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The case study - In-class workings
Bachelor of Business Research Skills Unit (BBS200)
Murdoch University
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The case study, also referred to as the case history, is a powerful research methodology that combines individual and (sometimes) group interviews with record analysis and observation. Researchers extract in- formation from company brochures, annual reports, sales receipts, and newspaper and magazine articles, along with direct observation (usually done in the participant’s “natural” setting) and combine it with interview data from participants.
The objective is to obtain multiple perspectives of a single organization, situation, event, or process at a point in time or over a period of time.
Case study methodology—or the written report from such a research project, often called a case analysis or case write-up—can be used to understand particular processes. For example, one study might evaluate new product development processes for similarities, especially the use of outside consultants, ideational techniques, and computer simulation. Another study might examine in detail the purchaser’s response to a stimulus like a display. The results of the research could be used to experiment with modifications of the new product develop- ment process or with display selection and placement processes to generate higher-value transactions. The research problem is usually a how and why problem, resulting in a descriptive or explanatory study.
Researchers select the specific organizations or situations to profile because these examples or sub- jects offer critical, extreme, or unusual cases. Researchers most often choose multiple subjects, rather than a single subject, to study because of the opportunity for cross-case analysis. In studying multiple subjects, a deeper understanding of the subject emerges. When multiple units are chosen, it is because
166 >part II The Design of Business Research
they offer similar results for predictable reasons (literal replication) or contrary results for predict- able reasons (theoretical replication). While theoretical sampling seems to be common, a minimum of 4 cases with a maximum of 15 seems to be favored.
In the case study, interview participants are invited to tell the story of their experience, with those chosen representing different levels within the same organization or different perspectives of the same situation or process to permit depth of perspective. The flexibility of the case study approach and the emphasis on understanding the context of the subject being studied allow for a richness of understand- ing sometimes labeled thick description.
During analysis, a single case analysis is always performed before any cross-case analysis is con- ducted. The emphasis is on what differences occur, why, and with what effect. Prescriptive inferences about best practices are concluded after completing case studies on several organizations or situations and are speculative in nature.
Students are quite familiar with studying cases as a means of learning business principles. In Search of Excellence, a book by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, was developed using case study methodol- ogy. 23 Other similar studies profiled in books written on Procter & Gamble and Disney have also used this methodology. In the business arena, such case studies have examined changes in new product development, sales processes, hiring practices, and training programs.
Dependent variable: how much chocolate do the participants eat
Independent: Does imagining eating chocolate reduce craving, 30 vs. 3.
This variable is manipulated by the researcher, and the manipulation causes an effect on the dependent vari- able. We recognize that there are often several independent variables and that they are probably at least somewhat “correlated” and therefore not independent among themselves. Similarly, the term criterion variable is used synonymously with dependent variable (DV). This variable is measured, predicted, or otherwise monitored and is expected to be affected by manipulation of an independent variable.
Hawthorne effect
The case study - In-class workings
Course: Bachelor of Business Research Skills Unit (BBS200)
University: Murdoch University
