Chapter 4: Research Methodology
4.3 Methodological strategy
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Case study is defined as “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (Yin, 2009, p. 18). The two main characteristics of the case study are an in-depth understanding of a topic under investigation, and its reference to context. Stake (1995, p. 3) characterised three main types of case study: “intrinsic, instrumental and collective case study”. Stake (1995) and Crowe, Creswell, Robertson, Huby, Avery, and Sheikh (2011) argue that the researcher utilises an intrinsic case study when she or he is interested in the case and the intention is better to understand and to learn about the case. Crowe et al. state that “the case is selected on its own merits. The case is not selected because it is representative of other cases, but because of its uniqueness, which is of genuine interest to the researchers” (Crowe et al., 2011, p. 5). In contrast to an intrinsic case study is an instrumental case study which is used “to accomplish something other than understanding the particular case” (Stake, 1995, p. 3). When the case is of secondary interest; it plays a supportive role because it facilitates understanding of something else. The case has the potential to enable the researcher to generate findings and to test theory by replicating the findings (Crowe et al., 2011, p. 5). In collective or multiple case studies, “a number of cases are studied in order to investigate some general phenomenon” and to make comparisons (Silverman, 2005, p. 127).
This research forms an intrinsic case study because it focuses on a group of Libyan students. As a case, they represent a group of people seeking postgraduate experience overseas, but coming from a country that has endured civil war and is experiencing ongoing conflict. Libyan students represent a case, but, within that case, there are narratives and strands that comprise the different disciplines and individual experiences. The researcher has selected a number of accounts, and this offers the advantage of allowing comparisons to be made across the case. It is important to indicate that this group is not representative of all Libyan students, they are only those students who chose to take part, but they tell an interesting story and offer a range of experiences. In this context, a case
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study approach was selected as a research strategy in order to understand the phenomena from the various perspectives of those involved.
Case study is also appropriate for this study because it offers the researcher an opportunity to utilise multiple data sources, such as questionnaire, documentation, archival records, interviews, and observations (Baxter and Jack, 2008; Yin, 2009; Denscombe, 2010). In this study, demographic data was generated for background information via a questionnaire and qualitative data elicited through interviews and observations. The generation of data from different sources is likely not only to give a fuller picture, but also to enhance sufficiency and validity. Participants’ different perceptions and perspectives indicated the complexity of the real life situations as they experience it. As Creswell states: a “case study is a good approach when the inquirer has clearly identifiable cases with boundaries and seeks to provide an in-depth understanding of the cases or a comparison of several cases” (Creswell, 2007, p. 74). Case studies provide “considerable depth” within the case (Hammersley, Peter and Roger, 2000, p. 3) and enable a rich description of a complex social phenomenon embedded in a certain cultural context (Merriam, 1998; Bassey, 1999).
There are three purposes for conducting a case study: exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory (Yin, 2009). A case study approach has the potential to enable the researcher to answer “what”, “how”, and “why” questions, while taking into consideration how a phenomenon is influenced by the context within which it is situated (Yin, 2009, p. 4). The present case study is an explorative and descriptive case study because it is concerned with the question of ‘what’ are the challenges that Libyan students encounter in the UK HE system and ‘why’ they experienced these particular challenges and how their previous educational, social, cultural and political experiences have affected their current experiences in the master’s course. It is also concerned with the question of ‘how’ Libyan students as a case from civil war and ongoing conflict situation adjust and adapt to the western learning environment and their perceptions of identity and of change. In other words, through what the participants related and then through
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observation in the classroom context, the researcher had an opportunity to see the correlation between the two and the impact of the context. This is different from a narrative approach in the way in which observation and context are integrated within the students’ stories. Baxter and Jack suggest that “case study approach is an excellent opportunity to gain tremendous insight into a case” (Baxter and Jack, 2008, p. 556), and Simons points out it is a flexible approach which is “neither time dependent nor constrained by method” (Simons, 2009, p. 23). For instance, in this study, Libyan students were interviewed three times during the period of their one year master’s course and observations were conducted at different times. Stake (1995) and Yin (2009) argue that case study is based on a ‘constructivist paradigm’, and this is reflected in the current study through selection and interpretation. The selections are however made according to specific criteria and supported by contextually bound statements from the observation. It is not just the sharing of stories, but the wider implications of these stories which are also evident.
One of the acknowledged limitations of a case study approach is that it is not possible or appropriate to generalise from a single case (Flyvbjerg, 2006; Baxter and Jack, 2008; Crowe et al., 2011). While recognising this, generalisability was not the aim of this qualitative interpretive study, rather it was to relay something meaningful about international students in general and Libyan students in particular.