I selected my paper for the qualitative
method part of theme 6 based on the fact that it covered a similar
topic as the one I used for quantitative methods. To me it was
interesting because the point of the whole paper was to challenge the
current state of research into the subject that is mainly done
quantitively, and I share the researchers point of view myself.
During the seminar we didn't really
delve that much deeper into qualitative methods since we have been
discussing it during multiple seminars already, but rather just
talking about the papers we all selected.
We did however put some more time into
talking about case studies, and I have to say that I'm really happy
with the explanation I gave in my pre-reflection. The only thing I
would like to add is a small addition to better explain theoretical
saturation. In the beginning of a study it's relatively easy to find
connection and information unknown to you, but while you keep
iterating the cost of gaining new information keeps getting higher in
what I believe to be an exponential rate. Sooner or later you will
reach a point where the cost of learning something new is not worth
the investment in time or money. I would also like to clarify that a
case study is not a method itself but rather a strategy which I was a
bit unclear about in my pre-reflection.
This is not to say that everything
interesting is known about the case, but it is probably better to
cover it in a future specialized study instead. Unfortunately we
didn't have any lecture on this theme and I honestly didn't get any
big eye openers between making my pre-reflection and now. Ilias even
told me “I have nothing more to add” after sharing my view on
what a case study is, which of course felt good, but I would have
loved to have more things to discuss during the seminar from
listening to more examples given during a lecture like the other
weeks.
Overall I think case studies are
interesting with it's cyclic nature of iterations rather than just
having one predefined research question, even if those could be
altered a bit as well.
Both your pre and postreflection are great, they have a nice flow to them and summarize your points in the of best ways. The fact that you believe the iteration curve is exponential feels natural and I agree with the statement. Unless you have a breakthrough very deep into the study, then the graph of progress would probably take another turn.
SvaraRaderaHi!
SvaraRaderaYour reflection is nice work! Especially i am interested in your third paragraph about theoretical saturation. It is a common truth not only for a particular study but also exist in almost every research. In stead of just a strategy, i think case study more like a strategy of research.
Good luck with last post!
You did a good job summarizing the main points of last weeks theme. Although I had problems with defining what a case study is in the beginning and the seminar helped me to understand that better I feel like the cancelled lecture would have provided more in-depth knowledge about both qualitative methods and case studies. It is good to hear that you had already a good understanding about what a case study is. I think that conducting a case study is very interesting because you never know what information you can get out of it and it could lead in very different directions than you expected it to. It would have been nice to get some examples of case studies in our field.
SvaraRaderaHey!
SvaraRaderaI share your disappointment with this weeks theme, I was also hoping for more information and better understanding of the theme. I think that if we had a lecture everything would be more interesting and we would have more insight.
It's interesting how you point out that the case study is not a method but strategy. I also came to that conclusion based on our seminar discussions, and this wasn't clear after my preparation for this theme. Thank you also for clarifying the theoretical saturation term!
Hi! Thank you for the inspiring reflection! You’ve grasped a very good understanding of both qualitative study and case study. For me case study is still kind of inaccessible even after the seminar. So I have some difficulty understanding that case study is a “strategy” rather than “method” as you mentioned (although it’s a really good conclusion). Since I can’t find any clear frames or steps to follow in case study, what kind of “strategy” it actually is? And since “strategy” and “method” themselves are two (part of) overlapping concept, what is the main difference? Anyway your reflection that “predefined research question could be altered a bit” really reminds me of the importance to set a clear research question as well as to reserve some space for some alternatives. Great job!
SvaraRadera