The general strategy guiding this research project has been the case study research strategy. Case study research has long been regarded as a relatively weak research method lacking in precision and objectivity. It is therefore necessary to explain why this strategy is the most suitable and useful for this particular research project. A key issue in deciding to undertake a case study is whether a holistic understanding of a phenomenon is required. Case studies by their nature, deal with complex relations within a unit as well as the interaction between the unit and its wider environment. Specifically, there are three main conditions or factors determining which research method and strategy to choose. The first factor is the type o f research question posed. The second factor is the extent o f control the researcher has on the research object. The third factor is the degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical events. For the case study it is best suited for when: A “h o w ” or “w hy” question is being asked about a contemporary set of events over which the investigator has no control. Yin (1994:2) suggests that case studies lend themselves best to answering how and why questions. In other words they are most appropriate for examining the processes by which events unfold as well as for exploring causal relationships. In this research project we are dealing mainly with ‘how’ questions: How is small-scale garment manufacturing in Shubra linked to the local and global economy, and in what ways labour conditions differ in unregulated establishments from those in the more regulated large-scale factories. This is being asked for the contemporary situation o f garment industry in Shubra El Khiema at the time of investigation, which is a situation, that the researcher has no control over.
A common concern about case studies is that they provide little basis for scientific generalizations. Case studies are generalizable to theoretical propositions and not to populations and universes. The case study does not represent a “sample” and the researcher’s goal is not to enumerate frequencies (statistical generalizations). This is a particularly important factor for choosing a case study strategy for investigating economic activities that are mostly unrecorded. In what other way can we start to investigate the statistically unrecorded part o f the economy? Economists are usually concerned about micro studies dealing with limited numbers of cases in the sense that they are non generalizable, relegating such studies to supposedly less scientific and
rigorous disciplines such as anthropology. But the growing evidence that suggests that significant portions o f the economy o f both developed and especially developing regions are not statistically recorded should change this attitude (ILO 1996). Only through the accumulation of direct empirical research on segments o f these invisible economic activities, will the wider picture o f what is happening in the economy as a whole become clear.
The case study inquiry: copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables o f interest than data points, therefore: it relies on multiple sources o f evidence. Here again we find that this research strategy suits the purposes o f this research better than others. We are dealing with the contemporary phenomenon o f garment manufacturing in Shubra, we are investigating, not simply a set of production units, but also the market context within which they act, and there is a need to deal with a variety o f variables that cannot be sufficiently reduced as would be needed if we were to use a survey method by itself. Use of the case study method is particularly useful to cover contextual conditions- assuming they might be highly pertinent to the phenomenon of study. In the case o f this research for example, it was required to investigate unrecorded markets where the garments produced were sold and to interview contractors to get to the details o f the marketing process. These aspects could not have been covered sufficiently by relying only on quantitative survey methods. The case study as a research strategy comprises an all-encompassing method, with the logic of design incorporating specific approaches to data collection and to data analysis. In this sense, the case study is neither a data collection tactic nor a design feature alone, but a comprehensive research strategy. Case studies are a research strategy rather than a specific technique and as such can make use o f a range o f techniques. For example, in this study three techniques were used; survey interviews, in depth interviews and observations.
Stake (2000, p. 437) identifies three types of case study: the intrinsic case study, the instrumental case study and the collective case study.14 O f relevance to this research is the “collective case-study”, this means a joint-study o f a number o f cases in order to investigate a phenomenon, a population, or a general condition. In effect it is an
instrumental case study15 extended to several cases. Individual cases in the collection may or may not be known in advance to manifest some common characteristics. They are chosen because the researcher believes that understanding them will lead to better understanding, perhaps better theorizing, about a still larger collection o f cases. This study of garment manufacturing is an example of a collective case-study which aims at increasing the knowledge and understanding of small-scale garment manufacturing in Shubra El Kheima in particular and o f the unrecorded sector of the economy in general. It also aims at questioning some o f the prevailing theories about industrialization in developing countries and in particular, the role and nature o f small manufacturing enterprises.
Thus, although case-study methodology is the best suited for this research endevour dealing with unrecorded sector the limitations o f this study should be recognized. The study was undertaken mainly in one particular place, a neighbourhood and industrial district in the city o f Shubra El Kheima. It involved a limited number of cases from a large and unknown universe (the total o f small-scale garment establishments could not be defined, even in the neighbourhood by itself, let alone the city.) Also, the study took place in a particular time and did not have a long time-span. All this must be taken into account when dealing with generalizations. What is being proposed is that the knowledge and understanding gathered through this study can add to the accumulative research into the unrecorded sectors o f the economy, thus helping provide a clearer picture of the economy as a whole. Thus, the group chosen for this study is not representative in the scientific sense, nor could it be. As these establishments are unrecorded there was no way we could even estimate the size o f the relevant population nor any practical way to create a random sample. It is important to keep in mind that we are dealing with 60 workshops in one single neighborhood that are part o f the statistically invisible segment of the economy and therefore generalizations from the study findings should be viewed with these limitations in mind.
15 Instrumental case studies, according to Stake, are those in which a particular case is examined mainly to