Case Study research focuses on the events surrounding one case in a contemporary context or setting. Creswell describes the qualitative approach to a case study with the investigator focusing on one or more cases over time through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information (Creswell 2013). These multiple sources of data come in the form of textual, visual, and audio files regarding the case or cases. The use of multiple sources of information results in triangulation which contributes to the validity of an investigators research.

The intent of the case study is to provide in-depth understanding through data analysis of multiple sources of information describing all details of the case where themes or issues are identified by the researcher (Creswell 2013). The types of case studies are as follows:

• Intrinsic: a unique case that has unusual interest in and of itself and needs to be described and detailed.

• Instrumental: a study on a selected case that aims to understand a specific issue, problem or concern

• Collective: multiple cases selected to illustrate an issue, problem or concern.

Case studies are relevant in conduction social research because they recount the experience surrounding a particular event bound by time and place to inform others about it.  Stake writes, “case studies will often be the preferred method of research because they may be epistemologically in harmony with the reader’s experience and thus to that person a natural basis for generalization” (Stake 2009). While case studies may be specific to one case or select cases readers are able to understand issues or problems vicariously.  Case studies feature descriptions in an often narrative format featuring personal observations from the researcher and verbatim quotation with comparisons that are implicit rather than explicit.

Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among The Five Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Stake, R. (2009).  The Case Study Methong in Social Inquiry. In R. Gomm, M. Hammersley, & P. Foster (Eds.), Case Study Method. (pp. 18-27). SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9780857024367.d5

Feminist Theory is a research framework that is rooted in post-structuralist and post-modern theory. Feminist Theory is also transformative in nature, that is, research conduction through a feminist framework usually aims to bring about a positive societal change. Creswell discusses Feminist Theory on pages 29 through 30 of Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. He references Olesen (2011), who states that Feminist Theory draws on:

• different theoretical and pragmatic orientations;
• different international contexts; and
• different dynamic developments.

At its core, Feminist Theory’s goal is to “center on and make problematic women’s diverse situations and the institutions that frame those situations” (Creswell, 2013). Research conducted under Feminist Theory usually highlights issues of gender discrimination and the issues of living and operating in a patriarchal society. This is because the lens of this theory views “gender as a basic organizing principle that shapes the conditions of [our] lives” (Lather, 1991). It uses the centrality of gender, and our relationship to gender, in the shaping of consciousness. When used correctly, Feminist Theory has the ability to correct both the invisibility and distortion of female experience in ways relevant to ending women’s unequal social position” (Fox-Keller, 1985).

Feminist Theory is extremely important to the discourse of social research and knowledge construction as it examines knowledge as partial and gendered, instead of neutral, objective, and value-free (Maynard, 2004). Feminist theory research is identified through:

• framing of gender and power;
• normative frameworks and notions of gender;
• focus on transformation and social change; and
• ideas about ethics and accountability.

This framework lends itself well to narrative interview and ethnographic research, as it allows to the research to engage in “standpoint” research which gives data from the point of view of the participant. Finally, it operates through an epistemological structure, as it is ultimately concerned with “who knows what, about whom, and how is this knowledge legitimated?” (Maynard, 2004).

Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among the five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Maynard, M. (2004). Feminist Research. In Michael S. Lewis-Beck, A. Bryman, & Tim Futing Liao (Eds.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. (pp. 379-382). Sage Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412950589.n333

Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology deals with questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences. Some philosophers contend that nouns do not always name entities, but that some provide a kind of shorthand for reference to a collection of either objects or events. In this view, mind, instead of referring to an entity, refers to a collection of mental events experienced by a person; society refers to a collection of persons with some shared characteristics, and geometry refers to a collection of a specific kind of intellectual activity. Essential ontological dichotomies include Universals and particulars, Substance and accident, Abstract and concrete objects, Essence and existence and Determinism and in-determinism.  (Griswold, 2001)

What is Ontological assumption and how does it shape the practice of of qualitative research? (Galt, 2008)

I used Social Constructivism for my paper’s conceptual framework. The following two paragraphs are talking something interesting about that social Constructivism relates to ontological assumption.

“A recent influence within social constructionism is to investigate the ways in which events, processes and qualities are presented and modelled in language, the discursive, which could be called linguistic analysis, as it concentrates on how descriptions of what is real are made, passed on and change through time (Edwards & Potter 1992, Grace 1987). The role language plays in memory has also been tackled (Harre 1990, Edwards, Potter and Middleton 1992, Harre & Gillett 1994). But the study of appropriate language games does not reflect the interrelation of the non-verbal relationships of humanity in connection with the possible ways of verbalizing them.

The currently acceptable ways of talking about the mind show the linguistic representation of ontological assumptions about the nature of the mind. For instance, the mind in itself does not exist and never has or ever will. The mind, like any other concept, is created by talk from professionals and lay people as to what the mind is. The mind, as it is usually assumed to be is the receptacle for “individuality” and “thoughts”. “Individuality” is a Western assumption that people are separate and unique and fully self-responsible in all aspects of their life, from catching a cold, to having children who become delinquents, or their career going into decline.” (Owen, 1995, p.4)

References

Griswold, Charles L. (2001). Platonic writings/Platonic readings. Penn State Press. p. 237.

Galt, Kimberly A. (2008). Qualitative, Quantitative andMixed Methods Approachesto Research and   Inquiry

Owen, Ian Rory.(1995). Social constructionism and the theory, practice and research of psychotherapy: A phenomenological psychology manifesto

Positivism is an epistemological position that holds that the goal of knowledge is simply to describe the phenomena that we experience. The purpose of science is sticking to what we can observe and measure. Knowledge of anything beyond that is impossible. In the positivist view, the universe is deterministic. It operates by laws of cause and effect that we could discern if we apply the unique approach of the scientific method. Science is largely a mechanical affair. The key approach of the scientific method is the experiment, the attempt to discern natural laws through direct manipulation and observation.

However, since the middle part of the 20th century things have changed in our views of science. Probably the most important has been our shift away from positivism into what is called post-positivism.  Postpositivism recognizes that the way scientists think and work and the way we think in our everyday life are not distinctly different. Scientific reasoning and common sense reasoning are essentially the same process. There is no difference in kind between the two, only a difference in degree. Postpositivism recognizes that all observation is fallible and has error and that all theory is revisable. Where the positivist believed that the goal of science was to uncover the truth, the post-positivist believes that the goal of science is to hold steadily to the goal of getting it right about reality, even though we can never achieve that goal.

Hacking, Ian. (1983). Representing and Intervening, Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Science, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among the five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Queer theory is a theoretical lens that may be used in qualitative research that focuses on gay, lesbian, or homosexual identity and how it is culturally and historically constituted, linked to discourse, and overlaps gender and sexuality (Watson, 2005).

It is characterized by a variety of methods and strategies relating to individual identity; and explores the complexities of the construct, identity, and how identities reproduce and “perform” in social forums (Creswell, 2012). The term itself, “queer theory”, rather than gay, lesbian, or homosexual theory – allows for keeping open to question the elements of race, class, age, and anything else (Turner, 2000). Plummer (2005) provides an overview of the queer theory stance:

• Both the heterosexual/homosexual binary and the sex/gender split are challenged
• There is a decentering of identity
• All sexual categories (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, heterosexual) are open, fluid, and nonfixed
• Mainstream homosexuality is critiqued
• Power is embodied discursively
• All normalizing strategies are shunned
• Academic work may become ironic, and often comic and paradoxical
• Versions of homosexual subject positions are inscribed everywhere
• Deviance is abandoned, and interest lies in insider and outsider perspectives and transgressions
• Common objects of study are films, videos, novels, poetry, and visual images
• The most frequent interests include the social worlds of the so-called radical sexual fringe (e.g, drag kings and queens, sexual playfulness).

Queer theory often finds expression in cultural texts (e.g., films, literature); ehtnographies and case studies of sexual worlds that challenge assumptions; data sources that contain multiple texts; documentaries that include performances; and projects that focus on individuals (Plummer, 2005).

Cresswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry & research design (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Plummer, K. (2005). Critical humanism and queer theory: Living with the tensions. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 357-373). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Turner, W. (2000). A genealogy of queer theory. Philadelphia:Temple University Press.

Watson, K. (2005). Queer theory. Group Analysis, 38 (1), 67-81

Social constructivism is an interpretive framework whereby individuals seek to understand their world and develop their own particular meanings that correspond to their experience (Creswell, 2013). These meanings are not etched or innate within each individual. Rather, meanings are formed through interaction with others (Creswell, 2013). Social constructionism has its origins in sociology and emerged over thirty years ago (Andrews, 2012). Also referred to as interpretivism, social constructivism has been associated with the post-modern era in qualitative research (Andrews, 2012). Social constructivists view knowledge and truth as created by the interactions of individuals within a society (Andrews, 2012). Some researchers suggest that language predates concepts and allows an individual to structure the way their world is experienced (Andrews, 2012). This interpretive framework is useful in phenomenological research studies.

In my phenomenological study of employee perceptions, I applied the interpretive framework of social constructivism by asking research participants open-ended questions (suggested by Creswell, p.25). This approach allowed the research participants to fully and freely describe their own experiences. As the researcher, my role was to listen carefully to their views and interpret the findings based on their background and experiences (Creswell, 2013). The interpretation of their experiences revealed a significant amount of information regarding the phenomenon (employee perceptions) and also offered new insight to the overall study. Applying the social constructionism framework was the most useful approach in gaining access to the views and nuances that influenced the individual worlds of my research participants.

Andrews, T. (2012). What is social constructionism? The Grounded Theory Review, 11 (1). 39-46.

Creswell, J.W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among the five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Methodological assumptions consist of the assumptions made by the researcher regarding the methods used in the process of qualitative research (Creswell 2003). The procedures used by the researcher are inductive and are based on the researcher’s own experience in collecting and analyzing data. The research here is the product of the values of the researcher. Through an inductive approach, raw textual data is condensed into a brief, summary format. Clear links are established between research objectives and summary findings derived from raw data. A framework of the underlying structure of experiences or processes that are evident from the raw data is developed.

In adopting this approach the research questions might change in the middle of the study so that the research problem is better understood. Due to this, the strategy to collect data, which is usually developed before the study begins, has to be modifies to accommodate new questions. The researcher analyzes the data to develop an in-depth knowledge about the topic under consideration.

Application of Methodological Assumptions to Qualitative Research:

The main question addressed by these assumptions is: What is the process of research? Here the researcher uses an inductive logic, studies the topic within its context, and the employs the emerging framework/model. The researcher works with the details and specific information before generalizing. He then describes the context of the study in detail. Through the experiences that the researcher gains from the field, the research questions are continually revised (Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1988). Do inquiry paradigms imply inquiry methodologies? In D. M. Fetterman (Ed.), Qualitative approaches to evaluation in education (89-115)).

Pragmatism is an American philosophical movement or interpretive framework “holding that truth and value can only be determined by practical application and consequences”(O’Leary, Z., 2007). Pragmatists are concerned with knowledge that is useful and which helps individuals solve practical problems (In Vogt, Paul W.; 2005). A central notion of pragmatism is “that truth is found in ‘what works’ and that truth is relative to the current situation;” or in other words  that “truth is not  seen as an absolute but a moveable and usable construct for understanding the nature of reality” (McCaslin, M., 2008).

Researchers using this framework will use multiple methods of data collection, techniques, and procedures of research that “best meet their needs and purposes” and that best address their research questions (Creswell, 2013). Creswell notes, for example, that this framework is used when researchers doing case study or ethnography use both qualitative and quantitative (i.e. surveys) data collection (p.29).

Creswell, John W. (2013). Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five 
      Approaches. (3rd ed., pp. 28-29). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

McCaslin, M. (2008). Pragmatism. In Lisa M. Given (Ed). The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative
     Research Methods. (pp. 672-676). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. doi:
10.4135/978142963909.n336

O’Leary, Z. (2007). Pragmatism. In the Social Science Jargon Buster. (pp. 207-209). SAGE
Publications Ltd. Doi: 10.4135/9780857020147.n103

Pragmatism. (2005). In W. Paul Vogt (Ed.), Dictionary of Statistics & Methodology.
(3rd ed., p. 244). SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412983907.n1482