Exploratory Case Studies

Yin (2003, p.22) argued, by employing an exploratory case study approach, there is a legitimate assertion about whether or not there should be a fixed theoretical proposition. The first step in undertaking an exploratory case study is to define what is to be explored (Yin, 2003, p.5). The types of questions which are likely to require an exploratory study are questions of “what”, “how” and “why” (Yin, 2003, p.6) and

Yin contended exploratory case studies are often the prelude to much wider social research undertakings and not just as a precursor to other case studies. What is different in the employment of an exploratory case studies is that they do not usually require pre-determined hypothesis nor do they demand stringent theoretical

propositions to guide the study, rather a much looser set of objectives are utilised and the broad features of the phenomena will be defined at the outset. It is

anticipated the propositions will be subject to continuous refinement as the study progresses, the data is collected and the early analysis is undertaken. More commonly when utilising exploratory case studies, the data is first collected (and

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some or all analysis is undertaken) and only then are the final study questions

defined (Yin, 2003). This is why critics of exploratory case studies make assumptions about the necessarily intuitive paths the researcher adopts and they also maintain there is a much greater risk of the methods being treated in a “sloppy” manner,

leading to questionable rigour and problems with defending validity. Robson (1993,

p.42) described a threefold classification outlining the purposes of research methods, commonly used by social scientists:

 Exploratory - to find out what is happening.

 Descriptive - to provide an accurate profile of events, situations or

persons.

 Explanatory - to seek an explanation of a situation or problem, usually

in the form of causal relationships.

Certain research requires the use of a combination of these approaches. For example, a study may utilise a combination of descriptive and exploratory methods as a means to generate theory and although there is no fundamental aim within this research to generate new theory; the likelihood is the research will generate

additional questions meriting further exploration. In relation to the study here, there is an obvious requirement for an exploratory case study in the light of the literature review, because what literature is available is fraught with anecdotal accounts or the research has been industry lead and as such, has questionably objective outputs. The extent of what is known about the use of social media in terms of recruitment is

limited. Davison et al (2011, p.154) have contended no research has been

undertaken to-date which examined the potential use of social media by employers when considering their marketing activities or their employer brand, which in turn, might assist them in applicant attraction activities. Clearly, there is a requirement for an enhanced understanding of the emphasis organisations put on the use of social media in the context of their day-to-day recruitment activities.

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The rationale for choosing to adopt the principles of an exploratory case study as the tool within which to examine this phenomena stems from a review of the options available. An exploratory case study is described by Yin (2003, p.6) as having given the method of case study the “most notorious reputation of all”.

Consequently, having considered these issues, an investigation into the alternatives was undertaken and as a result, it was considered that a survey based approach would rely too heavily on predetermined items, which may be inconsistent with the terminology or experiences of the interviewees. Conversely, if a survey employed open questions, the reliability of interpretation becomes an issue (Daniels, Myers

and Dixon, 2011). Easterby-Smith et al (1991) discussed the distinction between

pure and applied research and argued the distinction is related to their outcomes.

However, Phillips and Pugh (1994) find Easterby-Smith et al’s approach too

formulaic and commented it is not particularly helpful in management research. They instead supported a classification which is threefold and argued there is a

requirement for exploratory research which investigates problems about which little is known, testing-out research which applies existing theory to new problems/issues and problem-solving research which combines a variety of theories and methods to address real world problems.

Reymeni et al (2005 p.32) argued it is impossible to undertake an empirical

approach to research without first having a thorough understanding of the theoretical issues which surround the issue or problem being addressed and knowledge about how the evidence may be collected. They contended it is not beneficial to think of empirical or theoretical approaches as being completely distinct from one another, because they suggested they are “intimately entwined”. Theorists or “armchair

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without necessarily ever having observed it first hand, while empiricists, on the other hand, spend time (sometimes a considerable amount) observing what is happening in reality. Robson (1993) has argued there is little evidence of the use of both

quantitative and qualitative in case studies to such a degree that they can be termed as multi – strategy. He referred to them instead as being flexible and also suggested

until more recently, the use of case studies was often considered as the soft option for researchers and the lack of generalisability from even multiple case studies meant they are usually viewed negatively in the scientific community. Having thoroughly considered the philosophical and methodological possibilities in this inquiry, it is important to reflect and outline the research design, which will be addressed in the next section.