Processes of a case study methodology for postgraduate research in marketingWord格式.docx

Processes of a case study methodology for postgraduate research in marketingWord格式.docx

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Abstract

Qualitativeresearchhasnotbeenviewedasarigorousalternativetoestablishedquantitativemethodsinpostgraduatemarketingresearch.However,thispaperreportsontheAustraliandevelopmentofasuccessful,structuredapproachtousingthecasestudymethodologyinpostgraduateresearch.Itsaimistopresentandjustifyguidelinesforusingthecasestudyresearchmethodologyinhonours,mastersandPhDresearchtheses,andsoitshouldinterestcandidatesandtheirsupervisors.First,appropriatepositionsonarangeofscientificparadigmsandcoreissuesofinductionanddeductionareestablished.Thenimplementationofthecasestudymethodologyisexamined,includingthenumbersofcasestudiesandofinterviews.Unusualbuteffectiveusesoftheoreticalreplicationtorigorouslyanalyzecasestudydataareillustratedfrompostgraduatetheses.Finally,aframeworkisprovidedforconstructingathesis,emphasizingthekeymethodologychapter.

ArticleType:

Technicalpaper

Keyword（s）:

Australia;

Casestudies;

Marketingresearch;

Marketingtheory;

Methodology.

Journal:

EuropeanJournalofMarketing

Volume:

32

Number:

9/10

Year:

1998

pp:

785-802

Copyright©

MCBUPLtd

ISSN:

0309-0566

Introduction

Casestudiesarefamiliartomarketingeducatorsandtheirstudentsasateachingdevice.Forexample,theHarvardBusinessSchool’scasesarewidelyusedtoallowstudentstobeemotionallyinvolvedandlearnaction-relatedanalysisofreal,complexsituations（ChristensenandHansen,1987）.However,althoughcasestudiescanalsobeusedasaresearchmethodology（Easton,1994a;

Parkhe,1993;

Tsoukas,1989;

Yin,1993,1994）,nojournalofresearchcasestudiesorcasestudymethodsexistsandthemostcommonsocialscienceandevaluationresearchmethodstextbooks“hardlymentioncasestudies”（Yin,1993,p.xi）.Indeed,onesurveyofPhDdissertationsinsixfieldsconcludedthatcasestudieswereinappropriateinpostgraduateresearch,thatis,onewaytorectifythe“mindlessempiricism”ofmanydoctoraldissertationswouldbeto“simplyeliminate…casestudydissertations”（AdamsandWhite,1994,p.573）.

ThispaperreportstheAustraliandevelopmentofasuccessful,structuredapproachtousingthecasestudymethodologyinpostgraduateresearch.Thepaperisdesignedforpostgraduateresearchstudentsinmarketingandtheirsupervisors,foritsaimistopresentandjustifyguidelinesforusingthecasestudyresearchmethodologyinhonours,mastersandPhDresearchtheses.Thatis,onlycasestudiesusedinpostgraduatethesesareconsidered,andnotthoseusedforotherpurposessuchasconsulting（Yin,1994）,programevaluation（Patton,1990）ormarketresearch.

Thepaper’scontributiontomarketingeducationderivesfromitsfocusonstructured,postgraduateresearchprocessesandfromitsdetailedtreatmentofpriortheoryandinductionincasestudyresearch.Marketingeducationwillbenefitfromitsrigorousproceduresforpostgraduatestudentstoresearchcomplex,contemporarytopicsrelevanttotheircurrentorfuturecareers,aboutwhichlittleacademicresearchhasbeenpublished.RecentexamplesofthesetopicsaremarketingontheInternet,businessreengineeringandcustomerservice,homebanking,marketingofcommunitymuseums,andorganizationalaccountabilityofthemarketingcommunicationsfunction.InthemarketingdepartmentofoneAustralianuniversityin1995,allfivehonoursandthreeofthefivemastersbyresearchstudentsoptedtousethismethodology;

allcompletedtheirthesiswithinnormaltime,indeed,themaster’stheseswerefinishedthreetofivemonthsbeforeminimumtime.Halftheexaminerspassedthetheseswithoutrevisionandtheotherexaminers’revisionsrequiredlessthanonedaytocomplete.Refereedandunrefereedconferencepapersbasedonmanycasestudytheseshavebeenpresentedatinternationalconferences,andmostofthestudentssubsequentlygainedthejobstheyhadworkedtowards.

Thepaperhasastructurethatrangesfromstrategictotacticalissues,becausebothmustbemasteredforcasestudiestobeunderstoodandappliedinpostgraduatetheses.First,theappropriatescientificparadigmandlevelsofinductionanddeductionareestablished.Implementationofthecasestudymethodologyisthenexamined,includingthenumberofcasestudiesandinterviews.Useoftheoreticalreplicationtorigorouslyanalyzecasestudydataisillustratedfromapostgraduatethesis.Finally,aframeworkisprovidedforconstructingathesis,emphasizingthekeymethodologychapter.

Becauseofthespecificfocusofthispaper,casestudyresearchmethodologyisdefinedas“aresearchmethodologybasedoninterviewsthatisusedinapostgraduatethesisinvolvingabodyofknowledge”.Themethodologyusuallyinvestigatesacontemporaryphenomenonwithinitsreal-lifecontextwhentheboundariesbetweenphenomenonandcontextarenotclearlyevident（Yin,1994,p.13）.

Scientificparadigms

Therearetwomajorapproachestotheorydevelopment,deductivetheorytestingandinductivetheorybuilding（Bonoma,1985;

Romano,1989）.Thedifferencebetweenthetwoapproachescanbeviewedintermsofscientificparadigms,withthedeductiveapproachrepresentingthepositivistparadigmandtheinductiveapproachrepresentingthephenomologicalparadigm（Easterby-Smithetal.,1991,p.24）.Moreprecisely,thephenomologicalparadigmcanbedividedintothree:

criticaltheory,constructivismandrealism（GubaandLincoln,1994）.TableIisaconceptualschemaofthesefourparadigms,usingthreecolumnswhichallowtheevaluationofeachparadigmforcasestudyresearch（basedonGubaandLincoln,1994;

Hunt1991;

OrlikowskiandBaroudi,1991;

Tsoukas,1989）.ThecolumnsinTableIrefertothedimensionsofdeduction/induction,objective/subjectiveandcommensurable/incommensurable.Eachofthosedimensionsisdiscussednext.

Realismisthepreferredparadigmforcasestudyresearchforseveralreasons.First,casestudyresearchareasareusuallycontemporaryandpre-paradigmatic,suchasinter-organizationalrelationshipsandrelationshipmarketing（Boing,1994）.Thatis,theresearchareasusuallyrequireinductivetheorybuildingfordeductionfromalreadyexistingprinciplesofa“paradigm”islikelytobedifficultwhereacceptedprinciplesandconstructshavenotbeenestablishedorareclearlyinadequate.Second,realismdoesnotsufferfromthelimitationsofrelativism（Hunt,1991）thatconstructivismandcriticaltheorydo,forrealismisoftencharacterizedbysomeresearcherobjectivity.Thatis,itholdsthatthereisanexternalreality（Tsoukas,1989）,althoughthecomplexityofthatrealityandthelimitationsofaresearcher’smentalcapacitymakestriangulationofdataessentialtorefinefallibleobservationsofthatreality.Thecontinuingeffortsofmanymarketingresearchersalmostnecessitatesthebeliefthatthereisanexternalworldwhichcanberesearched（Hunt,1991;

Leplin,1986）.Inotherwords,casestudyresearcheffortsusuallyinvolvethecollectionofperceptionsof“unobservable”externalworldphenomenasuchasperceptionsthatare“unobservable”（Hunt,1991,p.282）,forexample,viewsaboutnon-economicandnon-technologicalmotivationsinrelationshipmarketing.Ashasbeennotedinthemarketingliterature（Hunt,1991）,positivismrequiresthatonlyobservablephenomenacanandshouldberesearched,sorealismratherthanpositivismisamoreappropriateepistemologicalguideforcasestudyresearch.

ComingtothethirddimensioninTableI,casestudyresearchersexpectthattheirknowledgeclaimscanandwillbeevaluatedthroughsomecommonmeasures,likereliabilityandvalidityissues,carefulevaluationofresearchtopicandmethodology,andthroughreviewbyexaminers.Thiscommensurabiltyisnotsoevidentinconstructivismandcriticaltheoryresearch.Inbrief,realismistheappropriatescientificparadigmforcasestudyresearch.Howthispositionjustifiessomeproceduresisnotednextandlater,astheproceduresarediscussed.

Giventhisappropriatenessofrealismforcasestudyresearch,theresearchproblemsaddressedinthesesaremoredescriptivethanprescriptive,forexample,nopositivistexperimentsorcause-and-effectpathsarerequiredtosolvetheresearchproblem.Thatis,theresearchproblemisusuallya“howdo?

”problemratherthana“howshould?

”problem.This“howdo”ratherthan“howshould”problemcapturesthepositiveversusnormativedichotomy,forcasestudyresearchisconcernedwithdescribingrealworldphenomenaratherthandevelopingnormativedecisionmodels.Becauseinductive,theorybuildingratherthantheorytestingisthegoalofthethesis,itsfinalchaptermustalwayspresentaproposedtheorytosolvethe“howdo”researchproblembasedonamodelofboxesandconnectinglines.Moreover,thefinal“furtherresearch”sectionofthethesiswillacknowledgethatthistheorywillhavetobetestedforstatisticalgeneralizabilityinlater,