For this
week´s theme we read two different papers, one with qualitative method and the
other paper was about a case study. Since the first method was pretty familiar
to most of us, due to previous themes and courses, the case study became the
centre of attention during the seminars group discussions. For this theme the lecture got cancelled so
we had the one seminar to discuss the theme. In my opinion the lectures have
been better if the theme have more of a fact base rather than a philosophical,
so I it was to bad it got cancelled. But I think that the seminar was good and
we got some interesting topics to discuss.
During the
seminar we as usual sat in smaller groups and discussed the theme and what we
all had troubles with was that it was hard to know for sure if what you read
was a case study or not. Some was smart and made sure that the paper had "case
study" in the title but it was something we thought showed the difficulties with
having to read first and then know what it is. We all felt that this made the case study
analysis fell short. So know after the
seminar I would like to ad to my analysis that step 4: entering the field was a weakness of the study, they did
not really describe how it was and looked like.
In the end
of the seminar we had a general discussion and here are some of the topics:
Qualitative
methods:
· It could be by doing by interviews,
it the response that matters not how many they ask. It can be 10 000 people,
yes but can it be or 1?
· Provide data that can be generally
applied.
Quantitative
methods:
· You can use quantitative method on
one person: one example scenario could be if you have a rare disease and try to
find a cure.
Case study:
· Case study can it be to study one person and his characteristic. If he is one of his kind due to his head
injury.
· If you have more than one with the
disease and you study it then it stops being a case study. à Then it could become a qualitative
research if you start seeing similarities between them.
· Something new, something that have
not been looked into before if when you should do a case study.
· Case study can be a way to start a
big study, and once you have more knowledge about that specific event. Then you
can move on and see how that compare in the bigger picture. Ilias mentioned one
example about kids, if they al of a sudden wear pink outfits, then you start off by study
the one person and when that is done you can move on and look at the broader
picture and use another methods.
At the end
of the seminar a question was about why did we have this course earlier and I
this it got a good answer that will be a good way to end this last reflection
post: knowledge is easier to receive if you have tried and failed first. And
you are never done with knowledge you will learn though out your life as long
as you are willing to.
Hello Lisa! I get the feeling that everyone seems to have reached a consensus about that it isn't the number of participants that decides if it is a qualitative or quantitative research method. It is the analyzing of the data that proves if it is a quantitative or qualitative study and I also agree about this. I think you might need to proofread your reflection because there are some language errors and broken sentences but otherwise a nice reflection!
SvaraRadera
SvaraRaderaI gotta say that I totally identify with what you said about being familiar with qualitative research struggling with defining precisely what case study was. I also agree that a lecture would have been quite useful in understanding case study as it was the subject of more interest both in our seminar group and apparently in yours as well.
It is quite helpful and quite interesting the way you summarized and visualized the connects of qualitative, quantitive and case study research. However, I am not sure if I agree with what you wrote about Quantitative methods and how it could work with only one person as the subject of your study. I agree with what you wrote under case study. I think you have some very interesting ideas and they sure can clarify the concept of case study to me and to first year students as well.
Nice reflection. Cheers!
Hi,
SvaraRaderaWe were in the same group this week, so it was easy to understand your points and the examples despite of some spelling mistakes in your text. I like that in the end you pointed out the answer of Ilias. A lot of students last week were complaining that they should have learned all of that before their bachelor thesis. Ilias was so right saying that you can understand better something when you have tried and failed first. Also, now in the master programme we have the maturity to discuss about some topics and gain more knowledge than if we have discussed them in the bachelor programme. After six weeks of studying and learning new things it was nice to end your final post with the thought that we are never done with the knowledge and we can learn as long as we live if we want it to.
Thanks for sharing us with your thoughts! Your thinking was very impressive. You get a good understanding on the two lectures, and I enjoyed reading through your reflections. Good job!
SvaraRaderayour sentence on "Case study can be a way to start a big study,"
SvaraRaderasay alot of how it different from our previous theme. as previous theme we always mention what hypothesis is. and how it can be conduct from previous theory. but case study we start without any theory. and pave the way for new theory. like you said 'once you have more knowledge about that specific event. Then you can move on and see how that compare in the bigger picture.' nice reflects :)
Hello!
SvaraRaderaI think you did a nice reflection, it would have been good to explain the example with the man and the head injury though - I didn't attend the seminar so I wouldn't have understood at all what you ment if I hadn't read about it in other blogs!
It seems like you've understood the theme and concept of case studies, and drawn the same conclusions as the rest of us. I like that you wrote about how it can be a start to a big study. I also liked your ending and agree that it was a nice way to end the course.
Hello.
SvaraRaderaI also feel that case studies was more interesting to discuss since we already had a pretty good understanding of what qualitative methods are.
I do not really understand what you mean with that a case study stops being a case study when there are more objects to study than one? From what I understood, a case study is not at all based on how many subjects you are studying. A case study is more of a type of research. In a case study you can use qualitative and quantitative methods if necessary but it is more about observing and isolating a specific case which you hopefully can gain new knowledge and craft new theories from.
The number of people in a research does not decide what type of study it is. What it can do is making the study more or less trustworthy. A qualitative method can be built upon just one person, but depending on what the study is about it might not be a very good study.
I agree that it was difficult distinguishing what was a case study. In my case, the paper I chose was even called a case study in its title but it was clearly not a case study. Perhaps it would have been better to have list of case studies to choose from.
SvaraRaderaI think the list of questions was a good format, but I would have liked to read more about what conclusions they made you arrive at.
Hi Lisa!
SvaraRaderaAs Björn mentioned in a previous comment, I think your reflection could benefit from some proof reading. Other than that, nice reflection. I would say that the reading we did on the subject before beginning our bachelors thesis was sufficient for the task at hand and that taking an entire extra course might have been overkill. Since it is mandatory to read for us I think that it has a good place in the program where it is now. I strongly agree with you that learning comes easier if you have previously tried (and perhaps failed) with something.
Something that a lot of people seem to have come to realise during this weeks theme is that qualitative and quantitative methods are not defined by the number of participants but rather the type of data you collect and how you analyze it. - Which you seem to have understood as well and manage to present in a nice way.
Good luck with the final post, cheers!
Hi!
SvaraRaderathanks for sharing your interesting reflection. I totally agree on case studies being the hardest part to fully grasp. But you managed to point some good points. To add to that a case study is conducted to show if there is a possibility to see if there is more to investigate and gain knowledge on how to further develop your conducted research. You have a done a good job explaining qualitative studies in a easy way for me to understand and agree upon. Keep it up!
I like the point of view that a case study can serve as a proverbial 'entrance' into the research of a subject matter, i.e. be used as a way to determine what aspects warrant further research, what methods might be applicable and from what academic tradition research should be pursued. It's a possibility that I hadn't yet considered myself before the seminar, but that makes the concept of a case study so much more prominent.
SvaraRadera