The Disadvantages Of Using Qualitative Interviewing

Disadvantages of a case study involve having a difficult definite conclusion to the hypothesis since there is no right or wrong answer. Also not all case studies are scientific, for example, Freud’s study of Anna O, and her problem with hysteria. This case is not scientific and is not capable of generalization. Case studies involve observations of a subject under research but the researcher may miss issues entirely due to inappropriate data collected.

A case study involves in-depth research and documentation of one person or more than one person. Researchers gain a large insight into the case when it’s not as many people compared to surveys, which is one of its strengths. The advantages of a case study are a deeper understanding of the patient, and the researcher doesn’t ‘t have to do anything against his or her ethics. The disadvantages of a case study are time consumption, and it’s hard to generalize since case studies are usually unique cases unlike anything else. Case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observations are all descriptive research methods, since they cannot make predictions or determine causality.

A case study is “a method of analysis and a specific research design for examining a problem” (University of Southern California, 2010). It can be used to analyze a person, place, event, or other subjects in order to help discover mitigating issues, misconceptions, failures, trends, or recommendations (USC, 2010). Case studies will be used to gain a better understanding of situations and topics to help others make better policies, procedures, and decisions (USC, 2010).

Case studies are one of the first types of research to be used in the qualitative methodology and repeating the study several times will lead to the increased reliability of the study (Starman, 2013). This methodology is appropriate because it will allow for data collection results to be generalized based on the theoretical propositions and not the population (Harrison et al. 2017).

In the reading of the book Methods in Behavioral Research, the author clearly defines the case study as “an observational method that provides a description of an individual” (Bates, 2012, pg. 121). The objectives of this course fitting to our syllabus were to familiarize us to the practices of psychological research, to advance our understanding of how research is completed and the methods used to do it, and to give us the capability to communicate knowledgeably about the ideas following the research procedure.

Qualitative data is not numerical and is more likely to take the form of observations or interviews. Obviously, it is very difficult to perform any statistical analysis on this kind of data. A further problem is that another researcher cannot replicate this data and therefore it is difficult to check the validity of what has been written. Researchers using this kind of data must be careful to avoid subjectivity, that is, they must avoid letting their personal beliefs or preferences affect the way they record and interpret the data. The advantage of this form of data collection is that it allows the researcher to answer open-ended questions; consequently, it is more flexible. Qualitative data also provides opportunities to explain the context of an observation and can therefore present a fuller picture (OU, 2001).

A qualitative methodological approach was the obvious choice in that it allows for the collection and interpretation of stories, narratives, interviews and other forms of non-quantifiable data. A qualitative approach also does not demand or strive for detached objectivity of the researcher but instead encourages the disclosure of researcher bias and the engagement of the researcher with the research and subjects, often in the role of participant-observer (Dade, Tartakov, Hargrave, & Leigh,

Case studies allow the least amount of control while conducting research.  This lack of control is considered to be one of the lowest forms on the scale of conducting a case study.  Case studies also involve only one person at a time without comparison to another group.  Because of how a case study is set up, it is difficult to compare the results from a

This section of the article shall address the approach used in the case study, providing explanations of the preferred research method, sample details, variables under examination, data collection

Research questions in case study design begin with ‘how and why’ (Yin, 2003) and determine the type of case study. The main function of the questions is to keep the researcher focused and on track (Zucker, 2001).The following questions fit the planned instrumental, and exploratory/descriptive single case study design:

There are a variety of ways for researchers to do so, as validity is a very important component of any qualitative research method, including case studies. Combining research methods is a considerable way to ensure validity. This concept can be described as triangulation, which is when multiple methods are conducted in order to gather data, and these contrasting methods produce the same outcome (Tracy, 2010). Within triangulation a minimum of three varying methods must be used in order to ensure validity (Tracy, 2010). There are four subgroups of triangulation, which include data triangulation, method triangulation, investigative triangulation and theory triangulation, each of them being a significant way to ensure validity in case study research (Berg & Lune, 2016). Triangulation is a method that ensures no threats to the validity of the case study and is an important factor for researchers to consider when conducting their case study (Berg & Lune, 2016). In their research, Martins and Wilson (2012), demonstrate triangulation, as they used multiple coders to analyze the data to ensure the results were conclusive. This is a prime example of how triangulation can be used in research to ensure validity, in this case using inter-coder reliability as a means to achieve this (Martins & Wilson,

Case studies are considered an influential research methodology that can association group interviews and individual interviews with observation. Researchers perform observations, get information from brochures, reports, receipts, and articles and add it along with interview data from those that participate. The goal for the case study is to

The type of study implemented in this research is a case series, where the cases explored

A case method is a documented study of a situation that transpires in real life or it can be about a fictional situation, which is used as teaching or learning tool in business schools and firms. These studies allow students evaluate cases and provide their own interpretations on potential solutions for the provided business scenario. Furthermore, the case method can also be described as something that gives you a detailed explanation of a company, industry, person, or project over a given period of time. Within the explanation, information about the company’s objectives, strategies, challenges, results, recommendations and more can be found. This also poses as a great way to promote interaction between students and

A case study is a specific instance that is frequently designed to illustrate a more general principle (Nisbet and Watt, 1984). Hitchock and Hughes (1995) further suggest that the case study approach is particularly valuable when the researcher has little control over evens. Case studies strives to portray ‘what it like’ to be a particular situation, to catch up reality and ‘thick description’ (Geertz, 1973) of participants’ lives experiences of, thoughts about and feelings for a situation. They involve looking at a case or phenomenon in its real-life context, usually employing many types of data (Robson, 2002). It is important in case studies for events and situations to be allowed to speak for themselves, rather than to be largely interpreted, evaluated or judged by the researcher. In this respect the case study is akin to the television documentary. Case studies can make theoretical statements, but, like other forms of research and human sciences, these must be supported by the evidence presented.