While there are pros and cons regarding case studies and technology, I think the pros far outweigh the cons. A few cons I can think of are:
- Individuals use technology in so many different ways, it may be hard to compare case studies
- It can be difficult to perform similiar case studies on different age groups; certain age groups may be opposed to new technology
- Case studies are more time consuming and it can be difficult to get technical people to 'volunteer' their time
- Especially in the case studies of text-messaging use, the results may not be wholly accurate because participants may have withheld those messages that contained very personal information
A few pros I can think of are:
- Researchers are performing up-to-date and relevant research in the area of technology and cultural use
- While case studies may not be comparable, this very fact can illustrate the importance of using case studies and technology
- It may be easier to gather data since every call, message, or text that is sent or received is time stamped and logged
- Since data is logged, vast amounts of information is available to the researcher which could provide a more comprehensive analysis
- Studies on how individuals use technology can be helpful to those companies that are creating new technologies
I really enjoyed tonight's reading. I thought the chosen case studies were informative and entertaining. I did have a question on Chapter 6: Sophie's Story. On page 191, the author states that "She was interviewed again in May 2004 to make her data comparable to the other participants' data." What exactly does this mean? Sophie had been interviwed in March and April 2003. How would an interview a year later make the data more comparable? Did the researcher 'update' the original results?
A point that I really liked is found on page 216. After the case studies were described and analyzed the author pointed out a major difference: "One of the major differences between the rhetorical purposes of American text messages and Chinese text messages is that American particpants texted more for expressing purposes and Chinese participants texted more for informing purposes." I really liked that she explained this main difference. I felt that it effectively summarized some of her research results and observations.
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According to Yin, a case study is “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (Yin, 2003, p. 13).
Case studies are often used in business research and, according to Yin (2003), are best suited to examining “How?” and “Why” questions in instances when
• situations do not require control of behavioral events,
• there is a need for deliberately including contextual conditions, and
• research focuses on contemporary events.
:-)
Researchers often call back to confirm data, to make sure they are representing what was said correctly, and so forth. Not sure why in this case, though.
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