Research Methodology

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Research Methodology

• Case Study as a Research Design
• Li Lailai

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1. Main Features

• Often used at the exploratory stages
• Often used for descriptive or explanatory purpose
• Often leads to unconfirmable conclusions
• A method of last resort

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2. Why Case Study as a Methodology in LEAD

• Environment and development issues are complex
  across conventional disciplinary theories
• Environment and development issues are often site
  specific and closely context related.
• Accumulation of case studies helps to contribute
  to the theoretical through

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3. When to use case study? (1)

• When an empirical inquiry must examine a
  contemporary phenomenon in its real-life context,
  especially when
• the boundaries between phenomenon and context are
  not clearly evident.
• Specifically to say, when the situation or
  problem to be studied have no clear beginning or
  end points.

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3. When to use case study? (2)

• When the implications of the problem outcome are
  too complex for single factor theories.
• When the studied problem involves a large number
  of relevant participants.
• When the studied problem involves situations that
  are special in terms of agency context,
  historical moment in time and other key elements.

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4. Case Study Design

• Problem statement/description
• Background /context description
• Problem structure
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Inference
• Conclusions

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4.1. Problem Statement

• Description of the problems to be studied,
  including specific questions

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4.2. Context Description

• Describe the relevant social-demographic,
  economic and environment situations within which
  the studied problems or actions take place

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4.3. Problem Structure

• Identify stakeholders, individuals or groups who
  are affecting or being affected by the studied
  actions
• Identify the links among the stakeholders
• Identify other main factors that affect the
  problems or actions to be studied

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4.4. Data Collection Protocol

• Identify the interests of the stakeholders
• List of variables or topics around which the data
  are collected
• List of major information resources
• the type of evidence that may be relevant
• a minimum of data collection in operational terms
  for the project manageable purpose

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4.5. Data Analysis

• Ascertain whether data from different sources
  converges on a similar set of facts to answer the
  questions stated at the beginning.
• Qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Identify the relations or links between all the
  stakeholders associated to their respective
  interests

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4.6. Inference

• Retrospective to find out the causal relations,
  or
• Prospective to generate different scenarios for
  future

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4.7. Conclusions

• Test the existing theories or models
• Suggest solutions to the problem studied
• Impact analysis
• Recommendation of alternatives
• Tentative conclusions of analysis -- theoretical
  or practical-- for future exploratory discussions

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5. Policy Impact of Relaxation of Natural
Resource Mining in Northern Shaanxi

• -- An example

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5.1. Why do we use case study?

• Find what are the impacts after the policy was
  adopted in northern Shannxi
• Find why the policy was adopted -- context or
  phenomenon?
• Explain what is the policy about-- context or
  phenomenon?

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5.1. Why case study? (2)

• The studied issue is too complex to be handled by
  any single factor theories economic, political
  science or sociology, etc.
• The purpose is to identify and analyze the
  impacts rather than testing theoretical hypothesis

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5.1. Why case study? (3)

• The studied problem involves a large number of
  participants rather than e.g. experimental vs.
  control groups only, but government at various
  levels, local communities, local companies and
  state enterprises, etc.

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5.1. Why case study? (4)

• We dont expect to generate any confirmable
  conclusions
• Because in the context of environment and
  development any solutions is often followed by a
  series of consequences, some positive and others
  are negative.
• Policy study requires to give alternatives
  consequence analysis for policy makers. Remember
  you are not a policy maker.

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5.1. Why case study? (5)

• It indeed is a method of the last resort. When
  any single theories do not explain the
  phenomenon, we use case studies, like medical
  science, as a methodology to make the theoretical
  breakthrough.

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5.2. Problem Statement

• What are the policy impact of relaxation of
  natural resource mining in northern Shannxi?
• State the policies or policy description
• Specific research questions e.g.
• impact on economy, social, environment and
  cultural aspects, etc.

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5.3. Context Description

• The context within which or why the policy was
  issued
• social, economic, cultural or ecological reasons,
  etc. e.g. poverty.
• Specific indicators for the the policy context
  e.g. income per capita, health, education, etc.

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5.4. Problem Structure

• Stakeholders, main factors and links
• government at central level
• government at local level
• small, local companies
• state enterprises
• local communities or farmers
• environmentalists

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5.4. Problem Structure (2)

• Relational graphs stakeholders and factors.

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5.5. Data collection

• Identify the stakeholders interests affected by
  the policy studied
• Variables measuring the stakeholder interests
  identified in the research design e.g. economic
  growth, poverty population, annual income per
  capita, profits gained by local and state
  companies, technology oil extraction rate, etc.

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5.6. Data analysis

• Identify the policy impacts
• social (measured by indicators)
• economic (measured by indicators)
• environmental (measured by indicators)
• Describe the relations among various impacts
  associated to the factors being analyzed

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5.7. Inference Conclusions

• The policy has positive impact on poverty
  reduction
• The policy has also caused oil resource depletion
  
• Policy recommendations/alternatives
• technical cooperation between local and state
  enterprises
• policy to encourage such cooperation, etc.

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6. Assignment (1)

• Prepare and present you case study topic on the
  last day of the present training.
• Write your case study design
• Submit your case study design to one of the
  LEAD-China core faculty member.
• Submit the study design to NPD after it is
  approved by the faculty by the end of September,
  1998.

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6. Assignment (2)

• Implement the case study and complete it by
  April, 1999 before the last International
  training session.
• The presentation, research design and case study
  report are done in English.
• Email addresses
• username_at_mail.ied.ac.cn
• lill_at_mail.ied.ac.cn