Theme 6: Reflection

This week was about qualitative methods and case studies, figuring out how they are used and in what circumstances. Unfortunately, we did not have a lecture to compliment our previous knowledge of the subjects, though a seminar was held.

To me qualitative methods felt like something I had a firm grasp on, mostly used when you have a more open study regarding a subject you want to dwell deeper into, with unforseen twists and turns. What I did not know was the different methods that exist, more or less the only ones I knew of were interviews and observational methods. Other ones that I now know of are: Becoming part of a group you which to study, learning from within by interacting with the group. “Auto driving” which entails that the people you wish to study shall record their own thoughts while participating in an experiment, capturing it with maybe an audio device. Furthermore I was not quite sure what a “focus group” actually meant, but now I know it more or less resembles a group interview which is interesting because of members affecting each other’s judgements.

Because I had such a hard time finding relevant papers on both qualitative methods and case studies, when I finally found one, it had both aspects and thusly I settled for that one as the only paper. It might have proven to be a mistake as analyzing it from both perspectives was quite difficult, but also interesting. What I learned from the seminar discussion was that paper revolving around education often had qualitative methods as a base because of the multiple variables that could affect it.

About case studies in general I think I had the wrong impression from the start or at least a skewed one. To me, the focus on a case study was the way you chose a narrow event/case to study and explore. I did not however understand that case studies in general is about an iterative process that keeps going until you have exhausted or satisfied the conditions of money, time or progress/knowledge. Furthermore I really enjoyed the explanation that a case study is often applied when there is almost no previous knowledge regarding that case. It is helpful because you can go into it with an open mind, not being chained down by old prejudices or theories (they can of course be helpful to you as well). We furthermore discussed and came to the conclusion with the help of the professor that case studies are not a research method like qualitative and quantitative methods are, but instead a different perspective on how to create theory.

We were told an example that the paradigm shift regarding celestial bodies didn’t happen overnight, because of the scientists stubbornness, instead of adopting the new knowledge they used ad hoc hypothesis, which entails that you change a small part of theory to keep it from being falsified. This made the transition from the previous paradigm to the new one a large process spanning decades/centuries, because they couldn’t let go of their deeply ingrained worldview.

To close it out I feel that this has been an interesting journey, it started out in the abstraction of theories and knowledge, moving towards more practical subjects as time passed. Thanks to the course I’ve now gained a small appetite for the philosophies of old.