This study followed a descriptive case study design. A case study is defined as an in-depth study of a bounded system of cases which involve theories and practices (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010:344). Mcmillan and Schumacher (2010:344) further define the case study methodology as an “in-depth analysis of a single entity” (see also Creswell, 2008:476). A single case has to be first identified. Thereafter, the researcher will choose what needs to be studied with a bounded case. The bounded case could refer to any activity, event or process that is based on extensive data or being unique to place, time, and participant characteristics. According to Harris, et al. (2009:81), a case study involves the “meticulous investigation of individuals, groups, institutions or other
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social units”. The bounded case for this study was the teacher experiences of the implementation of EE in a particular case of Muslim schools. According to Mcmillan and Schumacher (2010:345), a case study is often regarded as a type of ethnography since the case study analysis shares many aspects of an ethnographic research. For example, both case studies and ethnographic studies are regarded to be in-depth investigations of single entities. Both research designs are innately qualitative forms of research employing inductive logic. However, McMillan and Schumacher (2010:345) opine that the case study is best regarded as a separate type of qualitative research.
The reason for this, according to McMillan and Schumacher (2010:346), is that there is less emphasis on observation in case studies as compared to ethnographic studies.
Yin (1989) defines a case study as being “a flexible form of inquiry” whereby various phenomena are analysed within their natural contexts. Since the intention in this study was to gain a rich understanding of the activities related to EE at the different Muslim school sites, the case study design was the most appropriate. Barratt, Choi and Li (2011: 330) explain that a researcher that uses a case study may also adopt numerous methods incorporating “inductive logic” to collect qualitative evidence. This evidence may in turn be used to develop theories.
There are different types of case studies mentioned in literature. First, there are explanatory case studies. Researchers employ the explanatory case study design when the causal links in real-life phenomena are too complex for the survey or experimental strategies (Baxter & Jack, 2008:547; Yin, 2003). In addition, Barratt, et al. (2011:330) also suggest that a case study is utilised in instances when a study might be explanatory, while the context and participants’ experiences may also be of a very critical nature. Second, a case study can be exploratory, that is, used to explore the assessment of an intervention that has unclear or multiple outcomes (Baxter & Jack, 2008:548; Yin 2003).Third, a case study may be descriptive. Descriptive case studies are employed when the researcher wishes to describe an intervention or phenomenon within the real-life context that it occurs (Baxter & Jack 2008:548; Yin 2003).This particular study is a descriptive case study because a description of the processes of
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implementation of EE in Muslim schools (a real-life context) was the main purpose of the study.
Fourth, McMillan and Schumacher (2010:344) add that when a number of individual cases are combined in a single study, the investigation may be called a collective case study. Collective case study, multiple case studies and multi-site case study seem to mean the same design or are closely related. As such, these concepts are used interchangeably in some literature (Bishop 2010). Fifth, according to Baxter and Jack (2008:547), a multiple case study is usually needed when a study is made up of more than one single case. A few cases are investigated so that the researcher may understand the “similarities and differences between the cases”. A multiple case study, according to Baxter and Jack (2008:548), allows for the exploration of the “differences within and between cases”. In multiple case-studies, comparisons are also usually made, so the researcher must first try to choose cases very carefully and then try to replicate data “across cases”.
Baxter and Jack (2008: 549) further suggest that researchers should judge whether it is wiser to embark on a single case study or to rather consider conducting a multiple case study. This decision will chiefly depend on the extent to which a richer and deeper understanding of the phenomenon under discussion will be gained. During the field work of this study, multiple sites, being the five different Muslim schools were accessed.
Therefore, this study may be regarded as a multi-sited case study (Falzon, 2012:01).
The research authenticity is improved when a multi-sited or multiple case study is conducted (Barratt, et al. 2011:331). Also, the researcher may be able to protect himself, or herself against “observer bias” during the multiple case study approach.
Barratt, et al. (2011:331) justify their view by stating that a more solid and “testable theory” will be formulated after using multiple cases than using a single case study, especially when the researcher wants to build a theory. Moreover, Barratt, et al.
(2011:331) specifically suggests that in the range of four to 10 cases is often an ideal amount for such an investigation. Because data for this study was collected in five sites, the multiple-site case study was chosen as a design. The selection of different sites was for the reasons suggested by Barratt, et al. (2011), namely, to protect myself from
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possible biases in the field and for the general authentication of the research process. In the following section, the focus is on the research approach of this study.