Using a multiple-case studies design to investigate the information-seeking behavior of arts administrators.

ABSTRACT

The case study method, and in particular the multiple-case studies design, offers LIS researchers a proven tool for achieving a deep understanding of a specific phenomenon--for example, the information-seeking behavior of a particular user group. Although the case study method has been dismissed by critics who question the rigor of the approach, numerous studies over the past twenty years have demonstrated that the case study method can be used successfully to probe beneath the surface of a situation and to provide a rich context for understanding the phenomena under study. This article summarizes the application of the multiple-case studies design, in which a literal and theoretical replication strategy is used to identify consistent patterns of behavior and to uncover new and/or divergent themes. The motivation behind arts administrators' decisions to seek information is investigated using this approach and examples are given of sample selection, data collection, and analysis. Specific issues associated with the case study method are identified and practical steps used to address them are suggested.

INTRODUCTION

Since the early 1980s, when Raya Fidel (1984) published her seminal article on the case study method, case studies have become familiar tools for library and information science (LIS) researchers and have been used successfully to investigate a far-reaching range of topics and users. The case study represents a specific tradition within the qualitative research paradigm (Creswell, 1998) and "attempts, on one hand, to arrive at a comprehensive understanding of the event under study but at the same time to develop more general theoretical statements about regularities in the observed phenomena" (Fidel, 1984, p. 274). Because case studies are intended to take the reader of the research into the world of the subject(s), case studies can provide a much richer and more vivid picture of the phenomena under study than other, more analytical methods (Marshall & Rossman, 1999).

Like other traditions within the qualitative research paradigm, case studies are used primarily when researchers wish to obtain an in-depth understanding of a relatively small number of individuals, problems, or situations (Patton, 1990). Weick (1979), writing about research in organizations, presented a clear description of the tension among the three primary goals of research: generality, accuracy, and simplicity (by which he meant not only the simplicity of the study but also the understandability of the results). He said that generality is bought at the cost of accuracy--that while a broad study (such as a widely distributed survey) may produce results that can be applied at a general level to a large number of organizations, the results are unlikely to present an accurate description of any one organization. This tension exists in case study research as well--depth of understanding about the phenomena under study is bought at the cost of "confident generalizations" (Patton, 1990, p. 53) about the applicability of the results to individuals, problems, or situations outside of the study parameters.

This article seeks to describe the nature of case study research, specifically the use of the multiple-case studies design described by Yin (1994), and to give an example of its application in a study of the information-seeking behavior of senior arts administrators.

WHAT IS A CASE STUDY?

A case study is "an exploration of a 'bounded system' ... a program, an event, an activity, or individuals" (Creswell, 1998, p. 61). The concept of a case study comes from the practice of law, in which the unit of analysis is a single case before a court. We are familiar with the use of case studies as pedagogical tools in law and business (for example, the Harvard Business School case study approach). Sigmund Freud made the case study famous as a method of documenting his observations of patients in psychoanalysis (Breuer & Freud, 1895). Often a case study recounts a rare or unusual condition or event, but it may also be a description of a classic situation that can be used as a model or exemplar.

Historical Development

The case study method as practiced in LIS research today has its roots in the social sciences, especially in sociology. In 1992 Current Sociology, the journal of the International Sociological Association, published an issue devoted to the development and use of the case method in sociology (Hamel, 1992). Any student of the case study method would be well served to review its history, and the annotated bibliography contained in that issue provides an excellent source of further readings (Dufour & Fortin, 1992).

In the early part of the twentieth century, case studies were referred to as tools in the realm of social work; by the 1930s the case study method was accepted as a procedural alternative to the statistical method among researchers at the University of Chicago (Platt, 1992). Case studies were seen as valuable because of the rich context in which they placed the subjects of the inquiry. Unlike statistical studies, case studies were perceived to allow the researcher to see beneath the surface of the situation into personal meaning (Burgess, 1928). However, proponents of the statistical method gained momentum, and by the middle of the century case studies were largely relegated to the role of preliminary or exploratory research, where they were used to "suggest hypotheses for more systematic investigation" (Platt, 1992, p. 28).

In the 1960s a new generation of researchers became interested in qualitative methods, especially as an approach for developing theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). These researchers continued to face critics who raised issues concerning tile reliability (the extent to which repeating the same procedures under the same conditions would produce the same results) and validity (the extent to which the research matched its stated goals) of the findings of their studies. Case studies in particular were criticized because of the lack of rigor of the research methods employed and the degree to which personal bias, either of the participants or of the researcher, could influence the findings and conclusions. The way in which case studies were being carried out led Simon, in a textbook on basic research methods, to conclude that "the investigator makes up his procedure as he goes along" (1969, p. 276).

Another reason that case studies were particularly vulnerable to criticisms of this nature was the use of participant observation as a method of data collection instead of the more accepted approach of structured interviews or questionnaires. In any study that relies on observed behavior, there is always the possibility that the very act of studying the behavior will alter it. (1) With participant observation, not only does the researcher record the behavior, he also may play a variety of roles in the activities being studied. The advantage of this approach is that the participant-observer may gain access to groups or situations otherwise closed to researchers; he can also be opportunistic about following new research directions as they present themselves. The obvious drawback to the approach is the potential for bias, both in data collection and analysis.

As the interest in qualitative methods revived, researchers created a new language to describe certain concepts related to reliability and validity and to address the concerns over the lack of a rigorous research structure. Guba (1981) proposed "trustworthiness" as a surrogate measure for validity and reliability…