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The research design & using a case study design

Chapter 3

The research design

Research Designs vs. Research Methods, Page 45

  • A Research Design provides a framework for the collection and analysis of data. Choice of research design reflects decisions about priorities given to the dimensions of the research process (see Key concept 3.1)
  • A Research Method is simply a procedure for collecting data. Choice of research method reflects decisions about the type of instruments or techniques to be used.

Click here to view and download the checklist in Microsoft Word.

Tick relevant boxes
Is your Research Design:
Experimental
Cross-sectional
Longitudinal
Case study
Comparative
What is your level of analysis?
Individual; e.g. manager or employee
Department or work group
Organization; e.g. structure or culture
Market or societal context in which organizations are located
Criteria in Business Research
Reliability - are your measures consistent?
Replication/replicability - is your study repeatable?
Validity - are your conclusions well founded?
Types of Validity
Measurement (or construct) validity - do your measures reflect concepts?
Internal validity - are causal relations between your variables real?
External validity - can your results be generalized beyond the research setting?
Alternative Criteria in Qualitative Research
Is your research trustworthy (Lincoln and Guba (1985):
Credible - parallels internal validity - i.e. how believable are your findings?
Transferable - parallels external validity - i.e. do your findings apply to other contexts?
Dependable - parallels reliability - i.e. are your findings likely to apply at other times?
Confirmable - parallels objectivity - i.e. have you allowed your values to intrude to a high degree?
Is your research relevant (Hammersley 1992):
Importance - as a topic in its field
Contribution - to the literature in that field


Using a Case-study design

A case can be about:

  • A single organization
  • A single location
  • A person
  • A single event

Yin's (1984) case typology:

  • The critical case
  • The unique (or extreme) case
  • The revelatory case

Whatever the type of case you choose, you will almost certainly need to find out more about the organization that your case investigation is located in:

  • What is its financial position?
  • Has it been in the news recently?
  • Where are its premises?
  • What market conditions does it face?

Web sources for background information:

Web links:

http://www.qual.auckland.ac.nz/case/ - comprehensive list of References on Case Study Research from the MISQ Discovery Archive maintained by Michael D. Myers at the university of Auckland NZ.

To see video clips of students talking about their research design, click here


Exercise: Research Designs

The Ethiopian Livestock Marketing Board's (LMA) hide quality control division wanted to assess the effect of different salt-level applications and sheep skin putrefaction.

The principle objective of the research was to find out if there was a difference in salt-level application and hide putrefaction in different ecological zones. The research was to be instrumental in informing the decision on the optimum level of salt application in the different ecological zones, hence cutting down on the cost of salt.

ID Site Hairy Fresh wg't Salt Saltwg't TDays salted unsalted saltrest saltloss saltlperc skinarea Putrefac Putperc Skin shrinkage
1 DB N 1800 60 1080 30 2100 1650 450 630 58.333 5800 0 0 8.3333
2 DB N 900 50 450 60 900 800 100 350 77.777 3700 0 0 11.111
3 DB N 1350 20 270 30 1300 1200 100 170 62.962 5400 0 0 11.111
4 DB Y 1700 30 510 30 1700 1600 100 410 80.392 5500 0 0 5.8823
5 DB Y 1700 40 680 45 1900 1600 300 380 55.882 4800 0 0 5.8823
6 DB Y 1250 40 500 60 1400 1150 250 250 50 4600 0 0 8
7 DB Y 1700 20 340 30 1600 1500 100 240 70.588 5600 0 0 11.764
8 DB Y 1150 60 690 30 1400 1000 400 290 42.028 4000 0 0 13.043
9 DB N 1900 50 950 30 2000 1600 400 550 57.894 6100 0 0 15.789
10 DB Y 1200 20 240 60 1100 1000 100 140 58.333 4500 150 3.3333 16.666
11 DB N 1100 40 440 30 1150 1000 150 290 65.909 5100 0 0 9.0909
12 DB N 1250 50 625 30 1400 1100 300 325 52 5000 0 0 12
13 DB Y 1300 60 780 30 1700 1200 500 280 35.897 4300 0 0 7.6923
14 DB N 1100 30 330 45 1000 900 100 230 69.696 4400 0 0 18.181
15 DB N 1250 40 500 45 1300 1100 200 300 60 4800 0 0 12
16 DB Y 1450 30 435 30 1500 1300 200 235 54.022 4400 0 0 10.344
17 DB N 1450 60 870 30 1700 1400 300 570 65.517 4700 0 0 3.4482
18 DB Y 1200 40 480 45 1300 1050 250 230 47.916 4000 0 0 12.5
19 DB Y 1350 50 675 30 1700 1300 400 275 40.740 4400 0 0 3.7037
20 DB N 1400 50 700 45 1500 1100 400 300 42.857 4900 0 0 21.428
21 DB N 1250 20 250 45 1100 1000 100 150 60 4200 16 0.38 20
22 DB N 1000 30 300 30 1000 900 100 200 66.666 4000 0 0 10
23 DB Y 1750 30 525 60 1650 1450 200 325 61.904 5400 0 0 17.142
24 DB y 1300 40 520 45 1450 1200 250 270 51.923 4400 0 0 7.6923
25 DB y 1150 60 690 45 1350 1000 350 340 49.275 4800 0 0 13.043
26 DB y 1200 40 480 45 1350 1100 250 230 47.916 4100 0 0 8.3333
27 DB y 1300 50 650 30 1600 1200 400 250 38.461 4300 0 0 7.6923
28 DB N 1300 40 520 30 1400 1100 300 220 42.307 4900 0 0 15.384
29 DB N 1200 40 480 45 1200 1050 150 330 68.75 4000 0 0 12.5
30 DB Y 1400 50 700 45 1700 1300 400 300 42.857 5100 0 0 7.1428
31 DB Y 1700 20 340 60 1500 1350 150 190 55.882 4800 0 0 20.588
32 DB Y 1300 60 780 45 1400 1100 300 480 61.538 5200 0 0 15.384
33 DB Y 1400 60 840 45 1400 1150 250 590 70.238 5000 0 0 17.857
34 DB Y 1150 30 345 45 1100 1000 100 245 71.014 4200 0 0 13.043
35 DB N 1400 50 700 45 1700 1300 400 300 42.857 4500 0 0 7.1428
36 DB N 1500 20 300 60 1400 1300 100 200 66.666 5400 0 0 13.333
37 DB Y 1800 30 540 60 1600 1400 200 340 62.962 5300 0 0 22.222
38 DB N 1000 50 500 45 1200 900 300 200 40 4000 16 0.4 10
39 DB Y 1500 60 900 30 1950 1400 550 350 38.888 4700 0 0 6.6666


The data was collected from primary sources with a 'before' and 'after' treatment on a three group design. There was no control group used in the study as it was deemed unnecessary and the fact that skins putrefy four hours after removal from the animal. Three tannery locations were used: Debrebirhan (Highlands), Debrezeit (Middle-lands) and Metehara (Lowlands), and salt applications were administered in at the 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60% levels. Skin weights were measured fresh, with salt application and after salt drying. The area of skin putrefaction was then observed over 30, 45 and 60 days. The cases observed were 150 in each location. The design was as follows for each of the three locations. The data was collected between January and March 2005.

Preservation days, salt level, application and number of cases

Salt level application
Preservation days 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
30 10 10 10 10 10
45 10 10 10 10 10
60 10 10 10 10 10


The research was set up, administered and data collected by a staff member of the LMA, Ethiopia

The results of the experiment were as in the following table (sample data only).

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, (2002)

1
Question

Describe the type of experimental design used in the case study? What are the potential problems with the design?

The research design utilized a positivist approach, deductive and quantitative using a quasi-field pre-experimental design (random block) on three areas with different ecological zones: highland, middle-land and lowland.

This case is a classic where a number of problems can occur. Experimental designs, especially those carried out in the field, can be difficult. It can be difficult to isolate the effect and intra effect of all variables under test and so they can be very expensive to set up and administer. The decision on how sophisticated to make the experiment is determined by the risk and cost of making a wrong decision. Moreover, if precautions are not taken to ensure 'internal and external validity', the results can be very suspect.

Check your answer

2
Question

How could the design be improved?

In this case, to ensure both external and internal validity, it would have been wise to extend the design i.e. run another identical design in each of the three areas to compare results and hence ensure internal validity. The researchers could then run the design in another three similar ecological regions to ensure external validity, simultaneously. However, it is always a trade-off between time, cost and accuracy. In this case study, the results have to be interpreted with caution.Check your answer

3
Question

Using the SPSS package, provide some results and conclusions for the effect of salt levels on skin putrefaction in Debrebirhan (DB) only.

Run the SPSS package and input the data from the table. Use the following commands in SPSS to find some answers to the problem:

  • Enter the data into SPSS using File
  • 'Open'
  • 'Data' dialogue
  • And import from your disk

Alternatively you can enter data by using the 'Data View' dialogue box and 'Variable View' dialogue box.

To analyse the data:

a) Create a cross tabulation

  • Go to 'Analyze' menu
      • 'Descriptive Statistics'
        • 'Crosstabs'
          • Row Select 'site'
          • Column Select 'Putrefaction'
          • Layer 1 Select 'Salt added %'
          • Layer 2 Select 'preservation days'
            • 'Cells'
            • Select Counts 'observed'
            • Select Percentages 'Rows, Columns, Total
              • 'Continue'
                • 'OK'

b) Create a chart

  • Go to 'Graphs' menu
      • Bar 'Chart' dialogue box
        • Select 'Clustered' and define
          • (In Chart Definition dialogue box):
          • Category axis select 'site' variable
            • Define cluster by select 'salt added %' variable
              • Select 'Other Summary Function'
                • Select 'Putrefied area of skin' var
                  • Select 'OK'

c) Interpret both a) and b) together to get an answer.

NB you can do other analysis, e.g. Difference between area tests, etc.

Check your answer

Exercise: ethnography and participant observation

'Tourism' and the purchase of second homes, especially in Europe, is a rapidly growing pastime of British citizens. Spain, France and Cyprus, followed by Florida and the Balearic Islands, are popular and growing destinations. Serviced by cut-price airline operators such as easyJet and Ryanair, these destinations are accessible even for 'weekend' breaks. Torrevieja, on Spain's Costa Blanca, for example, now has 42,000 foreigners, of which 26% are British, the largest proportion, out of a total population of 91,000. Torrevieja now has a population representing 138 different countries, with Germans, Russians, Colombians, Ukrainians, Norwegians, Argentines, and Belgians joining the locals as growing proportions of the population.

In order to study the effect of local residents attitudes to this influx of 'foreigners', a University Ph.D. student of Spanish origin has decided to conduct a 'longitudinal' study over 3 years on Torrevieja. He is able to visit the town regularly.

4
Question

Taking the role of the student, design an ethnographic study to assess the locals (Spanish) attitudes to the influx of foreigners on Torrevieja. Be careful to cover the essential issues involved in this type of study.

The student should adopt an 'ethnographic' approach to the task, which will, inevitably, involve participant observation. Luckily, the student is Spanish, so 'access' should be relatively easier. The steps involved are as follows:

Determination of research philosophy - essentially qualitative, deductive, attitudinal research

Address essential research strategy issues like "case study" analysis

Address essential methodological issues like:

Access

Mode of entry

Overt or covert

Maintaining continuous access

Think through any ethical considerations

Role of ethnographer, complete participant to complete observer

Active or passive observation

Sampling decisions

Type of, taking and recording field notes

Decision on when to terminate observation

Analysis of results

Drawing conclusions

Check your answer