An Approach to Research in this Project

Using the qualitative and quantitative methods outlined above, this research project has studied people’s opinions in Thailand regarding cultural dimensions, globalization, social creativity, and the education system and community development. The mixed method approach included surveys of a large number of people and interviews with small groups of people regarding the social imaginary in Thai society. The research inquiry has been framed as a case study for identifying factors that influence social imaginary in Thai society.

3.11.1 Case Study Research

The term case study has a variety of meanings. According to Struman (1997), “case study is a generic term for the investigation of an individual, group or phenomenon. A distinguishing feature of the approach is that in order to explain, predict or generalise from a single case, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth investigation of the interdependencies of parts and of the patterns that emerge” (p.76).

Busha and Harter (1980) suggest that “case studies allow close examinations of unique problems of individual groups or situations something that many other methodologies do not readily permit” (p.127). According to Bell (1999) the case study approach is particularly appropriate for individual researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within a limited time scale. In addition, Yin (1994) defined a case study as an “empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and contexts are not clearly evident of its application. In general, case studies

are the preferred strategy when ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions are being posed, when the investigator has little control over events and when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context” (p.1).

Case study was considered appropriate for this research project because an understanding of Thai social context was important to understanding how globalization operates and influences the development of the social imaginary in Thai society. In addition, the research sought answer to ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about the interdependencies and subsequent effect of cultural dimensions, globalization, and social creativity on the education system and community development (and their associated imaginaries). For these reasons case study was chosen over other methodological frameworks.

The decision to study cases was also determined by investigating the impact of globalization on Thai society, the education system and the exploration of the perception of particular groups of people in Thai society from the Ministry of Education and Interior and Undergraduate students from Thamasart and Sripatum University. Yin (1994) and Burns (2000) explained that a case study approach has long been one of the many design techniques researchers have implemented when undertaking research involving an interest in an individual case or cases, in order to gain insights from that particular bounded unit or system. In this view, case study research could be qualitative, quantitative or a combination of both methods (as in this project).

Also, included as part of the case study methodology, the researcher will describe the social imaginary in Thai society by drawing upon his own experience and feelings (in the Chapter 6 discussion) as a participant in the effects of globalization in Thai society. Patton (2002) points out that “researchers are able to bring their personal insights and experiences into any recommendations that may emerge because they get especially close to the problems under study during fieldwork” (p.217).

3.11.2 Types of Case Study Research

There are many different ways of classifying case study research. Different methodologists have a variety of labels to describe the particular orientation of the case study approach they write about. Burns (2000), Stake (1995; 2000) and Yin (1994) are but a few of the leading methodologists in the field of case study research. Stake (2000) identifies three

types of case studies: an intrinsic case study, an instrumental case study and a collective case study. For an intrinsic case study, the researcher has an intrinsic interest and would like to understand more of this particular case. Stake gives as examples of this, the study on an Autistic child, the dynamics of gender in a Year 4 classroom or the Hells Angels’ group identity. In an instrumental case study, investigation of a particular case is undertaken so that understanding of this issue leads to a generalization. The offered example is investigating the development of racist attitudes in (three) young children. Stake (2000) points out that in instrumental case study, “the case is of secondary interest, it plays a supporting role, and it facilitates our understanding of something else” (p. 437). For this, Stake (2000) provided the example of studying the phenomenon of children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) that may entail in-depth individual case studies of children with ADD and the collectively analyzing the data to understand the phenomenon of Hyperactivity. In other words, it is an instrumental case study of many cases.

Yin (1994) provides yet another classification of case study types as explanatory case studies (the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of phenomena in a real life context), exploratory case studies (to find out what the situation is), and descriptive case studies – (describing a particular events, subcultures, or sequence of events over time).

3.11.3 The Use of a Case Study Approach

Basically, the main techniques applied in this case study to gather data were document analysis, interviewing, survey questionnaires and to a lesser extent observation. Bell (1999) indicates that case study researchers are able to identify influential factors of particular organizations or cases. One of the most obvious strengths of this approach is that it offers a good opportunity for researchers to examine a particular example or case in depth within a time constraint. However, there are certain weaknesses in the case study approach. One issue that is usually mentioned and questioned by critics is the problem of generalisation (Stake, 2000; Yin, 1994; Burns, 2000; Bell, 1999). “Qualitative research typically does not make external statistical generalisations because its goal usually is not to make inferences about the underlying population, but to attempt to obtain insights into particular educational, social, and familial processes and practices that exist within a specific location and context” (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2007, p.240).

According to the numerous definitions of case study outlined as above, a case study was a suitable for investigating individual participants and their views and actions in this research project.

The case study factors that influenced the social imaginary in Thai society were isolated and contained by focusing on particular groups of people, such as policy makers, school principals, academics, and government officials to explore attitudes, experiences, problems and suggestions about influences of globalization and cultural dimensions on the social imaginary in ordinary life. Using different sources of evidence that examined phenomena in context, case studies investigate and analyse the information from particular groups (Yin, 1984). In-depth information was to be collected from particular groups to provide answers to the research questions.

One of the strengths of the case study approach in this research study was that it allowed a focus on particular group of people in the context of this research (that is Thai society) and was concerned with understanding the impact of globalization and cultural dimensions on the social imaginary.