Case Study Techniques for Evaluating E-Learning Initiatives
As I asserted in a previous post here on the E-Learning Curve Blog, case studies allow naturalistic methods of enquiry such as individual interviews to be carried out, side-by-side with quantitative data gathering from surveys, archival records, server access logs and so on.
Interestingly in discussing the flexibility of the case study design, Yin (1994, p.285) contends that in the future, researchers will focus not on the case study method, but rather on the specific case study data collection techniques (see Table 1) and we will increasingly see these techniques used in other “non-case study” forms of research.
Table 1 Case Study Techniques
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Case Study Techniques |
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The use of multiple sources of evidence, in a converging manner |
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The explicit specification and testing of hypotheses and rival hypotheses, especially in lieu of control or comparison groups |
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The dominance of deductive strategies, whereby research starts with theorizing |
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Program logic models as a standard way of initiating a program evaluation |
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Pattern-matching as a common strategy for data analysis |
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Portfolio analysis, using qualitative criteria to differentially weigh the outcomes from a project or the projects within a program |
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The use of replication logic, rather than aggregating data, when comparing the results from multiple sites or cases. |
This approach of modularizing (to coin a term) the methodologies used in a case study may potentially enable future researchers to generalize from results attained through a case study approach to a broader context: this concept is outside the scope of this blog, but is something in my view that would have benefits in future social sciences research and evaluation of learning initiatives.
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References:
Yin, R. K. (1994). Discovering the future of the case study method in evaluation research. Evaluation Practice [Internet] 15. Available from: http://aje.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/15/3/283 [Accessed 15th June 2010 subscription required]
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July 13 2010 03:00 pm | e-learning
One Response to “Case Study Techniques for Evaluating E-Learning Initiatives”
Evaluating Non-Formal Learning Programs - Table of Links | E-Learning Curve Blog on 05 Aug 2010 at 3:32 pm #
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