102 study. This involves reporting multiple perspectives, identifying the many factors involved in a situation, and generally sketching the larger picture that emerges”. In the present study, there might be many factors that influence the process of personal naming and gender is definitely one of them. The present study will then look at how gender comes into play when choosing the name of a new-born baby.
103 analyses and interprets Zezuru personal names with the aim of wanting to find out how these names can categorise individuals on gender lines.
Maree, 2007; Yin, 2003) say the case study design has been selected because it has the following strengths:
the researcher gets a clear understanding and knowledge on the social issue under investigation; in this case the extend to which Shona personal names can reflect the gender status of the name bearer.
the design allows for the use of multiple sources of information which provide a large amount of information and detail.
enhances thorough investigation because of the few cases selected. In this case not all namers and name bearers will be interviewed and this will enable the researcher to concentrate on the chosen participants thereby getting detailed information with regard to the research problem.
it provides answers for the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions asked in this study,
in such studies that investigate on social issues, it helps in examining behaviours that cannot be manipulated and need thorough analysis of subjects,
is helpful in such researches that focus on contemporary phenomena within real-life contexts.
A strength in the use of a case study as a research design for this study is its use of multiple sources and techniques in the process of data gathering. As compared to other technical designs such as experiments which are used in a deductive research which start with general theories to be tested, case studies make use of several data gathering strategies Mamvura (2014).Yin (1994) posits that case studies make use of the following tools of data gathering; interviews, documentation review, surveys and even collection of physical artifacts.Getting information from a variety of sources ensures that the researcher can draw valid conclusions from the gathered data. This is the best way of ensuring the balance and representativity of the gathered data. The case study research design has the advantage of allowing new ideas and hypotheses to emerge from careful and detailed observation (Yin, 2009). In the case of the present study new ideas with regard to how people regard gender roles in Shona society will emerge as the research unfolds.
104 Case studies are mostly used in qualitative research, but it may marginally include quantitative data (Nieuwenhuis, 2007c). Despite the many strength of the case study as a research design, it has its own limitations. The major limitation case studies noted in literature is their dependence on single cases (Mamvura 2014). It is claimed that generalisations cannot be made from single case studies (Nieuwenhuis, 2007c; Linderger, 2006, Flyvbejerg, 2007; Rose, 1991). Contrary to these criticisms, research carried out in research methods refutes such claims. Nieuwenhuis (2007c) is one of those who refutes the criticisms levelled against the case study as a research design as he advances that case studies are not primarily concerned with providing platforms for making generalisations rather they are aimed at gaining greater insight and understanding of the dynamics of a specific situation.
In supporting the use of a single case as an object of study; Hamel, Dufour and Fortin (1993) cited in Nieuwenhuis, 2007c:76) describes such singularity as a concentration of the global in the local. Thus, he is saying that the case study with its emphasis on intensity will definitely produce credible results which can be generalised to represent the majority. In the same vein, a thorough study of Zezuru personal names in Buhera South will obviously provide the researcher with credible results on how these names reflect the gender status of the name bearer and these results can be generalised on the country as a whole. Flyvberg (2007) in Mamvura (2014) proves that it is not true that a case study cannot provide reliable information about the broader class. He concludes this in his list of misunderstandings about case studies. One significant metaphor that is often used in the social sciences is that a properly selected case constitutes the dewdrop in which the world is reflected. It is a fact that case studies offer a researcher an opportunity for engaging in a deep and focussed analysis of the phenomenon under research because the concentration is on a particular case.
After all generalisationand transferability of data gathered using a case study will be enhanced by:
the generalisation of theoretical propositions not populations.
the creation of “ thick description of the sending context so that someone in a potential receiving context may assess the similarity between them and the study” (Lincoln and Guba, 1985: 125 cited in Merriam, 2009).
varying the sites and participants in the study sample to broaden the range of application by readers or consumers of the research (Merriam, 2009)
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The belief that “every case is in certain aspects, like all other cases, like some other cases, and like other case” Wolcott 2005:167 cited in Merriam, 2009). This statement implies that information obtained through case studies can as well contribute to the horizontal accumulation of knowledge (Merriam, 2009).