Rationales behind Adopting Case Study Design

Three main rationales are behind adopting case study design for conducting this research which are the nature of the research objectives and questions, theory building, and contemporary research.

4.5.2.1.1. Nature of the Research Objectives and Questions

An important consideration in the selection of a specific research design is its ability to answer the research questions and to achieve its objectives.

As for the research questions: Yin (2003:5) proposed a framework, presented in Table 4.2, to assist researchers in selecting the appropriate research strategy when conducting social science researches. He identified three indicators researchers can use to choose the best strategy for their research. These indicators are the type of research question posed, the extent of control the investigator has over actual events, and the degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical events (Yin,

Table ‎4.2: Relevant Situation for Different Research Designs Source: Yin (2003: 5)

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This research aims to understand how audit firms in Egypt are dealing with audits when conducted in advanced electronic systems. According to Yin‘s framework (Table 4.2) ‗how‘ questions can be answered by conducting experiments, case studies or historical research. To choose among them, the researcher depended upon the other two indicators. As this research is focusing on a contemporary event, which is auditing in advanced electronic environments in the Egyptian context, and as the researcher has no control over the behavioural events, experiments and historical research were excluded. Case study is more desirable and has a distinct advantage over other research strategies when the researcher desires little or no control over the investigation process of contemporary events (Yin, 2003).

As for the research objectives: this research aims to explore the actors that have an influence on auditing in advanced electronic environments and how they interact to build their network.

To achieve these objectives the researcher needs to adopt a holistic perspective to be able to follow the actors that constitute the network of auditing electronic environments and explore their interaction.

This holistic perspective can be adopted when applying the case study design.

Gummesson (2000) explained that the main strength of the case study is to provide a greater opportunity to obtain a holistic view of a specific research project. Remenyi et al., (1998:162) emphasised the same idea by stating that ‗case studies allow the student or the researcher to retain a more holistic perspective than can be easily achieved through other approaches‟ (Remenyi et al., 1998:162).

126 4.5.2.1.2 Theory Building

One of the objectives of this research is to build the network of auditing in electronic environments in Egypt and to explore how the actors enrolled in this network are interacting to form its final shape. Case study is recommended for theory building (Eisenhardt, 1989; Perry, 1998; Voss et al., 2002; Woodside & Wilson, 2003). For example, Eisenhardt (1989: 548) recommends the adoption of the case study for research areas which require development of new theories or fresh perspectives on existing theories by stating that case studies are „well-suited to new research areas or research areas for which existing theory seems inadequate‟.

It is important to indicate that building theory from case studies does not mean building theory from the data collected during conducting the cases only. Eisenhardt (1989:548) indicates that any theory building process requires a mixture of existing literature and empirical observation or experience, as well as the insight of the theorist to incrementally build more powerful theories. According to Voss et al.

(2002), when building theory from case studies, researchers need to have a prior view of the general constructs or categories they intend to study and their relationships.

Perry (1998) indicates that these general categories can be identified through the literature and through pilot studies by stating that:

„The prior theory is developed from the literature and from pilot studies and/or convergent interviews to be the first step in the theory-building process of case study research‟ (Perry 1998:790)

To follow this guideline the researcher conducted two pilot studies in two international audit firms that have experience in dealing with advanced electronic systems; two interviews were conducted in each audit firm with two knowledgeable key persons. The outcomes of these two pilot cases combined with the literature review provide the researcher with a prior view of the general categories to be

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studied in the main cases. The details of the pilot cases and their outcomes are discussed in Chapter 6.

4.5.2.1.3 Contemporary Research

Case study research is the most appropriate design for the study of complex and multi-faceted contemporary phenomena within some real-life context (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2003) which is the case of this research. Many researchers have discussed many points related to the auditing of electronic systems. Some researchers discussed the techniques auditors have to adopt such as continuous auditing and computer assisted audit techniques (Braun & Davis, 2003; Chen, 2003; Helms & Lilly, 2000;

Helms & Mancino, 1998; Kogan et al., 1999; Liang et al., 2001; Rezaee et al., 2001;

Rezaee et al., 2002). Other researchers discussed the expanding role of information system auditors when the audit is performed in an electronic environment (Baldwin

& Kneer, 1986; Curtis & Viator, 2000; Gallegos, 2003; Viator & Curtis, 1998).

Others concentrated on explaining the standards and guidelines that have been pronounced by the professional bodies relating to auditing in the electronic environment (Damianides, 2004; Moreland, 1997; Munter, 2002; Pathak, 2003a;

Rezaee & Reinstein, 1998; Wallace, 2002; Williamson, 1997; Yang & Guan, 2004).

Moreover, some researchers discussed the electronic systems themselves and their expected technical impacts on the audit function.

Notwithstanding the great effort of these researchers, it can be seen that none of the studies have been conducted, in the Egyptian context, to explore the main actors that have an influence on auditing electronic environments from a holistic perspective and to understand how they are enrolled to build their network and how they interact with each other. In other words, this research can be seen as a complex and multi-faceted

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contemporary research and, as a result, the case study is the most appropriate research strategy to be adopted.