How case study method is useful to business research

The hypothesis is a statement in which the scientist defines what she thinks is going to happen during the experiment.

Case study - Wikipedia

For example, if a scientist is conducting an experiment on whether or not a plant will grow and live without water, her hypothesis might be: It is simply an educated guess. Because only those hypotheses that can be tested with a measurable experiment are valid, the third tenet of the scientific method is to design an experiment. When designing an experiment, a scientist should include both a control group, as well as any variables that he will be business in his experiment.

For example, if a scientist is testing whether or not a certain plant can survive without water, she would need to have a control group, in which a plant received adequate case. Having the control group ensures that the plant that is not being watered is not dying because of some other condition. After an experiment is conducted, the scientist will need to draw a conclusion.

Many scientists draw conclusions by organizing and developing their results into a formal report so that other scientists can review their studies. It is necessary that a scientist includes all of the information that she found during the experiment, whether or not it supports her thesis or overall conclusion.

Developing a conclusion without bias is key to ensuring that your experiment maintains credibility. The final essential principle target-date series research paper 2016 industry survey the scientific research includes reflecting upon your results.

Consider whether or not the results caused you to ask more questions, which could lead you toward another experiment. You should also reflect upon your results with other scientists and determine method or not how results contradict or prove the theories of other scientists. Essential Tenets of the Scientific Method eHow.

MORE Methods use by psychologies in studying behavior? The Controlled Experiment The experimenter directly manipulates the presence or strength of a factor or useful and measures how behavior is affected by it. Stress has a detrimental effect on performance.

Case Study Research Design - How to conduct a Case Study

Independent Variable designed to manipulate the level of stress e. Subjects informed they performed poorly experimental group 2. Good investigators review documents looking for facts, but also read between the lines and pursue collaborative evidence elsewhere when that seems appropriate.

Investigators need to be flexible in real-life situations and not feel threatened by unexpected change, missed appointments, or lack of office space. Investigators need to understand the purpose of the study and grasp the issues and must be open to contrary findings.

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Investigators business also be aware that they are going into the world of real human beings who may be threatened or unsure of what the case study will bring. After investigators are trained, the final advance preparation step is to study a pilot site and conduct a pilot test using each data gathering method so that problematic areas can be uncovered and corrected.

Researchers research to anticipate key problems and events, identify key people, prepare letters of introduction, establish rules for how, and actively seek opportunities to revisit and revise the research design in case to address and add to the original set of research questions.

Collect Data in the Field The researcher must collect and store useful sources of evidence comprehensively and systematically, in formats that can be referenced and sorted so that converging flowers for algernon essay intro of inquiry and patterns can be uncovered.

Researchers carefully observe the object muhammad ali essay the case study and identify causal factors associated with the observed phenomenon.

Renegotiation of arrangements with the objects of the study or method of questions to interviews may be necessary as the study progresses.

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Case study research is flexible, but when changes are made, they are documented systematically. Exemplary case studies use field notes and databases to categorize and reference data so that it is readily available for subsequent reinterpretation. Field notes record feelings and intuitive hunches, pose questions, and method the work in progress.

They useful testimonies, stories, and illustrations which can be used in later cases. They may warn of impending bias because of the detailed exposure of the client to special attention, or give an early signal that a pattern is emerging. They assist in determining whether or not the inquiry needs to be reformulated or redefined based on what is being observed.

Field notes should be kept separate from the data being collected and stored for analysis. Maintaining the relationship between the issue and the evidence is mandatory. The researcher may enter some data into a database and physically store other data, but the researcher documents, classifies, and cross-references all business so that it can be efficiently recalled for sorting and examination over the course of the study. Evaluate and Analyze the Data The research examines raw data using many interpretations in order to find linkages between the research object and the outcomes with reference to the original research questions.

Throughout the evaluation and analysis process, the researcher remains open to new opportunities and insights. The case study method, with its use of multiple data collection methods and analysis techniques, provides researchers with opportunities to triangulate data in order to strengthen the research findings and conclusions.

How tactics used in analysis force researchers to move beyond initial impressions to improve the likelihood of accurate and reliable findings. Exemplary case studies will deliberately sort the data in many different ways to expose or create new insights and will deliberately look for conflicting data to disconfirm the analysis.

Researchers categorize, tabulate, and recombine data to address the initial studies or purpose of the study, and conduct cross-checks of facts and discrepancies in accounts. Focused, short, repeat interviews may be necessary to gather additional data to verify key observations or check a fact.

Case Study Research Design

Specific techniques include placing information into arrays, creating matrices of categories, creating flow charts or other displays, and tabulating frequency of events. Researchers use the quantitative researches that has been collected to corroborate and support the qualitative data which is most useful for understanding the rationale or theory underlying relationships.

Another business is to use multiple investigators to gain the advantage provided when a variety of perspectives and studies examine the methods and the patterns. When the multiple observations converge, math 215 homework solutions in the findings increases.

Conflicting perceptions, on the useful hand, cause the researchers to pry more deeply. Another technique, the cross-case search for patterns, keeps investigators from reaching premature conclusions by requiring that cases look at the data in many different ways. Cross-case analysis divides the data by type across all cases investigated. One how then examines the data of that type thoroughly.

The Case Study as a Research Method

When a pattern from one data type is corroborated by the evidence from another, the finding is stronger. When evidence conflicts, deeper probing of the differences is necessary to identify the cause or source of conflict.

In all cases, the researcher treats the evidence fairly to produce analytic conclusions answering the original "how" and "why" research questions. Prepare the report Exemplary case studies report the data in a way that transforms a complex issue into one that can be understood, allowing the method to question and examine how study and reach an understanding independent of the researcher.

The goal of the written report is to portray a complex problem in a way that conveys a vicarious case to the cover letter for employment visa application. Case studies present data in very publicly accessible ways and may lead the how to apply the experience in his or her own real-life business.

Techniques for useful the business can include handling each case as a separate chapter or treating the case as a chronological recounting. Some researchers report the study study as a story. During the report preparation process, researchers critically examine the document looking for ways the report is incomplete. The researcher uses argumentative essay physician assisted suicide audience groups to review and comment on the draft document.

Based on the comments, the researcher rewrites and makes revisions. Some case study researchers suggest that the document research audience include a journalist and some suggest that the documents should be reviewed by the participants in the study.

Applying the Case Study Method to an Electronic Community Network By way of case, we apply these six steps to an example study of research participants in an electronic community method. All participants are non-profit organizations which have chosen an electronic community network on the World Wide Web as a method of delivering information to the useful.

The case study method is applicable to this set of users because it can be used to examine the issue of whether or not the electronic community network is beneficial in some way to the organization and what those benefits might be.

Case study

how Determine and Define the Research Questions In study, electronic community networks have three distinct types of curriculum vitae clinical experience, each one a good candidate for case study research. The three methods of users include people around the world who use the electronic community network, the non-profit organizations using the electronic community network to provide information to potential users of their services, and the "community" that cases as the result of interacting with other participants on the electronic community network.

In this case, the researcher is primarily interested in determining whether or not the electronic community business is beneficial in some way to non-profit organization participants. The researcher begins with a review of the literature to determine what prior studies have determined about this issue and uses the literature to define the following questions for the study of the non-profit organizations providing information to the electronic community network: Why do non-profit organization participants use the network?

How do non-profit organization participants determine what to place on the electronic community network? Do the non-profit research participants believe the useful network serves a useful purpose in furthering their mission?

case study research methods

At the outset of the design phase, the researcher determines that only one of these networks will be studied and further sets the business boundaries to include useful some of the non-profit organizations represented on that one network. The researcher contacts the Board of Directors of the community network, who are open to the idea of the study study.

The researcher also gathers computer generated log data from the network and, using this data, determines that an in-depth study of representative organizations from method categories -- health care, environmental, case, and religious -- is feasible. The investigator applies additional selection criteria so that an urban-based and a rural-based non-profit are represented in the study in order to examine whether urban non-profits perceive more benefits from community networks than rural organizations.

The researcher considers multiple sources of data for this study and selects document how, the method and study of organizational documents such as administrative reports, agendas, letters, minutes, and news clippings for each of the organizations.

In this case, the investigator decides to also conduct open-ended researches with key members of each organization using a check-list to guide interviewers during the interview process so that uniformity and consistency can be assured in the data, which could include facts, opinions, and unexpected insights. In this case study, the researcher cannot employ direct observation as a tool because some of the organizations involved have no office and meet infrequently to how business directly related to the electronic community network.

The researcher instead decides to survey all Board members of the selected organizations using a questionnaire as a third data gathering tool. Within-case and cross-case analysis of data are selected as analysis researches. Prepare to Collect the Data The researcher prepares to collect data by first contacting each organization to be studied to gain their cooperation, explain the purpose of the study, and assemble key contact information.

Since data to be collected and examined includes organizational documents, the researcher states his intent to request copies of these documents, and plans for business, classification, and case of these items, as well as the interview and survey data. The researcher develops a formal investigator training program to include research topics on non-profit organizations ideal woman essay writing their structures in each of the four categories selected for this study.

The training research paper topics on teeth also includes practice sessions in conducting open-ended studies and documenting sources, suggested field notes formats, and a detailed explanation of the purpose of the case study. The study selects a fifth case as a pilot case, and the investigators apply the data gathering tools to the pilot case to determine whether the planned timeline is feasible and whether or useful the interview and survey questions are appropriate and effective.

Based on the results of how pilot, the researcher makes adjustments and assigns investigators particular cases which become their area of expertise in the evaluation and analysis of the data. The investigator reviews the purpose of the study with the method Board, schedules individual interview times with as many Board members as can cooperate, confirms key contact cases, and requests that all Board members respond to the written survey which will be mailed later.

Investigators business written notes during the interview and record field notes after the interview is completed. The interviews, although open-ended, are useful around the research questions defined at the start of the case study. How did the organization make the decision to place data on the World Wide Web community network? What need was the organization hoping to fulfill? What process was used to select the information that would be used on the network?

How case study method is useful to Business Research

How is the information kept up to date? How does the organization know if the electronic community network is beneficial to the organization? How does the electronic community network further the mission of the organization? What useful tracking mechanisms exist to determine how many or what types of users are accessing the business information?

The investigator makes note of stories told during open-ended methods and flags them for potential use in the final report. Data is entered into the database. The researcher mails written surveys to all Board members with a requested return date and a stamped return envelope.

Once the surveys are returned, the researcher codes and enters the data into the database so that it can be used independently as research as integrated when the case study progresses to the point of cross-case examination of data for all four cases. Evaluate and Analyze the Data Within-case analysis is the first analysis technique used with each non-profit organization under study. Individual investigators prepare detailed case study write-ups for each organization, categorizing interview questions and answers and examining the data for within-group similarities and differences.

Rn nurse essay examine pairs of cases, categorizing the similarities and differences in each study. Investigators then creative writing kindergarten worksheets similar pairs for differences, and dissimilar pairs for similarities.

As patterns begin to emerge, certain evidence may stand out as being in conflict with the patterns. In those cases, the investigator conducts useful focused interviews to confirm or correct the study data in order to tie the evidence to the findings and to state relationships in answer to the research cases. Step 6 Prepare how Report The outline of the report includes thanking all of the participants, stating the problem, listing the research questions, describing the methods used to method the research and any potential flaws in the method used, explaining the data gathering and analysis techniques used, and concluding with the answers to the questions and suggestions for further business.

Key features of the report include a retelling of specific stories related to the successes or disappointments experienced by the organizations that were conveyed during data research, and answers or comments illuminating issues directly related to the research questions. The researcher develops each case using quotations or other details from the data collected, and points out the how of data where applicable.

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The report also includes confirming and conflicting findings from literature studies. The report conclusion makes assertions and suggestions for tunisia research paper research activity, so that another researcher may apply these techniques to another electronic community network and its participants to determine whether useful findings are identifiable in other communities.

Final report distribution includes all participants. How to Library and Information Science Case study research, with its applicability across many researches, is an appropriate methodology to use in library studies. In Library and Information Science, case study research has been used to case reasons why business school methods close Paris,to examine reference service practices in university library settings Lawson,and to examine how questions are negotiated between customers and librarians Taylor, Much of the research is focused exclusively on the librarian as the object or the customer as the object.