Qualitative and case study research
1. Select a media technology research paper that is using qualitative methods. The paper should have been published in a high quality journal, with an “impact factor” of 1.0 or above. The following are examples of questions to discuss in your blog posting:
Which qualitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods?
Following the given instructions, I chose a high quality research paper called Cultural Similarities and Differences in the Design of University Web sites by Ewa Callahan, which was published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (Impact factor: 3.117). It "examines cultural differences and similarities in design of university Web sites using Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions" (Callahan, 2005: 239).
Graphical elements on the university websites in eight different countries were compared to each other using the content analysis method. In particular, there was a focus on the visual content, differencing between the criteria of organization and graphical design of the homepage. On the other hand, the method is beneficial since it enables the establishment of individual categories applied on the websites and can fully adept to the researcher's considerations without any restrictions. On the other hand, there is a big chance that not all possible graphical elements on each site are considered. In addition, the study is limited to the genre of university homepages, which means for instance, that the pictures used are very likely to show a higher quantity of younger than older people. Since qualitative methods usually have to compromise between individuality and data size, this study also was limited within the selection of countries.
What did you learn about qualitative methods from reading the paper?
The study shines light on a university's opportunity to adapt to future students and possibly how to rise its attraction level. Although the qualitative method proves to be very extensive and tries to include various categorizations, I learned that it can never really attest to reality or include all possibilities. Especially, cultural differences are hard to compare specifically, but still, it is interesting to see how to undertake a qualitative design process by using Hofstede's cultural model, how his indexes correlated with the abstracted data and how this is further on interpreted. Additionally, the study method succeeded in detecting cultural markers typical of specific cultures.
Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the qualitative method or methods have been improved?
One methodological problem might be that the graphical design is not just influenced by the culture in the country of the university, but also depends on the intension, background and motivations of the designer. Often the homepage of one specific country is replicating the organizational structure of homepages in other countries and are therefore visualizing more than one cultural perspective. Another issue is that cultural aspects are strongly influenced by the language and discourse styles, which were not analysed in this study. Therefore, the method could have been improved by including language as a variable. It would have also been interesting to see, if cultural differences in web design influences the usability or attraction level for different types of students. Moreover, since just a few universities in a country were tested, it should be considered to extend the scale of research data in terms of the number of universities in a country or the number of countries tested itself.
Which qualitative method or methods are used in the paper? Which are the benefits and limitations of using these methods?
Following the given instructions, I chose a high quality research paper called Cultural Similarities and Differences in the Design of University Web sites by Ewa Callahan, which was published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (Impact factor: 3.117). It "examines cultural differences and similarities in design of university Web sites using Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions" (Callahan, 2005: 239).
Graphical elements on the university websites in eight different countries were compared to each other using the content analysis method. In particular, there was a focus on the visual content, differencing between the criteria of organization and graphical design of the homepage. On the other hand, the method is beneficial since it enables the establishment of individual categories applied on the websites and can fully adept to the researcher's considerations without any restrictions. On the other hand, there is a big chance that not all possible graphical elements on each site are considered. In addition, the study is limited to the genre of university homepages, which means for instance, that the pictures used are very likely to show a higher quantity of younger than older people. Since qualitative methods usually have to compromise between individuality and data size, this study also was limited within the selection of countries.
What did you learn about qualitative methods from reading the paper?
The study shines light on a university's opportunity to adapt to future students and possibly how to rise its attraction level. Although the qualitative method proves to be very extensive and tries to include various categorizations, I learned that it can never really attest to reality or include all possibilities. Especially, cultural differences are hard to compare specifically, but still, it is interesting to see how to undertake a qualitative design process by using Hofstede's cultural model, how his indexes correlated with the abstracted data and how this is further on interpreted. Additionally, the study method succeeded in detecting cultural markers typical of specific cultures.
Which are the main methodological problems of the study? How could the use of the qualitative method or methods have been improved?
One methodological problem might be that the graphical design is not just influenced by the culture in the country of the university, but also depends on the intension, background and motivations of the designer. Often the homepage of one specific country is replicating the organizational structure of homepages in other countries and are therefore visualizing more than one cultural perspective. Another issue is that cultural aspects are strongly influenced by the language and discourse styles, which were not analysed in this study. Therefore, the method could have been improved by including language as a variable. It would have also been interesting to see, if cultural differences in web design influences the usability or attraction level for different types of students. Moreover, since just a few universities in a country were tested, it should be considered to extend the scale of research data in terms of the number of universities in a country or the number of countries tested itself.
Callahan, E., 2005. Cultural Similarities and Differences in the Design of University Web sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Vol. 11, No. 1, p. 239-273.
2. Read the following article:
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550.
Select a media technology research paper that is using the case study research method. The paper should have been published in a high quality journal, with an “impact factor” of 1.0 or above. Your tasks are the following:
Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is.
By using single or multiple cases on various levels of analysis, a case study tries to understand the dynamics present within single settings. They typically use different data collection methods that can be qualitative or quantitative (e.g. archives, interviews, questionnaires, observations). The intension of case studies is to postulate explanations, and test or generate theories.
Use the "Process of Building Theory from Case Study Research" (Eisenhardt, summarized in Table 1) to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your selected paper.
In the following, I will analyze the paper with the help of Eisenhardt's table summary as a roadmap for how to execute this kind of research. The paper in question deals with Revealing the Vulnerability of People in Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina, published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers (2014 Impact Factor: 2.291).
Getting Started
The paper successfully defines the research question after explaining beforehand the necessity of the research itself. By using a conceptual model of vulnerability that implements both biophysical and social indicators to assess hazards, the design is trying to understand the complexities of vulnerability and its attributes and effects in a real-world setting.
Selecting Cases
There were no theories and hypotheses brought up, but the study examined a specific population in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The location was chosen since the researchers were familiar with the area, the area experiences a lot of different hazards and has a broad sociodemographic profile.
Crafting Instruments and Protocols
The research uses qualitative and quantitative data, in order to investigate the study area. For instance, the data of hazard events and the rate of occurrence had to be collected by using historical data. Further, the hazard zones had to be detected and spatial impact areas were defined. The research uses for instance the model of the National Hurricane Center for likely affected areas.
Entering the Field
Going through various studies and research data that investigated natural hazards, the researchers describe the context of the case study and the underlying social and biophysical elements in-depth.
Analysing Data
The extensive data was analysed by putting the different data layers into a geographic information system. To extract the information, all layers were combined into a single composite of intersecting polygons that had different biophysical hazard scores assigned. That way, the geography of individual hazard zone as well as 'vulnerable' areas could be examined.
Shaping Hypotheses
The research logically derives evidence from the researched data and explains extensively the causes and in-between relationships. Wile the factors are very hard to define, terms like social vulnerability or the vulnerability of places were assessed in detail.
Enfolding Literature
Throughout the research article, literature is compared to the study and the provided information, especially at the beginning to cover the ground of geography as human ecology. However, there is not a specific chapter in the closing parts, which would enfold literature.
Reaching Closure
The case study presents a template for future integrated place-based hazard studies. The public policy ground still leaves a lot of space uncovered, and this research proves that researchers can significantly contribute.
Cutter, S., Mitchell, J. and Scott, M., 2000. Revealing the Vulnerability of People and Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 90, No. 4, p. 713-737.
Eisenhardt, K., 1989, Building Theories from Case Study Research. The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, p. 532-550.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building Theories from Case Study Research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550.
Select a media technology research paper that is using the case study research method. The paper should have been published in a high quality journal, with an “impact factor” of 1.0 or above. Your tasks are the following:
Briefly explain to a first year university student what a case study is.
By using single or multiple cases on various levels of analysis, a case study tries to understand the dynamics present within single settings. They typically use different data collection methods that can be qualitative or quantitative (e.g. archives, interviews, questionnaires, observations). The intension of case studies is to postulate explanations, and test or generate theories.
Use the "Process of Building Theory from Case Study Research" (Eisenhardt, summarized in Table 1) to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your selected paper.
In the following, I will analyze the paper with the help of Eisenhardt's table summary as a roadmap for how to execute this kind of research. The paper in question deals with Revealing the Vulnerability of People in Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina, published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers (2014 Impact Factor: 2.291).
Getting Started
The paper successfully defines the research question after explaining beforehand the necessity of the research itself. By using a conceptual model of vulnerability that implements both biophysical and social indicators to assess hazards, the design is trying to understand the complexities of vulnerability and its attributes and effects in a real-world setting.
Selecting Cases
There were no theories and hypotheses brought up, but the study examined a specific population in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The location was chosen since the researchers were familiar with the area, the area experiences a lot of different hazards and has a broad sociodemographic profile.
Crafting Instruments and Protocols
The research uses qualitative and quantitative data, in order to investigate the study area. For instance, the data of hazard events and the rate of occurrence had to be collected by using historical data. Further, the hazard zones had to be detected and spatial impact areas were defined. The research uses for instance the model of the National Hurricane Center for likely affected areas.
Entering the Field
Going through various studies and research data that investigated natural hazards, the researchers describe the context of the case study and the underlying social and biophysical elements in-depth.
Analysing Data
The extensive data was analysed by putting the different data layers into a geographic information system. To extract the information, all layers were combined into a single composite of intersecting polygons that had different biophysical hazard scores assigned. That way, the geography of individual hazard zone as well as 'vulnerable' areas could be examined.
Shaping Hypotheses
The research logically derives evidence from the researched data and explains extensively the causes and in-between relationships. Wile the factors are very hard to define, terms like social vulnerability or the vulnerability of places were assessed in detail.
Enfolding Literature
Throughout the research article, literature is compared to the study and the provided information, especially at the beginning to cover the ground of geography as human ecology. However, there is not a specific chapter in the closing parts, which would enfold literature.
Reaching Closure
The case study presents a template for future integrated place-based hazard studies. The public policy ground still leaves a lot of space uncovered, and this research proves that researchers can significantly contribute.
Cutter, S., Mitchell, J. and Scott, M., 2000. Revealing the Vulnerability of People and Places: A Case Study of Georgetown County, South Carolina. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 90, No. 4, p. 713-737.
Eisenhardt, K., 1989, Building Theories from Case Study Research. The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, p. 532-550.
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