Case Study- Khairul Maghfira- Mardiana

Overview

What is case study ? Why is case study ? Type of case study Case study designs

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)

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)

Types of case study

Design Purpose Orientation

• Single • Multiple• Holistic • Embedded

IntrinsicInstrumen

talCollective

Descriptive

Explanatory

Exploratory

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

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.

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”

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).

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.

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.

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

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”

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.

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.

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).

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