Qualitative research methods

Qualitative research methods include case study strategy, ethnography and action research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). This study utilised case study strategy and the motivation for its adoption is presented in this section but first a brief description of the research methods follows.

4.4.1 Action research

There are several definitions of the term action research. However, Rapoport’s (1970) definition states that “action research aims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration within a mutually acceptable ethical framework” (cited in Myers & Avison, 2002, p.7). Action research strongly emphasises collaboration between researchers and practitioners (Baskerville, 1999). The researcher becomes part of the planned change in society. Action research avails researchers to work in collaboration with practitioners where the researchers are active participants (Baskerville & Myers, 2004; Peffers, Tuunanen, Rothenberge, & Chatterrjee, 2007). However, the downside of action research is that it is time-consuming as it takes a lot of the researcher’s time but also in the course of the research the field subjects may be “less open and honest with the researcher in cases where he or she is perceived to have a vested interest” (Walsham, 2006, p.322).

4.4.2 Ethnography

Ethnographic research is a discipline from “social and cultural anthropology where an ethnographer” is expected to significantly immerse oneself in the life of the people to be studied as they seek to place the phenomena to be “studied in their social and cultural context” (Myers & Avison, 2002, p.9). The primary objective in ethnography is to understand what happens through experiencing the actions of the people involved. In this method, the researcher immerses oneself in the values, language and practices of a particular situation, which may be an organisation with the intent “to understand what happens through the eyes of the people involved” (Mingers, 2003). The method affords an in-depth comprehension of the phenomenon

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under study. However, it is criticised for taking too much of the researcher’s time in data collection and analysis in the field (Myers, 1999).

4.4.3 Case study research

This research employed a case study strategy. Case study strategy is most widely used in qualitative research (Orlikowski & Baroudi, 1991). Although there is no standard definition (Yin, 2003), the strategy examines a phenomenon in its natural setting through an iterative research process using different methods of data collection (Benbasat, Goldstein, & Mead, 1987). The method allows use of multiple data sources and deals with common phenomena such as decisions, individuals, processes, institutions and events (Yin, 2003). Case study method combines the phenomenon and the context and its aim is to provide an analysis of context and processes that may cause events associated with the occurrence of the phenomena (Wynn, Jr. & Williams, 2012). The case study is “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (Yin, 2003, p. 13).

A case study strategy was used to analyse how external actors influence local actors in a policy- making field such as ICT policy formulation field and field of power during the formulation of a national ICT policy. Yin (2003) argues that case study research may be used when:

i. the study is focused on how or why questions;

ii. a researcher is unable to control the behaviour of the actors involved in the study; iii. a researcher wants to cover context because of their relevance to the phenomenon

under study; or

iv. the boundary between the phenomenon of interest and context are not clear. Case study research is advantageous in situations where there is a need to focus on phenomena in its natural setting (Benbasat et al., 1987). Yin (2003) states that case study is useful in studies that focus on how or why questions. This is in alignment with the study, which focused on how the influence of external actors affects policy formulation in a developing country context. The researcher was unable to manipulate the behaviour of the actors as the study focused on the formulation of a national policy that took place in the past. Besides the research focused on a specific case study because of its relevance to the influences of external actors during policy formulation.

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Case study is also defined as a phenomenon of some kind that occurs within a bounded context and this phenomenon becomes the unit of analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Case studies can be: (i) exploratory, (ii) descriptive and (iii) explanatory (Yin, 1994). The study analysed effects of the influences of external actors on national ICT policy-making in Malawi, which was the unit of analysis in the study. Thus, the study was explanatory. Some factors are proposed for choosing a research method, which include the research problem, theoretical lens to be used in a study, the degree of uncertainty surrounding the phenomenon, and skills of the researcher (Trauth, 2001). All these factors were considered in the choice of the case study (see Section 4.5).

The influences of external actors in the formulation of a national ICT policy were analysed using Malawi as the case. Case strategy allows study of a phenomenon in its natural context (Keutel, Michalik, & Richter, 2014). Since policy-making cannot be separated from its context (Birkland, 2015), this study adopted the case study strategy. As presented in Table 4.3, case study strategy deals with social context, which was the focus of this study.

Table 4.3: Qualitative approaches to research (Cole & Avison, 2007, p.821)

A limitation of the case study strategy is that it is criticised for its lack of rigour and the long time it takes to produce results (Yin, 2003). In this study, rigour was addressed through the use of multiple methods of data collection (Houghton, Casey, Shaw, & Murphy, 2013) and also by comparing national ICT policies in different countries within Africa.