Action and Case Research in
Management and Organizational
Contexts
Types of question and types of Data
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Quantitative data – questionnaires – which might be directed at
particular cases;
Qualitative Research:
 Ethnographic;
 Several in-depth case studies;
 A single very deep case study;
Qualitative Research data gathering:
 Interviews;
 Observation;
 Texts;
 Artefacts;
 But also possibly surveys e.g. customer satisfaction
surveys.
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Use of statistical techniques;
SPSS;
You may still need to wrestle with your
data to understand causal relationships.
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You need to “code” your data according to
categories;
NVivo and Nud*ist;
Need for deep engagement with the data;
Need time for reflection;
You may need to select a case or cases from
which to gather the data.
Are you attracted to a positivist approach?
A positivist approach often aims to identify and
test law like statement or causal relationships:
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Define your research domain;
Define your hypothesis;
Identify your independent and dependent variables;
Design your questionnaire;
If your hypothesis is born out this is the foundation of
your new theory.
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Positivists often use surveys, to generate large
quantities of data, using probability samples of
general populations, or convenience samples.
They usually have a general hypothesis to test.
They may want to test it in a particular context. So
they might identify a particular case (context), e.g.
global banking sector, steel Industry in Libya, IT
specialists in Gloucestershire.
Case studies and positivism
A positivist researcher might identify a number of
companies (cases) to investigate and use a survey to
gain large amounts of data to test from employees in
each company. This data might be purely factual i.e.
gender, age how long employed, but might also be
about opinions.
Do you want to adopt a qualitative approach?
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Are you interested in meaning from the respondents
perspective;
Are you interested in meaning from your own
perspective;
Are you interested in meaning from an existing
theory’s perspective?
Is a case approach appropriate?
Social Constructionism –– Investigates how the world is socially
constructed. See Berger and Luckman (1966);
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Constructivism -– About how social activity produces social
relationships and knowledge. See Lev., Vygotsky (1978);
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Phenomenology –– About understanding how the world appears to
those experiencing it. See Husserl (1989) and Heidegger (1982);
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Interpretivism - This paradigm "seeks to explain the stability of
behaviour from the individual's viewpoint". Researchers in this
paradigm try to observe "on-going processes" to better understand
individual behaviour and the "spiritual nature of the world". See
Burrell and Morgan (1979).
All of these are about understanding actors’ intentions and could use case
studies
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Action research has an additional set of aims in
addition to theory development;
It seeks to make an intervention;
It is committed;
It seeks to increase human flourishing;
It is often centred on a case (especially in 2nd
and 3rd person inquiry).
Case study and first, second and third
person inquiry
• First-person inquiry - For me. The case might be an
introspection or reflective piece about me in a particular
context.
• Second-person inquiry - For us. This is typically a piece of
research based on a single case.
• Third-person inquiry - For them. This would be typically
based on multiple case studies.
Bradbury and Reason., (2001: 251 - 256).
Berger, P. L. and T. Luckmann (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: A
Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
Burrell G., and Morgan G. (1979). Sociological paradigms and organisational
analysis, London: Heinemann Educational Books.
Heidegger, M. (1982 [1977]). Translated by Hofstadter, A. The Basic Problems of
Phenomenology, Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press.
Husserl, Edmund (1989). The crisis of European sciences and transcendental
phenomenology: an introduction to phenomenological philosophy. Evanston, Ill:
Northwestern University Press.
Torbert, W, (2001). The practice of action inquiry, in Bradbury and Reason, (eds),
(2001), “Handbook of Action Research”. London: Sage.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.