First and foremost I
will write my reflection followed by links to all the blogposts. I
will try to talk about combining different research methods to solve
complex problems as well as finding a common theme in the course to
talk about.
To start I want to
talk about problem definition. It seems to me that the method for a
study should almost "present itself" if the problem
definition is done properly and you've made sure to have the right
problem. Let's say someone wants to conduct a
qualitative/quantitative study. This should mean that whether or not
this is a qualitative or quantitative study should also be clear from
the problem definition. To define a problem correctly is crucial for
the whole study, and if not done with extra care the whole workflow
might come to a halt at some point because of complications. This
could lead to backtracking, and since deadlines are often a part of
research in some way, this will cause the study to be delayed.
For complex research
methods what comes to mind for me is case studies. Now, complex
doesn't necessarily mean that it hasn't been touched before, and nor
does it mean that it's a special case, but I feel like special cases
in general can be more complex. Knowledge production is usually the
goal of a case study, and complex research questions to me is like
exploring the unknown which in turn leads to generating knowledge. If
there is already a lot of research done in a field its complexity
decreases.
Say that there is a
special case with a rare disease on a very small group of people.
Using a case study, without any theory or methods to go with from the
beginning, and where the aim is to get knowledge about how the
disease affects the human mind, one should probably go with some sort
of qualitative method to get the subjective experience from the
subject. In general, qualitative methods are good for problems that
demand more complex answers. Building a theory on this research would
require some guidelines as to what type of theory that is needed. For
this case, where the aim is not to find a cure or anything, it's
simply to investigate and generate knowledge, there needs to be an
analysis, explanation, and maybe a prediction on the future (Gregor,
2006). Especially a recommendation on future research in the
field.
What's interesting
is that case studies in general are very broad and it feels like they
are the way to go when something new is being investigated. Design
research however needs qualitative research that may be complemented
by quantitative data. Design research goes well with understanding
how humans feel about something. It aims to understand flaws in a
design and why people find some things appealing and why not.
In a course that we
took a year ago we were supposed to design a product (webpage,
application or whatever we felt like) to fit a theme regarding
museums. All the groups that took the course had to do interviews in
order to understand what customers wanted, and how they felt. It was
not about measuring quantities, but about understanding. Prototyping
and proof-of-concept is essential in this research, and through
qualitative methods one can evaluate the prototype with a possible
customer in order to improve the product. The proof-of-concept can
help with securing financial aspects of the development. What I'm
saying is that design research is to be used alongside a development
of a product. Continuous feedback from the users gives the process a
cyclic ”feel”, like a case study.
When trying to find
a common theme in this course, my thoughts goes very often to what
Ilias has mentioned, namely; knowledge production. I guess when you
generalize it even more you could just say knowledge, but I feel like
that mainly belongs to the first two weeks of this course (Theme 1 &
2). Research is about generating- or ”producing” knowledge, and
different methods are used to get different results, and that is to
say to produce different knowledge. Whether it be about research done
in already well explored fields, or conducting a case study of a
subject that is of extra originality to the scientists, the aim of it
all is to produce some new knowledge to the world. It might even be
about a priori knowledge (when trying to understand the unknown by
only thinking about it). I wasn't that much into Kant and Plato and
the others so I won't be talking much about these philosophical parts
of the course, but they made you think the hardest.
As I said, even
thinking about what is unknown, or our own knowledge about the world,
aims to produce new knowledge. This new knowledge is meant to help us
understand the world we live in. This goes on and on like a cycle. We
want to know more about something new, we investigate it and try to
understand it using different methods, and the result is- or could
be- used by others as knowledge to investigate something new that may
be even more complex. Most of the research done today could be said
to produce a posteriori knowledge. We find something in the world the
we want to know about, and after going out into the world to
investigate we get knowledge.
Humans are curious
and inquisitive. Without these characteristics humans would've gotten
nowhere, and we could not have been where we are today. It's in our
nature to question what we see, is it really what is
or is it perhaps just the shadows cast by reality.
While
we are feared by myths we still strive to delve into them. We just
can't sit still, waiting
around to let things happen.
Since
birth we are intrigued by the world we were born into. We ask
ourselves why things are as they are. That
is a part
humanity I think,
and that is the key to
knowledge production.
Comments
Here follows all the comments made on all Theme's.
Theme 1
- "Considering you not re-reading the texts, I personally thinkmawn you got a pretty good hang of the basics of the meaning of them in order to answer the questions. I do, however wish that you'd maybe talked about concepts like the categories of understanding, analytic/synthetic judgement and so on. Quite a fancy read nonetheless and it's good to see what you thought you were lacking in terms of preperations for the theme.
Keep it up!" - "Really liked your reflection prior to the theme. It showed that you'd studied the texts more in-depth, and by that I mean that it looked like you understood the concepts used in the texts (i.e a posteoreri, a prio etc etc) as well as the context they were used in. Would've liked to see something about the categories of understanding, like what you understood about them and so on.
Nevertheless it was an interesting read, and especially in the post prior to theme 1.
Good job. Keep it up!" - "In contrast to your post prior to the theme. It looks like you've gotten a much clearer picture of what the key-concepts were, and you've also explained them briefly, but well. I say that because while you've found some interesting key concepts in your prior-post to theme 1 it did not feel like one could get a clear picture as to what Kant meant by what he said. Nice reflections post theme 1 nonetheless, but I would've liked to see you go back to the questions of theme 1 also and see if you've understood them differently now rather than before.
Good preperations, and nice reflections. Keep it up!" - "I find it quite interesting with the difference in language from the post prior to- and post the theme 1. I would say that to the first post, while I do believe you've done a quite good job at answering the questions and understanding the fundamentals of the concepts, it gets kind of tedious to read at times since you basically use words that are in the text. Now that's not bad at all, and I still think you got it right, but what's really good is your post-reflection! You explain everything in simpler terms, and it seems to me that you've understood most of what needed to be understood.
I like that you talked a little about the twelve categories of understanding as well!!Keep it up" - "I liked how you simplified your explanation of the first question in the post prior to theme 1. It showed that you tried to break the concepts in order to understand what they meant on a more basic level. This is good since it's more appealing fot the bigger masses. Also nice to see you discuss what the teacher brought up about synthetic judgement as well as what was said at the seminar. I mean that it's good that you think about it, and not just mention it. Shame that you didn't talk about the categories of understanding, though. Would've been interesting to see your take on that!
Good job nonetheless.
Keep it up!" - "I like the contrast between the post prior- and post theme 1. It really shows that you've understood more about what the texts were about, which is good! Nice to see you bring up the categories of understanding! I also see that others have tried to answer your question so I wont bother answering myself hehe.
My point is basically that I like that you explained what you understood after the lecture/seminar in simpler terms rather than before when you just used words found in the text. You did a pretty good job then though, so keep it up!" - "Nice reflections! The way you structured it makes a lot of sense, and your own reflections really shine through! I also think that you pretty much covered all the essentials with this, and this whilst maintaining a reflective approach, so good job!
Interesting thought on if our knowledge is limited or not regarding the categories of knowledge.
I don't really have anything constructive criticism to give at this point, but just keep it up! - "I liked your take on the first question in the post prior to this theme. You got two concepts down, and you seem to understand them well, which is good!
The reflection is a little thin I think, and I think you could've looked back on the questions to see if you've got a better understanding of them now than before. Also more concepts and how you understand them would be interesting to see. Are there still some that you don't understand? etc...
Quite a fancy read though, and even though you kept it brief you still maintained the interest throughout the post.
Keep it up!
Ps. These texts mukked up my brain pretty bad too xddd Ds." - "You keep it all very nice and clean so that the reader can follow you thoughts, good!
I would've liked to see how you understand the concepts more post theme 1 though, and maybe see if there are still some things that make you scratch your head!
Perhaps talk a little about actual concepts more as well, like the categories of knowledge, because I find it interesting to see peoples' thoughts about them.
Keep it up!" - "Cool seeing concepts in theme 2 being brought up here! Interesting to see how that made you expanded on what had already been said in theme 1. You were very much not terrible in the post prior to this theme, but you kind of explained the essence of the text with words and phrases from it which can make it hard for the reader to follow! Try to simplify, and if you can do that it really shows that you've understood the concepts/meanings of the text.
Nice reflection nonetheless!
Keep it up!"
Theme 2
- "I like your take on Enlightenment contra Nominalism, and I think you got the definition of Myth down pretty well in you prior-to-theme post. Nice to see that your discussion seem to have differed quite a bit from my own seminar! As for the Aura. What I got from it was something like this;
A piece of art is only relevant to the context in the time of when it was made.
The same aura in objects can't be mechanically reproduced in art.
To be honest I think you got that down pretty well in you first post as well.
Keep it up!" - "Good that you mention Plato's cave. It shines some light (hehe) on the distinction between enlightenment contra nominalism. The other two commentors have already mentioned it, but I'm on their side in this. Adorno and Horkheimer says that, in the capitalism of America, people given freedom will only drown in it. Americans were so blinded by the liberalism that they didn't use it.
Good job nonetheless! Keep it up!" - "Very nice and well written reflection as well as prior-to-theme post. In my opinion you covered pretty much every concept rather well and easily understandable so it seems to me that you've understood everything correctly, well done!
Your discussion about historical and natural perception seemed like the most interesting one in you reflection, so it's nice to see you keep it so brief and yet explain it so well! I don't have any negative criticism really. Perhaps it would've been cool to hear if you talked about anything else outside the contents in the text? Perhaps if you expanded on the ideas of the concepts and thought more broadly?
Keep it up!" - "You really picked it up from your first post on this theme! The reflection is, though kind of short, well made! I would've liked you to perhaps talk more about if anything still was unclear to you? That because it seemed like you were uncertain whether or not your answers to the questions in the first post were right or not. You could expand your reasoning on the terms like Aura and Nominalism a little bit more.
Alas, great reflections even though I think you could have talked more about the concepts and what you discussed about them and stuff!!
Keep it up!" - "Nice reflections! I found that even though it's a tad short, and you don't cover much, it's still an interesting read! What I was really missing from both your post is actually how Adorno & Horkeimer views the revolutionary potential in culture. Did you not understand it or did you simply forget about it? Anyhow I'm going to drop my two cents on that very question:
Adorno and Horkheimer says that, in the capitalism of America, people given freedom will only drown in it. Americans were so blinded by the liberalism that they didn't use it. That is to say that they don't think it has revolutionary potential, but rather that it can hold people back and work against them.
Keep it up!" - "Very in-depth and interesting posts throughout here. You seem to have understood the main concepts of the texts, and not only that, but you've also gone further taking other sources to aid you in your writing which is very good!
I'm not sure if I just missed you writing this, but I don't seem to have found a distinction between the to texts regarding the question about whether or not culture has revolutionary potential. It looked like you only talked from Benjamins perspective so it would've been nice to see if you got any clarity on how Adorno & Horkheimer felt about that. They saw more limitations than revolutionary potential in Americas consumerism so.
Nontheless keep it up!" - "Good reflection, and good to the the major drawback of nominalism! I also like that, though you didn't mention anything about it in the text before the theme, mentioned that you learned the difference between Benjamin and Adorno & Horkheimers view on revolutionary potential for culture. Not many that I've seen have done that so I'm glad you did! Would've been nice if you'd talked a little more about aura, but good job anyway!
Keep it up!" - "Good reflection! You've centered in on key concepts such as 'aura' and 'nominalism' and explained them well in your reflection. It looked like you did not really get a grip on quite q few concepts before the theme so it's very nice to see the difference in your reflection!
Keep it up!" - "Well written reflection! You touch a lot of the key concepts and explain discussions you had in an easy way whilst keeping it interesting for the reader. I like that you put extra effort into explaining the two probably most important concepts 'aura' and 'nominalism'. Not much constructive to say, I enjoyed the reflection!
Keep it up!" - "Very nice that you got the difference from Benjamins view on revolutionary potential contra Adorno & Horkheimer! It seems that you had a good discussion going on the seminar so it would've been nice to hear more from that. What else did you discuss? What did you as a group think/did you come to a conclusion?
Keep it up!"
Theme 3
- "Good reflection! You brought up many different discussions regarding theory, and what actually is theory. I was not aware if the "Ringelmann effect" on before hand so nice to see something new being introduced to me while reading these reflections! I also like that you structure you reflection as a student said something first and then what the teacher later responded as well as adding you own opinion on what both parts said.
Keep it up!" - "I like that you covered a lot in this reflection. I especially though about what you wrote about the "base type" for all papers. While I think this might be true for a lot of scientific papers, I don't think it might be for all. It should really depend on what the aim of the paper actually is. Say for instance, the goal of the study is to give a description of already existing systems for storing grades in schools. This would do fine with explaining only, and the analyzing part could derive form having an actual problem or question that need answering. I might have gotten it the wrong way, but still an interesting read!
Keep it up!" - "I like the fact that you centered you reflection around the difference between theory and hypothesis to begin with. Hypothesis along with data and reasoning is kind of what theory derives from so. Also nice to see concepts from older themes showing up here and there because it shows that you think of this weeks theme while taking earlier experiences in consideration. Nice summary of the main concepts of this weeks theme in general!
Keep it up!" - "Very interesting to see you reflect on you own perception of this weeks main concept before and after the theme. I can't say for certain how I myself thought of what theory is, but it might be a general conception many people have since perhaps it's how it's often used in most media (?). Nice reflection anyway, and since you've centered it about you're own understanding of this weeks concept you've structured the text well accordingly.
Keep it up!" - "Cool to see someone that found the lecture needed! I personally thought more otherwise. The lecturer kind of drags it down though in my opinion so the seminar is more to the point. Nice to see the contrast between your post- and prior posts thought, and that you've centered your text to focus on explaining the concepts of this week since the seminar was not in your interest. I sitll think it would've been nice to hear about what you discussed during the seminar!
Keep it up!" - "Seeing it as you already had good understanding about the weeks concepts, it's interesting to see that even you could take some new things with you! I felt the same way about the lecture. It was very very basic and did not really bring anything new to the table, but the texts themselves were more interesting to read. I also agree that the "best" text was about what theory is NOT since it felt like something new to read. Like we're not really used to being presented with contradictions in order to learn about both sides of the theme of the week.
Keep it up!" - "You summarized this weeks theme very neatly here! For the reader this wall of text can be a bit tough to get through since you've not really structured it so much. I would have liked more thoughts from you though. Now it seems that you've only used what was said in lecture and seminar. So maybe more about what you discussed and how you thought about what was discussed would've made this reflection even better!
Keep it up!" - "I found this interesting because of how you viewed theory before- and after the Theme not having done your bachelor thesis yet. From my own experience I think that those that have done it might have a little better understanding of what theory is before this course, but I could be wrong, so seeing you haven't done it yet it might be helpful in your thesis!
Keep it up!" - "Interesting post here! Well structured with a tiny summary to begin with. You even introduced some new words/concepts for me which I enjoyed! Was their not perhaps some interesting things mentioned in the seminar though? Nevertheless you've shown a good understanding of the weeks concepts and taken it further in your reflection here!
Keep it up!" - "Very nice to see some use of concepts from older themes here and why you agreed that they were similar to this weeks key concept. You have a good structure in your reflection and present thoughts of your own as well as from the seminar in an interesting way! Seeing you taking this concept beyond what was said during the lecture and in the texts makes me reflect upon it myself, so good job with that!
Keep it up!"
Theme 4
- "Good reflection! I didn't catch what you said about the lecture so it was nice learning something new reading this. I agree that knowing what you mentioned above about questionnaires and piloting could've benefited the work of the project. So maybe reading the course before doing it would've helped, who knows!
Keep it up!" - "Nice reflection!
I also kind of disagree with your statement. I think it's important to make a distinction between the two, and that is to say that quantitative studies often asks for either yes/no or a number, like how many people eat only using their spoon? A qualitative study would instead ask why people eat only using their spoon? The answer to that question is not really summing up any data, but rather discussing/reflection the behaviour of a group of people that participate in the investigation. I see your point of view, but I'm kind of skeptical. It's good that you bring these types of things up though since it breeds discussion!
Keep it up!" - "You cover a lot in this reflection. I like your take on the benefits and limitations between the two methods.
Surveys are always hard to deal with, but is also a very good way to retreive a lot of data with minimal effort. So, nice to see you suggesting interviews to cover up the faults that surveys bring! Of course this would depend on the study in question. If the aim is understanding a behaviour a survey will probably not be sufficient, and thus, interviews should be conducted.
Keep it up!" - "You've covered very much in this reflection, good job bringing in the lecture as well.
The distinction from the example question that you mention in the end is also very good! Qualitative research is often better when asking about why people feel certain ways or something along the lines of what I said.
Keep it up!" - "You are spot on with both the qualitative and quantitative methods and what differentiates them. I also like what you wrote on the end about objectiveness. I think this reaches back to the theme of week one, "from gods point of view, and I'm not in the mood for that so I'll settle with what you've written here.
Keep it up!" - "Good reflection! You cover the essential difference between qualitative vs quantitative which I like!
The last paragraph was a nice touch to the whole reflection! When discussing the data collected, you always have to keep in mind that there are things that influence how and why things are as they are!
Keep it up!" - "Nice reflection! I would've like you to expand upon what you mean with quantitative data not being able to answer "more complex" questions. Like what type of questions could this be? Why is it that quantitative data can't answer these?
My take on this would be that qualitative methods can be used when, for example, one needs to investigate why a group of people feel a certain way about something. For this a quantitative approach would not answer any questions.
Keep it up!" - "A very well written reflection. You cover the most of what was brought up this week, and I would've like to see what you discussed on your seminar as well! Otherwise I don't know what to add, I agree with what you're saying and you've said it all so to speak.
Keep it up!" - "Good reflection! You've cleared out the distinction between qualitative vs quantitative so the reader can easily understand. You bring up interesting discussions that ocurred on the seminar and explains in what situations qualitative and quantitative methods can be used.
Keep it up!" - "I was not aware of the term "wicked concepts" before reading this, and you also talk about some things that I was unaware of as well! Nice reflections, you've captured the essence of the two concepts for this week and the distinction between them!
I share the same view as you on the areas of use for quantitative methods, and when one asks themselves why something is, like why do people feel this way, a quantitative method will not shine light on the quesiton, but a qualitative might.
Keep it up!"
Theme 5
- "Good reflection. I did not attend the second lecture but it seems like it was not as useful as the seminars usually are. I also missed the seminar that week because I feel like the discussion, and actually a lot thanks to Ilias, open up your mind to the subject more.
I also captured what Haibo talked about regarding spending most of the time defining a problem in contrast to solving it. He mentioned his own formula, the 90 + 10, and I think a seminar could expand on that theory so too bad we did not have time for that.
Keep it up!" - "I only attended the first lecture and did not have any notes available from the second so good job at covering that up! I find it interesting that this notion of spending so much time formulating a problem is told to us so much, but personally for me it's still kind of hard to actually do just that; spend time to rethink and ask yourself: "is this really what we want to do?". I know for my own experience in the bachelor thesis we had to redo almost half of the project because we didn't do just this. We settled with the problem quite quick, and when we did not get enough participants we couldn't answer the problem so we had to redo it.
Interesting reflection, keep it up!" - "Good reflection, I too think the 9:1 ration is a bit extreme, but it gets the point accross and from my personal experience with this I think it's better to be a little bit over the top to begin with. You summarized the lectured well and since I missed the second lecture this was a good read for me.
Keep it up!" - "Good reflection, you've summarized the concepts of this week in a good way, this because I missed half of the first lecture and the whole second lecture. I agree that trying out a prototype yourself of course leads to new insigths. You might be a part of the target group so why would it not in that case? Even so, not being in a target group can give quite un-biased feedback based on the new experience.
Keep it up!" - "Good reflection. You've captured the essence of this weeks key concepts, and explained them well. What I think about defining a problem really well is that the solution can almost be determined by itself if you defined a problem well enough. This was proven to me in the bachelor thesis where me and my partner had to redo major parts of it because of not defining the *real* problem. Once you've put enough time to understand what the problem really is and exactly what you want to get from the study a method will probably present itself so to speak.
Keep it up!" - "I like that you mentioned securing funding by having a proof-of-concept. I missed this part since I left after half of the lecture, but seeing it here makes sense. A proof-of-concept shows the customer what the end product might be capable of.
Good reflection you summarized key concepts of this weeks theme.
Keep it up!" - "Nice reflection, you kept it brief and interesting reviewing the contents of the lectures.
I would say that Haibo's lecture was pretty interesting as well. Like the 90 + 10 theory or securing funding with proof-of-concept. Nice to see you talking a little about prototype contra proof-of-concept.
Keep it up!" - "Nice summary of this weeks concepts, and since I missed the second lecture I like that you talk a little more about it. What I learnt from Haibo's lecture was also taught through trial and error in the bachelor thesis. Make sure that you rethink your problem definition many many times before settling with one. The method for solving this problem should almost present itself if you define the problem well enough.
Keep it up!" - "Seems like I missed the wrong lecture! I missed the second one, and most seem to think that it was the more interesting even though it was rather unstructured. So for me what you talk about there is quite new and so I don't really have a strong opinion. Haibo's lecture was more of a reminder/refresher of what we've learnt before. Like in the bachelor thesis where we were told to really think through our problem definition before settling with one. So I like the way you summarized the second lecture naming what was said about the articulation of analysis.'
Keep it up!" - "I like how you emphasize the movie that Haibo showed. No other post I've read did that, and while I understood that finding easy solutions to problems is more sufficient in the end, I did not quite think of it the way you did. Well, at least the importance of it. I don't think I thought of it to be as important as I might've should. I might agree a little with Marcus comment as well so I'm a bit split-minded. I guess since it's a comedy it might not be viewed as seriously.
Keep it up!"
Theme 6
- "It's always good that you get insight on your own knowledge after these seminars, and that you elaborated on what you learnt. I guess I might agree with you on that you were speaking from a business' point of view first, and it's interesting to see how it's changed to after this weeks theme.
The example that was brought up on your seminar does indeed sound exactly like a case of a "case study". It was the case's originality, and what you could learn from it, that motivated the scientists/doctors to conduct the study.
Good luck on the last post!" - "Nice summary of the concept of case studies, and good reflection in all.
To expand just a tiny bit on what you wrote about case studies not being defined by the method that you use; the methods are not predetermined when doing case studies. Methods are chosen along the way and can vary depending on what needs to be done.
You asked an interesting question about the number of participants, and I agree with the conclusion that you got to.
Good luck on the last post!" - "I like that you compared your own view on case studies before and after this weeks theme. I also think that you've got the definition right in you reflection. Things to mention could also be that when conducting a case study, one can chose methods as the study goes on, and do backtracking if it is needed. Using case studies is a good way to gain new knowledge about rather unknown phenomena. The example of a case study that was brought up in your seminar is exactly what it's all about.
Good luck on the last post!" - "As the above commenter I also believe that the question you raised in your seminar about whether or not the number of participants in a study determine if it's qualitative/quantitave is quite interesting. You also share the same view on the answer as I do. Though, I think it's more about the problem definition that defines what method you would use. The end result would be affected by the number of participants however. If the aim of a study strives towards qualitative data, then the method is chosen accordingly. What I mean is that, while the question is worth mentioning, it doesn't really change anything.
Otherwise, the definition of case study that you got from the seminar covers most of it, good job.
Good luck on the last post!" - "Nice reflection, and good recap on the elements of case studies. You got the most important parts of the definition(s) down and your discussions on the seminar seems quite "fruitful". The touch at the end leaves us with something to think about, good.
One aspect of case studies that was mentioned at our seminar was also that it's cyclic, and this because you can do backtracking when conducting a case study. I don't know if you talked about this as well but I thought it would be interesting to share.
Good luck on your last post!" - "Subjectivity is one thing I also think that qualitative research oozes of. Quite many seem to have discussed the number of participants in regards to qualitative/quantitative research. From my own perspective I view it as follows; the problem definition should itself be almost enough to present a method. That is that you see the method clearly from the problem you've defined, and thus it shouldn't be a matter of how many participants you gather. Though I see your point since even though a study would want to be qualitative, it is not always that the writer sticks to that.
I think that a case study differs quite a bit from qualitative research. In a case study one can always backtrack, and the methods are chosen along the way. A case study can involve both qualitative as well as quantitative methods. For example with the brain injury. It could be a case study involving qualitative methods were the subjective experience from the participant is explored.
Good luck on the last post!" - "You reflect upon your own knowledge and experience well, good job!
I'll start with case studies, as I believe that they are more of a research typ rather than a method. That is to say that a case study's method could be some sort of qualitative method, for example, brain injury, where the subjective experience of the participant might be of interest. This participant is interesting because of its uniqueness and thus makes it a case study with a qualitative method. This is how I understood it all at least.
Good luck on the last post!" - "I didn't know about semi-structured interviews before, and your discussions regarding that topic caught my interest in this reflection. What you say about the knowledge gained might only be for that specific case; I guess that's what makes case studies what it is, and that's what's interesting and unique about it. You will most likely learn something new. So in a way to gain new knowledge case studies might be a good way of knowledge production. If the knowledge will be applicable later on, who knows. It's kind of exploring the unknown, you don't know what to expect really.
Good luck on the last post!" - "Interesting example with 9/11, and I'd only been in touch with case studies maybe generating theory, but not having mentioned hypothesis as well, so interesting!
Nice distinction between case study and qualitative/quantitative methods too. It's important to note just that the method does not define a case study. In a case study you almost go in blindly, not really knowing what to expect from it, and the methods are picked as the study goes on. If something goes wrong you can always backtrack. This goes well with "anything is possible in research" in your last paragraph. Case studies are so broad and opens up for creativity, no limitations or recipes for how things are to be done.
Good luck on the last post!" - "A little short reflection here, but you're on to something in your discussion! It did not really show whether or not you understood the concept of case study, but I'll just give it a shot and give you my two cents!
Case studies aims to investigate in-depth something rather unusual, a special "case" that, for its uniqueness/originality, is interesting. No method is chosen on before-hand, but it's chosen as the study progresses, and one can always backtrack in case-studies, thus that makes it cyclic. The case could be just one- or a group of people or some thing(s) that are unusual. It's very free in terms of one can do in a case study. The aim is knowledge production, to gain knowledge about it.
Good luck with the last post!"
