Khairul Baharein Mohd Noor
International Business School
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Kuala Lumpur

Date: 26 October 2001
Time: 10.30-11.00

The choice of which method to employ actually is dependent upon the nature of the research problem.  Morgan and Smircich (1980) argue that the actual suitability of a research method, “derives from the nature of the social phenomena to be explored” (1980: p. 491).  In this context, a researcher’s fundamental choice of determining the research methodology in social science is subjected to two basic traditions; namely positivism and post-positivism (phenomenology).  Positivism is an approach to the creation of knowledge through research, which emphasizes the model of natural science (Finch, 1986:p. 7).  In contrast, post-positivism is socially constructed rather than objectively.  Hence, the task of a social scientist is not to gather and measure how often certain patterns occur, but to appreciate the different constructions and meanings that people place upon their experience (Easterby-Smith et. al., 1991:p. 24).  In other words, positivism is more closely associated to quantitative method of analysis, whilst post-positivism that deals with understanding the subjectivity of social phenomena requires a qualitative approach.  One commonly used method in qualitative research is the case study.  The term case has been referred to as an event, an entity, an individual or even a unit of analysis.  It is a method employed to understand the complex real-life activities in which the researcher has no control over the variables of interest.  This has been widely used in social science fields like sociology, industrial relations and anthropology, but case method is an under-utilized research strategy.  This paper therefore seeks to explain what a case study is, and the strengths and weaknesses of using this method knowing that theoretically a case study is exciting and data rich.  Based on the presenter’s own experience, matters on how to undertake case study research, gaining access to organization and systematic planning to data collection will be discussed.  The final part of this paper will illustrate on using multiple case studies to enhance generalizations although many have argued that they lack rigour and reliability in contrast to quantitative studies.