C ASE S TUDY M ETHOD
C ASE S TUDY M ETHOD

Real life situation in real time

Limited in space and time

Immediate impact

Immediate relevance
R ESEARCH P HILOSOPHY

Ontology: Who are you, who are you studying? Are they
your equals or your subjects? What rights do you
consider them to have?

Epistemology: What do you consider to be knowledge
and how does this affect your data collection and
analysis?

Validity, reliability: Have you found out what you say
you found out? Can you convince others that you have
done so? Can you generalise the results to another
situation?
Subjective,
interpersonal
Objective,
apersonal
T HE
Quantitative research
SLIPPERY SLOPE
M AKING NON - SCIENCE INTO
SCIENCE ?

Get as many different views on the situation as
possible (triangulate)

Demonstrate that the techniques and the way they
will be used were decided in advance

Be scrupulously careful with recording and
cataloguing all data.

Underpin your case with theory and derive theory
from the case itself
C ASE S TUDY M ETHODOLOGY

Plan and chart techniques to be used

Identify site(s) for access & convenience

Schedule data collection

Regular review
E XAMPLE
OF CASE STUDY RESEARCH DESIGN
FROM
In-depth interviews
J O H N S & L E E - R O S S ( 1 9 9 8 ) P. 1 4 8
Hackman and Oldham's Job Diagnostic
Survey (1980)
Results
Semi-structured
interviews
Participant observation
Direct output from research method
Information for research method formulation
R ECORDING

Analysis is the key, so don’t gather anything until
you know how you will use it

Notes vs Audiotape vs videotape: too little data
or too much?

Investigative journalist in the field: cold scientist
out
S TORAGE
AND CATALOGUING

Label, number, code

Transcribe, translate

Index, catalogue

General overview plus detailed scrutiny
D ESTINATION DEVELOPMENT THROUGH
ENTREPRENEURSHIP : A COMPARISON OF TWO CASES

Compared Hay on Wye “Town of Books” with Stavanger
“Town of Culture”

Objective: to contrast the factors underlying (a)
successful and (b) unsuccessful tourism
entrepreneurship

Methods:

Interviews with key entrepreneurs

Interviews with other stakeholders

Relevant news items and other literature
Johns, N. and Mattsson, J. (2005) Destination development through entrepreneurship: a comparison
of two cases. Tourism Management. 26(4):605-616.
C ONSIDERATIONS

Why is this a suitable situation for a case study?

Aims & objectives

Theoretical basis

Appropriateness of data collected

Appropriateness of data-gathering methods

Credibility/validity/reliability of findings
B UILDING R EFLECTIVE P RACTITIONERS ON B USINESS
P ROGRAMMES : A N A CTION R ESEARCH S TUDY

Faculty on Masters programmes at a Swiss hotel
school

one specific issue: that students would be
encouraged to become reflective practitioners.

Three academic years

Centred around gathering student feedback

Data gathered: course paperwork, student
course feedback, course and programme reports,
committee minutes, interviews with students
and faculty
Johns, N. And Henwood, J. A. (2008) Building reflective practitioners on business programmes: an
action research study . Journal of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Education. Accepted awaiting
publication.
B ORDER TOURISM IN I SRAEL : C ONFLICT,
P EACE , F EAR AND H OPE
The main aim of this research is to describe and analyse cultural elements
that express the symbolic landscape of Israel's border-tourism attractions.
The methodology selected is based on the naturalistic approach of
landscape interpretation. A descriptive analysis is provided of the
symbolism of elements in two case studies of border tourism in Israel.
These places have grown into unique tourist attractions, and they illustrate
the conflict or the co-operation between Israel and its neighbouring
countries. Visits to Israeli border sites usual y entail observation and hold a
special meaning f or tourists, either because they can sense the danger and
fear of battles conducted in the past near the border, or because they have
a close and clear look at the neighbouring country. On the other hand, these
sites are also places of hope for a better future - one of peace and cooperation between the two sides. In many cases the observation points have
Grown to signify both the core of the conflict and a prayer for peace, a
special simultaneity of fear and hope.
Gelbman, A. (2008) Border tourism in Israe l: conflict, peace , fear and hope . Tourism
Geographies. 10 (2) 193-213.
I NTERNATIONAL FRANCHISE PARTNER SELECTION AND
CHAIN PERFORMANCE THROUGH THE LENS OF
ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING
This study aims to investigate how international franchisors engage in
exploratory and exploitative learning in the partner selection process and the
implications for chain performance. Based on an embedded case study of a
leading international hotel organisation, the findings reveal that the franchisor
attempted a balanced learning approach in response to challenges caused by
high cultural distance in international markets. However, the ‘crowd-out’
effect of exploration and exploitation created a ‘tension’: exploration
emphasising adaptation to local needs dominated the partner identification
stage in country markets, whilst exploitation stressing standardisation and
efficiencies dominated the partner decision-making stage at division. As a
result, a consistent brand image came at the cost of very cautious
international expansion.
Wang, C. L. and Altinay, L. (2008) International franchise partner selection and chain performance
through the lens of organisational learning. Service Industries’ Journal. 28 (2) 225– 238.