While other strategies were considered unsuitable for this study for the different reasons enumerated above, case study is considered appropriate for achieving the objectives of this study as a descriptive and explanatory investigation of a phenomenon. Case study describes contemporaneous inquiries into real-life situation usually with unclear distinction between the context and the subject of study and the researcher has minimum control over happenings (Yin, 1981, 2009). In other terms, case study research can be defined as an intensive, holistic description and analysis
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of a phenomenon such as a program, an institution, a person, a process, or a social unit (Grünbaum, 2007).
There are features identified to characterise case study from other research strategies. A case study object is usually related to people and the interpretations of a phenomenon from the perspective of the social actors. The phenomenon of the study should usually be contemporary; and a holistic approach should be adopted to identify contextual factors around the unit of analysis. Case study researches are basically qualitative, descriptive, exploratory or explanatory used in generating or modification of a theory. The phenomena in case study researches are usually beyond the control of the researcher. Different data collection techniques may be applied for increased understanding to produce thick description (Grünbaum, 2007).
Data collection and analysis in case study researches are often guided by theoretical propositions, and utilises multiple variables and sources of evidence that may need to converge by the use of triangulation. The distinguishing feature of case studies from ethnography is the appropriateness of theoretical predisposition prior to data collection. Case study is commonly used to provide detailed account of current event with higher tendency to appropriately answer questions of the “how” and “why” types. Small group behaviour, organisational and management processes, neighbourhood change, international relations, and individual life cycles, are some of the real-life events that were reported to be investigated by the use of case study (Yin, 2009, p. 4). Single or multiple case studies have proven to be very useful in providing exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory investigations; and its suitability usually depends on the degree of control over events, relevance of contemporary issues, and the nature of the research questions. While the theoretical preposition of this study has been discussed in chapters 2 and 3, the
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research objectives suggest that this research will be descriptive and explanatory in nature.
Case study may not be favourable to universal or statistical generalisation; however, it can be generalizable to theories and should be reported free from bias as in other research strategies. Irrespective of the common tendency to associate case study with longitudinal investigations as in ethnography and participant observation, good case study investigations can be accomplished using other techniques of data collection. Moreover, case study can be used to complement other research strategies like experiments, specifically to address the “why” and
“how” questions (Yin, 2009); which coincides with the objectives of this
study.
Yin (2009, p. 27) suggested five components for designing a research that is to use the case study approach. These are the questions, preposition, unit of analysis, the logic linking the data to the prepositions, and the criteria for linking the findings. The study questions, the unit of analysis, and the preposition of this investigation have been enumerated in chapters one through three. The logics linking the data to the prepositions and the interpretation criteria are the tasks set to be accomplished in this chapter. While chapter 5 and 6 discusses the findings in relation to the objectives of the research.
There are four types of case study research design based on the number of cases to be analysed and the units of analysis. These are the single- case holistic designs, single-case embedded designs, multiple-case holistic designs, and multiple case embedded designs. Case study researches are designed as single-case for critical test of a theory, a unique circumstance, a typical case, or for revelation and longitudinal purposes. While multiple or comparative case designs may not be suitable in any of these situations, it is considered more robust than single-case designs, especially if replication produces similar results. Replication in multiple
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case studies can be lateral or theoretical, whereby in the former similar results are expected while in the latter contrasting results are predicted (Yin, 2009). Due to constraints in resources and time, this study is designed to be a single-case embedded multiple units of analysis case- study (Fig 19). However, to improve the quality of the research design, the findings will be tested using the different case study research validity test.
Figure 19: Single-case embedded multiple units of analysis case study adopted from (Yin, 2009)
Construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability are the four tests that can be used to judge the quality of case study research (Yin, 2009). Construct validity can be achieved using multiple sources of evidences, establishing a link to evidences and report review by the participants. In this study, the validity of the findings from the data collected by semi-structured interview was validated through a focus
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group workshop. The four components of internal validity that are applicable in explanatory case study research are pattern matching, explanation building, addressing rival explanations, and using logic models which were utilised at the data analysis stage of this study. While statistical generalisation typical with survey research may not be applicable in case study research, analytical generalisation has been partly implemented in this study. The procedures followed to conduct this research were documented so that the process can be repeated and same conclusion arrived as recommended by Yin (2009).