The methodological framework has followed a case study research design. Case study research can be either quantitative and positivist in nature following the ontological assumption that there is an absolute truth based on a set of generally applicable laws and regularities that can be objectively captured and quantified through observation (Gray, 2004, p. 18). This line of thinking assumes that knowledge exists independent of the researcher or observer and reality is knowable. In contrast to quantitative case study approaches, case study research that follows a qualitative logic is typically embedded in an interpretative framework that values the epistemology of the particular rather than the general (Stake, 2003, p. 145). This thesis follows the latter approach by employing a qualitative methodology and recognises that the complexity and messiness of the so- called real world can hardly be measured and grasped with an approach based on quantitative analysis. Instead, qualitative research practice stresses the need to understand the world composed of multiple realities and the social construction of these (Flick, Kardoff, Steinke, & Jenner, 2004).
88 5.2.1. Five guiding principles
As a methodological approach, rather than a method case study research, is a strategy that “involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context” (Robson, 2002, p. 179). Case study methodology consists of a number of distinctive tenets. Firstly, in keeping with the real life context and a qualitative research design, the strength of case studies derives from their ability to represent a phenomenon, activity or event from the perspective of participating individuals (Stark & Torrance, 2005). In the context of this thesis, the phenomenon of investigation is a particular expression of a Chilean diaspora knowledge network that operates transnationally with the objective to foster innovation and development in Chile. Drawing on the perspectives of a wide range of participating individuals, such as the founders of the network, current network participants and members that left the organisation, this thesis bundles the different, at times conflicting, perspectives to better understand the scope, opportunities and fallibilities of diaspora organisations and their contribution to development.
Secondly, research based on case study methodology entails a careful contextualisation and needs to recognise the socio-historical particularities in which case-derived activities, initiatives and actions occur (Ragin & Becker, 1992). Indeed, it is crucial to take note of the historical, political, social or economic context in which a case occurs because almost every case is “a complex entity located in a milieu or situation embedded in a number of contexts or backgrounds” (Stake, 2005, p. 449). Chapter four has responded to this criterion as it mapped, out not only the broader socio-historical conditions and circumstances in Chile, but also the specific and particular relationships between key individuals and key institutions that enabled the network to emerge. Furthermore, chapter four highlights how the ChileGlobal network is not an atomistic entity, but follows a country-specific and deeply rooted tradition of enacting change through highly personalised networks and associations.
Thirdly, proponents of case study research often point out that case study research can be grouped according to whether priority is assigned to a single case or to multiple cases. Both research design options have in common that they can be conducted through the use of embedded units of analysis. For instance, a single case study may focus on a particular school to investigate how students achieve the given learning objectives. To accomplish
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the research task, the investigator might choose to focus on two or three specific class rooms as units of analysis that are contextually and analytically embedded, and help to increase the overall rigour (Yin, 2014). The strategy of embedded units of analysis is particularly well-suited to be employed for diaspora-related research (Gamlen, 2012b). In the context of this study, embedded units of analysis are the diverse localised networks that are grouped under ChileGlobal as explained in more detail throughout the remainder of the thesis. Understanding and describing the rise of different regional and localised Chilean networks that have become constitutive of the actual case ChileGlobal, is important in order to understand the transformation of the network from an economic actor to a political actor.
Fourthly,single case studies are well suited to utilise where the research objective is of revelatory nature and the phenomenon of interest is difficult to access (Yin, 2012, p. 49). The focus of this thesis rests on a Chilean diaspora organisation of which little was known when this study commenced in late 2010. As explained in chapter four, the scarce information that was available comprised a few paragraphs that were reiterated throughout book chapters and a journal article and were essentially authored by the network’s master mind, senior economist Yevgeny Kuznetsov (e.g. 2008, 2006c). The work that was available typically advanced the generic narrative about how diaspora networks act as bridges to foreign markets to spur economic and technological development. An online search for ChileGlobal at the start of 2011 yielded only meagre insights, as the network’s web presence was limited to a sparse blog that was updated every fortnight or so with little information about the people involved, the scope of the organisation and its programmes.
If the goal of this thesis was to conduct an exploration of how ChileGlobal contributes to development in Chile, a single case study based on a concentrated inquiry and ethnographic methods appeared to be a sound methodological fit. Concentrated inquiries are strategies that dig into the particular nature of the entity of interest, its historical background, its physical setting, its economic, political and legal context and sources informants through which the entity of interest can be known (Stake, 2003, pp. 136-141). As stated before, the context within which the network emerged has been elucidated in chapter four. As for the revelatory nature of case study methodology, chapter six demonstrates how diaspora networks may counter claims of depoliticisation in the context
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of development by revealing how ChileGlobal transformed into a site of repoliticisation. Revealing this insight was not only aided by the conceptual framework outlined in chapter three that prioritises a temporal and situationally informed frame of reference over structural and universalising accounts, but also through the deliberate methodological choice for embedded units of analysis.
Fifthly, selecting a good case study is often guided by negotiating questions about the opportunity to learn something new vis-à-vis a certain typicality of which the case is representative (Stake, 2003, p. 152). The decision to investigate ChileGlobal was as much about learning how diaspora knowledge networks operate in the context of South America, as it was about scrutinising and re-examining generalised claims about the depoliticising effects of development interventions. Moreover, case studies are generally in harmony with the three primary components that underlie any qualitative method, describing, understanding and explaining (Hamel, Dufour, & Fortin, 1993, p. 39). Jointly, the descriptive part aids in following the trajectory of ChileGlobal, while the interpretative part draws on the conceptual framework outlined in chapter three to understand how the network transformed into a site of repoliticisation. Finally, the explanatory part will outline the factors that impede and mediate knowledge flows from the diaspora to Chile.
5.2.2. Addressing generalisability
In spite of the overall usefulness of single case study methodology, there are some important limitations. It is often contended that qualitative case study research is constrained because, unlike its quantitative equivalent, qualitative research does not lend itself naturally to broad generalisations (Hedström, 2005, p. 101). However, case study research can be used to make inferences about other cases through transferability (Lincoln & Guba, 2000). Moreover, interpretative case studies tend to be generalisable in relation to theoretical propositions rather than populations at large, as the researcher aims for analytical generalisation instead of statistical generalisation. Analytical generalisation based on case study research and derived from empirical findings does not aim to represent a sample, but generates results that are generalisable to a theory about the phenomenon that is being investigated (Becker, 1990, p. 240). Results from case study
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research are furthermore suitable to make contingent generalisations rooted in specific configurations of conditions such as situations, regions and times (George & Bennett, 2005, pp. 119-120). This means, for inferences to be generalised, the different cases need to share a set of conditions and qualifications. Thus, in order to generalise from a single case study, the careful and strategic choice of the case determines to what extent it may be possible to generalise from research findings (Flyvbjerg, 2006, pp. 224-228).
The choice to investigate the ChileGlobal network was deliberate and fits the notion of strategic choice as condition for contingent generalisability for the following reasons. The institutional model of ChileGlobal became subject of regional replication in 2010 when staff members from ChileGlobal and Fundación Chile were invited to consult on the reproduction of the legal-institutional model of the ChileGlobal network in the context of Honduras. As a result of this cooperation, the Honduras Global network was created with financial support from Germany’s national development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (Seddig & Cerrato Sabillón, 2014, p. 12). Likewise, the Costa Rican network, La Red de Talento Costarricense en el Extranjero (Red TICOTAL), was modelled after ChileGlobal, and an attempt from the governments of Uruguay and the Dominican Republic to connect with its highly skilled diaspora was influenced by insights from the ChileGlobal experience. The case of ChileGlobal set in motion a process of institutional and policy translations within the context of Latin America. Combining the specific observations about ChileGlobal advanced in this paragraph with general reflections about Chile’s historic role in the context of development policies as explained in chapter one, is suggestive enough to make causal inferences for diaspora knowledge networks that are similar in scope and strategic orientation.
Returning to the idea of contingent generalisability, findings from researching the ChileGlobal network are useful to make valid, albeit contingent generalisations about diaspora knowledge networks in the context of contemporary Latin America. Contingent generalisations rather than probabilistic broad-scale generalisations are particularly useful for development-related policies, because knowledge derived from well-specified conditional generalisations that are deliberately narrower in scope, are better suited for policy-making (George & Bennett, 2005, pp. 265-266). In the end, this sits well with claims that the purpose of generalisations from case study research is not rooted in making
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universal proclamations, but to extend concepts, generate theory, and more importantly to draw specific implications (Walsham, 1995, p. 79).
The deliberations over contingent generalisability speak to the inherent value of qualitative research as an approach that prioritises rigor over replicable generalisability, and to explore a phenomenon in depth, rather than breath (Carlsen & Glenton, 2011). Overall, a case study methodology proved the right methodological fit because it allowed for understanding a ‘case’, such as the ChileGlobal network in its totality because of the flexible and open-ended technique of data collection and analysis from multiple sources (Grinnel, 1981; Yin, 2014). Data for this thesis has been sourced from libraries in Chile, World Bank repositories, Chilean emigrants, organisation reports, newsletters, previously published interviews with network members, census data, and participation in network events. Given the geographical dispersion of network members, this study also involves an element of multi-sited research in which data has been generated from different geographical locations as explained in section 5.4. below, which allowed for the production of rigorous results.