Mathemagenic

This are some of my notes from Case Research Methodology course by Robert Scapens and Chris Humphrey. I started writing this during the course and revised/published a few days later.

Overall impression. I liked the course and would recommend to take it to people at the early stages of their PhD and thinking about qualitative research.

Random insights (summary from different presentations/discussions):

• action research and case research are in the same continuum
• sad reality: it's not about designing your research and selecting ideal cases, it's about making sound research from what you can access
• finding/selecting cases
• getting cases
• finishing a survey with "are you prepared to talk more about it?" to initiate contact
• networking, exploiting oportunities, via alumni
• starting slow and then asking for more
• "it's a selling exercise"
• negotiate with a company: goals, methods, reporting, control, confidentiality
• keep your commitment even if they don't (e.g. by being on time or sending promised results)
• initiating "back up" case contacts (if the primary one stops in the middle)
• design and interpretation
• importance of keeping field notebook
• the idea of tape-recording discussions between researchers to keep track of developing interpretations
• theory is a way of seeing [interpreting case]
• triangulation: not only data and methods, but also researcher, theory, methodology
• interviews
• audiotaping
• understand your equipment
• do not save on tapes and batteries
• do not switch after interview is over - you may hear interesting stories
• it takes 10 hours for professional to transcribe 1 hour of interview -> not transcribing, but annotating
• "more subjective" questions: asking at least two interviewees
• finding unexpected by asking "if you come to work tomorrow and disaster/miracle will happen, what would it be?"
• plan before lunch/at the end of the day to get more time in informal settings
• breaks between interviews to make notes

There was more for me in this course than I'm able to write: methodological and writing insights are more difficult to put in my own words. It was good for networking and also contributed to my survival from "PhD crisis" I had last couple of months :)