Case study research

The framework for this research was case studies. The use of case studies was based on the need for a method that allowed for the collection of contextual information; the research to be exploratory; and to gather data that is about action, behaviour and past experience.

The research required a method of empirical enquiry that allowed for the study to be conducted within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context were not clearly evident (Yin, 1994). Yin (1994: 68), described case study research as follows:

―…the case study method is used because the researcher wanted to cover contextual conditions, believing that they may be highly pertinent to the phenomenon of study‖.

Murray and Butler (1994) argue that the use of case studies in agriculture can develop a better understanding of constraints, innovations and human interactions in various production systems. In general, Yin (1994) suggests that case studies are the preferred strategy when 'how‘ or '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. In case study research, all cases are necessarily contextualised and generalisations made from case studies must therefore be qualified.

Despite case studies being a distinctive form of empirical inquiry, many research investigators have disdain for the strategy (Yin, 1994). The greatest concern is the potential for case studies to lack rigour, a concern from past investigations where equivocal evidence or biased views have influenced the direction of the findings and conclusions (Yin, 1994). Paine (1997) notes that some critics claim case studies provide little basis for scientific generalisation and are not sufficiently explained to be valued as quality items of science. He suggests that case studies can be defended against these criticisms when all evidence is fairly reported, and researchers and their audience share a grasp of the research logic. Mitchell (1983) also argues against the criticism and concludes that case studies are a reliable and respectable procedure for social analysis.

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Triangulation is a method for ensuring rigour within a research process using case studies through collecting and analysing multiple sources of evidence. Case study enquiry relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion (Yin, 1994).The use of multiple sources of evidence (i.e. multiple measures of the same phenomenon) allows for the development of converging lines of inquiry, thus any finding or conclusion is likely to be more convincing and accurate if it is based on several different sources of information (Yin, 1994). Construct validity, or establishing the correct operational measures for the concepts being studied, is also derived from case studies.

Construct validity and triangulation were used to ensure this case study research is rigorous and valid. The use of multiple measures of the problem domain were used including the following:

i. the creation of a dialectic was achieved through the use of different informants within farmlet projects including researchers, extension practitioners, farmers, investors and members of the NDFS team;

ii. studying different research settings across farmlet projects; and

iii. collecting data from members of the RD&E continuum at different times at regular intervals.

This research was conducted within the boundaries of four major case studies created using sub-case studies. In light of the problem domain established in Chapter 2, criteria were developed to determine the necessary attributes of further case studies for studying farmlets as learning platforms. The case studies were required to:

1. be representative of the farming systems research and extension activity in the Australian dairy industry;

2. provide a means for studying the requirements and opportunities for learning from Australian dairy farmlets;

3. to provide a way for studying how learning was represented;

4. allow for the tracking of learning processes involved within dairy farming systems projects;

5. have boundaries and a clear path for study;

6. encompass and identify different ways that learning is viewed and achieved by stakeholders; and

7. provide a way to establish learning opportunities from Australian dairy farming systems RD&E projects.

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To meet these criteria, case studies located in the Australian dairy farmlet research and extension RD&E continuum were constructed. Two major case studies were developed at the regional and national level and each contained a series of activities and practices which enabled chronological recording and tracking of learning processes, and the establishment of learning requirements.

4.5.1 Regional dairy farmlet research and extension projects

The first case study examined the learning processes within Australian dairy farming systems RD&E projects. This was constructed around four farmlet research and extension projects located in four dairying regions (see Figure 11).

The selection of these four farmlet sites from the seven dairy farming systems projects around Australia was based firstly, on the level of resources allocated to extension. As extension is the assumed provider of learning processes and extension resourcing is highly variable between farmlet projects, cases were chosen from both ends of the resource spectrum to establish the effect this has on the learning platform.

Secondly, institutional and operational models vary from State government controlled operation, to farmer cooperatives. Consequently each of the farmlet projects included in the case study has a different institutional model. Thirdly, the location of the farmlet projects was also an important factor. As discussed in Chapter 2, the spatial separation of farmlet projects

Source: Australian Dairy Corporation 2000

Figure 11. The project locations: case study farmlets around Australia

Elliott Research and Demonstration Station Flaxley Research Station

Vasse Milk Farmlets

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means that on a regional level, farmlets face different challenges. Farmlets in four different regions were selected to ensure that potential regional affects were included.

The key attributes of the four selected sites as described in the following sections:

4.6.1.1 Elliott Research and Demonstration Station (ERDS)

ERDS is one of the oldest operating dairy research facilities in Australia, commencing dairy research in the early 1980s. The research station is located on the north-west coast of Tasmania, the major dairying region in the State. In 2001, ERDS finished its farmlet project and at the time of the study was in the process of building a new farmlet project for the site. The development phase provided an opportunity to track the learning processes involved at this stage of the development and also corresponded with an examination of the farmlet for RD&E and discussion of alternative farming systems approaches.

The other key attribute of this case was the relatively large extension capacity and financial resources that were provided by the State government of Tasmania to the dairy industry.

4.6.2.2 Flaxley Research Farm (FF)

Complementary, but polar to the attributes of ERDS project is the FF case study. It commenced dairy research in the early 1990s and is located approximately 100km south- east of Adelaide. This farmlet had completed a year of data collection on the new farmlet project, and, learning processes within an operating farmlet project could be observed for the final two years of the planned project. Just prior to the commencement of the present study, the South Australian government had withdrawn all funding and resources allocated to dairy extension. This left the farmlet project operating without an extension arm, providing the basis for a study of how farmlets act as a learning platform when government extension resources are limited and largely dependent on private providers.

Within the farm management group there was significant controversy over its role in the farmlet project arising from expectations developed in earlier projects. The farmlet is also located in a region with declining dairy activity and a four hour drive from an area with a rapidly expanding dairy industry.

4.6.2.3

Vasse Research Station (VMF

The Vasse Milk Farmlets (VMF) began the farmlet project used for the present study in 2000. VMF is located approximately 200km south of Perth. The Vasse Milk Farmlet project was chosen as it was a first farmlet project for the region and for all of the players involved.

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There was also a change in State government extension policy and personnel during the course of the study.

4.6.2.4 Macalister Research Farm (MRF)

Located in the east Gippsland region of Victoria, MRF has a long history of dairy research, dating from the 1960s. This research farm was a cooperative of 232 dairy farmer shareholders. At the time of the present study, a farmlet project studying stocking rate and grain feeding systems was in its first year of operation. The site was managed by a project manager responsible for both research and extension activities