The use of Qualitative Analysis in Case Study Research.docx
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TheuseofQualitativeAnalysisinCaseStudyResearch
Volume7,No.1,Art.21–January2006
TheUseofQualitativeContentAnalysisinCaseStudyResearch
FlorianKohlbacher
Abstract:
Thispaperaimsatexploringanddiscussingthepossibilitiesofapplyingqualitativecontentanalysisasa(text)interpretationmethodincasestudyresearch.First,casestudyresearchasaresearchstrategywithinqualitativesocialresearchisbrieflypresented.Then,abasicintroductionto(qualitative)contentanalysisasaninterpretationmethodforqualitativeinterviewsandotherdatamaterialisgiven.Finallytheuseofqualitativecontentanalysisfordevelopingcasestudiesisexaminedandevaluated.Theauthorarguesinfavorofbothcasestudyresearchasaresearchstrategyandqualitativecontentanalysisasamethodofexaminationofdatamaterialandseekstoencouragetheintegrationofqualitativecontentanalysisintothedataanalysisincasestudyresearch.
Keywords:
casestudyresearch,contentanalysis,qualitativecontentanalysis,qualitativeresearch
TableofContents
1.Introduction:
Qualitativevs.QuantitativeResearch?
2.ResearchQuestion,AimandStructureofthePaper
2.1Cognitiveinterestandresearchquestion
2.2Aim,structureandscopeofthepaper
3.CaseStudyResearch
3.1Thecasestudyasaresearchstrategy
3.2Designingcasestudies
3.3Conductingcasestudies
3.3.1Collectingevidence
3.3.2Analyzingcasestudyevidence
3.3.3Reportingcasestudies
4.ContentAnalysis
4.1Classicalcontentanalysis
4.2Qualitativecontentanalysis
4.2.1Excursus:
qualitativeresearch
4.2.2PhilippMAYRING'sapproach
4.2.3Qualitycriteriaandvalidationissues
5.TheUseofQualitativeContentAnalysisinCaseStudyResearch
5.1Mixedmethodsandtriangulation
5.2Casestudyresearchandqualitativecontentanalysis
5.2.1Opennessandabilitytodealwithcomplexity
5.2.2Theory-guidedanalysis
5.2.3Integrationofcontext
5.2.4Integrationofdifferentmaterial/evidence
5.2.5Integrationofquantitativestepsofanalysis
5.3Limitationsofqualitativecontentanalysis
6.Outlook
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Author
Citation
1.Introduction:
Qualitativevs.QuantitativeResearch?
Therehasbeenanongoingdebateontheappropriatenessofdifferentapproachesandmethodsinsocialresearch.Asamatteroffact,manyauthorspointtotheheateddiscussions,sometimeseven"wars"(theso-called"paradigmwar"),betweentheadherentsofquantitative(so-called"QUANs")andqualitativeresearch(so-called"QUALs")designs(e.g.BRANNEN,1992,pp.3-5;BRYMAN,2004,pp.452-454;HAMMERSLEY,1992,pp.39-41;KELLE,2001,[1]-[5];TASHAKKORI&TEDDLIE,1998,pp.3-13).Onemaincharacteristicofthisdisputeseemstobethedichotomouswayinwhichqualitativeandquantitativeresearch(methods)werepresentedaswellastheresultingstrictcontrapositionofthetwo(cf.alsoBRYMAN,1992,pp.57-59)1).CASSELLandSYMON(1994)forinstancegivethefollowinglistofdefiningcharacteristicsforqualitativeresearch:
"afocusoninterpretationratherthanquantification;anemphasisonsubjectivityratherthanobjectivity;flexibilityintheprocessofconductingresearch;anorientationtowardsprocessratherthanoutcome;aconcernwithcontext—regardingbehaviourandsituationasinextricablylinkedinformingexperience;andfinally,anexplicitrecognitionoftheimpactoftheresearchprocessontheresearchsituation"(p.7).[1]
Ontheonehand,thisdefinitionputsforththemainpointsofwhatqualitativeresearchisabout,butitalsodemonstrateshowitispositionedortriestopositionitselfincontrasttoquantitativeresearch.NEUMAN(1997)goesevenfurtherbystatingthattherearebasicallytwocategoriesofdatacollectiontechniques:
quantitativeandqualitative(p.30).Whilethefirstmeanscollectingdataintheformofnumbersthesecondmeanscollectingdataintheformofwordsorpictures(ibid.).Thisisofcourseonlyaverysuperficialandover-simplifiedassumptionofthedistinctionbetweenquantitativeandqualitativeresearchmethods.[2]
Moreover,qualitativeresearchmethodshaveoftenfacedacceptanceproblemsandacademicanddisciplinaryresistances,whicharepartlyduetothepoliticsembeddedinthisfieldofdiscourse(cf.e.g.DENZIN&LINCOLN,2000,p.7):
qualitativeresearchersarecalledjournalists,orsoftscientists,andtheirworkistermedunscientific,oronlyexploratory,orsubjective.However,greateffortshavealsobeenmadetoreconcilebothsides(or,wherenotpossible,atleasttosoothethedispute),thusprovidingtheopportunitytoexploittheadvantagesofbothapproachesandopeningthewayforsynergyeffects(e.g.MAYRING,2001,[3]-[9];TASHAKKORI&TEDDLIE,1998,pp.16ff).Theseattemptssharetheconceptionthatqualitativeandquantitativemethodsshouldbeviewedascomplementaryratherthanasrivalcamps(JICK,1979,p.602).Thishasledtotheappearanceofmixedmethodapproachesandtheuseoftriangulation(e.g.BRYMAN,2004,pp.454ff.;CRESWELL,2003,pp.208ff.;JICK,1979,p.602;cf.alsoSection5.1).Besides,inthecourseofthelastcentury(especiallythesecondhalfofit),thedevelopmentofqualitativemethodsshowedimpressiveadvancesandresults,thushelpingtogainmoreacceptancenotonlyinthefieldofsocialresearch(cf.e.g.MAYRING,2002,pp.9-18).[3]
Thispaperalsoaimsathelpingtoovercomethestrictcontrapositionofqualitativeandquantitativeresearch.Asthefollowingsectionswillshow,thecombinationandmixingofdifferentresearchmethodsbearsanenormouspotentialfortheadvancementofsocialresearch.[4]
2.ResearchQuestion,AimandStructureofthePaper
Thissectionpresentstheresearchquestionunderlyingtheanalysisanddiscussioninthefollowingsectionsandgivesashortoutlineofthepaper,explainingitsaim,structureandscope.[5]
2.1Cognitiveinterestandresearchquestion
Sinceitsdevelopmentinthebeginningofthe1980s,MAYRING'squalitativecontentanalysishasachievedpopularity(TITSCHER,MEYER,WODAK&VETTER,2000,p.62).However,thisqualitativelyorientedapproachtocontentanalysis—adisciplinetraditionallydominatedbyquantitativemethods—hasmainlybeendiscussedandusedwithintheGerman-speakingscientificcommunityanddoesnotseemtohaveattractedasmuchattentioninternationallyasitactuallydeserves2).Infact,GLÄSERandLAUDEL(2004)contendthatqualitativecontentanalysisishardlyused(p.44)andTITSCHERetal.(2000)intheirbibliometricsurveyoftheprominenceofmethodstextanalysiscometoasimilarconclusionasfarasmethodliteraturecitationsareconcerned(pp.217-218).However,whenanalyzingthefrequencyofkeywordsconsiderabledeviationsfromthecitationanalysisturnedup:
amarkeddominanceofqualitative(andalsoquantitative)contentanalysis(TITSCHERetal.,2000,pp.219-221).[6]
Casestudiesarewidelyusedinorganizationalstudiesandacrossthesocialsciences,andthereissomesuggestionthatthecasestudymethodisincreasinglybeingusedandwithagrowingconfidenceinthecasestudyasarigorousresearchstrategyinitsownright(cf.e.g.HARTLEY,1994,p.208;HARTLEY,2004,p.323).STAKE(2000)concurs,suggestingthatcasestudieshavebecome"oneofthemostcommonwaystodoqualitativeinquiry"(p.435).However,therehavealsobeentraditionalprejudicesagainstcasestudystrategyinsuchawaythatcasestudieshavebeenviewedasalessdesirableformofinquiryforinstance(cf.e.g.YIN,2003a,pp.10-11).Besides,itwasclaimedthatcasestudieslackinrigorandreliabilityandthattheydonotaddresstheissueofgeneralizabilityincontrasttoquantitativemethods(HARTLEY,1994,p.208).[7]
Theauthorarguesinfavorofbothcasestudyresearchasaresearchstrategy—tryingtodisprovethecritiquesjustmentioned—andqualitativecontentanalysisasamethodofexaminationofdatamaterial.Atthesametimeheseekstoencouragetheintegrationofqualitativecontentanalysisintotheimportantstepofdataanalysisincasestudyresearch.[8]
Therefore,theresearchquestionwhichistobeansweredinthecourseofthispaperisthefollowing:
Whatisthecontributionqualitativecontentanalysiscanmakeasamethodoftextanalysis(forinterpretinginterviewtranscriptsandotherdocuments)incasestudyresearch?
Or,putmoregenerally:
Whatisthecontributionofusingqualitativecontentanalysisasaninterpretationandanalysismethodfordevelopingcasestudies?
[9]
2.2Aim,structureandscopeofthepaper
Thispaperaimsatexploringanddiscussingthepossibilitiesofapplyingqualitativecontentanalysisasa(text)interpretationmethodincasestudyresearch3).First,casestudyresearchasaresearchstrategywithinqualitativesocialresearchisbrieflypresented.Then,abasicintroductionto(qualitative)contentanalysisasaninterpretationandanalysismethodfortextdocuments—especiallythetranscriptsofqualitativeinterviews—andotherdatamaterialisgiven,withthefocusonPhilippMAYRING'sapproachtoqualitativecontentanalysis.Finally,theuseofqualitativecontentanalysisforconductingcasestudyresearchisexaminedandevaluated.[10]
Sincethispaperonlyaimstoserveasthestartingpointforamorethoroughdiscussionoftheapplicationofqualitativecontentanalysisforcasestudyresearch,thescopeisrathernarrow.Providingonlyanintroductiontothetheoreticalargument,theneedforfurthertheoreticaldiscussionaswellastheempiricaltestingoftheargumentisobvious.Besides,duetothelimitedscopeofthispaperandmyownresearchinterests,thefocuswillmainlybeonorganizationalandmanagerialresearch,ev
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