BUSINESS RESEARCH MBA710

CHRISTIAN MUDIWA R111082H

Group 10 FARAI MOYO R212645P
NYASHA KADZUNGE R112381M
ONETTE MHAKO R1710125G
ABNER MAMVURA R211496H
ANESU CHIMHINI R211683Q
TAFADZWA MASARIRAMBI R212105R
ANESU MAPIRAVANA R156167N
KUMBIRAI TAVAGWISA R167816X
MIGHTY MANDAZA R144505T
CHENGETAYI MUTANDWA R2011808B
RUMBIDZAI CHIHOTA R0825679W
TINASHE MUGADZA R2011563ZL
 Question 10

When is it appropriate to use a case study as a research

method? What are the merits and limitations of case study
method?
 CASE STUDY Explained
• A case study is an in-depth study of an individual, group, or event (Gagnon, 2010).
• It is useful as an appropriate research design that helps the researcher to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth
knowledge about a specific real-world subject, allowing exploration of key research characteristics, meanings,
and implications of the case under study..
• A case study has three categories which are intrinsic, instrumental and collective case studies (Zucker, 2016)
 Intrinsic case studies are undertaken to learn about a unique phenomenon. The researcher will be required to
define the uniqueness of the phenomenon that distinguishes it from all others.
 instrumental case study uses a particular case to gain a broader appreciation of a phenomenon.
 Collective case study involves studying multiple cases simultaneously or sequentially to generate a still
broader appreciation of a particular issue.
 Case Study Uses cont.…
• Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000), opines that case study research can
be positivist, interpretive, or critical, which depends upon the underlying
philosophical and yet to be proven ideas of the researcher, but it regularly
follows the interpretative more than the positivist paradigm of the research
• The interpretive case study is used to comprehend the importance of an
interaction or experience
• Boland, 1985, notes that the philosophical base of interpretive research is
hermeneutics and phenomenology.
 Case Study Uses cont…..
• Yin (1984), notes that case studies can be used to give full insight, describing or exploring events or
phenomena in the everyday contexts in which they occur for instance, helping to understand and clarify
causal connections and pathways which ends from a new policy drive or service development.
• Unlike experimental designs, that opts to test a specific hypothesis by deliberately altering the
circumstances, a case study approach positions itself well to collect data on more explanatory ways that is
'how', 'what' and 'why' questions, like “how” is the mediation being implemented and received on the
ground?

•A case study approach produces additional insights by exploring what gaps exist in its approach or why one
execution strategy might be opted over the other which will therefore help in developing a theory.
 Case Study Uses cont…
• case study can be taken in consideration in different ways which depends on the epistemological
outlook of the researcher, which is, whether they want a critical questioning of one's perception
and others' assumptions, interpretivist such as trying to understand individual and shared social
meanings (Johnson, 2006) .
• the positivist approach of a case study the researcher`s direction will be more focused on the
natural sciences such as generalizing the outcomes but by making use of the case study there will
be several approaches the researcher can make use of and conclude the findings for example they
give the researcher room to be critical, and show a reflective perspective which thereby seeks to
take into consideration the wider social and political environment that has developed the case.
 Case Study Uses cont…
• A good case study as a research method should aim to challenge already available theories through
exploring outlier cases that are not related to established assumptions.
• A case study should expand available theories by discovering new ideas and concepts to be
incorporated in the topic under study.

•literature review should be conducted using sources that are related to topic under study to ensure an
academic base and to develop a theoretical framework. by making reference to a case study.
 Case Study Merits
 It allows researchers to closely study subjects that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a
laboratory.

 Case studies are inexpensive research methods that can turn study observation into usable data and
can be used in several research methodologies.

 They are important because examination of collected data is conducted within the context of its use
(Yin, 1984). Intrinsic, instrumental and collective, allows researchers to undertake both
quantitative and qualitative analyses of collected data.
 Case Study Merits cont.…
There is a divergence from the analysis, for example, which purposely segregates a peculiarity from
its specific circumstance, giving much attention on a predetermined number of factors (Zaidah, 2003).
It can be intrigued, for instance, in the process by which a subject appreciates a real text
• To investigate the procedures the pursuer utilizes, the researcher should notice the subject within
their current circumstance, like perusing in study hall or perusing for relaxation
 Case Study Demerits
 research findings may necessarily not be able to be generalized to a larger population and it will require
data collection over longitudinal case studies that may not be always relevant or useful.

It may also not be able to demonstrate the cause and the effect and might have a possibility of bias as they
lack rigour which is often showed by the researchers as they tend to be unsystematic, and allowing more than
one interpretation of evidence or biased perceptions to affect the direction of their findings and conclusions.
 Yin, (1984) a case study tend to provide very little detailed information for scientific researches since they
often use a small number of participants, with some of them being conducted with only one subject . Thus
they often leaves unanswered questions commonly raised such as “How can a researcher conclude from a
single subject?”
 References
Gagnon, Y.C., 2010. The case study as research method: A practical handbook. PUQ.

Hafiz, K., 2008. Case study ecmple. The qualitative report, 13(4), pp.544-559.

Johnson, M.P. (2006). Decision models for the location of community corrections centers.
Environment And Planning B-Planning & Design 33 (3): 393-412 May.

Kohlbacher, F., 2006. The use of qualitative content analysis in case study research. In Forum
Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research (Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1-30). Institut für
Qualitative Forschung.
 References cont…

Runeson, P. and Höst, M., 2009. Guidelines for conducting and reporting case study research in
software engineering. Empirical software engineering, 14(2), pp.131-164.

Zaidah, Z. (2003). An Investigation into the effects of Discipline-Specific Knowledge,

Proficiency and Genre on Reading Comprehension and Strategies of Malaysia ESP Students.
Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. University of Reading.

Zucker, D.M., 2016. How to do case study research. In Teaching research methods in the social
sciences (pp. 191-202). Routledge.