Design

Who uses this?

Purpose

Focus

Methods of Data Collection

Case Study

·     Social scientists in general

To understand one person or situation (or a small number) in great depth

One case or a few cases within its/their own natural setting

·     Observation

·     Interviews

·     Relevant written documents

·     Relevant audiovisuals

Ethnography or
Participant Observation

·     Anthropologists originally, but also psychology and education

To understand how behaviors reflect the culture of a group

A specific field site in which a group of people share a common culture

·     Participant observation

·     (Un)structured interviews

·     Artifact and document collection

Phenomeno-logical Study

·     Sociologists, psychologists

To understand an experience from the participants’ point of view

A particular phenomenon as it is typically lived and perceived by human beings

·     In-depth, unstructured interviews

·     Purposeful sampling of 5-25 individuals

Historiography

·     Historians

To understand events by using historical research

Current or past event(s)

·     Historical documents

·     Interviews

·     Oral histories

·     Relevant audiovisuals

·     Artifacts, remnants, remains

Design

Sample Research Questions

Methods of Data Analysis

Case Study

What has led Nicaraguans to develop a tourist industry based on selling their civil war experience?

·     Categorize/interpret date by identifying common themes

·     Synthesis of information as portrait of the case(s)

Ethnography or

Participant Observation

How have aboriginal people in Western Australia adapted to Western European influence?

·     Identification of significant phenomena and underlying structures and beliefs

·     Organization of data into a logical whole (chronology, typical day, etc)

Phenomenological Study

How do functioning alcoholics function in a work environment?

·     Search for ‘meaning units’ that reflect various aspects of the experience

·     Integration of the meaning units into a ‘typical’ experience

Historiography

How did Japanese families adjust to internment during WWII?

·     External and internal evidence

·     Timelines

·     Spatial dimension

·     Psychological or conceptual research