also: Evaluation Research |
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The advantage of the CS's method of using multiple sources is that
the research can search for agreement & disagreement among the various
sources |
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Cross-checking of sources improves validity & reliability |
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A lack of agreement among sources does not necessarily indicate a lack
of validity & reliability; rather, it may indicate problems, conflict
or contradictions among actors w/in the research site |
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CS's nearly always require the cooperation of central actors w/in the
research site in order to gain info, as well as access to the site &
other, minor actors |
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Actors at research sites often insist that published research refer
to the site by pseudonym, i.e. a disguised name, & this even if the
actors do not insist on this, it is often a good, standard practice |
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Because Access is a primary concern for the researcher in any site,
& because many sites, such as workplaces often have privacy issues,
the researcher must nearly always have the cooperation of one or more top
mgrs. |
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In many sites, certain documents, sites, actors are off-limits to the
researcher & the researcher must interpret the impact & extent
of these omissions on their research |
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For example, some companies are in highly competitive situations, are
closely regulated by the govt., have legal privacy requirements, may be
under legal investigation by the govt., may be being sued, etc. & thus
cannot make all info available to a researcher |
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Orgs in such conflicted settings are often the very orgs that researchers
are the most interested in |
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Kanter, 1977, in her book Men & Women of the Corporation, used
the CS method & found that secretaries to upper mgt. often experienced
praise-addiction in that they were rewarded w/ liberal amounts of praise
& were rarely criticized |
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