Theme 6: Reflection

The last topics we talked about in this seminar were case studies and qualitative research. In the first blog post about this topic I already summarized quite well what a case study is. It is one or more cases that are investigated in a specific field of research. What I understood wrong the first time and learned throughout the week is, that the research question which that you are going into the field doesn‘t have to be as clear as I stated it the last time. That is actually one of the most important elements of a case study. When going into the field you mostly have no concrete research question. The research question as well as the theory that will be built can be completely open.

In the seminar came up the question what the difference between case studies and qualitative research is since there occur quite many similarities, like the construction of hypotheses or the approach inside the field. As we had to learn it is sometimes quite hard to draw the line. Basically a case study is not just a method. It is describing a research focus on another level above qualitative and quantitative research methods. In comparison to a qualitative research the boundaries or limits of a case study is way more concrete. For example the case is limited to a specific company or occasion like an earthquake. So a case study is about a setting of phenomenon. The research framework is normally not constructed, like in the most qualitative or quantitative studies. The researcher doesn‘t intervene that much. He has also another intention than in a qualitative study. In a case study the researcher wants to understand something we don‘t know anything or enough about yet. In a qualitative study the focus is more on a specific occurring and we try to understand things that influence or explain this occurring. The research questions are more narrow and we go into the field with some kind of assumption. After the discussion in the seminar the differences were way clearer to see. Before I didn‘t even ask myself the question and just accepted that there are different ways of researching and different ways of using a method. Nevertheless it is important to define for yourself the opportunities in researching when you start to explore or analyse in social sciences. In the seminar was mentioned that many researchers don‘t chose the method after the topic, but the topics after the methods (they used before, their colleagues use, the field of interest uses, etc). Although that might happen to some of us, it is still good to know the differences, advantages and disadvantages of different methods and approaches.

The example I chose in my first blogpost was in retrospect seen not really a good case study. The field was not as specific as it should be in a case study. The investigation of the social meanings of mobile phones of youth in South Africa could have been made in a qualitative study at the same time. The borders around this field for according to me not clear enough for a case study. Additionally the researchers already had quite a lot assumption when they went into the field. So some of the other examples, like the case study about the communication strategies after a specific earthquake, was a better choice.