WXGA 6184

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WXGA 6184

• Research Methods
• Qualitative Research
• (Case Study)
• 10 February 2007

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Lecturer Information

• Name Mrs Suraya Hamid
• Room AD7 (main building FSKTM, 3rd floor)
• Tel [phone]
• Email
• suraya_hamid_at_um.edu.my
• Website
• http//perdana.fsktm.um.edu.my/suraya/

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Learning Outcome

• At the end of this chapter students should be
  able to
• 1) Write a Methodology section in their thesis
  proposal (especially if the student chooses Case
  Study as their research Qualitative Method)
• 2) Choose the most relevant qualitative data
  sources for thesis proposal

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Contents

• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Qualitative Research Method
• 3.0 Case Study
• 4.0 Examples of Qualitative Research
• 4.1 Case Study ( Knowledge Management System in
  Tourism Industry)
• 4.1 E Community Case Study
• 5.0 Conclusion
• 6.0 References
• 7.0 Exercise

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Qualitative Vs Quantitative
http//www.qual.auckland.ac.nz
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2.1 Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research methods were developed in
  the social sciences information system area to
  enable researchers to study social and cultural
  phenomena.

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2.2 Overview of Qualitative Research

• Examples of qualitative methods are
• Action research,
• Case study research
• Ethnography
• Grounded Theory
• Qualitative data sources include
• observation and participant observation
  (fieldwork)
• interviews and questionnaires
• researchers impressions and reactions.

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2.2 Overview of Qualitative Research Cont.

• Various qualitative research methods.
• A research method is a strategy of inquiry which
  moves from the underlying philosophical
  assumptions to research design and data
  collection.
• The choice of research method influences the way
  in which the researcher collects data.
• Specific research methods also imply different
  skills, assumptions and research practices.
• The four research methods that will be discussed
  here are action research, case study research,
  ethnography and grounded theory. Characteristics
  of four method refer handout
• Case Study will be discuss detail in this session.

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2.3 Characteristics of Qualitative Research

• Pattons excellent summary of the twelve major
  characteristics of qualitative research, which is
  shown in Table (page below
• Refer handout

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2.4 Type of Qualitative Research

• Action Research
• Ethnography
• Grounded Theory
• Case Study

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2.1 Action Research

• Definition are numerous
• Action research aims to contribute both to the
  practical concerns of people in an immediate
  problematic situation and to the goals of social
  science by joint collaboration within a mutually
  acceptable ethical framework (Rapoport, 1970, p.
  499).
• This definition draws attention to the
  collaborative aspect of action research and to
  possible ethical dilemmas which arise from its
  use. It also makes clear, as Clark (1972)
  emphasizes, that action research is concerned to
  enlarge the stock of knowledge of the social
  science community. It is this aspect of action
  research that distinguishes it from applied
  social science, where the goal is simply to apply
  social scientific knowledge but not to add to the
  body of knowledge.

http//www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Seng
upta/default.htm
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2.2 Ethnography

• Ethnographic research comes from the discipline
  of social and cultural anthropology where an
  ethnographer is required to spend a significant
  amount of time in the field. Ethnographers
  immerse themselves in the lives of the people
  they study (Lewis 1985, p. 380) and seek to place
  the phenomena studied in their social and
  cultural context.

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2.3 Grounded Theory

• Grounded theory is a research method that seeks
  to develop theory that is grounded in data
  systematically gathered and analyzed. According
  to Martin and Turner (1986), grounded theory is
  "an inductive, theory discovery methodology that
  allows the researcher to develop a theoretical
  account of the general features of a topic while
  simultaneously grounding the account in empirical
  observations or data." The major difference
  between grounded theory and other methods is its
  specific approach to theory development -
  grounded theory suggests that there should be a
  continuous interplay between data collection and
  analysis.
• Grounded theory approaches are becoming
  increasingly common in the IS research literature
  because the method is extremely useful in
  developing context-based, process-oriented
  descriptions and explanations of the phenomenon
  (see, for example, Orlikowski, 1993).
• Example refer http//misq.org/archivist/bestpape
  r/misq93.html

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2.4 Case Study Research

• Case study research is the most common
  qualitative method used in information systems
  (Orlikowski and Baroudi, 1991 Alavi and Carlson,
  1992). Although there are numerous definitions,
  Yin (2002) defines the scope of a case study as
  follows
• A case study is an empirical inquiry that
• investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its
  real-life context, especially when
• the boundaries between phenomenon and context are
  not clearly evident (Yin 2002).

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Definition Empirical

• central concept in science and the scientific
  method is that all evidence must be empirical, or
  empirically based, that is, dependent on evidence
  or consequences that are observable by the
  senses. That is, empirical data is data that is
  produced by experiment or observation.1 It is
  usually differentiated from the philosophic usage
  of empiricism by the use of the adjective
  "empirical" or the adverb "empirically."
  "Empirical" as an adjective or adverb is used in
  conjunction with both the natural and social
  sciences, and refers to the use of working
  hypotheses that are testable using observation or
  experiment. In this sense of the word, scientific
  statements are subject to and derived from our
  experiences or observations.
• In a second sense "empirical" in science may be
  synonymous with "experimental." In this sense, an
  empirical result is an experimental observation.
  In this context, the term semi-empirical is used
  for qualifying theoretical methods which use in
  part basic axioms or postulated scientific laws
  and experimental results. Such methods are
  opposed to theoretical ab initio methods which
  are purely deductive and based on first
  principles.
• Empirical does not refer to empires (e.g. Roman
  Empire) it is sometimes used erroneously in this
  fashion. See Imperial as an adjective for empire.

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical
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Definition Empirical Research

• Empirical research is any research that bases its
  findings on direct or indirect observation as its
  test of reality. Such research may also be
  conducted according to hypothetico-deductive
  procedures, such as those developed from the work
  of R. A. Fisher.
• The researcher attempts to describe accurately
  the interaction between the instrument (or the
  human senses) and the entity being observed. If
  instrumentation is involved, the researcher is
  expected to calibrate her/his instrument by
  applying it to known standard objects and
  documenting the results before applying it to
  unknown objects.
• In practice, the accumulation of evidence for or
  against any particular theory involves planned
  research designs for the collection of empirical
  data, and academic rigor plays a large part of
  judging the merits of research design. Several
  typographies for such designs have been
  suggested, one of the most popular of which comes
  from Campbell and Stanley (1963). They are
  responsible for popularizing the widely cited
  distinction among pre-experimental, experimental,
  and quasi-experimental designs and are staunch
  advocates of the central role of randomized
  experiments in educational research.

http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical_research
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3.0 Case Study Research Cont.

• Clearly, the case study research method is
  particularly well-suited to IS research, since
  the object of our discipline is the study of
  information systems in organizations, and
  "interest has shifted to organizational rather
  than technical issues" (Benbasat et al. 1987).
• Case study research can be positivist,
  interpretive, or critical, depending upon the
  underlying philosophical assumptions of the
  researcher (for a fuller discussion, see the
  section of Philosophical Perspectives above). Yin
  (2002) and Benbasat et al. (1987) are advocates
  of positivist case study research, whereas
  Walsham (1993) is an advocate of interpretive
  in-depth case study research.

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3.1 The Case Study as a Research Method 6 Steps

• Determine and define the research questions
• Select the cases and determine data gathering and
  analysis techniques
• Prepare to collect the data
• Collect data in the field
• Evaluate and analyze the data
• Prepare the report
• http//www.gslis.utexas.edu/ssoy/usesusers/l391d1
  b.htm

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4.0 Examples

• 4.1 Example of Qualitative Research Case Study
  ( Knowledge Management System in Tourism
  Industry- Refer to Slide KM
• 4.2 E Community refer handout

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5.0 Conclusion

• There are 4 types of Qualitative method Action
  Research, Ethnography, Grounded Theory and Case
  Study
• Case Study is well-suited to IS research
• There are 6 general steps in case study research
  method.
• Qualitative Data Sources includes can be
  observation and participant observation
  (fieldwork), interviews and questionnaires,
  researchers impressions and reactions.

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6.0 References

• Steinfield, C., Bouwman, H., de Wit, D., Adelaar,
  T., Bruins, A., Fielt, E., Smit, A., de Lange,
  E., Simons, L. Staal, M. Case study
  methodology, Enschede Telematica Instituut, 2000
  
• http//www.gslis.utexas.edu/ssoy/usesusers/l391d1
  b.htm
• http//www.southalabama.edu/coe/bset/johnson/lectu
  res/lec12.htm
• http//www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Seng
  upta/default.htm
• http//www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/Overview20of20Qu
  alitative20Research
• Introduction to research In Eductaion, Donald
  Ary,7th edition, Thompson, 2006.

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7.0 Exercises

• Activity A
• 1) Need 2 volunteers to be interviewers and
  interviewees
• 2) The rest of the class would be observers
• 3) Share what you found out
• Activity B
• Refer to Handout example 2 and discuss with
  partner

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Thank You