Case Study Research Design

A research design is described as a plan that guides the researcher in the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting data. Creswell (20007) describes a research design as a plan that guides the investigation in the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting observations. It is a ―logical sequence that connects the empirical data to initial questions and ultimately to its conclusions. It is a logical plan from getting from here to there‖ (Yin, 2003:20). In short a research design is a plan that a researcher follows from the beginning to the end of the research process.

Bromley (1990:302) defines a case study as ―a systematic inquiry into an event or a set of related events which aims to describe and explain the phenomena of interest‖. However, a case study may be simple or complex. For example, it may be of a child or a classroom of children or an event of happening (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). In addition, the case study is described as a form of descriptor research that gathers a large amount of information about one or a few participants and thus investigates a few cases in considerable depth (Thomas and Nelson, 2001; Hammersley, Gamm and Fesher, 2000:246). Therefore, in this study, where the objective is to investigate (factors) conditions enabling/constraining conditions that affect the establishment and implementation of academic staff development in higher education two selected case study institutions were studied. The case study approach was employed to gain in-depth information about academic experiences in programmes of academic professional development. It was hoped that, through the use of the case study, considerable data was gathered from a few academics teaching in departments.

Use of a case study research design is compatible with the critical theory perspective because of a number of factors. Tellis (1997) believes that case studies ―strive towards a holistic understanding of cultural systems of action‖. It was hoped that the study will reflect this because the major objective was to find out from the participants institutional cultural conditions and structures which enable or constrain successful implementation of academic professional development in the two sampled state universities in Zimbabwe. Employing the case study strategy allowed the researcher to collect much data enabling the study to ―satisfy the three tenets of qualitative methods namely, describing, understanding and explaining the phenomena of interest‖ (Tellis,

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1997:3). The rich thick data that was collected through interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires helped the researcher to establish conditions which contribute towards unsuccessful implementation of staff development activities in the two sampled state case study institutions.

Denzin and Lincoln (2005:445) identify three kinds of case studies. Firstly, there is the ―intrinsic case study‖ which they describe as a study undertaken because, first and last, one wants a better understanding of the particular case. In other words, the study is undertaken because of the intrinsic interest of the case not for generalisation or theory formation. Secondly, there is the ―instrumental case study‖ where a case is examined mainly to provide insight into an issue or to draw a generalisation. The case is of secondary interest and it facilitates understanding of something else. Then, thirdly, there is the ―multiple or collective case study‖ where a number of cases are studied jointly in order to investigate a phenomenon, population or general condition. The cases may be similar or dissimilar. They are chosen because it is believed that understanding them would lead to better understanding and perhaps better theorising about a still larger collection of cases. This particular study falls within the intrinsic case study where the researcher believed studying a case that included academics in departments, Professors, Deans and Pro Vice Chancellors (Academic Affairs) was likely to establish conditions that contributed to poor implementation and uptake of academic staff development activities in the two selected state universities.

3.5.1 Advantages (Sustainability) of case studies

Case Studies have the advantage of allowing an intensive study of a single unit or a few units. Thomas and Nelson (2001:283) point out that the ―case study‘s ultimate worth may be that it provides insight and knowledge of a general nature for improved practice and through the in-depth study of a single case (or a few cases) a greater understanding about similar cases is achieved‖. Gamm, Hammersley and Foster (2000) also pointed out that the case study is a form of inquiry which investigates few cases in considerable depth. The study took advantage of this fact and collected data through interviews, focus groups and questionnaires through which thick data was collected about conditions that enabled or constrained successful implementation of academic staff development programmes in the two selected state universities in Zimbabwe.

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Crossley and Valliany (1984:197) identify one of the advantages of case study research as its sustainability for research on implementation of educational policies since it can establish the causes of successes and falters of the implementation processes. The case study strategy suits the study which seeks to establish causes of successes or failures in the implementation of academic staff development programmes. The struggle is to use academic staff development as a strategy in institutional transformation geared towards quality higher education for all the learners irrespective of their economic, social or cultural statuses. Hill Collins (1997:204) states that the struggle for institutional transformation ―includes those efforts to change discriminatory policies and practice of government schools, the workplace, the media and other social institutions‖.

Another advantage of the case study is that it ―gives voice to the powerless and voiceless‖ (Tellis 1997:5). Too many researchers of higher education present studies based on views of Heads of Departments, Deans/professors and Vice Chancellors from the view of those in management, which in a way omit the views and experiences of new appointees and junior lecturers. In this research, through the case study design, junior lecturers in departments were given a voice to articulate their experiences on academic staff development in universities. In turn, the data collected in the process described the findings from the academic‘s opinions, views and beliefs about higher education.

3.5.2 Limitations of case studies

However, investigation of a relatively small number of cases and sometimes of only one case so characteristic of case studies has invited criticism as to the rigour and generalizability of qualitative research (Tellis, 1997). Accordingly, Crossley and Vulliamy (1984) argue that the technique is accused of bias because of its lack of rigour in the data collection process and its small population. May and Pope (1995) summarise the most commonly heard criticisms of qualitative research as follows:

 That it is merely an assembly of anecdotal and personal impressions and strongly subjective to researcher bias.

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 That it lacks reducibility in that the research is so personal to the researcher that there is no guarantee that a different researcher would come to the same conclusions.

 It lacks generalizability, although it tends to generalize large amounts of detailed information about a small number of settings.

By contrast, Hammersley and Foster (2000:240) argue that the ―main concern of case study research is to understand the case studied in itself. It aims to capture cases in their uniqueness rather than to use them as a basis for wider generalizations or for theoretical inferences of some kind.‖ Accordingly, the objective was to identify, describe, and explain institutional conditions that cause unsuccessful implementation of academic staff development programmes at one or two state universities in Zimbabwe. In the same vein, the researcher was able to describe, understand and explain the reality regarding enabling and constraining conditions that affect successful implementation of staff development programmes, ―as described by participants who derive its meaning from socially constructed interactions with their world‖ (Merriam, 2002).

An attempt has been made to justify use of the case study design by discussing its advantages and disadvantages. The case study approach and critical theory are compatible with a qualitative research tradition; the section below of the thesis makes a description of data collection methods.