3.2 Research Approach
3.2.3 A case study approach
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at that particular moment in time.
Integrating all the participants’
perspectives and the learning from the organisational documents allowed the researcher to develop a big picture perspective of the problem issue (in the form of the causal loop diagrams, to be explained in the ensuing chapters).
Thus, this study provided a holistic account of the sustainability of the Oxfam GB affiliate.
92 choice of variables and categories the researcher chooses to include and exclude in his/her research instrument. For these reasons, case study research has just as much merit, and demonstrates no less rigor, than quantitative methods (Flyvbjerg, 2006).
In this study, a case study approach was facilitated by focusing the investigative aims on one particular case, in this regard, a single NPO. The NPO selected was Oxfam, an international NPO with branches throughout South Africa. The focus of the study was on the Oxfam GB affiliate in SA specifically.
The Oxfam website (www.oxfam.org) declares the contents of the following table as the Vision, Purpose and methods of achieving such a purpose, as a guiding framework for Oxfam organisations throughout the world:
93 Table 3-2: Vision, Purpose and means of achieving the purpose of Oxfam (www.oxfam.org)
Our Vision
1. Oxfam’s vision is a just world without poverty. We envision a world in which people can influence decisions which affect their lives, enjoy their rights, and assume their responsibilities as full citizens of a world in which all human beings are valued and treated equally.
Our Purpose
2. The purpose of Oxfam is to help create lasting solutions to the injustice of poverty. We are part of a global movement for change, one that empowers people to create a future that is secure, just, and free from poverty.
Achieving our Purpose
3. Oxfam uses a combination of rights-based sustainable development programs, public education, Fair Trade campaigns, advocacy, and humanitarian assistance in disasters and conflicts. In doing so, we seek to be innovative and practical, and to learn from others in ways which will increase impact on a larger scale.
4. Oxfam challenges the structural causes of the injustice of poverty at global, regional, national, local, community and household levels, within the framework of rights-based development. We link local to global, and we work with partners at all levels. We do so through direct and
alliance- based advocacy and campaigns, by strengthening and empowering local organizations, by helping people where necessary, and by assisting the development of structures which are accountable to and directly benefit people living in poverty.
5. Oxfam recognizes the critical importance of gender justice, diversity, active citizenship, transparency, good governance, and effectively responding to the environmental and other crises that confront vulnerable communities and developing countries.
6. In the pursuit of its purpose Oxfam will be accountable to all stakeholders, especially those living in poverty. We will be positive, optimistic, and committed, and will reach out to engage and include others.
94 While the organisation’s main aim is the alleviation of poverty and injustice, Oxfam is involved in the following endeavors throughout the world:
Assistance in emergency hit countries such as those affected by droughts, famine, conflicts, etc. with the purpose of helping poor people to deal with, and recover from, such crises.
Raising public awareness through global and domestic campaigns regarding the root causes of poverty and empowering the public to take action in dealing with it.
Intense engagement in advocating for equitable human rights, especially with regards to females and children, as well as to challenge practices and policies that perpetuate poverty and injustice.
Engagement and collaboration in long-term and/or international projects and programs to alleviate poverty and counter injustice.
Involvement in research and analysis through joint collaboration with domestic and international partners regarding policy and practice perpetuating poverty and injustice.
Intense involvement in uplifting the status, rights and living conditions of women and children as marginalized members of the international community, with an aim to securing gender and child justice.
Involvement in lobbying for more equitable land policies, especially in cases of land grabbing
Support of “green” initiatives that highlight climate change and lobbying against policies and parties that perpetuate environmental destruction of any kind
Lobbying and support for policies and practices which promote access to basic services and rights, such as the right to education, the right to health services, the right to be treated fairly, etc.
(Source: www.oxfam.org)
Human rights and the protection thereof, is at the heart of what Oxfam affiliates around the world do. Thus, the Oxfam Annual Report (Nuthmann, 1994) highlights the following five rights as forming a pivotal framework for all of Oxfam’s social work throughout the globe:
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The right to a sustainable livelihood and decent living and working standards, especially for women. Some instances include campaigning for fairer trade rules and for the protection of natural resources.
The right to basic social services such as health, education, clean water, etc. Oxfam often provides clean drinking water and health education and training programs to needy communities, as well as funding schools and training teachers.
The right to life and security, especially in the aftermath of natural disasters and during political conflicts by for example, providing shelter, proper sanitation, food and clean water, as well as assistance in rebuilding destroyed homes and facilities.
The right to be heard by empowering the poor and marginalized to speak up against poverty and injustice, as well as compelling those in power to listen and act.
Encouraging women to speak out against inhumane working conditions and empowering poor farmers to lobby against unethical land grabs would be two examples.
The right to an identity and to be treated as equals, especially when it comes to marginalized social groups such as women, children, disabled people and/or members of an ethnic or religious minority, especially since these groups tend to be the hardest hit by poverty and injustice due to their partial or full exclusion from, and discrimination by, larger society.
According to Yin (2003, p. 5), the choice of research strategy employed by the researcher will depend on three considerations, namely:
(1) What kind of research question the researcher wishes to address through their research (2) The degree of control, if any, that the researcher has over behavioural events, and (3) Whether the research focuses on recent or contemporary events
Case studies are employed when the researcher wishes to answer a “how” or “why” kind of research question, when they have no control over behavioural events and when the research seeks to examine an issue that is contemporary in nature (Yin, 2003, pp. 5-11). Therefore it seemed an appropriate fit with this kind of study because:
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The researcher sought to explore “why” sustainability is important to the particular NPO and “how” it could be promoted. It sought to identify “how” the NPO defined
“sustainability”. The study also explored what variables were involved in this organisation’s sustainability and “how” these variables interacted to impact on the overall sustainability of the organisation. In addition, it explored “how” the changing external environment in which the NPO was embedded would influence the sustainability of the organisation.
The researcher was an outsider with regards to the research setting as they were not employed by the particular organisation. Thus, they had no control over the behaviour of the organisation, its employees, nor operations within the organisation.
The issue of the sustainability of NPOs can be regarded as a fairly contemporary issue, especially with the number of NPOs increasing every year, as well as the rapid closure of increasing numbers of NPOs due to struggles to remain sustainable in an increasingly complex and competitive environment. In addition, since the non-profit sector is now taking on the roles and responsibilities of the private and public sector, ensuring their sustainability has become an imperative focus.
Yin (2003, p. 13)goes on to define a case study as:
“An empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.”
This study therefore, with its focus on intensive empirical engagement and collaboration with the research participants, (namely key members within the NPO), its focus on the contemporary issue of NPO sustainability, its engagement with participants in the setting in which they operate and the fact that investigating the sustainability of this organisation (phenomenon) depends entirely on investigation of the organisation itself (context) qualify this study as a case study.