will describe the research approaches in the IS research framework for the organisational laboratory - in-context research shown in Figure 3.2.
1.20.2. Case Study
Galliers 1992 classifies the case study as a scientific method. In contrast, Iivari categories the case study as interpretivist method Iivari, 1991 in Braa et al.,
1999. In a revised taxonomy Galliers Galliers, 1993 in Braa et al., 1999 presents IS research approaches on a spectrum ranging from traditional positivism observation-
based to newer post-positivism interpretations and positions the case study nearer to the observation-based end of the spectrum. It shows the difficulty of categorising
the case study as either positivist or interpretivist. According to Cavaye, case study research can be used in positivist and interpretivist methods, for testing or building
theory, with a single or multiple case study design, using qualitative or mixed methods Cavaye, 1996. In the following section, the different between two types of
case studies, the positivist-informed hard case study and the interpretivist soft case study will be described.
1.20.2.1. Hard Case Study
A case study is ‘an empirical enquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between
phenomenon and context are not clearly evident’ and it ‘relies on multiple sources of
evidence’ Yin, 1994 p. 13. Case studies are applicable for research which use
research methods that do not explicitly control or manipulate variables, studies a phenomenon in its natural context, and studies the
phenomenon at one of a few sites Weick, 1984 in Cavaye, 1996.
According to Cavaye, positivist case study try to measure pre-defined variables, according to pre-defined measures using pre-defined
research intruments
Cavaye, 1996
. He then argues that positivist case studies try to understand a social setting through identifying individual components of a
phenomenon and describe the phenomenon concerning constructs and relationship between construct. He also argues that positivism emphasises rigour in research
Keen, 1991 in Cavaye, 1996 through focusing on evidence, theoretical grounding and persuasiveness of logical argument.
Cavaye notes that the criteria for a good research in positivism as the research should make controlled observations, should be able to be replicated, should be able
to be generalised and should use formal logic
Cavaye, 1996
. Case studies allow the study to capture reality in detail and analyse many
variables; problem with case study from a positivist stance include the difficulty of generalisation from individual case study, the lack of control of individual variables
associated with the difficulties in distinguishing between cause and effect, and different stakeholders have different interpretations Galliers, 1992.
1.20.2.2. Soft Case Study
Walsham describes interpretative case study approach as However, from an interpretive position, the validity of an extrapolation from an individual case or cases
depends not on the representativeness of such cases in a statistical sense, but on the plausibility and cogency of the logical reasoning used in describing the results from
the cases, and in drawing conclusions from them . Walsham, 1993.
Orlikowski and Baroudi describe the use of case studies for information systems research concerning the interpretivist sense of generalisation as every
particular social relation is the product of generative forces or mechanisms operating at a more global level, and hence the interpretive analysis is an induction guided and
couched within a theoretical framework from the concrete situation to the social totality beyond the individual case
Orlikowski et al., 1989, quoted by Walsham, 1993.
Interpretative case study tries to understand the nature of a phenomenon and to elicit meaning from seemingly irrational behaviour in the social setting Cavaye,
1996. He then argues that the aim of interpretative case study is to understand phenomena from the point of view of participants directly involved with the
phenomenon in the study. According to him, interpretative research enters a social setting without a priori constructs, but allows construct to emerge in the field where
the researcher try to learn about and understand the phenomenon.
1.20.3. Field experiments and quasi-experiments
