The aim of the research plan is to develop research methods for data collection and necessary information to realise the intended objectives of the study. According to Christie et al. (2000), case study research attempts to understand the nature of the research problem, forming and revising the meanings and structures of the case under study. When human activity is embedded in the real world it can be studied or understood only in its context (Yin, 1981).
The current research is suited to case study research as one of its primary aims is to build an understanding of the adoption and diffusion of technology through analysis of interaction between agency and structure in a number of poultry farms. Five case study farms were examined, to allow for different contexts of technology adoption to be
examined. Within each case study a number of respondents were interviewed. These case studies included poultry farms with vertical supply chains, semi-vertical and horizontal supply chains across a mix of breeder and layer farms: the study did not include slaughter plants. Each individual case study is unique in capturing the details of producers’ operating conditions in the desired location. A cross-case study analysis will follow the individual case studies. Table 4.1 provides an overview of the five studies.
Site Focus Data Collection
1 Vertical Supply Chain 2 Senior Management, 3 Middle Management, 3 Employees
2 Semi-Vertical Supply Chain 1 Senior Management, 3 Middle management, 4 Employees
3 Horizontal Supply Chain 1 Senior Management, 2 Middle Management, 3 Employees
4 Horizontal Supply Chain 1 Senior management, 2 Middle Management and 3 Employees
5 Horizontal Supply Chain 1 Senior Management, 3 Middle Management, 4 Employees
Table 4.1: Overview of Case Studies
Drawing on structuration theory to conceptualise the diffusion of technology composed of three modalities, the micro-analysis focuses on how and what participants drew on in their own context when adopting technology. Using Giddens' structuration theory, three components of interpretative scheme, facility and norm formed the basis of data collection.
The interview design focused on how structural, cultural, and agential elements influenced each other in the development of this process. Thus the interview questions were meant to capture shifts in meanings, social structure, and their associations with specific participant actions. The macro-analysis was conducted using two guiding questions: what were the causal mechanisms for the diffusion of technology within the organisation, and how did contextual influences and conditions shape the diffusion of
technology? The diffusion processes (mechanisms) were drawn from the literature and contextualised to structuration theory.
4.4.1 Role of Literature Review
The purpose of a literature review is to provide an understanding of the gaps in the subject domain with relevant and significant problems highlighted to identify the research question. The first phase of this study was a preliminary review of the literature on the adoption of technology and developments in the poultry value chain in developed economies and in Iran; a conceptual framework was also developed. An open and ongoing approach to the literature review was adopted and it resulted in a continual modification and development of this review throughout the life cycle of the project.
4.4.2 Research Boundary
Miles and Huberman (1994) explain that the unit of analysis mirrors the objectives of the study and provides the foundations for the comparison of results in respect of the subject under study. This research project refers to the study that is concerned with the diffusion and adoption of technology in the poultry supply chain within a halal environment. Defining the boundary of the research problems helps to avoid collecting unnecessary data (Yin, 1989). In this study, however, the objects are the individual experiences of respondents in relation to their social reality of the adoption and diffusion of technology, social realities of the poultry farms’ organisational structures, strategy, resources (storage, equipment, training, financial management), and subject (symbolic) reality, which refers to perspectives held by individuals.
The mechanism to examine and understand the interaction between agency and structure is provided by structuration theory. There are two sources for the data collection, these being: 1) potential adopters, who are the personnel involved in the implementation of technology through their part in the development or delivery – these comprise operational managers, employees and those whose role requires their involvement; 2) the set of people who are related to the ‘structure’ of the institution – these are defined as staff members whose roles are more supportive, for example, senior management, administrators and technical staff; this category of participants have influence on the authoritative and allocative resources.
4.4.3. Multiple versus Single Case Study
The limitations associated with single case study research are well-documented in the literature; misjudging single events, exaggeration of available data and generalisation of conclusions have been identified by Voss et al. (2002) as problems. Multiple case study research reduces these limitations, and collecting data from different sources also generates a richer understanding.
Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007:27) draw attention to the advantage of using multiple cases, which allows for comparisons that shed light on “whether emergent findings are simply idiosyncratic to a single case or consistently replicated across the cases”. Whilst there is agreement that multiple case studies enrich findings and provide more robust theory deeply rooted in the evidence, deciding on the number of case studies is also not without its challenges: two to fifteen cases are seen as suitable (Miles and Huberman, 1994). In considering the difficulties of coping with the volume of data and complexities on the one hand, and also of being able to generate theory on the other hand, Eisenhardt (1989) suggests between four and ten cases.
In order to ensure collection of rich data from the relevant participants, five case studies were examined to allow different contexts of technology adoption and diffusion in the poultry farms of the north-eastern province of Iran to be examined. As this study aims to examine different contexts of technology adoption, each farm had to have gone through some technological modernisation, or be in the process of technological transformation. For each case project there needed to be scope for interaction between the individual adopters and the structure.
4.4.4 Data Analysis Approach
In the domain of data analysis and reasoning for qualitative data inference, Ali and Birley (1999) suggest inductive and deductive approaches for data collection. In case study research an iterative approach of going back and forth between theory and evidence, in what is called a retroductive approach, can be used (Harrison, 2002). In the retroductive approach the researcher begins by following inductive reasoning and by being receptive to what emerges from the data. As the work progresses and themes begin to appear, this can lead the researcher to confirm findings by adopting a deductive approach (Patton, 1990). This retroductive approach was used to understand and explain the situations in
which interplay between agency and structure occurs, through iteration and identification of causal mechanisms. Identification of the causal mechanisms required obtaining detailed knowledge about the processes underlying the behaviour and the context.
4.4.5 Data Analysis Process
From the interview transcripts, thematic analysis was used to examine the qualitative data. Murray (2003) explains that thematic analysis allows for certain themes or patterns to be searched for across the entire data set, as opposed to within a data item. This is an important issue for this study, since it attempts to identify and explain the factors related to the perception of adoption of technology from a number of perspectives, and specifically to identify the interaction between agency and structure. Content analysis was not used since its focus is on relying on frequency word counts to identify patterns within the data (Boyatzis, 1998), which is not useful for this study. The aim of the study is to explore and explain the causal links within the social context by developing an understanding of the underlying structures and mechanisms. The process depicted in figure 4.2 describes the deployment of inductive and deductive analysis, and how themes were generated from the raw data to uncover meanings in relation to the adoption of the innovation for the participants.
Figure 4.2: Process of Data Analysis
Stage 1: The code template was developed from the research questions and Giddens’ theory of structuration and the six related categories of three modalities. The codes were labelled, named and defined, with the definition of what the theme related to and a description explaining how to recognise when the theme occurs.
Stage 2: After the coding of the document, two interview transcripts from Case A and Case B were selected as test pieces and were compared with others from an experienced researcher who had used the same predefined code template, and it was agreed that no modification to the code template was necessary.
Stage 3: Since the interviews were conducted in Persian and had to be coded before being translated into English, the researcher decided to code the text manually rather than using a qualitative software analysis. An open-minded approach was adopted to allow any unanticipated themes and opportunities to emerge from the data, as recommended by Trace (2001); efforts were made to avoid any pre-existing themes being considered.
Stage 1
• Developing the code manual
Stage2
• Testing the reliability of the code
Stage3
• Applying the template of the code
Stage4
• Connecting the codes and identifying themes
Stage5
• Corroborating and legitimating coded themes
Whilst the analysis of the interview transcripts was guided by the preliminary codes, the inductive codes were designated to portions of data that illustrated a new theme observed in the text. These additional codes were either separate from the predetermined ones, or they expanded on a code from the manual. The codes were applied to the interview transcripts by matching the segments of the data selected that were representative of that code. To determine similarities and differences between views held by individuals, a process of comparison was carried out. Patterns were systematically examined within each case to identify key dimensions and emerging themes. The final level of analysed themes was cross-examined with each of the five cases for similarities and differences, as recommended by Miles and Huberman (1994). A table showing the emerging themes and sub-themes from each case was produced to aid understanding of any connection that might exist across cases.
Stage 4: In this stage, the codes and identifying themes in each case and across the five cases discovered themes were connected. In a similar way to stage 3, a comparative analysis was carried out to determine similarities and differences between views held by individuals. Similarities and differences within and across cases were emerging at this stage, showing areas of consensus in response to the research questions and areas of potential conflict. For example, differences were expressed by the varying levels of support and effectiveness of communication between management and staff.
Stage 5: During this stage, the previous stages were examined closely to ensure that the themes represented the initial data analysis and assigned codes. The interaction of text, codes, and themes required several iterations before the analysis advanced to an interpretative phase in which the units were connected into an explanatory framework. Overarching themes were identified that were felt to capture the phenomenon of adoption and diffusion of technology. Themes that were specific to each case and themes that were evident in all cases were identified in order to draw conclusions about interaction between agency and structure.
Stage 6: The primary aim at this stage was to develop theory from five case project examples chosen to represent diversity on some dependent variable (in this study, different supply chain context). Explanation-building is developed from pattern-matching
by conducting an analysis of the case study (Tellis, 1997). As discussed earlier, this is an iterative process where a theoretical statement is drawn from the literature and data collected from the case studies, followed by a process of refining and revising the proposition. This analytical strategy was used to construct propositions (Hartley, 1994) through two levels of analysis of the data of individual cases and comparison of cases (Yin, 1989).
4.4.6 Presenting and Writing up the Emergent Theory
In multiple case studies the information is collected from a number of sites at different times and presenting the findings can prove challenging, since there is no standard template for formulating the emergent theory. Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007) describe presenting case study findings to develop a theory in sections, or by distinct propositions that are supported by evidence from at least some or all of the cases. As it is not possible to support each proposition with every case within the text that proposes an emergent theory, the use of tables summarising the related case evidence is essential to demonstrate the depth and detail of the findings. The use of tables is not to produce summary statistics about the set of observations (Eisenhardt, 1989); rather the goal is to aid the process of analysis and, by providing sufficient evidence, strengthen the credibility of the findings. The approach of discussing each proposition with links to the supporting evidence ensures that the propositions are consistent with the cases, as the process guarantees the match between theory and data (Eisenhardt and Graebner, 2007).
4.5 RESEARCH PROCESS