Unfortunately we didn't have lecture of theme 6. So there were a lot of questions and unclear moments for seminar.
At the beginning of the seminar we discussed research paper that we have selected in small groups. I selected two papers for this theme, the first one “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes” by Denise E Agosto and June Abbas and case study “Intercultural Communication Training in IT Outsourcing Companies in India: A Case Study” by Raju, R. In both papers the authors used such qualitative methods as questionnaire and interview. Actually I didn't get the difference between case study and qualitative research. For instance, in both paper quite small sample was analyzed, the results were quite subjective and had serious limitations. So we discussed what a case study is. That main point that distinguishes case study is absence of hypothesis. In other words, case study helps to formulate the hypothesis. As I mentioned in pre-lecture post, the one of characteristic of case study is targeting on understanding the phenomena instead of explanation the phenomena. Consequently, the goal of conducting case study is to look depth on the topic and explore the problem in order to come up with a hypothesis and continue further research based on that hypothesis.
Another question that we also discussed was the limitations of case study and methods. The conclusion was that both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in a case study. The main limitations of case study are small sample and subjective author's view. Therefore, case study results cannot be generalized and require further research,
Continuing the previous issue we brought up the question of relation between prototype and case study. Can a prototype be a case study? I think it's quite interesting question, but there is no definite answer.
After the seminar I got a grasp what is case study and its role in research. I really like that we had seminar this week as seminars allow to understand topic way better.
At the beginning of the seminar we discussed research paper that we have selected in small groups. I selected two papers for this theme, the first one “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes” by Denise E Agosto and June Abbas and case study “Intercultural Communication Training in IT Outsourcing Companies in India: A Case Study” by Raju, R. In both papers the authors used such qualitative methods as questionnaire and interview. Actually I didn't get the difference between case study and qualitative research. For instance, in both paper quite small sample was analyzed, the results were quite subjective and had serious limitations. So we discussed what a case study is. That main point that distinguishes case study is absence of hypothesis. In other words, case study helps to formulate the hypothesis. As I mentioned in pre-lecture post, the one of characteristic of case study is targeting on understanding the phenomena instead of explanation the phenomena. Consequently, the goal of conducting case study is to look depth on the topic and explore the problem in order to come up with a hypothesis and continue further research based on that hypothesis.
Another question that we also discussed was the limitations of case study and methods. The conclusion was that both qualitative and quantitative methods can be used in a case study. The main limitations of case study are small sample and subjective author's view. Therefore, case study results cannot be generalized and require further research,
Continuing the previous issue we brought up the question of relation between prototype and case study. Can a prototype be a case study? I think it's quite interesting question, but there is no definite answer.
After the seminar I got a grasp what is case study and its role in research. I really like that we had seminar this week as seminars allow to understand topic way better.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteat the beginning I also had some troubles distinguishing the qualitative method and the case study. It is very good that you adjusted you previous answer about case studies and denied that case study is a qualitative research what you stated in your pre-blog. It shows that you revised and articulated what you learned. You mentioned very important point that case study give the understanding which is used lated for future researches. I think it is worth saying why case studies do not have hypothesis since the researchers do not have enough intellectual capacity to formulate assumptions because the field of research is totally new for them. You raised an interesting question about prototype and case studies. I would say that in case studies the prototype could be used but it would be very hard to create the prototype regarding the fact that you do not have enough knowledge about particular phenomena that is the condition when you choose the case studies. Therefore, I do not imagine how to create the prototype when you lack of knowledge. All in all, you summarized the most important points and what is more important clearly defined when the case study is applied.
Hej,
ReplyDeleteYou give the answer about the differentiation between qualitative research and case study in your own blog post - the case study format can use either quantitative or qualitative methods. It's nice to compare how you wrote it before and after the seminar.
I had actually also already come up with the questions how one can use prototypes in case studies. Also taking Dovilé's comment into account, I think the building process of a prototype can be seen as a case study in itself. It gets adapted to new situations that no or very little previous knowledge exists about. We haven't discussed this in our seminar, unfortunately, but this is how I would understand it!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think that you have summarized case studies well by saying that they are targeting on understanding a phenomena instead of explaining a phenomena.
To add to your discussion:
I agree with that a case study can help form a hypothesis that is being used in further research. When it comes to the goals of conducting a case study, I had interpreted it to be to make observations in a certain setting to get a deeper understanding of how that setting works. In other words I had interpreted that the problem or question that might rise from making a case study would be a result of the study, yet not the goal or meaning behind it. So I found this part of your reflection very interesting and it presented a new perspective to me.
Great reflection with good explanations of what you have learnt from the seminar!
Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts! I agree with you that the lectures have always been very hepful. I agree with you that a case study does not seek out to address specific hypothesis. I think that it helps to enter into an area where you know too little and want to find out more. During the discussion in the seminar, one person gave an example when a case study was useful: A paper about internet addiction in the year 2000 in which surveys and interviews were used. The person explained that it was a good example of trying to find out if something is there or not. What are your thoughts on this? Well done!
ReplyDeleteYour posts are very thought through and despite not having a lecture it shows that you have understood what a case study is from your reflection of the seminar, I agree with you and also want to add an example that I thought was interesting from our seminar discussions which was that cases studies are useful when trying to find out if something exists or not (in other words, when looking into a new or relatively new area). Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi Masha!
ReplyDeleteThank you for a great blog post! You really discuss all the main concept of this theme and I think that you have a good question at the end, if a prototype can be a case study, I think that a prototype could be a part of a case study but I'm not sure that you can use just the prototype for the whole study since you don't have the knowledge of how a participant usually act since a prototype use to be something new that people haven't experienced before. It is an interesting question that I think we could discuss more in the future. Good work Masha!
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI like your reflection, I agree that one of the main strengths of a case study is that it can consist if both qualitative and quantitative methods and that is can explore something new in hopes of formulating new theory. I do not know if I agree that hypotheses is formed, I would like to think theory is. Good that the seminar gave you a clearer view if the theme in the absence of a lecture!
Thanks for sharing us with your thoughts! Your thinking was very impressive. You get a good understanding on the two lectures, and I enjoyed reading through your reflections. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteOnce again a really interesting reflection from your side. I agree that due to the missing lecture many questions were open when we had the seminar. Prior to the case study it was also very hard to me to get the difference between the case study research and qualitative methods and as you have written the absence of a hypothesis answered the question to me. Furthermore, your selected paper “Don’t be dumb—that’s the rule I try to live by”: A closer look at older teens’ online privacy and safety attitudes” sounds really interesting and I will definitely have a look into this one.
You did a good job summarizing the most important points about last weeks theme. I also had problems finding the difference between a qualitative method and case studies in the first place but the seminar helped me to get a better understanding of what a case study is. You give a good explanation of it in your reflection, but I like to add the fact that choose cases that have not been investigated before and where there is no information about it yet. An example that stuck in my mind was a case study from a terror attack. It might never happen again but you can also try to prevent it from happening again trough the gained knowledge from the case study. As you wrote there is no definite answer for the question if a prototype can be a case study, but I really like the thought about it. It shows that you try to put your knowledge from previous themes in relation to this one. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI also feel a pity that there was no lecture in Theme 6. Anyway,we still did a excellent discussions during the seminar.Thanks for your thoughtful explanation on the case study and it seems you did a lot of work on finding the suitable paper for the Theme 6. I agree with you that " case study helps to formulate the hypothesis"and it does not contains the hypothesis.From my perspective, I regard case study as a kind of strategy wich helps us to conduct the research in a comparetively constant steps.Case study is more like a guidance which guide you before the time when you filter the idea of the research and also guide you after the time when you gathered many information. While qualitative study is a kind of method to be used in the process of research.That is why case study can contain both qualitative study and quantitative study.
Thanks for your interesting reflection.Keep up.