Utilising Case Studies

3.3.1 Case Studies

Veal (2011) argues that utilising a case study approach enables multiple methods and triangulation. Others also support the approach of multiple methods in case studies arguing it facilitates in-depth and often more complete stories (for example: Stake, 2005, Jones, 2006, Ruddell, 2011). Using different methods can assist to triangulate findings as it mixes data and/or methods to gain insight into a topic through a wide range of viewpoints (Olsen, 2004). Jones (2006, p. 315) argues that the “aim of case studies is to focus on relationships and processes in a natural setting to discover interconnections and interrelationships, and how the various parts are linked”.

This thesis affords insight into the concept of social capital – the value derived from social networks (for example: Putnam, 2000). When this value is combined with the arguments that places are constructed through social means (Stokowski, 2002), that the primary activity of third places is conversation (Oldenburg, 1991 in Kivisto 2011) and that leisure may be a fertile arena to harness social networks (for example: Glover and Hemingway, 2005), a case study approach assists to tease out the relationships in its natural field setting. A natural field setting “can be conducive to casual but purposeful inquiries” (Fontana and Frey, 2005, p. 704) and as participants reveal their stories more can be learnt about the phenomenon (for example: Stake, 2005, Ruddell, 2011).

This argument is well summarised by Veal (2011, p. 128) who states that a “case study involves the study of an individual example – a case – of the phenomenon being researched. The aim is to seek to understand the phenomenon by studying

one or more single examples.” Stake (2005, p. 445) uses the term “instrumental case study” to describe a case study that will assist to understand a phenomenon not because of the case itself but because it “facilitates our understanding of something else”. Similarly, the case study is used in this thesis to construct an holistic understanding of a context. When discussing the uniqueness of some cases, Stake (2005, p. 451) proposes that “on representational grounds, the epistemological opportunity seems small, we [the case study researcher] are optimistic that we can learn some important things from any case”.

3.3.2 Atypical Case Studies

Flyvbjerg (2006, p. 220) argues that “it is not true that a [single] case study ‘cannot provide reliable information about the broader class’” as is put forward by Abercrombie et al. (2004). To the contrary, Stake (2005, p. 451) explains that “potential for learning is a different and sometimes superior criterion to representativeness”. He extends this argument by stating that “sometimes it’s better to learn a lot from an atypical case than a little from a seemingly typical case” and that this “may mean taking the most accessible one and the one that we can spend the most time with”. An “outlier case tends to yield more information than average cases” (National Center for Technology Innovation, 2011).

The Falls can be seen as an atypical case study. The Falls is chosen as the individual case to explore the changing nature of social capital and informal leisure in a setting. As an outlier case, or an atypical case (for example: Veal, 2011, Jones, 2006), the Falls is identified as a setting that could provide insight into contemporary informal leisure contexts and how they are shaped. The Falls is an example of an atypical case study that could provide a “stark contrast with what is the norm” due to its “crucial elements that are particularly significant” (Jones, 2006, p. 316). Arksey and Knight (1999, p. 57) would describe events like the Falls as “exceptions to the rule”. Thus while the Falls may not be an outlier in the context of music festivals it is an outlier when compared to day-to-day life in Tasmania.

A number of informal leisure case study options were considered for this research including skate parks, social media, al fresco dining, food festivals and waterfront developments. However, the case study selected was considered appropriate because of the re-emergence of festivals in Australian culture (for example: Gibson and Stewart, 2009, Gibson and Connell, 2012). Examining festivals through case studies is a commonly used approach (for example: Thrane, 2002, Gibson and Davidson, 2004, Cummings, 2005, McGregor and Gibson, 2009, Pegg and Patterson, 2010, Lashua, 2011, Tindall, 2011, Stadler et al., 2013). The Falls permits an interesting case to examine temporary contexts for leisure and the role that place may play. In this instance the researcher’s links within the music industry (through board memberships and participation in the music industry in Tasmania) facilitates smooth entry into and negotiation of the Falls and its ‘inhabitants’. The Falls as a case study is both practical and a readily accessible resource (Stake, 2005, Walter, 2006b).

The Falls also affords accessibility to a large catchment of participants within a confined space and in an informal setting. According to Hauser et al. (2007, p. 76), “Physical proximity is the necessary prerequisite for continuous and meaningful social interaction”. As discussed, social capital has a spatial dimension (Rutten et al., 2010). Rutten et al. (2010p. 869) argue that “a dense network of social relations is easier to maintain as close proximity than at a distance”. Spatial proximity becomes even more crucial for weak ties in that “it enables the frequent social interaction that is required to sustain them” (p. 869). The Falls is an example of how physical proximity, especially as a temporary space, may be leveraged to encourage social interaction. This is especially the case in the camping areas, otherwise known as ‘tent city’.

The Falls, as a case, is studied in two distinct periods: during each of the 2010 and 2011 events. Attending twice enables an exploration in 2010 and a more targeted approach in 2011 to tease out and ‘test’ findings from 2010. Two methods were used for the 2010 data collection: an esurvey and focus groups. A face-to-face

written survey and targeted interviews that enabled the researcher to probe more deeply were used in 2011. An array of photographs were taken; however no photos taken by the research that may identify specific attendees are included in this thesis.

This study is not designed to advocate for or against the benefits of the Falls as an entity. Rather, the Falls is interrogated to better understand if and how social ties are formed and to examine if there is accumulation and extraction of social capital. The Falls is used instrumentally as an outlier case (for example: Veal, 2011, Jones, 2006) to tease out the aspects of social networking in a contemporary, informal leisure context.

The process of constructing knowledge in the research is a staged approach. Phase one - the first visit to the Falls in 2010 – is designed to test the interaction between the social capital and leisure components of the framework. There is a particular focus on gaining a better understanding of how people establish and/or maintain social ties at the Falls. However, it was anticipated that place characteristics may also be revealed because properties of place are often transmitted socially (for example: Memmott and Long, 2002) and the primary activity of third places is conversation (Oldenburg, 1991 in Kivisto 2011). Although the place component is not specifically a focus of phase one, it came through strongly in the data and became an integral focus in phase two (the return to the Falls in 2011). The methods to undertake this staged approach are outlined in the next section.