Case selection

89

Case sel ection i s a critical step in the research process because the type of case that is selected influences the conclusions that are reached and the level of confidence one has about such conclusions ( M i les & H uberman, 1 994) . I t is therefore, important for the researcher to identify an appropriate case to maximise the opportunity to engage the problem, address it and draw conclusions that can be rel ied upon ( M i les & Huberman, 1 994; Yin, 2003 ). Mm'shal l and Rossman ( 1 999) argued that an ideal case should be accessible; offer the researcher the opportunity to encounter many of the processes, people, programmes, i nteractions, and/or structures that are relevant to the research q uestion; and provide credible data for the analysis of the phenomenon. Yin (2003) suggested that it is better to get a case which is more convenient, close and easy to access so that the researcher can have more time and a c lose relationship with the interviewees in order to gather the information needed. As such, the key question here is What criteria

are used to select a case ? Answers to this q uestion are important for the purpose of

repl icability and general isabi lity of the study beyond the specific case ( Vaughan, 1 992), I t is also important to distinctly describe the case so that it can be compared with other cases ( Ragi n, 1 992).

90 Chapter 4: Methods

The sampling logic used in the selection of the case organisation was purposl ve or theoretical as opposed to statistical (Glaser & Strauss, 1 967; Patton 2002 ) . The purpose was to select a case that is judged to be s uccessful in extension provision in G hana. The sampling strategy adopted for this study was intensity sampling ( M i les & Huberman, 1 994). With this sampl i ng strategy a case is selected that manifests the p henomenon intensely, but not necessarily extremely ( M i les & Huberman, 1 994, Shakir, 2002). This strategy was selected because the Ministry o f Food and Agriculture did not bel i eve that an outstanding case (or extreme) existed withi n the Central Region, which was to be the area of study. The Ministry of Agriculture did, however, bel ieve that there were cases that were more successfu l than others in implementing their decentral i sed policies. As such, a case was selected for the study because it was superior to other district extension organ isations in the area of interest.

The first criterion the researcher specified for case selection was location. The researcher wanted to select a case from the Central Region of Ghana ( F igure 4 : 2 ) because of ease of access ( Yin, 2003 ) and because he speaks the local language used in this area. After explaining the purpose of the research and obtaining pem1ission to undertake the study from the Ministry of Agriculture in the Central Region, the researcher contacted the director in the Central Region of Ghana in May 2004. The purpose of the study was then outl i ned, rapport was developed with key staff ( the Regional Agri c u l tural Development O fficers) and these staff members agreed to h e l p the researcher undertake the study. The staff at the regional office were then asked to h e l p the researcher sclect a suitable case for the stud y . The criteria given to the Ministry staff for the identification of a suitable case were that : ( 1 ) the extension organisation had to be successful and thus should be seen to have improved participation of stake holders in its extension programmes and enhanced the contribution agriculture makes to the l iveli hood sec urity of farm households in the district; ( 2 ) the staff within the organi sation had to be able to articulate why the organ isation was successful ; ( 3 ) the maj ority of the staff, particu larly sen ior staff, had to have worked for the organi sat ion fro m t he date when the organisation was decentral ised, and ( 4 ) the organisation had to have good archi val records of its dec ision making for the period from the inception of the decentralisation reforms to the present day .

Chapter 4: Methods � 0= - o :> Q WJ � o u B R K I pp R W R - - - ---' , , (;, , ugend _ _ _ Rf'gional Bomul.uif's • '�pit :d u l f of G u i n ea 1 00 K m

Figure 4:2. Map of Gh ana showing the reg ions, capitals and the study area

9 1

The M inistry staff were asked to use these criteria to rank the four most successful district extension organisations within its region that c omprised some 1 3 district extension organi sations. The Ministry of Agriculture in the Central Reg ion then gave the researcher perm ission to contact these four di strict extension organi sations. The researcher explained the purpose of the research to each d i strict organi sation and obtained permission to conduct a prel i m i nary i nvestigation to assess their suitabi l ity for the study . One case was selected because it was the most s uccessful and accessible, the staff were receptive and two of the staff members were known to t he researcher, which was an added advantage for rapport bui l ding.

92 Chapter 4: Methods

I n mid May 2 004, the case organisation was contacted to confirm that i t was to be the focus of the research. The researcher presented the director of the case organisation with a formal consent letter from the Central Regional MoF A Head Office. The director of the case organi sation was presented with documents that outlined the purpose of the study and the research method the researcher planned to use . The director was then asked for formal consent to use the organisation and to obtain access to the staff who would be interviewed to provide information for the study. Once the director had agreed to par1icipate in the study, the researcher requested to be i ntroduced to the staff at the next general staff meeting. During this meeting the researcher began building rapport with the staff of the case organisati on and briefed them on the study . As stressed by Fontana and Frey ( 2000) it was important that the researcher gained the trust o f, and established rapport with, the informant s at the beginning of the study.

4.3.3 Data col lection

Yin ( 2003 ) recommended the use of a protocol in case study research to guide data col lection. The protocol covers the field procedures, case study q uestions and data sources by which these q uestions can be answered. It i s treated as a design issue because it enhances reliability so that other researchers can repeat the process ( Y in, 2003 ) . The aim in the study was to identify what factors contribute to the success of a decentralised extension organisation, how such factors influence that organisation ' s success and why those factors have that influence. To achieve this aim, a data collection protocol was developed from the l iterature review ( Chapters Two and Three) . The data collection protocol consisted of a set of broad topic areas that were set out as q uestions ( Y i n, 2003 ) and these were developed from the literature rev iew ( King, 2004 ) (Table 4:2). The broad topic areas covered stakeholder participation, accountabil ity, institutional capacity building and resource mobil isation. However, because a goal of this research was to determine how an extension organisation operates at the local level, the broad topic areas were incorporated into the operational process of the organi sation: programme planning, implementation and evaluation ( Table 4:2). This set of broad q uestions guided the data collection process (Yin, 2003 ), but the researcher also used probing and clarification questions to obtain further detail about the various topic areas ( Legard et aI., 2003 ; King, 2004 ).

Chapter 4: Methods

Table 4:2. Broad q uestion areas covered for the unit of analysis in the study

I . Programme planning

a. How is the exte ns ion programme planned?

b. How is stakeho lder participation i n the programme planning ensured? c. Why i s the exte ns ion programme planned in this way?

2. Programme implementation

a. What key measures are taken to implement extension programmes?

b. How is institutional capaci ty built to ensure effective extension programme i mplementation?

c . How are resources mobil ised to e nsure e ffective extension programme implementation? d. How is stakeho lder participation i n extension programme implementation ensured?

e. Why i s the exte nsion programme implemented i n th is way? 3 . Programme evaluation

a. How does the case organisation evaluate its extension programme?

b. How is stakeholder participation in extension programme evaluation ensured?

c. How does it ensure accountabil ity or report to government, famlers and other stakeholders?

d. Why is the exten sion programme evaluated in this way?

93

C ase studies allow the use of several data-gathering techniques and multiple sources of evidence (Stake, 1 995; Rowley, 2002 ; Yin, 2003 ; Hartley, 2004 ) . The sources of data that can be gathered for a case study include : documents, archival records, i nterviews, direct observation, partic ipant-observation and physical artefacts ( S take, 1 995 ; Yin 2003 ). No one data source has a complete advantage over the others, rather they complement each other and several sources can be used in tandem (Tell is, 1 997). In this study , the main source of data was interviews. Secondary data were obtained from documents and field observations ( Wo lcott, 1 992; Miles & Huberman, 1 994) . The data collection was undertaken over a five-month period between May and September 2004.

4.3.3.1 Interviews

I nterviews are considered an i mportant source of information in qualitative research and are highly recommended for case studies ( Scott et aI., 1 99 1 ; Tell i s, 1 997; Patton, 2002). I nterviews can be structured, unstructured or semi-structured ( Brewerton & M i l l ward, 200 1 ; King, 2004). Structured i nterviews have fi xed q uestions with restricted options for informants to choose from. Unstructured interviews have no fixed questions and the researcher uses flexible means to elicit as much i nformation as possible to address one or a number of topics of i nterest to the researcher ( Brewerton & M i ll ward, 200 1 ; King,

94 Chapter 4: Methods

2004) . I n semi-structured i nterviews, fixed questions are u sed but these are open ended so that i nterviewees can provide answers that they consider important without restriction (Bryman, 200 1 ; Patton, 2002; King, 2004). Semi-structured interviews were t herefore adopted for thi case study to ensure flexibil ity and to reduce the possibi lity of infl uenc i ng the interviewees. Although respondents were directed by question(s), a measure of flexibility was ensured through the use of open-ended and probing q uestions to permit fol low-up to unanticipated answers ( Legard et aI., 2003 ; King, 2004). The aim in this research was to gather information on what the case organisation does, and how and why it operates that way , from people who have had l i fe experiences with the case in order to give a detai led descri ption and interpretation of the phenomenon.

4. 3. 3. 1 . 1 Selection of key-informants

A key issue with a study such as this is how to obtain a "true" perspective of what is happening - gi ven that some 40+ people work in the case organisation and it services over 1 00,000 farmers in col laboration with 20+ stakeholder organisations and 40 farmer­ based organisations. Miles and Huberman ( 1 994) indicated that an important source of information in qualitative research i s a good cross-section o f key informants. The answers to the questions as to whom and how many informants to recruit depend on the aim of the researcher and the amount of time and resources avai lable to undertake the research ( K ing, 2004). However, K ing cautioned that q ualitative research involving i nterviews often requires a considerable amount of time and resources for travel l ing, interviewing, transcribing, and data analysis. He, therefore, argued that time and resources are critical factors for consideration when deciding on the number o f informants to use i n a case study. There is also a strong argument for recruiting as many informants as possible to ensure data are collected from a wide range of perspectives ( K i ng, 2004). G iven the t i me and the resource constraints, the researcher realised that it was possible to undertake between 3 0-40 interviews for the study .

Infl uenced by the constraints mentioned above, the researcher used an informant selection team made up of the director, a s upervisor and a field agent to select key informants. The team members were selected by t he director of the case organisation at the request of the researcher. Drawing on their rich understanding of the organisation and the district, this team was asked to prepare a l ist of staff, stakeholder organisation personnel and fanners

Chapter 4: Methods 95

who had in-depth knowledge of the organi sation (Altheide, 1 996). The criteria the team was asked to use when drawing up the l ist were : ( 1 ) the people had in-depth knowledge of the case organisation from the inception of the decentral isation extension approach in 1 996, ( 2 ) they would be wi l l ing to participate in the research, and (3) they would provide a cross-section of views on the organisation. The team was used to select a cross-section of suitable informants from three main groups -the case organisation, farmers and stakeholder organi sations. The selection process is described in more detai l in the fol lowing paragraphs.

The first infomlant selection dilemma was to determi ne who - within the case organi sation that comprised some 40 i ndividuals - would be interviewed. Fox­ Wolfgramm et al. ( 1 998) and Volberda and Lewin (2003 ) identified informant selection as a critical decision in any organisational case study. Other authors ( Hanyani-M lambo, 2002; Hassanul lah, 2002) that have used t he case study approach to investigate public extension organi sations have interviewed a sub-sample of organisational staff from a cross-section of the management hierarchy. Their approach was adopted in this study and staff from field level, supervi sory level and top management level were selected after consultation with the infomlant selection team. Thi s sampling strategy is referred to by Patton ( 2002) as stratified sampling. I t is used to unearth important information that may have been embedded at the different level s of management ( Fox-Wolfgramm et aI., 1 998). lankowicz ( 2000) argued that staff at different leve l s in an organisat ion undertake different roles and as such, a cross-section of staff at the different organisational level s should be interviewed to obtain a more acc urate picture o f what i s happening within an organisation. A fter consultation with the informant selection team ( 1 ST), it was decided that eight staff from the three level s of the organi sation would provide a good cross­ section of information about the operation of the organi sation (Table.4 : 3 ) .

96 Chapter 4: Methods

Table 4:3. Key informants u sed i n the case study

Organisation/groups Key-informant Number Interviews

I . Case organi sation

- Top level management Directors (current and former) 2 4

- Midd le level DA DOs (field superv isors 2 3

management

- Field staff Field staff 4 5

2. Stakeho lders Farmers

- Crops Representat ives of crop farm ing groups 5 5

(agroforestry, cassava, o il palm, vegetables and cocoa)

- Livestock and poultry Representatives of l ivestock and poultry

producing group

- I nland fish farm ing Representatives o f aquacult ure groups

- Agro-processing Representat ives o f a cassava and o il palm 2 2

processing groups

Stake/1Older organisations

- NGOs District managers o f World V ision 2 4

Internat ional and Oasis Foundat ion

- Government District Director o f Departments of: Co- 4 4

Department at the operatives, Forest, Community Health and

district level Social wel fare

- District A ssembly Director of district co-ordinat ing council

- Mo F A (regional and Regional Director, 3 Reg ional Development 6 6

nat ional) Officers ( M I S, training and Nat ional

Director and Deputy of the Directorate of

Agricultural Extens ion Services

- Research I nst itutes Past and present R ELC co-ordinator in the 2 2

Central Reg ion

Total 32 38

The second selection di lemma was to select key i nformants from the farmers within the district which comprised some 1 00,000 i ndividuals. Consultation with the 1 ST suggested that the best means of obtaining a useful cross-section of farmers ' v i ews was to se l ect farmers from the maj or agro-based enterprise groups i n the d i strict ( Table.4 : 3 ) . Based on this suggestion, nine farmer groups were selected for the study. The groups i nc l uded those farmers invo lved i n : agroforestry, cassava, o i l pal m, vegetables, cocoa, livestock and poultry, aquaculture, cassava processing and o i l palm processing. With permission from the di rector of the case organisat ion, each farmer group was contacted by the researcher. Each group was requested to nom inate a representative who, they be lieved, had in-depth knowledge of the case organisation ' s operations and could represent the

Chapter 4: Methods 97

v iews of the group . I n all, nine farmer representatives were nominated by their groups for the i nterviews.

The final selection di lemma was the selection of key informants from the stakeholder organisations with which the case organisation interacted. The first step in the process was to draw up a list of the relevant stake holders with the 1 ST. There were twenty stakeholder organisations on the l ist, which fel l into five groupings: the District Assembly, the MoF A, other government departments (district level ), GOs and research organisations. Consultation with the 1 ST suggested that the best means of obtai ning a useful cross-section of views from stakeholder organisations was to select representati ves from these five groupings (Table.4:3). A total of nine organ isations ( World V i sion I nternational, Oasi s Foundati on, Department of Co-operatives, Forest service D i v ision, Department of C ommunity H ealth, Department of Social wel fare, D istrict Assembly, Mo FA ( regional and nationa l ) and RELC) were sel ected from the fi ve groupings for the study . These were people who, the 1 S T bel ieved, had a good knowledge of the operation of the case organisation because they had consistentl y worked with it since the inception of the extension decentral i sation policy i n 1 997.

E ach organi sation was contacted by the researcher and asked to nominate a

representative who, they be l ieved, had i n-depth k nowledge of the case organisation' s operation and could represent the views of his/her own organisation (Table 4.3 ) . F i fteen stakeholder representatives were nominated by various stakeholder organisations for the i nterv iews. By the end of the study, a total of 32 key informants had been selected for the study (Table 4.3).