Case study as one of the qualitative research methodology

1. Case Study
- Khairul Maghfira
- Mardiana

2. Overview
 What is case study ?
 Why is case study ?
 Type of case study
 Case study designs

3. What is case study
“A case study is an empirical study that
investigates a contemporary phenomenon in
depth and with its real-life context”
(Yin, 2009, p18)

4. Why is case study
• Study of phenomena in real-life contexts e.g.
on-going events and situations
• Use of multiple data sources and methods of
data collection
• Understanding of processes and relationships
in the ‘natural setting’ of the case
• A strong methodology for generating or
testing theories
(Eisenhardt 1989; Stake 1998; Yin 1994)

5. Types of case study
Design Purpose Orientation
• Single
• Multiple
• Holistic
• Embedded
 Intrinsic
 Instrumental
 Collective
 Descriptive
 Explanatory
 Exploratory

6. Case study design
 Formulating the research questions
 Determining the research methodology
 Determining the theoretical perspective
 Conceptualization and use of theory
 Framework used in the research
 Selecting the site : single Vs multiple sites
 Linking the research questions, method,
and justifications
 Plan implementation and changes

7. Formulating the research
questions
• Researchers need to design their qualitative
research with considerable thought and critical
planning.
• More importantly, they need to be mindful of the
practicalities of the field research (scapens 2004)
• The purpose of this research was to examine the
processes of change within an organisation
• The second issues relates to the requirement
that research, which examines processes of
change, should be longitudinal in nature.

8. Determining the research
methodology
• Methodologies based on the assumption of
objective reality, such as surveys and
experimental design (hopper & powell 1985)
• As schwartz and jacobs (1979,7) , explain, the
purpose of qualitative research is :
“ to know what the actors know, see what they see,
understand what they understand, as a result,
our data attempt to describe their vocabularies,
their ways of looking, their sense of important
and unimportant”

9. Determining the research
methodology, cont..
• First, accounting practices are not objective and value free enterprises.
Management accounting practices are social phenomena; they are
created and can be changed by human actors (scapens 1990).
• Secondly, by studying management accounting practices in their
organizational context, a fuller understanding of the behavior of the
organization members and may be obtained
• Thirdly, the use of case studies is appropriate when the research questions
seek to explain why and how something happens (yin 1994).
• Fourthly, case studies provide an opportunity for the researcher to “retain
the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real – life events” (Yin
1994,3)
• Finally, case studies provide the opportunity to deal with the full variety
of data, for example, documentary materials and data from interviews and
observations (yin 1994).

10. Determining the theoretical
perspective
• Deciding on whether to uses a theory and which
theory to use are also contentious issues. On the
one hand, undertaking fieldwork without a prior
theoretical framework might be difficult because
there is no base to provide a way of focusing on
the case.
• If we decide to use a theoretical framework, the
next step is to determine the theoretical
perspective to be used.

11. Conceptualization and use of
theory
There are those who believe that the role of a theory is to make
predictions of the research phenomena.
Other hold a broader view of theory. Theories are seen as
versions of the world in which the purpose of a theory is to help
us make sense of the complexities of the world. These versions
undergo a continuous revision, evaluation, consturction, and
reconstruction (Goodman 1978)
Mason (1998) concludes that there are three ways to use theories
in the research process.
a. Theory comes before empirical research and analysis is
undertaken.
b. The theory is developed from or through data generation
and analysis.
c. The way of utilising theory is what we may call a middle
approach between the two methods disussed above.

12. Framework used in the research
• The theoretical framework was used to inform the case findings and
the observations from the case were used to refine the theory.
• The framework addresses the research questions and the
complexities of the process of change in the organisation.
• The methodological underpinning of the institutionalist framework
is in line with the processual approach, in which a holistic,
processual, evolutionary analysis is required in undertaking studies
of change.
• The method and the theory chosen in this research are the ones
most appropriate to address the research questions. There is
congruence between the philosophical underpinnings underlying
the research methodology and the theory used to inform the case.
• Another important concern is the selection of the case site for the
research

13. Selecting the site : single Vs
multiple sites
• There are different ways of using case studies in a
research. If a case study is undertaken from a positivistic
perspective, the researcher usually tries to select a
representative case so that the findings may be
generalised to the wider population (scapens 2004).
• Dyer and Wilkins (1991, 164) argue that investigation of
multiple cases could lead to less contextual insights
being communicated, they state :
• “ the most critical trade – off facing the research in this
regards ( that is, to undertaken comparison across
organisational contexts or comparisons within the same
organisational context) is between the deep
understanding of a particular social setting and the
benefits of comparative insights. Thus, the more contexts
a researcher investigates, the less contextual insight he
or she can communicate”

14. Linking the research questions,
method, and justifications
• In designing the research, it is important to link the
research questions, the data sources and
methods (mason 1996). This is ensure that we are
able to address the research questions in view of
the data sources available. More importantly the
linking process is necessary to ensure that we are
reflective of the appropriateness of the data
sources and the reasons for using the data.
• The determine the role of accountants and
accounting information in the organisation and
the relationship and the interactions between the
accountants and the other members of the
organisation, interviews were held with both
accountans and non accountants.

15. Plan implementation and
changes
• Some of the changes had to be made because
the initial plan was not feasible. The initial
research plan, for example was to concentrate
only on one division, which wa located at the
head office of the organisation.
• Adjustment had to be made, these adjustement
resulted in a lot of travelling across the country,
which was not planned initially.
• Informal evidence, for example, facial
expressions, voice intonation, gestures and
unspoken words were invaluable in making the
meaning clearer.

16. Plan implementation and
changes, cont..
• The research did not just prioritize one specific group,
for example the accountants. Rather, perspectives from
different groups were obtained.
• The evidence from the interviews was further
reinforced by documentary evidence, observations and
informal conversations with the members both inside
and outside the organisation. Triangulation of
evidence was done, in which the information from one
source was assessed by comparing it with other
sources of evidence and interviewing different people
on the same issues (scapens 1990).

17. THANK YOU