case studies berg ch. 10. researcher skills copyright © allyn & bacon 2010 inquiring mind...

Case Studies

Berg Ch. 10

Researcher Skills

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2010

Inquiring mindAbility to listenAdaptability and flexibilityUnderstanding of the issuesUnbiased interpretation of data

Types of Case Studies


Intrinsic—better understanding of a particular case

Instrumental—focus on single issue or concern

Collective—extensive study of several instrumental cases

Case Study Design


Exploratory—prelude to a large social scientific study

Explanatory—causal studiesDescriptive—establishes an overall

framework

Case Study Typology


Snapshot LongitudinalPre-PostPatchworkComparative

Organizational Case Study


Systematic information gathering

Insight into the life of the organizationRelationships, behaviors, attitudes,

motivations, stressors

Community Case Study


Geographically delineated unit of larger society

Provides awareness of community occurrencesWhy and how things occur

Interest groupsSocial Classes

Other Qualitative Methods: Unobtrusive (Non-Reactive) Methods

Berg Ch. 8, 9, and 11

Unobtrusive Measures


Archival StrategiesUse of Public Archival RecordsUse of Private Archival Records

Physical Erosion

Accretion

Human Traces as Data Sources


Erosion MeasuresEvidence indicating selective wear

Accretion MeasuresDeposits over time; natural trace

elements

Public Archives


Running recordProvides large quantities of inexpensive

dataNonreactive to the presence of

investigatorsStandard format

Types of Public Archives


Commercial Media Accounts

Written, drawn, or recorded materials produced for general or mass consumption

newspapers, DVDs, maps

Public Archives (cont.)


Actuarial Records

Produced for special or limited audiences

Available to the public under certain circumstances birth records, application information

Public Archives (cont.)


Official Documentary RecordsProduced for special or limited audiences Organizational records, files, and

communications police reports, financial records, Video records

Private Archives


Created for smaller more specific audiencesUnsolicited documents—discovered

naturally by the investigatorSolicited documents—requested by

investigators

Private Archives (cont.)


AutobiographiesDiaries and LettersHome movies and videosArtistic and creative artifacts

Autobiographies


Comprehensive AutobiographySpans the life from earliest recall to time

of writingTopical Autobiography

Fragmented picture or excision from subjects life

Edited AutobiographyResearchers edit and provide

commentary

Historical Research


Understand the historical nature of phenomena, events, people, agencies and institutions

Historiographysystematic reconstruction of the past

Data Sources in Historical Research


Primary Sourcesoral or written testimony of eyewitnessesCan consist of

Photographs Documents Recordings Diaries

Data Sources (cont.)


Secondary Sourcesoral or written testimony of people not

immediately presentCan consist of

Textbooks Oral histories Newspaper stories

Data Sources (cont.)Tertiary Sources

presentation or collection of primary or secondary sources

For example: Almanacs Bibliographies Encyclopedias

Steps of Historical Research


Identify an ideaConduct a literature reviewRefine the research questionsSelect historiography Identify primary and secondary sourcesConfirm authenticity and accuracyAnalyze the data

Evaluation of Primary Sources


External Criticism--AuthenticityWho wrote the source?What was the intended audience?Historical context?

Internal Criticism-AccuracyWhat does it mean?Why was it written?

Oral Histories


Combination of case study and historical research

Narrative access to real-life experiences and memories

Involves depth interviews with individuals who have been present or experienced an event that is now part of recorded history

Content Analysis


Systematic and objectiveManifest Content

physically present and countable elementsLatent Content

interpretive reading of underlying meaning

What to Count…


WordsThemesCharactersParagraphsItemsConceptsSemantics

Coding in Content Analysis


Ask the data a specific and consistent set of questions

Analyze the data minutelyFrequently interrupt the coding to write a

theoretical noteNever assume the analytic relevance of

any traditional variable

Interrogative Hypothesis Testing


Make a rough hypothesisSearch for negative casesExamine all relevant casesRevise hypothesis as necessary


Strengths:Virtually

unobtrusiveCost effectiveTrend identification

over time

Weaknesses:Limited to

examining already recorded messages

Ineffective for testing causal relationships

Strengths and Weaknesses of Content Analysis