Single Case Study

Process description

Case research, also called case study, is a method of intensively studying a phenomenon over time within its natural setting in one or a few sites. Multiple methods of data collection, such as interviews, observations, prerecorded documents, and secondary data, may be employed and inferences about the phenomenon of interest tend to be rich, detailed, and contextualized. Case research can be employed in a positivist manner for the purpose of theory testing or in an interpretive manner for theory building. This method is more popular in business research than in other social science disciplines.

Define research questions

Description

Like any other scientific research, case research must also start with defining research questions that are theoretically and practically interesting, and identifying some intuitive expectations about possible answers to those research questions or preliminary constructs to guide initial case design. In positivist case research, the preliminary constructs are based on theory, while no such theory or hypotheses should be considered ex ante in interpretive research. These research questions and constructs may be changed in interpretive case research later on, if needed, but not in positivist case research.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Select case sites

Description

The researcher should use a process of “theoretical sampling” (not random sampling) to identify case sites. In this approach, case sites are chosen based on theoretical, rather than statistical, considerations, for instance, to replicate previous cases, to extend preliminary theories, or to fill theoretical categories or polar types. Care should be taken to ensure that the selected sites fit the nature of research questions, minimize extraneous variance or noise due to firm size, industry effects, and so forth, and maximize variance in the dependent variables of interest. For instance, if the goal of the research is to examine how some firms innovate better than others, the researcher should select firms of similar size within the same industry to reduce industry or size effects, and select some more innovative and some less innovative firms to increase variation in firm innovation. Instead of cold-calling or writing to a potential site, it is better to contact someone at executive level inside each firm who has the authority to approve the project or someone who can identify a person of authority. During initial conversations, the researcher should describe the nature and purpose of the project, any potential benefits to the case site, how the collected data will be used, the people involved in data collection (other researchers, research assistants, etc.), desired interviewees, and the amount of time, effort, and expense required of the sponsoring organization. The researcher must also assure confidentiality, privacy, and anonymity of both the firm and the individual respondents.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Create instruments and protocols

Description

Since the primary mode of data collection in case research is interviews, an interview protocol should be designed to guide the interview process. This is essentially a list of questions to be asked. Questions may be open-ended (unstructured) or closed-ended (structured) or a combination of both. The interview protocol must be strictly followed, and the interviewer must not change the order of questions or skip any question during the interview process, although some deviations are allowed to probe further into respondent’s comments that are ambiguous or interesting. The interviewer must maintain a neutral tone, not lead respondents in any specific direction, say by agreeing or disagreeing with any response. More detailed interviewing techniques are discussed in the chapter on surveys. In addition, additional sources of data, such as internal documents and memorandums, annual reports, financial statements, newspaper articles, and direct observations should be sought to supplement and validate interview data.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Select respondents

Description

Select interview respondents at different organizational levels, departments, and positions to obtain divergent perspectives on the phenomenon of interest. A random sampling of interviewees is most preferable; however a snowball sample is acceptable, as long as a diversity of perspectives is represented in the sample. Interviewees must be selected based on their personal involvement with the phenomenon under investigation and their ability and willingness to answer the researcher’s questions accurately and adequately, and not based on convenience or access.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Start data collection

Description

It is usually a good idea to electronically record interviews for future reference. However, such recording must only be done with the interviewee’s consent. Even when interviews are being recorded, the interviewer should take notes to capture important comments or critical observations, behavioral responses (e.g., respondent’s body language), and the researcher’s personal impressions about the respondent and his/her comments. After each interview is completed, the entire interview should be transcribed verbatim into a text document for analysis.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Conduct case data analysis

Description

Data analysis may follow or overlap with data collection. Overlapping data collection and analysis has the advantage of adjusting the data collection process based on themes emerging from data analysis, or to further probe into these themes. Data analysis is done in two stages. In the first stage (within-case analysis), the researcher should examine emergent concepts separately at each case site and patterns between these concepts to generate an initial theory of the problem of interest. The researcher can interview data subjectively to “make sense” of the research problem in conjunction with using her personal observations or experience at the case site. Alternatively, a coding strategy such as Glasser and Strauss’ (1967) grounded theory approach, using techniques such as open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, may be used to derive a chain of evidence and inferences. These techniques are discussed in detail in a later chapter. Homegrown techniques, such as graphical representation of data (e.g., network diagram) or sequence analysis (for longitudinal data) may also be used. Note that there is no predefined way of analyzing the various types of case data, and the data analytic techniques can be modified to fit the nature of the research project.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Build and test hypotheses

Description

Based on emergent concepts and themes that are generalizable across case sites, tentative hypotheses are constructed. These hypotheses should be compared iteratively with observed evidence to see if they fit the observed data, and if not, the constructs or relationships should be refined. Also the researcher should compare the emergent constructs and hypotheses with those reported in the prior literature to make a case for their internal validity and generalizability. Conflicting findings must not be rejected, but rather reconciled using creative thinking to generate greater insight into the emergent theory. When further iterations between theory and data yield no new insights or changes in the existing theory, “theoretical saturation” is reached and the theory building process is complete.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Write case research report

Description

In writing the report, the researcher should describe very clearly the detailed process used for sampling, data collection, data analysis, and hypotheses development, so that readers can independently assess the reasonableness, strength, and consistency of the reported inferences. A high level of clarity in research methods is needed to ensure that the findings are not biased by the researcher’s preconceptions.

Further Readings

Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., and Mead, M. (1987). "The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems," MIS Quarterly (11:3), 369-386.

Bhattacherjee, Anol, "Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices" (2012). Textbooks Collection. 3. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3.

Yin, R. K. (2002), Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.