The Use of Qualitative Designs – Case Study or Phenomenology

The Use of Qualitative Designs – Case Study or Phenomenology

Research designs play a significant role in shaping the outcomes of research projects. They enable the researcher to gather vital information and obtain profound insights relating to the research questions. The strategic use of research designs guarantees that the research process is rigorous, thorough, and favorable to producing comprehensive and dependable data. As a result, carefully selecting and applying research designs is crucial for steering research toward success and gaining meaningful insights. The case study and phenomenological designs are among the research designs that researchers can use to gain insight to fulfill the purpose of a study. According to Yin (2018), the case study design is used when the research question involves looking at multiple or a single case in a specific inquiry with a proposed population in a specific geographical location. Case studies provide an in-depth analysis of an issue, phenomenon, or event in its natural setting (Crowe et al., 2011). Phenomenological design, on the other hand, includes the behaviors and experiences of a group impacted by an identifiable event. Phenomenological design is founded on interviews with various aspects including general attributes, criteria for selecting potential participants, ethical considerations of dealing with human participants, and the procedure used to conduct the interview (Alhazmi & Kaufmann, 2022). Researchers can use either research design to conduct in-depth research into a specific issue.

Subsequently, the use of the case study research design in my current study is most suitable given the need to completely understand the behaviors and experiences of individuals within a certain geographic area. This study approach provides an appropriate framework by allowing for an in-depth analysis of the complex dynamics underlying human behaviors and experiences in the context of the specific geographic place under consideration.  Notably, I could use the case study design to gain insights to fulfill the purpose of my study by asking the Casablanca Hotel staff questions regarding their experiences and how they influence turnover. I could then compare the responses provided by staff from different departments to gain insights into the causes of turnover in the hospitality industry and how they impact the hotels. I could also use the case study design to expand on a theory relating to employee turnover and challenge the theories relating to employee turnover. The case study design is also appropriate for my study because it will facilitate the collection of a wide range of information to explore, describe, and explain the everyday experiences of employees in the hospitality industry and explain the causal connections between the employees’ work environment and turnover.

Phenomenological Research Design Critique

The phenomenological research design is essential in qualitative research because it enables the researcher to get information about human experiences from the interviewees and compare themes in the responses provided by the research participants. However, the phenomenological research design may not be suitable for researching my research problem because of various reasons. For instance, the phenomenological research design is not appropriate for conducting research that focuses on understanding the relationship between people’s experiences and an existing situation. Grossoehme (2014) argues that phenomenological research is suitable for research on the meaning of experiences to a particular group of people. Therefore, the phenomenological research design may not offer relevant information to understand the relationship between the work environment and employee intention to leave in Casablanca Hotel because understanding the relationship between the two variables requires specific information about the experiences of staff at the hotel without making assumptions on what the experiences mean to the staff.

The second reason why the phenomenological research approach may not be suitable for my research problem is the application of subjectivity in interpreting the information shared by research participants. Qutoshi (2018) argues that the phenomenological research design requires personal knowledge and subjectivity in interpreting and perceiving information from the research participants’ viewpoint. Subjectivity includes a person’s preferences, opinions, and feelings that influence a person’s identity. Applying subjectivity and personal knowledge in interpreting information provided by research participants relating to my research problem may create bias which could impact the reliability of the information provided. My research problem also requires identifying similar concepts in the responses provided by the participants without considering what I already know about the problem since the problem focuses on a specific location.

Summary

Research designs create a foundation for research by allowing the researcher to gather the data required to address a research problem. The research design that I could use in my current research is the case study research design. I could use the case study research design to gain insights to fulfill the purpose of my study by asking the Casablanca Hotel staff questions regarding their experiences and how they influence turnover and then compare the responses provided by staff from different departments to gain insights into the causes of turnover in the hospitality industry and how they impact the hotels. I could also use the case study design to expand on a theory relating to employee turnover, challenge the theories relating to employee turnover, and collect information to explore, describe, and explain the everyday experiences of employees in the hospitality industry. I could also use the case study design to explain the causal connections between the employees’ work environment and turnover. On the other hand, the phenomenological research design may not be appropriate for addressing my research question because it is not appropriate for conducting research that focuses on understanding the relationship between people’s experiences and an existing situation. The phenomenological research design may also create bias because it requires applying subjectivity in interpreting the information shared by research participants.

 References

Alhazmi, A. A., & Kaufmann, A. (2022). Phenomenological qualitative methods applied to the analysis of cross-cultural experience in novel educational social contexts. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.785134

Crowe, S., Cresswell, K., Robertson, A., Huby, G., Avery, A., & Sheikh, A. (2011). The case study approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-11-100

Grossoehme, D. H. (2014). Overview of qualitative research. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 20(3), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2014.925660

Qutoshi, S. B. (2018). Phenomenology: A philosophy and method of inquiry. Journal of Education and Educational Development, 5(1), 215. https://doi.org/10.22555/joeed.v5i1.2154

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. SAGE.

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Start this assignment by reading Chapter 3 of Bloomberg and Volpe (2018). One of the many tasks involved in writing a dissertation or a research article is being able to justify the choice of one methodology over others. Just as critical to the feasibility of a study is the stated rationale for selecting a specific research design. This week, you are introduced to two research designs with several features in common; there are also identifiable stark contrasts.

The Use of Qualitative Designs

Read the Case Study and Phenomenological Design sections in this week’s resources. For this week’s assignment, consider what you have learned about the case study and phenomenological research designs. Using the same research problem developed in Week 1, how could you use these designs to gain insights to fulfill the purpose of your study?

Begin by selecting the approach that best fits the problem. Use the resources provided and at least three other peer-reviewed articles from the NU Library to defend your choice (two pages minimum). Create a one-page critique of the other research design that includes arguments about why the design may not be suitable for researching your problem. Include a summary of the key arguments for your choice.

Length: 3-4 pages