At this point I wish to clarify why I felt case study to be a method particularly appropriate to my research. The case study method is a qualitative research tool that concerns itself with the natural
context in which research is conducted, so it is capable of being used to gauge how stakeholders understood and implemented policies. According to Guba and Lincoln (1981: 124), “human behaviour unlike that of physical objects cannot be understood without reference to meanings and purposes attached by human actors to their activities”. The decision to choose a research design such as qualitative case study hinged on the fact that I was investigating questions appropriate to my study (Yin, 1994), as well as the fact that my desired end product was intended to be a holistic, intensive description of how facilitators experienced the training method at Ikhwezi Community College. As a researcher, I was particularly interested in facilitators’ insight as they experienced their training. This is referred to as “interpretation in context” (Cronbach, 1980).
A case study approach also aims to uncover the interaction of significant factors characteristic of the phenomenon. Yin (1994) observed that case study design is predominantly suited to situations where it is impossible to separate the variables of the phenomenon from their context. My selection of qualitative case study as a research tool is also linked to Merriman’s description (1988: 20-21) description of personal characteristics of this type of research. She refers to personal people skills such as the tolerance for sound communication skills, empathy, ambiguity, sensitivity, and good listening skills as essential aids to qualitative research. As a teacher, researcher and head of a teachers’ development institution, I have worked towards refining and developing my own skills in these areas in order to pursue this kind of study as an instrument of discovery.
Pursuant to the argument for the use of case study, it may, at this stage be fitting to this discussion to consider definitions of case study provided by other writers. Cohen and Mainon (1994: 106- 107) describe the aim of case study as being:
…to probe deeply and intensively analyse the multifarious phenomenon that constitute the life cycle of the unit with a view to establishing generalisations about the wider population to which that unit belongs.
Walker (1983) describes case study methodology as the “science of the singular”. Once again, my choice of this method was prompted by the belief that case study research has several advantages. Case study data is “strong in reality”: but may be difficult to organise. Case study allows for generalisations, either about an instance, or from an instance to a class, as well as
recognising social situations and having the ability to represent conflicts between viewpoints held by participants and to offer support to alternative interpretations. The data may form an archive of descriptive material which can be interpreted at a later stage. Insights from case studies may also be directly interpreted and put to use. The research data may be presented in a more publicly accessible form than other kinds of research data. A wide variety of methods of gathering data may be used, but for this study, while aware of other research instruments, the researcher has opted for the Case Study approach as it was the most suitable instrument for eliciting teacher’s personal experiences. Case study also offers insights and illuminates meanings that expand the reader’s experience. Case study plays an important role in advancing a field’s knowledge base.
Bromley (1996:38) argues that the aim of case study is “not to find the ‘correct’ or ‘true’
interpretation of the facts, but rather to eliminate erroneous conclusions, so that one is left with the best possible, the most compelling interpretation.” This notion is supported by Guba and Lincoln (1981) when they suggest that the aim of the naturalist inquirer is not to present a single inquiry asserting itself as the ‘truth’. Naturalist inquiries should aim to discover the multiple realities that co-exist within any research context. My role as researcher was to present this messiness, after having been thoroughly immersed in the thickness of the context of Professional Development and Support through the training of teachers as facilitators. The respondents of the research should judge the value of the research itself, and gauge whether their realities have been accurately represented. Therefore, the trustworthiness of the research derives from whether the respondents find the data credible, rather than whether the data proclaims an eternal truth.
Merriam (1988: 23) described empathy as “the founder of rapport”. Empathy and openness was maintained with the different stakeholders during the interviews. I attempted to understand the
‘other’, as if I was the ‘other’, bearing in mind that I had also been a teacher for several years. I needed to understand the factual content of what was said, in addition to the emotional undertones. I also reflected on my own thoughts and feelings throughout the study, so that I would be unlikely to bring distortions to the interviews. Throughout the research I was aware of my personal limitations as a researcher which could impact on my study. I thus made my personal assumptions, viewpoints, biases and beliefs available to the various respondents.
By using qualitative case study research, I attempted to understand how all the parts work together to form a whole, the assumption being that there are multiple realities; that the world is not an objective thing out there, but a function of personal interaction and perception. It is a highly
subjective phenomenon in need of interpreting rather than measuring beliefs, rather than facts form the basis of perception (Merriam, 1988: 17).
Merriam (1988) further propagate four characteristics which are essential properties of a qualitative case study, namely particularistic, descriptive, heuristic and inductive qualities.
Particularistic refers to the case study’s focus on a particular situation, event, programme of phenomenon; while descriptive infers that the end product is a rich, ‘thick’ description of the phenomenon under study. It also involves “interpreting the meaning of demographic and descriptive data in terms of cultural norms and mores, community values, deep-seated attitudes and notions and the like” (Guba and Lincoln, 1981:119). Heuristic indicates that the case study illuminates the reader’s understanding of the phenomenon under study, thereby bringing about the discovery of new meaning, extending the reader’s experience and confirming what is already known. Inductive refers to the emergence of generalisations, concepts or hypotheses from an examination of data which is grounded in context. My research on exploring and elucidating the experiences of facilitators is characteristic of these four properties.
Stake (1995) claims that knowledge learned from case study are different from other research knowledge in important ways, some of these being:
- that it is more concrete: it resonates with our own experience because it’s more vivid and sensory than abstract.
- that it is more contextual: our experiences are rooted in context, as is knowledge in case studies.
- that it is more developed by reader interpretation: readers bring to a case study their own experience and understanding leading to generalisations when new data are added to old data based more on reference populations determined by the reader.