Comparing and Contrasting the Research Methods - Assignment Example

Comparing and contrasting research methods (case study with other methods) Introduction Research processes involve identification of a topic and an organized implementation method. Examples of research methods include case studies, surveys, focus groups, participants observations and in depth interviews among others. This paper compares the case study method with these other five research methods. Case study Case study is one of the earliest research methodologies in research history and involves a critical analysis of factors of a unit, an individual entity, or a group of entities. It is also widely applicable to different subjects such as psychology and education and investigates a social problem in order to identify and explain factors that has influenced an occurrence. A case study further aims at understanding characteristics of the studied subject for generalization to a larger population and has been used to develop theories such as developmental theories among children. Its ‘generalizability’ is based on the assumption that an explored case is similar to other cases and gathered information is the same as what would be observed in the other cases (Zucker, 2009; Crowe et al, 2011). Some of the features of case study that distinguishes it from other research methods are its specialization in a unit for study and a comprehensive study of such a unit. The method is also strictly qualitative and focuses on causal effect relationships. It is also largely dependent on a researcher’s rationale as opposed to observed features of the studied elements. Case studies also exist in different types such as snapshot case studies, and longitudinal case studies, a feature that allows for freedom in the research method It offers a number of advantages such as flexibility, ability to infer observations to other cases, and ‘relatability’ in cases where results cannot be inferred. It is similarly able to study small units such as an individual effectively. The case study has however been associated with external validity challenges due to its usual small sample size. Its implementation follows the traditional approach of preliminary considerations, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication of the interpreted results. Case study can be applied in studying management styles, and their prospects, as used by an institution (Crowe et al, 2011; Roberts, n.d.). Case study was for example used in the research to investigate ICT-enabled government models in European cities (Jrc, 2010). Focus groups The focus group is another qualitative approach to research in which participants are organized in defined groups to discuss issues about a topic. This method effectively captures the respondents’ emotional expressions and was initially developed for research in marketing but has since been diversified to other scopes. There is no single approved approach for conducting focus groups but each group has a moderator or a facilitator and its define set of rules. Its interactive approach allows for application of interpersonal communication skills to facilitate collection of information (Upfroant, n.d.; Sage, 2010). One major characteristic of the focus group methodology is the interaction between the researcher and the respondents. This may involve each respondent at a time or a group might participate at the same time. Similarly, a discussion happen once or repeated several times. The approach has a characteristic respondent size of between six and ten and allows for interactions among the respondents besides as well as interactions between respondents and the moderator. Its interactive nature identifies the method’s ability to motivate participation among respondents, for example in a research amongst youth who may be shy to discuss a topic- individually- with a researcher. Based on its features, the method has advantages such as the moderator’s control over the collected data because of the ability to guide discussions, respondents’ freedom that makes it explorative, and benefits of non-verbal communication. It is however dependent on the moderator’s ability and the respondents’ willingness to disclose information and may be subject to moderator bias (Institute, 2012). Focus groups therefore have a number of similarities with case studies. They are both qualitative methods and focus on narrowed topics. A number of differences are also evident between the two methods. Participants in a case study may be human beings or phenomena while participants in a focus group are strictly humans. Focus group also allows for interactive processes that make them more explorative while case study is rigid. A moderator in a focus group can also motivate responses in the research process while case study only allows for collection of available information. Daley et al applied focus group to investigate community based participatory research (2010). Participant observation Participant observation is another qualitative research that applies an inductive technique in data collection. It involves direct interaction of the researcher with the target population or sample in a study. The researcher must however be careful to develop the participants’ confidence in order to ensure validity of the collected information as a change in behavior is possible during the research process (Lacono, Brown & Holtham, 2009). The researcher’s direct involvement also eliminates barriers to accessibility of information but may induce researcher bias. A researcher also has a number of alternatives for implementing a participant observation approach such as the ‘full participants,’ and ‘the participant researcher,’ (Duke, n.d.). Participant observation and case studies are both qualitative methods. Further, they have different implementation approaches that offer a researcher a freedom to choose the most applicable choice for a research situation. Both approaches are similarly descriptive as they reports on what is directly identified from the research process. Participant observation is however, primary data collection as it retrieves information as an ongoing activity while a case study relies on already experienced information. Another difference between a case study and participant observation is the barrier to information. Availability of information in a case study is often restricted to the primary source’s report while participant observation accesses all the available information on the research subject. Participant observation also often considers a larger sample size than a case study. Participant observation was applied in investigating “factors affecting viability of electronic marketplace” (Lacono, Brown & Holtham, 2009, p. 1). Experimental methods Experimental method is an example of quantitative designs that investigate cause and effects relationships between variables. It involves a control group and an experimental group in which participants are untreated in a control group and variations are done on participants in the treatment group. It is applied to test an already determined hypothesis and may take a variety of approaches such as pretest and posttest studies. Repetition in experimental method with either a single participant or different participants forms its basis for application in investigating correlation effects among variables (K12, 2012). These identify differences between case study and experimental methods. Case study is a qualitative design method while experimental method is quantitative. Experimental design also allows the researcher’s control over the research variables while a case study researcher has no power over research variables. Both methods explore causal effect relationships. An experimental study was for example used in a research to investigate significance of effects of institutions on tax incidence (Cox, Rider and Sen, 2012). Informal and in-depth interviews In-depth interviews is a method where the researcher asks some open questions and records responses. Interviews also have both similarities and differences as compared to case studies. The data collection method in interviews involves a direct interaction between the researcher and the respondent while a case study does not. The approach is also explorative as it allows the interviewer to present open-ended question that can be further explored to completely answer a question, a contrary application to the scope of case studies that limits a researcher to the available information in a case. In spite of the differences, a researcher in both methods relies on another party’s expertise. Interviews rely on the interviewee’s ability to offer accurate and reliable information and case study relies on the primary source of information’s reliability and accuracy (Guion, Diehl and McDonald, 2012). The two methods also have many approaches and offer a researcher the opportunity to choose the most applicable. This is because an interview can be done through different approaches such as through telephone, post, or face-to-face and case study can follow snap shot case studies or longitudinal case studies. The interviews can be used to investigate people’s expectations, such as in market research (K12, 2012). An example of an in depth interview is reported Massachusetts’ research to investigate effectiveness of “Getting to the Heart of the Matter” as an approach to influencing behavior (Kanoknata, 2010, p. 1). Biographical research Biographical research is an approach to knowledge development based on people’s perception of life. It relies on people’s experiences as a source of data that it analyzes for conclusions. Data collection may involve personal interview or secondary sources. This identifies the reliance on existing sources, people’s experiences and documented sources, as similarities between biographical research and case study. Biographical research is however different from case study because of its specialized field of study, human lives, while case study also includes other phenomena. A case study can be used in writing a person’s biography (Breen, 2009). Rose’ approach to studying British soldiers’ experiences, from the soldiers’ biographies, is an example of biographical research (McGarry and Keating, 2010). The table bellow summarizes similarities and differences between case study and the other methods and explores the methods’ applications. Table 1: comparison summary Method Similarities Differences Application Focus groups Both are qualitative Focuses on few subjects Participants are strictly humans Is more interactive Suitable for participant motivation Participant observation Both are qualitative and descriptive Allows for freedom of methodology choice May involve larger samples Occurs alongside investigated subject Applicable in collecting first hand social information Experimental methods Have many implementation options Explore causal effect relationships Can be quantitative Allows for researcher’s control Applied in cases that needs control observations Interviews Both rely on third party expertise Many options for implementation Involves direct and interactive contact with respondents Applicable in generating predetermined scope of information Bibliographical research Many implementation options Only specializes in studying human lives Applied in developing information about people’s lives and their perception about life Conclusion A comparison of case study with other different research methods therefore exhibit both similarities and differences in the methods features, advantages, and disadvantages, and application. 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