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Toward Developing A Framework For Conducting Case Study Research
Toward Developing A Framework For Conducting Case Study Research
Abstract
This article reviews the use of case study research for both practical and theoretical issues especially in management field with the
emphasis on management of technology and innovation. Many researchers commented on the methodological issues of the case
study research from their point of view thus, presenting a comprehensive framework was missing. We try representing a general
framework with methodological and analytical perspective to design, develop, and conduct case study research. To test the
coverage of our framework, we have analyzed articles in three major journals related to the management of technology and
innovation to approve our framework. This study represents a general structure to guide, design, and fulfill a case study research
with levels and steps necessary for researchers to use in their research.
Keywords
case study research, methodological and analytical perspective, management of technology and innovation
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2 International Journal of Qualitative Methods
be rigorous, as is evidenced by case-based papers in both top and how it can be differentiated from other types of qualitative
European and U.S. journals. On the other hand, there is strong research” (Merriam, 1998).
resistance to case study research in some communities and its We are going to represent a comprehensive and cohesive set
use has been rather narrow, often restricted to just exploratory of different definitions with different emphasis and perspec-
research. Case studies deserve a prominent role in business tives of researchers in case study starting from 1970. The evo-
research and can be used for analyzing and solving business lution of the definition of the case study can be seen by
problems, as well as for building and testing business theories reviewing them.
(Dul &Hak, 2008). For example in technology management The essence of a case study, the central tendency among all
areas where case study might be used according to Mccutcheon types of the case study, is that it tries to illuminate decision or
and Meredith (1993) might be: What are the dynamics of tech- set of decisions, why they were taken, how they were imple-
nology implementation that transcend the particular technology mented, and with what results (Schramm, 1971, cited in Yin,
being introduced? Or in operations management, closely 1989, pp. 22, 23). Gummesson (1988) argues that an important
related to management of technology field, the gap between advantage of case study research is the opportunity for a holis-
what academics were assuming and the real conditions of oper- tic view of the process: “The detailed observations entailed in
ations led to growing disparities between operations manage- the case study method enable us to study many different
ment research’s prescriptive advice and workable answers for aspects, examine them in relation to each other, view the pro-
managers (e.g., McKay et al., 1988). Sensing this gap, a grow- cess within its total environment and also use the researchers’
ing number of OM researchers have seen the need to gather capacity for ‘verstehen’”. “A case study is an empirical inquiry
better information about the realities of operations systems and that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and
to develop better, more complete theories about them. A prime within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries
means of developing well-grounded theories is through empiri- between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and
cal, field-based research (Mccutcheon & Meredith, 1993). the investigator has little control over events” (Yin, 1989, 1994,
We went through three popular journals in the management 2009). In essence, Yin views the goal of case studies as under-
of technology, based on their ranking using Scimago (http:// standing complex social phenomena and real-life events such
www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category¼1405) which as organizational and managerial processes. The case study is
are Research Policy, R&D Management, and Technovation, also defined as an ideal methodology when a holistic, in-depth
to see whether the case study is used as a dominant strategy investigation is needed (Feagin, Orum, & Sjoberg, 1991). Stake
in the management field or not. We used Google Scholars who is one of the main researchers in this field suggests that
advanced search, searched in all of the words “case study case study research is an investigation and analysis of a single
research” anywhere in the article between 2005 and 2015. The or collective case, intended to capture the complexity of the
results of our search shows a wide use of case study as a object of study. Researchers who use case study are urged to
methodology in the management of technology and innovation seek out what is common and what is particular about the case.
field (Technovation more than 68 papers, R&D Management This involves careful and in-depth consideration of the nature
more than 189 papers, Research Policy more than 162 papers). of the case, historical background, physical setting, and other
In this article, we tried to use the experiences of operations institutional and political contextual factors. The case is devel-
management and the management of technology researchers. oped in the relationship between the researcher and informants
We try to represent a general framework with methodological and presented to engage the reader, inviting them to join in this
and analytical perspectives in order to design, develop, and interaction and in case discovery. Case studies have been used
conduct case study research and then we have analyzed the in varied investigations, particularly in sociological studies, but
mentioned journals article in the late 2015 to test our frame- increasingly, in instruction (Stake, 1995). Stake mentions four
work. The reminder of this study is planned as follows: First, defining characteristics of qualitative research which are valid
we define case study as a method, then we review methodolo- for qualitative case studies as well: they are “holistic,”
gical issues in conducting a case study, after that we summarize “empirical,” “interpretive,” and “emphatic.” Whether the study
the various viewpoints of case study researchers in Table 1, and is experimental or quasi-experimental, the data collection and
finally, we have analyzed 2015 articles to see whether our analysis methods are known to hide some details (Yazan,
framework covers the steps mentioned in our framework 2015). Case studies are designed to bring out the details from
(Table 1) or not. the viewpoint of the participants by using multiple sources of
data (Tellis, 1997). Merriam (1998) defines case study research
as “an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a bounded
Case Study as a Method phenomenon such as a program, an institution, a person, a
Despite being one of the most frequently used qualitative process, or a social unit.” In order to further differentiate case
research methodologies in educational research, the methodol- study method from casework, case method, and case history
ogists do not have a full consensus on the design and imple- (case records), she stresses its unique distinctive attributes:
mentation of the case study, which hampers its full evolution particularistic (it focuses on a particular situation, event, pro-
(Yazan, 2015). Emerging researchers who plan to utilize the gram, or phenomenon); descriptive (it yields a rich, thick
case study usually become confused “as to what a case study is description of the phenomenon under study); heuristic (it
Ebneyamini and Sadeghi Moghadam 3
illuminates the reader’s understanding of phenomenon under evaluated has no clear set of outcomes. Meredith (1998) noted
study) (Yazan, 2015). Case study method enables a researcher that there are three outstanding strengths of case study
to closely examine the data within a specific context. In most research: (1) The phenomenon can be studied in its natural
cases, a case study method selects a small geographical area or a setting and meaningful, relevant theory generated from the
very limited number of individuals as the subjects of study. Case understanding gained through observing actual practice; (2) the
studies, in their true essence, explore and investigate contempo- case method allows the questions of why, what, and how, to be
rary real-life phenomenon through detailed contextual analysis answered with a relatively full understanding of the nature and
of a limited number of events or conditions and their relation- complexity of the complete phenomenon; and (3) the case
ships (Zainal, 2007). method lends itself to early, exploratory investigations where
Dul and Hak (2008) define the case study as a study in variables are still unknown and the phenomenon not at all
which: understood.
Voss and his colleagues (2002) have mentioned, as cited in
One case (single case study) or a small number of cases Handfield and Melnyk (1998), that the purpose of the case
(comparative case study) in their real-life context are study is (1) exploration to uncover areas for research and theory
selected and development; (2) theory building to identify/describe key vari-
Scores obtained from these cases are analyzed in a qua- ables, identifying linkages between variables and identifying
litative manner. “why” these relationships exist; (3) theory testing to test the
theories developed in the previous stages or predict future out-
There are different ideas about what a case study is. If we try comes; and (4) theory extension/refinement to better structure
to find a common denominator that case study researchers the theories in the light of the observed results. Dul and Hak
might agree on, it would be something along the following (2008) noted that most of the researchers consider case study
lines: The case study should have a “case” which is the object research as a useful research strategy (A) when the topic is
of study. The case should be a complex functioning unit, be broad and highly complex, (B) when there is not a lot of theory
investigated in its natural context with a multitude of methods, available, and (C) when “context” is very important. So they
and be contemporary (Johansson, 2003). Nevertheless, the case consider using case study for theory building, theory testing,
study researchers mentioned above emphasize different fea- hypothesis building, hypothesis testing, and description. We
tures. Stake points out that crucial to case study research are have considered these purposes in our framework in Frame-
not the methods of investigation, but that the object of study is a work section (Table 1). In our analysis of 15 latest articles
case: “As a form of research, the case study is defined by the published in three important journals of management of tech-
interest in individual cases, not by the methods of inquiry nology, 13 of the 15 of them were theory extension/refinement,
used.” Other researchers, such as Yin (1994), place more one theory building, and one of them hypothesis testing.
emphasis on the method and the techniques that constitute a
case study (Johansson, 2003). Now that we have reviewed most
of the definition of case study research in literature we can Types of Case Study Research
discuss the subissues regarding the nature of such research. In terms of defining types of case study research, researchers
title them differently. Yin (1989) has identified some specific
types of case study research: exploratory, explanatory, and
The Purpose of a Case Study Research descriptive. Stake (1995) identified three others: intrinsic,
Researchers have different ideas, but many agree on what is the instrumental, and collective. Or according to Zainal (2007),
purpose of doing a research using a case study research strat- other categories include interpretive and evaluative case stud-
egy. We try to provide an overview of those here. First, we ies. Dul and Hak (2008) categorize the case study research as
have to decide whether a case study can help us to achieve our the single case study and comparative case study. All in all, we
research goal or not. There are three factors that determine the believe that in using the case study research as a methodology
best research methodology: The types of questions to be we have two types: single case study or multiple case study
answered, the extent of control over behavioral events, and the which follows a replication logic. In our analysis of 15 latest
degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical articles published in three important journals of management of
events. Figure 1, based on Yin (1994), summarizes the different technology, 11 of the 15 of them were multiple case studies,
kinds of research questions and methods that are most appro- four longitudinal case study1 and one single case study.
priate based on the research questions.
Based on Figure 1, case study research is appropriate to be
used for researches with “how” and “why” questions. Yin When to Use Case Study Research
(1994) also presented at least four applications for a case study Of course, choosing a research strategy or methodology
(1) to explain complex causal links in real-life interventions, depends on three things (Yin, 2014): research question, the
(2) to describe the real-life context in which the intervention extent of control the researcher has over actual behavioral
has occurred, (3) to describe the intervention itself, and (4) to events, and the degree of focus on contemporary as opposed
explore those situations in which the intervention being to historical events. Case study research is generally thought of
4 International Journal of Qualitative Methods
observation, and physical artifacts. As for data collection models and cross-case synthesis. None of these come with any
instruments, Stake (1995) suggests the use of observation, formulas, although statistical calculations can be part of them.
interview, and document review in qualitative case study Eisenhardt (1989) suggests two stage for data analysis: the
research. Merriam (1998) suggests conducting effective inter- analysis within case data and searching for cross-case patterns.
views, being a careful observer, mining data from documents as Stake (1995) identifies three ways: correspondence and pat-
techniques and procedures that researchers need in order to terns, categorical aggregation, or direct interpretation and nat-
become effective users of the collection tools. Dul and Hak uralistic generalization. Merriam (1998) mentions six analytic
(2008) also propose a qualitative interview, using archives, strategies such as ethnographic analysis, narrative analysis,
questionnaire, and observation. Some recommendations men- phenomenological analysis, constant comparative method,
tioned by researchers while conducting an interview is that the content analysis, and analytic induction. Dul and Hak (2008)
starting question after the preliminaries should invite the inter- also mention pattern matching and visual inspection as ways of
viewee to tell the story of their experience of whatever the analyzing data. The results of our analysis appear in Table 1.
research is about (Perry, 1998). The starting point is a question
that is almost content free. This is your warranty that the Report
answers came from the respondent and did not arise simply
because your questions created a self-fulfilling prophecy (Dick, The guide for the case study report is often omitted from case
1990). Be aware that the data collection in case study research study plans because investigators view the reporting phase as
can be both quantitative and qualitative. The results of our being far in the future. Yin (1994) proposed that the report is
analysis appear in Table 1. planned at the start. Case studies do not have a widely accepted
reporting format - hence the experience of the investigator is a
key factor (Tellis, 1997). Dul and Hak (2008) suggest that the
Data Analysis report part is in relation with the object of the study if the
Data analysis consists of examining, categorizing, tabulating, research is practice-oriented the report has to mention the con-
or otherwise recombining the evidence to address the initial tributions and implications of study towards practitioners and if
propositions of a study. The analysis of the case study is one is theory-oriented the report is toward the experts and the impli-
of the least developed aspects of the case study methodology. cations for the theory has to be reported. All in all, there is no
The researcher needs to rely on experience and the literature to specific way to report case study research which is accepted by
present the evidence in various ways, using various interpreta- all researchers but the guidelines offered can help the of case
tions (Tellis, 1997). study research researchers to report.
Case study researchers have different interpretations of the
stage, for example, Miles and Huberman (1994) describe the
phases of data analysis as data reduction, data display, and
Framework
conclusion drawing and verification. Yin (1989, 1994) identi- Representing a framework which entails all the steps we men-
fies three ways for this stage: pattern matching, explanation tioned above seemed useful. By reviewing almost all the liter-
building, and time series. He also mentions the use of logic ature on case study methodology, in this section, we try to
Proposed - Design the case No specific step Almost the -Conducting a -Define the research -Preparation phase
methodology for study by step same as literature framework, -Research phase
conducting case - Conduct the case methodology Yin(1995) review constructs, and which -
study research study -Constructing a questions, Implications and
- Analyze the case theoretical -Choosing cases report phase.
study evidence framework -Developing research
- Develop the -Identifying a instruments and
conclusions, research protocols
recommendations, problem -Conducting the field
and implications -Crafting and research
sharpening -Analysis
research
questions
-Selecting the
sample
(Purposive
sampling)
Purpose of Case
Study Research Reasons to Use Case Study Research Types of Case Study Research Methods of Gathering Data Data Analysis in of Case Study Research
7
8 International Journal of Qualitative Methods
Sustainability and scalability of Theory oriented Theory Comparative - Semistructured interview - Data reduction
university spinouts: a business extension/ case study - Archival data (open coding)
model perspective (Bigdeli et al., refinement - Observation - Pattern matching
2015) - Meetings
One year ahead! Investigating the time Theory oriented Theory Longitudinal Archival data Pattern matching
lag between patent publication and extension/ case study
market launch: insights from a refinement
longitudinal study in the automotive
industry (Gerken et al., 2015)
Managing dual business models in Theory oriented Theory Comparative - Semistructured interview - Cross-case analysis
emerging markets: an ambidexterity extension/ case study - Archival data - Visualization
perspective (Winterhalten et al., refinement techniques
2015) - Pattern matching
Evolving schemes of interpretation: Theory oriented Theory Longitudinal - Semistructured interview - Narrative analysis
investigating the dual role of extension/ case study - Archival data - Pattern matching
architectures in new product refinement
development (Magnusson &
Lakemond, 2015)
Toward an attention-based view of Theory oriented Theory Comparative - Semistructured interview - Cross-case analysis
technology decisions (Palmie et al., extension/ case study - Archival data
2015) refinement
develop a pervasive framework, in order to help researchers and represented the results in tables that follow the same
using the case study methodology in their research. We suggest order. Case studies are used widely in the management field,
that Table 1 represents the steps and their related issues that a as the literature seems to reflect that. As mentioned in the Intro-
researcher needs to know and consider while using case study duction section the journals, we selected are R&D MANAGE-
methodology. These steps and its requirements are shown in MENT (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/
Table 1.We suggest that the starting point of the research is (ISSN)1467-9310), TECHNOVATION (https://www.journals.el-
defining the purpose of our study which can be practical or sevier.com/technovation/), and RESEARCH POLICY (https://
theoretical. Then, in the next step, we have to set our specific www.journals.elsevier.com/research-policy/). We searched
purpose. For example, if we are doing a practical research then through the articles published between 2005 and 2015. Over
for which specific reason: testing a hypothesis, building a 344 paper have been published using case study research as a
hypothesis, or other reasons which are mentioned in the table. methodology which shows the importance of this methodology
After that, we can define which type of case study is suitable in the management of technology and innovation issues. The
depending on the purpose which we defined. In the next step, we results of analyzing 15 papers (the five latest articles published
need to choose the method of gathering data which includes in each journal) which were accepted/published in 2015 are
several methods (see Table 1). Finally, we can decide which shown in following tables:
method can help us to analyze the data we gathered. Several As mentioned before, the case study research is widely used as
methods are mentioned by researchers which has shown in Table a research methodology by researchers in the management field.
1. We believe that researchers can use this framework as a By carefully analyzing the articles, we have found that the frame-
checklist in their research with case study methodology. work presented in Table 2 (framework) is pervasive and all
researchers passed the steps which we considered necessary to
Analyzing Management of Technology use the case study as the research methodology. To explain what
was mainly in common in our analysis, it seemed like most of the
and Innovation Articles Using Case researchers (93%) used the case study research for the purpose of
Study Methodology conducting a theory-oriented research with the theory extension/
In order to see whether our framework is pervasive enough, refinement (86%) goal. In the gathering data phase, using quali-
we decided to review some of the articles published in jour- tative interviews and archival data methods were well reported.
nals related to the management of technology and innovation. Pattern matching (46%), cross-case analysis (46%), and data
We followed all the steps which are represented in Table 1 reduction (33%) are dominant in the analyzing data phase.
Ebneyamini and Sadeghi Moghadam 9
Table 3. Technovation.
Boundaries of R&D collaboration (Back & Kohtamaki, Theory Theory Comparative - Structured - Within-case
2015) oriented extension/ case study interview analysis
refinement - Archival data - Cross-case analysis
- Meetings
Identifying new dimensions of business incubation: a Theory Theory Longitudinal - Semistructured - Compare the
multilevel analysis of Karolinska institute’s oriented extension/ case study interview narratives of
incubation system (Baraldi & Havenvid, 2015) refinement - Archival data informants
- Informal - Pattern matching
meetings
Understanding a new generation incubation model: Theory Theory Comparative -Semi-structured - Writing individual
the accelerator (Pauwels et al., 2015) oriented extension/ case study interview case histories by
refinement - Archival data using archival data
- Using repertory
grid method
- Cross-case analysis
Situated regional university incubation: a multilevel Theory Theory building Comparative -In-depth - Cross-case analysis
stakeholder (Mc Adam et al., 2015) oriented case study interview - Data reduction
- Archival data (open coding)
Innovation in start-ups: ideas filling the void of Theory Theory Comparative Interview (open- - Pattern matching
resources and capabilities (Paradkar et al., 2015) oriented extension/ case study ended - Cross-case analysis
refinement questions)
Reasons to Use
Purpose of Case Case Study Types of Case Methods of
Articles Study Research Research Study Research Gathering Data Data Analysis
Impact of stronger patent regimes on Practice oriented Hypothesis testing Comparative case - Interview - Visual inspection
technology transfer: the case study of study (to answer - Archival data
the Thai automotive industry research
(Intarakumerd & Charoenporn, 2015) questions
numbers 2 and 3)
Commercializing user innovations by Theory oriented Theory extension/ Comparative case - Semistructured - Data reduction
vertical diversification: the user- refinement study interview and (open coding)
manufacturer innovator (Block et al., formal - Cross-case
2015) interviews analysis
- Archival data - Asking
independent
researchers to
recode the text
passages
Where and how to search? Search paths Theory oriented Theory extension/ Comparative case -Semi-structured - Data
in open innovation (Lopez-Vega et al., refinement study interview reduction(open
2015) - Archival data coding) and
- Observation axial coding
Situated novelty: introducing a process Theory oriented Theory extension/ Comparative case - Semistructured Data reduction
perspective on the study of refinement study interview (open coding)
innovation (Janssen & putters, 2015) - Archival data
- Observation
Understanding the emergence of new Theory oriented Theory extension/ Single case study -Interview Pattern matching
science and technology policies: refinement - Archival data
policy entrepreneurial ship, agenda
setting, and the development of
European framework program (Edler
& James, 2015)
10 International Journal of Qualitative Methods
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