research methods case study sociology

2.2 Research Methods

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you should be able to:

Recall the 6 Steps of the Scientific Method
Differentiate between four kinds of research methods: surveys, field research, experiments, and secondary data analysis.
Explain the appropriateness of specific research approaches for specific topics.

Sociologists examine the social world, see a problem or interesting pattern, and set out to study it. They use research methods to design a study. Planning the research design is a key step in any sociological study. Sociologists generally choose from widely used methods of social investigation: primary source data collection such as survey, participant observation, ethnography, case study, unobtrusive observations, experiment, and secondary data analysis , or use of existing sources. Every research method comes with plusses and minuses, and the topic of study strongly influences which method or methods are put to use. When you are conducting research think about the best way to gather or obtain knowledge about your topic, think of yourself as an architect. An architect needs a blueprint to build a house, as a sociologist your blueprint is your research design including your data collection method.

Making sociologists’ presence invisible is not always realistic for other reasons. That option is not available to a researcher studying prison behaviors, early education, or the Ku Klux Klan. Researchers can’t just stroll into prisons, kindergarten classrooms, or Klan meetings and unobtrusively observe behaviors or attract attention. In situations like these, other methods are needed. Researchers choose methods that best suit their study topics, protect research participants or subjects, and that fit with their overall approaches to research.

As a research method, a survey collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire or an interview. The survey is one of the most widely used scientific research methods. The standard survey format allows individuals a level of anonymity in which they can express personal ideas.

At some point, most people in the United States respond to some type of survey. The 2020 U.S. Census is an excellent example of a large-scale survey intended to gather sociological data. Since 1790, United States has conducted a survey consisting of six questions to received demographical data pertaining to residents. The questions pertain to the demographics of the residents who live in the United States. Currently, the Census is received by residents in the United Stated and five territories and consists of 12 questions.

Not all surveys are considered sociological research, however, and many surveys people commonly encounter focus on identifying marketing needs and strategies rather than testing a hypothesis or contributing to social science knowledge. Questions such as, “How many hot dogs do you eat in a month?” or “Were the staff helpful?” are not usually designed as scientific research. The Nielsen Ratings determine the popularity of television programming through scientific market research. However, polls conducted by television programs such as American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance cannot be generalized, because they are administered to an unrepresentative population, a specific show’s audience. You might receive polls through your cell phones or emails, from grocery stores, restaurants, and retail stores. They often provide you incentives for completing the survey.

Sociologists conduct surveys under controlled conditions for specific purposes. Surveys gather different types of information from people. While surveys are not great at capturing the ways people really behave in social situations, they are a great method for discovering how people feel, think, and act—or at least how they say they feel, think, and act. Surveys can track preferences for presidential candidates or reported individual behaviors (such as sleeping, driving, or texting habits) or information such as employment status, income, and education levels.

A survey targets a specific population , people who are the focus of a study, such as college athletes, international students, or teenagers living with type 1 (juvenile-onset) diabetes. Most researchers choose to survey a small sector of the population, or a sample , a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population. The success of a study depends on how well a population is represented by the sample. In a random sample , every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for the study. As a result, a Gallup Poll, if conducted as a nationwide random sampling, should be able to provide an accurate estimate of public opinion whether it contacts 2,000 or 10,000 people.

After selecting subjects, the researcher develops a specific plan to ask questions and record responses. It is important to inform subjects of the nature and purpose of the survey up front. If they agree to participate, researchers thank subjects and offer them a chance to see the results of the study if they are interested. The researcher presents the subjects with an instrument, which is a means of gathering the information.

A common instrument is a questionnaire. Subjects often answer a series of closed-ended questions . The researcher might ask yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions, allowing subjects to choose possible responses to each question. This kind of questionnaire collects quantitative data —data in numerical form that can be counted and statistically analyzed. Just count up the number of “yes” and “no” responses or correct answers, and chart them into percentages.

Questionnaires can also ask more complex questions with more complex answers—beyond “yes,” “no,” or checkbox options. These types of inquiries use open-ended questions that require short essay responses. Participants willing to take the time to write those answers might convey personal religious beliefs, political views, goals, or morals. The answers are subjective and vary from person to person. How do you plan to use your college education?

Some topics that investigate internal thought processes are impossible to observe directly and are difficult to discuss honestly in a public forum. People are more likely to share honest answers if they can respond to questions anonymously. This type of personal explanation is qualitative data —conveyed through words. Qualitative information is harder to organize and tabulate. The researcher will end up with a wide range of responses, some of which may be surprising. The benefit of written opinions, though, is the wealth of in-depth material that they provide.

An interview is a one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject, and it is a way of conducting surveys on a topic. However, participants are free to respond as they wish, without being limited by predetermined choices. In the back-and-forth conversation of an interview, a researcher can ask for clarification, spend more time on a subtopic, or ask additional questions. In an interview, a subject will ideally feel free to open up and answer questions that are often complex. There are no right or wrong answers. The subject might not even know how to answer the questions honestly.

Questions such as “How does society’s view of alcohol consumption influence your decision whether or not to take your first sip of alcohol?” or “Did you feel that the divorce of your parents would put a social stigma on your family?” involve so many factors that the answers are difficult to categorize. A researcher needs to avoid steering or prompting the subject to respond in a specific way; otherwise, the results will prove to be unreliable. The researcher will also benefit from gaining a subject’s trust, from empathizing or commiserating with a subject, and from listening without judgment.

Surveys often collect both quantitative and qualitative data. For example, a researcher interviewing people who are incarcerated might receive quantitative data, such as demographics – race, age, sex, that can be analyzed statistically. For example, the researcher might discover that 20 percent of incarcerated people are above the age of 50. The researcher might also collect qualitative data, such as why people take advantage of educational opportunities during their sentence and other explanatory information.

The survey can be carried out online, over the phone, by mail, or face-to-face. When researchers collect data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting, they are conducting field research, which is our next topic.

Field Research

The work of sociology rarely happens in limited, confined spaces. Rather, sociologists go out into the world. They meet subjects where they live, work, and play. Field research refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment. To conduct field research, the sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds. In field work, the sociologists, rather than the subjects, are the ones out of their element.

The researcher interacts with or observes people and gathers data along the way. The key point in field research is that it takes place in the subject’s natural environment, whether it’s a coffee shop or tribal village, a homeless shelter or the DMV, a hospital, airport, mall, or beach resort.

While field research often begins in a specific setting , the study’s purpose is to observe specific behaviors in that setting. Field work is optimal for observing how people think and behave. It seeks to understand why they behave that way. However, researchers may struggle to narrow down cause and effect when there are so many variables floating around in a natural environment. And while field research looks for correlation, its small sample size does not allow for establishing a causal relationship between two variables. Indeed, much of the data gathered in sociology do not identify a cause and effect but a correlation .

Sociology in the Real World

Beyoncé and lady gaga as sociological subjects.

Sociologists have studied Lady Gaga and Beyoncé and their impact on music, movies, social media, fan participation, and social equality. In their studies, researchers have used several research methods including secondary analysis, participant observation, and surveys from concert participants.

In their study, Click, Lee & Holiday (2013) interviewed 45 Lady Gaga fans who utilized social media to communicate with the artist. These fans viewed Lady Gaga as a mirror of themselves and a source of inspiration. Like her, they embrace not being a part of mainstream culture. Many of Lady Gaga’s fans are members of the LGBTQ community. They see the “song “Born This Way” as a rallying cry and answer her calls for “Paws Up” with a physical expression of solidarity—outstretched arms and ﬁngers bent and curled to resemble monster claws.”

Sascha Buchanan (2019) made use of participant observation to study the relationship between two fan groups, that of Beyoncé and that of Rihanna. She observed award shows sponsored by iHeartRadio, MTV EMA, and BET that pit one group against another as they competed for Best Fan Army, Biggest Fans, and FANdemonium. Buchanan argues that the media thus sustains a myth of rivalry between the two most commercially successful Black women vocal artists.

Participant Observation

In 2000, a comic writer named Rodney Rothman wanted an insider’s view of white-collar work. He slipped into the sterile, high-rise offices of a New York “dot com” agency. Every day for two weeks, he pretended to work there. His main purpose was simply to see whether anyone would notice him or challenge his presence. No one did. The receptionist greeted him. The employees smiled and said good morning. Rothman was accepted as part of the team. He even went so far as to claim a desk, inform the receptionist of his whereabouts, and attend a meeting. He published an article about his experience in The New Yorker called “My Fake Job” (2000). Later, he was discredited for allegedly fabricating some details of the story and The New Yorker issued an apology. However, Rothman’s entertaining article still offered fascinating descriptions of the inside workings of a “dot com” company and exemplified the lengths to which a writer, or a sociologist, will go to uncover material.

Rothman had conducted a form of study called participant observation , in which researchers join people and participate in a group’s routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context. This method lets researchers experience a specific aspect of social life. A researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend, institution, or behavior. A researcher might work as a waitress in a diner, experience homelessness for several weeks, or ride along with police officers as they patrol their regular beat. Often, these researchers try to blend in seamlessly with the population they study, and they may not disclose their true identity or purpose if they feel it would compromise the results of their research.

At the beginning of a field study, researchers might have a question: “What really goes on in the kitchen of the most popular diner on campus?” or “What is it like to be homeless?” Participant observation is a useful method if the researcher wants to explore a certain environment from the inside.

Field researchers simply want to observe and learn. In such a setting, the researcher will be alert and open minded to whatever happens, recording all observations accurately. Soon, as patterns emerge, questions will become more specific, observations will lead to hypotheses, and hypotheses will guide the researcher in analyzing data and generating results.

In a study of small towns in the United States conducted by sociological researchers John S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, the team altered their purpose as they gathered data. They initially planned to focus their study on the role of religion in U.S. towns. As they gathered observations, they realized that the effect of industrialization and urbanization was the more relevant topic of this social group. The Lynds did not change their methods, but they revised the purpose of their study.

This shaped the structure of Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture , their published results (Lynd & Lynd, 1929).

The Lynds were upfront about their mission. The townspeople of Muncie, Indiana, knew why the researchers were in their midst. But some sociologists prefer not to alert people to their presence. The main advantage of covert participant observation is that it allows the researcher access to authentic, natural behaviors of a group’s members. The challenge, however, is gaining access to a setting without disrupting the pattern of others’ behavior. Becoming an inside member of a group, organization, or subculture takes time and effort. Researchers must pretend to be something they are not. The process could involve role playing, making contacts, networking, or applying for a job.

Once inside a group, some researchers spend months or even years pretending to be one of the people they are observing. However, as observers, they cannot get too involved. They must keep their purpose in mind and apply the sociological perspective. That way, they illuminate social patterns that are often unrecognized. Because information gathered during participant observation is mostly qualitative, rather than quantitative, the end results are often descriptive or interpretive. The researcher might present findings in an article or book and describe what he or she witnessed and experienced.

This type of research is what journalist Barbara Ehrenreich conducted for her book Nickel and Dimed . One day over lunch with her editor, Ehrenreich mentioned an idea. How can people exist on minimum-wage work? How do low-income workers get by? she wondered. Someone should do a study . To her surprise, her editor responded, Why don’t you do it?

That’s how Ehrenreich found herself joining the ranks of the working class. For several months, she left her comfortable home and lived and worked among people who lacked, for the most part, higher education and marketable job skills. Undercover, she applied for and worked minimum wage jobs as a waitress, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide, and a retail chain employee. During her participant observation, she used only her income from those jobs to pay for food, clothing, transportation, and shelter.

She discovered the obvious, that it’s almost impossible to get by on minimum wage work. She also experienced and observed attitudes many middle and upper-class people never think about. She witnessed firsthand the treatment of working class employees. She saw the extreme measures people take to make ends meet and to survive. She described fellow employees who held two or three jobs, worked seven days a week, lived in cars, could not pay to treat chronic health conditions, got randomly fired, submitted to drug tests, and moved in and out of homeless shelters. She brought aspects of that life to light, describing difficult working conditions and the poor treatment that low-wage workers suffer.

The book she wrote upon her return to her real life as a well-paid writer, has been widely read and used in many college classrooms.

Ethnography

Ethnography is the immersion of the researcher in the natural setting of an entire social community to observe and experience their everyday life and culture. The heart of an ethnographic study focuses on how subjects view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to a social group.

An ethnographic study might observe, for example, a small U.S. fishing town, an Inuit community, a village in Thailand, a Buddhist monastery, a private boarding school, or an amusement park. These places all have borders. People live, work, study, or vacation within those borders. People are there for a certain reason and therefore behave in certain ways and respect certain cultural norms. An ethnographer would commit to spending a determined amount of time studying every aspect of the chosen place, taking in as much as possible.

A sociologist studying a tribe in the Amazon might watch the way villagers go about their daily lives and then write a paper about it. To observe a spiritual retreat center, an ethnographer might sign up for a retreat and attend as a guest for an extended stay, observe and record data, and collate the material into results.

Institutional Ethnography

Historically, social science research tended to objectify women and ignore their experiences except as viewed from the male perspective. Modern feminists note that describing women, and other marginalized groups, as subordinates helps those in authority maintain their own dominant positions (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada n.d.). Smith’s three major works explored what she called “the conceptual practices of power” and are still considered seminal works in feminist theory and ethnography (Fensternmaker n.d.).

Sociological Research

The making of middletown: a study in modern u.s. culture.

Ethnographers had been examining other cultures for decades—groups considered minorities or outsiders—like gangs, immigrants, and the poor. But no one had studied the so-called average American.

Recording interviews and using surveys to gather data, the Lynds objectively described what they observed. Researching existing sources, they compared Muncie in 1890 to the Muncie they observed in 1924. Most Muncie adults, they found, had grown up on farms but now lived in homes inside the city. As a result, the Lynds focused their study on the impact of industrialization and urbanization.

They observed that Muncie was divided into business and working class groups. They defined business class as dealing with abstract concepts and symbols, while working class people used tools to create concrete objects. The two classes led different lives with different goals and hopes. However, the Lynds observed, mass production offered both classes the same amenities. Like wealthy families, the working class was now able to own radios, cars, washing machines, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. This was an emerging material reality of the 1920s.

As the Lynds worked, they divided their manuscript into six chapters: Getting a Living, Making a Home, Training the Young, Using Leisure, Engaging in Religious Practices, and Engaging in Community Activities.

When the study was completed, the Lynds encountered a big problem. The Rockefeller Foundation, which had commissioned the book, claimed it was useless and refused to publish it. The Lynds asked if they could seek a publisher themselves.

Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture was not only published in 1929 but also became an instant bestseller, a status unheard of for a sociological study. The book sold out six printings in its first year of publication, and has never gone out of print (Caplow, Hicks, & Wattenberg. 2000).

Nothing like it had ever been done before. Middletown was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times. Readers in the 1920s and 1930s identified with the citizens of Muncie, Indiana, but they were equally fascinated by the sociological methods and the use of scientific data to define ordinary people in the United States. The book was proof that social data was important—and interesting—to the U.S. public.

Researchers might use this method to study a single case of a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or rape victim. However, a major criticism of the case study as a method is that while offering depth on a topic, it does not provide enough evidence to form a generalized conclusion. In other words, it is difficult to make universal claims based on just one person, since one person does not verify a pattern. This is why most sociologists do not use case studies as a primary research method.

However, case studies are useful when the single case is unique. In these instances, a single case study can contribute tremendous insight. For example, a feral child, also called “wild child,” is one who grows up isolated from human beings. Feral children grow up without social contact and language, which are elements crucial to a “civilized” child’s development. These children mimic the behaviors and movements of animals, and often invent their own language. There are only about one hundred cases of “feral children” in the world.

As you may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral children provide unique information about child development because they have grown up outside of the parameters of “normal” growth and nurturing. And since there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method for researchers to use in studying the subject.

At age three, a Ukranian girl named Oxana Malaya suffered severe parental neglect. She lived in a shed with dogs, and she ate raw meat and scraps. Five years later, a neighbor called authorities and reported seeing a girl who ran on all fours, barking. Officials brought Oxana into society, where she was cared for and taught some human behaviors, but she never became fully socialized. She has been designated as unable to support herself and now lives in a mental institution (Grice 2011). Case studies like this offer a way for sociologists to collect data that may not be obtained by any other method.

Experiments

You have probably tested some of your own personal social theories. “If I study at night and review in the morning, I’ll improve my retention skills.” Or, “If I stop drinking soda, I’ll feel better.” Cause and effect. If this, then that. When you test the theory, your results either prove or disprove your hypothesis.

One way researchers test social theories is by conducting an experiment , meaning they investigate relationships to test a hypothesis—a scientific approach.

There are two main types of experiments: lab-based experiments and natural or field experiments. In a lab setting, the research can be controlled so that more data can be recorded in a limited amount of time. In a natural or field- based experiment, the time it takes to gather the data cannot be controlled but the information might be considered more accurate since it was collected without interference or intervention by the researcher.

As a research method, either type of sociological experiment is useful for testing if-then statements: if a particular thing happens (cause), then another particular thing will result (effect). To set up a lab-based experiment, sociologists create artificial situations that allow them to manipulate variables.

Classically, the sociologist selects a set of people with similar characteristics, such as age, class, race, or education. Those people are divided into two groups. One is the experimental group and the other is the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable(s) and the control group is not. To test the benefits of tutoring, for example, the sociologist might provide tutoring to the experimental group of students but not to the control group. Then both groups would be tested for differences in performance to see if tutoring had an effect on the experimental group of students. As you can imagine, in a case like this, the researcher would not want to jeopardize the accomplishments of either group of students, so the setting would be somewhat artificial. The test would not be for a grade reflected on their permanent record of a student, for example.

And if a researcher told the students they would be observed as part of a study on measuring the effectiveness of tutoring, the students might not behave naturally. This is called the Hawthorne effect —which occurs when people change their behavior because they know they are being watched as part of a study. The Hawthorne effect is unavoidable in some research studies because sociologists have to make the purpose of the study known. Subjects must be aware that they are being observed, and a certain amount of artificiality may result (Sonnenfeld 1985).

A real-life example will help illustrate the process. In 1971, Frances Heussenstamm, a sociology professor at California State University at Los Angeles, had a theory about police prejudice. To test her theory, she conducted research. She chose fifteen students from three ethnic backgrounds: Black, White, and Hispanic. She chose students who routinely drove to and from campus along Los Angeles freeway routes, and who had had perfect driving records for longer than a year.

Next, she placed a Black Panther bumper sticker on each car. That sticker, a representation of a social value, was the independent variable. In the 1970s, the Black Panthers were a revolutionary group actively fighting racism. Heussenstamm asked the students to follow their normal driving patterns. She wanted to see whether seeming support for the Black Panthers would change how these good drivers were treated by the police patrolling the highways. The dependent variable would be the number of traffic stops/citations.

The first arrest, for an incorrect lane change, was made two hours after the experiment began. One participant was pulled over three times in three days. He quit the study. After seventeen days, the fifteen drivers had collected a total of thirty-three traffic citations. The research was halted. The funding to pay traffic fines had run out, and so had the enthusiasm of the participants (Heussenstamm, 1971).

Secondary Data Analysis

While sociologists often engage in original research studies, they also contribute knowledge to the discipline through secondary data analysis . Secondary data does not result from firsthand research collected from primary sources, but are the already completed work of other researchers or data collected by an agency or organization. Sociologists might study works written by historians, economists, teachers, or early sociologists. They might search through periodicals, newspapers, or magazines, or organizational data from any period in history.

Using available information not only saves time and money but can also add depth to a study. Sociologists often interpret findings in a new way, a way that was not part of an author’s original purpose or intention. To study how women were encouraged to act and behave in the 1960s, for example, a researcher might watch movies, televisions shows, and situation comedies from that period. Or to research changes in behavior and attitudes due to the emergence of television in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a sociologist would rely on new interpretations of secondary data. Decades from now, researchers will most likely conduct similar studies on the advent of mobile phones, the Internet, or social media.

Social scientists also learn by analyzing the research of a variety of agencies. Governmental departments and global groups, like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or the World Health Organization (WHO), publish studies with findings that are useful to sociologists. A public statistic like the foreclosure rate might be useful for studying the effects of a recession. A racial demographic profile might be compared with data on education funding to examine the resources accessible by different groups.

One of the advantages of secondary data like old movies or WHO statistics is that it is nonreactive research (or unobtrusive research), meaning that it does not involve direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people’s behaviors. Unlike studies requiring direct contact with people, using previously published data does not require entering a population and the investment and risks inherent in that research process.

Using available data does have its challenges. Public records are not always easy to access. A researcher will need to do some legwork to track them down and gain access to records. To guide the search through a vast library of materials and avoid wasting time reading unrelated sources, sociologists employ content analysis , applying a systematic approach to record and value information gleaned from secondary data as they relate to the study at hand.

Also, in some cases, there is no way to verify the accuracy of existing data. It is easy to count how many drunk drivers, for example, are pulled over by the police. But how many are not? While it’s possible to discover the percentage of teenage students who drop out of high school, it might be more challenging to determine the number who return to school or get their GED later.

Another problem arises when data are unavailable in the exact form needed or do not survey the topic from the precise angle the researcher seeks. For example, the average salaries paid to professors at a public school is public record. But these figures do not necessarily reveal how long it took each professor to reach the salary range, what their educational backgrounds are, or how long they’ve been teaching.

When conducting content analysis, it is important to consider the date of publication of an existing source and to take into account attitudes and common cultural ideals that may have influenced the research. For example, when Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd gathered research in the 1920s, attitudes and cultural norms were vastly different then than they are now. Beliefs about gender roles, race, education, and work have changed significantly since then. At the time, the study’s purpose was to reveal insights about small U.S. communities. Today, it is an illustration of 1920s attitudes and values.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/1-introduction

Authors: Tonja R. Conerly, Kathleen Holmes, Asha Lal Tamang
Publisher/website: OpenStax
Book title: Introduction to Sociology 3e
Publication date: Jun 3, 2021
Location: Houston, Texas
Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/1-introduction
Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/2-2-research-methods

© Jan 18, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

Books, Journals, Papers
Life Around The World
Research Methods
Sociology Theorists
Functionalism
Postmodernism
Social Constructionism
Structuralism
Symbolic Interactionism
Sociology of Crime & Deviance
Sociology of Art
Sociology of Dance
Sociology of Food
Sociology of Sport
Sociology of Disability
Sociology of Economics
Sociology of Education
Sociology of Family
Sociology of Gender
Sociology of Health
Sociology of Identity
Sociology of Ideology
Sociology of Inequalities
Sociology of Anime
Sociology of Film
Sociology of Gaming
Sociology of Literature
Sociology of Music
Sociology of TV
Sociology of Nature & Environment
Sociology of Politics
Sociology of Power
Sociology of Race & Ethnicity
Sociology of Religion
Sociology of Sexuality
Sociology of Social Movements
Sociology of Technology
Sociology of the Life Course
Sociology of Violence & Conflict
Sociology of Work
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions

Understanding the Case Study Method in Sociology

In the field of sociology, researchers employ various methods to study and understand social phenomena. One such method is the case study. A case study is an in-depth investigation of a particular individual, group, or event, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. In this article, we will outline and explain the case study method in sociology and its significance in social research.

Defining the Case Study Method

The case study method involves the detailed examination of a single case or a small number of cases. It is a qualitative research method that focuses on understanding the complexities and intricacies of a particular social phenomenon. Researchers using the case study method collect and analyze a wide range of data, including interviews, observations, documents, and artifacts, to gain a holistic understanding of the case under investigation.

Case studies can be conducted in various social contexts, such as educational institutions, communities, organizations, or even entire societies. The subjects of study can be individuals, groups, or events that are considered representative or unique in some way.

Purposes of Case Studies in Sociology

Case studies serve several purposes in sociological research:

1. Exploratory Purposes

Case studies can be used to explore new or emerging social phenomena that have not been extensively studied before. By conducting in-depth investigations, researchers can generate new insights and theories about the subject matter.

2. Descriptive Purposes

Case studies can provide rich and detailed descriptions of specific social situations or events. They allow researchers to capture the complexity and uniqueness of a case, providing a comprehensive account of the social dynamics at play.

3. Explanatory Purposes

Case studies can help researchers understand the underlying causes and mechanisms behind social phenomena. By analyzing various aspects of a case, researchers can identify patterns, relationships, and factors that contribute to the observed outcomes.

4. Theory Testing and Development

Case studies can be used to test existing sociological theories or develop new ones. By examining a specific case in light of theoretical frameworks, researchers can evaluate the applicability and validity of these theories.

Steps Involved in Conducting a Case Study

The process of conducting a case study in sociology typically involves the following steps:

1. Selecting a Case

Researchers must carefully choose a case that is relevant to their research question and aligns with their research objectives. The case should provide sufficient depth and complexity to explore the desired aspects of the social phenomenon under investigation.

2. Collecting Data

Data collection in case studies involves a combination of methods, including interviews, observations, and document analysis. Researchers may conduct interviews with key individuals involved in the case, observe the case in its natural setting, and analyze relevant documents and artifacts.

3. Analyzing Data

Once the data is collected, researchers analyze it to identify patterns, themes, and relationships. They may use various analytical frameworks, such as content analysis or thematic analysis, to make sense of the data and draw meaningful conclusions.

4. Drawing Conclusions

Based on the analysis of the data, researchers draw conclusions about the case under investigation. These conclusions should be supported by evidence and contribute to the existing body of sociological knowledge.

5. Generalizing Findings

While case studies focus on specific cases, researchers may attempt to generalize their findings to broader contexts or populations. However, it is important to note that generalizability in case studies is limited, and findings are often context-specific.

Advantages and Limitations of Case Studies

Case studies offer several advantages in sociological research:

They provide rich and detailed insights into complex social phenomena.
They allow researchers to explore new or unique cases.
They facilitate theory testing and development.
They offer a holistic and in-depth understanding of the subject matter.

However, case studies also have limitations:

They are time-consuming and resource-intensive.
They may suffer from researcher bias or subjectivity.
Their findings may lack generalizability to broader populations.
They do not provide causal explanations but rather focus on descriptive and explanatory aspects.

The case study method is a valuable tool in sociology for exploring, describing, explaining, and testing social phenomena. By conducting in-depth investigations of specific cases, researchers can gain a comprehensive understanding of the complexities and dynamics of the social world. While case studies have their limitations, they offer unique insights that contribute to the broader field of sociological knowledge.

Mr Edwards has a PhD in sociology and 10 years of experience in sociological knowledge

A collection of children's magnetic letters

Exploring Discourse Analysis: Language and Social Reality

Discourse analysis is a multidisciplinary approach that examines the ways in which language is used to construct meaning, shape social...

Shelves of books containing case history

Understanding Case History in Sociology

Case history is a methodological approach used in sociology to gather and analyze detailed information about individuals, groups, or communities....

Understanding Casework in Sociology

a person working on farmland in agribusiness

Understanding Cash Crops in Sociology

A man carrying a large amount of vegetables at a market - cathexis

Understanding Cathexis in Sociology

Get the latest sociology, recommended.

Understanding Consensus Theory: How Shared Values and Social Integration Maintain Social Order

Robert Merton and His Contributions to Sociology

Popular story.

Understanding Clans in Sociology

Pierre bourdieu’s symbolic violence: an outline and explanation, the functionalist perspective on gender in sociology, understanding social class inequality: a sociological perspective, what is a social actor exploring the concept in sociology.

Conducting Case Study Research in Sociology

Steve Debenport / Getty Images

Key Concepts
Major Sociologists
News & Issues
Research, Samples, and Statistics
Recommended Reading
Archaeology

A case study is a research method that relies on a single case rather than a population or sample. When researchers focus on a single case, they can make detailed observations over a long period of time, something that cannot be done with large samples without costing a lot of money. Case studies are also useful in the early stages of research when the goal is to explore ideas, test, and perfect measurement instruments, and to prepare for a larger study. The case study research method is popular not just within the field of sociology, but also within the fields of anthropology, psychology, education, political science, clinical science, social work, and administrative science.

Overview of the Case Study Research Method

A case study is unique within the social sciences for its focus of study on a single entity, which can be a person, group or organization, event, action, or situation. It is also unique in that, as a focus of research, a case is chosen for specific reasons, rather than randomly , as is usually done when conducting empirical research. Often, when researchers use the case study method, they focus on a case that is exceptional in some way because it is possible to learn a lot about social relationships and social forces when studying those things that deviate from norms. In doing so, a researcher is often able, through their study, to test the validity of the social theory, or to create new theories using the grounded theory method .

The first case studies in the social sciences were likely conducted by Pierre Guillaume Frédéric Le Play, a 19th-century French sociologist and economist who studied family budgets. The method has been used in sociology, psychology, and anthropology since the early 20th century.

Within sociology, case studies are typically conducted with qualitative research methods . They are considered micro rather than macro in nature , and one cannot necessarily generalize the findings of a case study to other situations. However, this is not a limitation of the method, but a strength. Through a case study based on ethnographic observation and interviews, among other methods, sociologists can illuminate otherwise hard to see and understand social relations, structures, and processes. In doing so, the findings of case studies often stimulate further research.

Types and Forms of Case Studies

There are three primary types of case studies: key cases, outlier cases, and local knowledge cases.

Key cases are those which are chosen because the researcher has a particular interest in it or the circumstances surrounding it.
Outlier cases are those that are chosen because the case stands out from other events, organizations, or situations, for some reason, and social scientists recognize that we can learn a lot from those things that differ from the norm .
Finally, a researcher may decide to conduct a local knowledge case study when they already have amassed a usable amount of information about a given topic, person, organization, or event, and so is well-poised to conduct a study of it.

Within these types, a case study may take four different forms: illustrative, exploratory, cumulative, and critical.

Illustrative case studies are descriptive in nature and designed to shed light on a particular situation, set of circumstances, and the social relations and processes that are embedded in them. They are useful in bringing to light something about which most people are not aware of.
Exploratory case studies are also often known as pilot studies . This type of case study is typically used when a researcher wants to identify research questions and methods of study for a large, complex study. They are useful for clarifying the research process, which can help a researcher make the best use of time and resources in the larger study that will follow it.
Cumulative case studies are those in which a researcher pulls together already completed case studies on a particular topic. They are useful in helping researchers to make generalizations from studies that have something in common.
Critical instance case studies are conducted when a researcher wants to understand what happened with a unique event and/or to challenge commonly held assumptions about it that may be faulty due to a lack of critical understanding.

Whatever type and form of case study you decide to conduct, it's important to first identify the purpose, goals, and approach for conducting methodologically sound research.

An Overview of Qualitative Research Methods
Understanding Secondary Data and How to Use It in Research
Definition of Idiographic and Nomothetic
Pilot Study in Research
What Is Ethnography?
How to Conduct a Sociology Research Interview
The Sociology of the Internet and Digital Sociology
What Is Participant Observation Research?
Understanding Purposive Sampling
The Different Types of Sampling Designs in Sociology
Units of Analysis as Related to Sociology
What Is Naturalistic Observation? Definition and Examples
Social Surveys: Questionnaires, Interviews, and Telephone Polls
Anthropology vs. Sociology: What's the Difference?
Deductive Versus Inductive Reasoning
How to Understand Interpretive Sociology

Case Study Research

First Online: 29 September 2022

Cite this chapter

Robert E. White ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8045-164X 3 &
Karyn Cooper 4

1333 Accesses

As a footnote to the previous chapter, there is such a beast known as the ethnographic case study. Ethnographic case study has found its way into this chapter rather than into the previous one because of grammatical considerations. Simply put, the “case study” part of the phrase is the noun (with “case” as an adjective defining what kind of study it is), while the “ethnographic” part of the phrase is an adjective defining the type of case study that is being conducted. As such, the case study becomes the methodology, while the ethnography part refers to a method, mode or approach relating to the development of the study.

The experiential account that we get from a case study or qualitative research of a similar vein is just so necessary. How things happen over time and the degree to which they are subject to personality and how they are only gradually perceived as tolerable or intolerable by the communities and the groups that are involved is so important. Robert Stake, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Available as EPUB and PDF
Read on any device
Instant download
Own it forever
Compact, lightweight edition
Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bartlett, L., & Vavrus, F. (2017). Rethinking case study research . Routledge.

Google Scholar

Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity . Polity Press.

Bhaskar, R., & Danermark, B. (2006). Metatheory, interdisciplinarity and disability research: A critical realist perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 8 (4), 278–297.

Article Google Scholar

Bulmer, M. (1986). The Chicago School of sociology: Institutionalization, diversity, and the rise of sociological research . University of Chicago Press.

Campbell, D. T. (1975). Degrees of freedom and the case study. Comparative Political Studies, 8 (1), 178–191.

Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1966). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research . Houghton Mifflin.

Chua, W. F. (1986). Radical developments in accounting thought. The Accounting Review, 61 (4), 601–632.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage.

Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design . Sage.

Davey, L. (1991). The application of case study evaluations. Practical Assessment, Research, & Evaluation 2 (9) . Retrieved May 28, 2018, from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=2&n=9

Demetriou, H. (2017). The case study. In E. Wilson (Ed.), School-based research: A guide for education students (pp. 124–138). Sage.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research . Sage.

Flyvbjerg, B. (2004). Five misunderstandings about case-study research. In C. Seale, G. Gobo, J. F. Gubrium, & D. Silverman (Eds.), Qualitative research practice (pp. 420–433). Sage.

Hamel, J., Dufour, S., & Fortin, D. (1993). Case study methods . Sage.

Book Google Scholar

Healy, M. E. (1947). Le Play’s contribution to sociology: His method. The American Catholic Sociological Review, 8 (2), 97–110.

Johansson, R. (2003). Case study methodology. [Keynote speech]. In International Conference “Methodologies in Housing Research.” Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, September 2003 (pp. 1–14).

Klonoski, R. (2013). The case for case studies: Deriving theory from evidence. Journal of Business Case Studies, 9 (31), 261–266.

McDonough, J., & McDonough, S. (1997). Research methods for English language teachers . Routledge.

Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education . Jossey-Bass.

Miles, M. B. (1979). Qualitative data as an attractive nuisance: The problem of analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24 (4), 590–601.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage.

Mills, A. J., Durepos, G. & E. Wiebe (Eds.) (2010). What is a case study? Encyclopedia of case study research, Volumes I and II. Sage.

National Film Board of Canada. (2012, April). Here at home: In search of the real cost of homelessness . [Web documentary]. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from http://athome.nfb.ca/#/athome/home

Popper, K. (2002). Conjectures and refutations: The growth of scientific knowledge . Routledge.

Ridder, H.-G. (2017). The theory contribution of case study research designs. Business Research, 10 (2), 281–305.

Rolls, G. (2005). Classic case studies in psychology . Hodder Education.

Seawright, J., & Gerring, J. (2008). Case-Selection techniques in case study research: A menu of qualitative and quantitative options. Political Research Quarterly, 61 , 294–308.

Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research . Sage.

Stake, R. E. (2005). Multiple case study analysis . Guilford Press.

Swanborn, P. G. (2010). Case study research: What, why and how? Sage.

Thomas, W. I., & Znaniecki, F. (1996). The Polish peasant in Europe and America: A classic work in immigration history . University of Illinois Press.

Yin, R. K. (1981). The case study crisis: Some answers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26 (1), 58–65.

Yin, R. K. (1991). Advancing rigorous methodologies : A Review of “Towards Rigor in Reviews of Multivocal Literatures….”. Review of Educational Research, 61 (3), 299–305.

Yin, R. K. (1999). Enhancing the quality of case studies in health services research. Health Services Research, 34 (5) Part II, 1209–1224.

Yin, R. K. (2012). Applications of case study research (3rd ed.). Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Sage.

Zaretsky, E. (1996). Introduction. In W. I. Thomas & F. Znaniecki (Eds.), The Polish peasant in Europe and America: A classic work in immigration history (pp. vii–xvii). University of Illinois Press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Faculty of Education, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada

Robert E. White

OISE, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Karyn Cooper

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert E. White .

A Case in Case Study Methodology

Christine Benedichte Meyer

Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration

Meyer, C. B. (2001). A Case in Case Study Methodology. Field Methods 13 (4), 329-352.

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive view of the case study process from the researcher’s perspective, emphasizing methodological considerations. As opposed to other qualitative or quantitative research strategies, such as grounded theory or surveys, there are virtually no specific requirements guiding case research. This is both the strength and the weakness of this approach. It is a strength because it allows tailoring the design and data collection procedures to the research questions. On the other hand, this approach has resulted in many poor case studies, leaving it open to criticism, especially from the quantitative field of research. This article argues that there is a particular need in case studies to be explicit about the methodological choices one makes. This implies discussing the wide range of decisions concerned with design requirements, data collection procedures, data analysis, and validity and reliability. The approach here is to illustrate these decisions through a particular case study of two mergers in the financial industry in Norway.

In the past few years, a number of books have been published that give useful guidance in conducting qualitative studies (Gummesson 1988; Cassell & Symon 1994; Miles & Huberman 1994; Creswell 1998; Flick 1998; Rossman & Rallis 1998; Bryman & Burgess 1999; Marshall & Rossman 1999; Denzin & Lincoln 2000). One approach often mentioned is the case study (Yin 1989). Case studies are widely used in organizational studies in the social science disciplines of sociology, industrial relations, and anthropology (Hartley 1994). Such a study consists of detailed investigation of one or more organizations, or groups within organizations, with a view to providing an analysis of the context and processes involved in the phenomenon under study.

As opposed to other qualitative or quantitative research strategies, such as grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss 1967) or surveys (Nachmias & Nachmias 1981), there are virtually no specific requirements guiding case research. Yin (1989) and Eisenhardt (1989) give useful insights into the case study as a research strategy, but leave most of the design decisions on the table. This is both the strength and the weakness of this approach. It is a strength because it allows tailoring the design and data collection procedures to the research questions. On the other hand, this approach has resulted in many poor case studies, leaving it open to criticism, especially from the quantitative field of research (Cook and Campbell 1979). The fact that the case study is a rather loose design implies that there are a number of choices that need to be addressed in a principled way.

Although case studies have become a common research strategy, the scope of methodology sections in articles published in journals is far too limited to give the readers a detailed and comprehensive view of the decisions taken in the particular studies, and, given the format of methodology sections, will remain so. The few books (Yin 1989, 1993; Hamel, Dufour, & Fortin 1993; Stake 1995) and book chapters on case studies (Hartley 1994; Silverman 2000) are, on the other hand, mainly normative and span a broad range of different kinds of case studies. One exception is Pettigrew (1990, 1992), who places the case study in the context of a research tradition (the Warwick process research).

Given the contextual nature of the case study and its strength in addressing contemporary phenomena in real-life contexts, I believe that there is a need for articles that provide a comprehensive overview of the case study process from the researcher’s perspective, emphasizing methodological considerations. This implies addressing the whole range of choices concerning specific design requirements, data collection procedures, data analysis, and validity and reliability.

WHY A CASE STUDY?

Case studies are tailor-made for exploring new processes or behaviors or ones that are little understood (Hartley 1994). Hence, the approach is particularly useful for responding to how and why questions about a contemporary set of events (Leonard-Barton 1990). Moreover, researchers have argued that certain kinds of information can be difficult or even impossible to tackle by means other than qualitative approaches such as the case study (Sykes 1990). Gummesson (1988:76) argues that an important advantage of case study research is the opportunity for a holistic view of the process: “The detailed observations entailed in the case study method enable us to study many different aspects, examine them in relation to each other, view the process within its total environment and also use the researchers’ capacity for ‘verstehen.’ ”

The contextual nature of the case study is illustrated in Yin’s (1993:59) definition of a case study as an empirical inquiry that “investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context and addresses a situation in which the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.”

The key difference between the case study and other qualitative designs such as grounded theory and ethnography (Glaser & Strauss 1967; Strauss & Corbin 1990; Gioia & Chittipeddi 1991) is that the case study is open to the use of theory or conceptual categories that guide the research and analysis of data. In contrast, grounded theory or ethnography presupposes that theoretical perspectives are grounded in and emerge from firsthand data. Hartley (1994) argues that without a theoretical framework, the researcher is in severe danger of providing description without meaning. Gummesson (1988) says that a lack of preunderstanding will cause the researcher to spend considerable time gathering basic information. This preunderstanding may arise from general knowledge such as theories, models, and concepts or from specific knowledge of institutional conditions and social patterns. According to Gummesson, the key is not to require researchers to have split but dual personalities: “Those who are able to balance on a razor’s edge using their pre-understanding without being its slave” (p. 58).

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE STUDY

The study that will be used for illustrative purposes is a comparative and longitudinal case study of organizational integration in mergers and acquisitions taking place in Norway. The study had two purposes: (1) to identify contextual factors and features of integration that facilitated or impeded organizational integration, and (2) to study how the three dimensions of organizational integration (integration of tasks, unification of power, and integration of cultures and identities) interrelated and evolved over time. Examples of contextual factors were relative power, degree of friendliness, and economic climate. Integration features included factors such as participation, communication, and allocation of positions and functions.

Mergers and acquisitions are inherently complex. Researchers in the field have suggested that managers continuously underestimate the task of integrating the merging organizations in the postintegration process (Haspeslaph & Jemison 1991). The process of organizational integration can lead to sharp interorganizational conflict as the different top management styles, organizational and work unit cultures, systems, and other aspects of organizational life come into contact (Blake & Mounton 1985; Schweiger & Walsh 1990; Cartwright & Cooper 1993). Furthermore, cultural change in mergers and acquisitions is compounded by additional uncertainties, ambiguities, and stress inherent in the combination process (Buono & Bowditch 1989).

I focused on two combinations: one merger and one acquisition. The first case was a merger between two major Norwegian banks, Bergen Bank and DnC (to be named DnB), that started in the late 1980s. The second case was a study of a major acquisition in the insurance industry (i.e., Gjensidige’s acquisition of Forenede), that started in the early 1990s. Both combinations aimed to realize operational synergies though merging the two organizations into one entity. This implied disruption of organizational boundaries and threat to the existing power distribution and organizational cultures.

The study of integration processes in mergers and acquisitions illustrates the need to find a design that opens for exploration of sensitive issues such as power struggles between the two merging organizations. Furthermore, the inherent complexity in the integration process, involving integration of tasks, unification of power, and cultural integration stressed the need for in-depth study of the phenomenon over time. To understand the cultural integration process, the design also had to be linked to the past history of the two organizations.

DESIGN DECISIONS

In the introduction, I stressed that a case is a rather loose design that requires that a number of design choices be made. In this section, I go through the most important choices I faced in the study of organizational integration in mergers and acquisitions. These include: (1) selection of cases; (2) sampling time; (3) choosing business areas, divisions, and sites; and (4) selection of and choices regarding data collection procedures, interviews, documents, and observation.

Selection of Cases

There are several choices involved in selecting cases. First, there is the question of how many cases to include. Second, one must sample cases and decide on a unit of analysis. I will explore these issues subsequently.

Single or Multiple Cases

Case studies can involve single or multiple cases. The problem of single cases is limitations in generalizability and several information-processing biases (Eisenhardt 1989).

One way to respond to these biases is by applying a multi-case approach (Leonard-Barton 1990). Multiple cases augment external validity and help guard against observer biases. Moreover, multi-case sampling adds confidence to findings. By looking at a range of similar and contrasting cases, we can understand a single-case finding, grounding it by specifying how and where and, if possible, why it behaves as it does. (Miles & Huberman 1994)

Given these limitations of the single case study, it is desirable to include more than one case study in the study. However, the desire for depth and a pluralist perspective and tracking the cases over time implies that the number of cases must be fairly few. I chose two cases, which clearly does not support generalizability any more than does one case, but allows for comparison and contrast between the cases as well as a deeper and richer look at each case.

Originally, I planned to include a third case in the study. Due to changes in management during the initial integration process, my access to the case was limited and I left this case entirely. However, a positive side effect was that it allowed a deeper investigation of the two original cases and in hindsight turned out to be a good decision.

Sampling Cases

The logic of sampling cases is fundamentally different from statistical sampling. The logic in case studies involves theoretical sampling, in which the goal is to choose cases that are likely to replicate or extend the emergent theory or to fill theoretical categories and provide examples for polar types (Eisenhardt 1989). Hence, whereas quantitative sampling concerns itself with representativeness, qualitative sampling seeks information richness and selects the cases purposefully rather than randomly (Crabtree and Miller 1992).

The choice of cases was guided by George (1979) and Pettigrew’s (1990) recommendations. The aim was to find cases that matched the three dimensions in the dependent variable and provided variation in the contextual factors, thus representing polar cases.

To match the choice of outcome variable, organizational integration, I chose cases in which the purpose was to fully consolidate the merging parties’ operations. A full consolidation would imply considerable disruption in the organizational boundaries and would be expected to affect the task-related, political, and cultural features of the organizations. As for the contextual factors, the two cases varied in contextual factors such as relative power, friendliness, and economic climate. The DnB merger was a friendly combination between two equal partners in an unfriendly economic climate. Gjensidige’s acquisition of Forenede was, in contrast, an unfriendly and unbalanced acquisition in a friendly economic climate.

Unit of Analysis

Another way to respond to researchers’ and respondents’ biases is to have more than one unit of analysis in each case (Yin 1993). This implies that, in addition to developing contrasts between the cases, researchers can focus on contrasts within the cases (Hartley 1994). In case studies, there is a choice of a holistic or embedded design (Yin 1989). A holistic design examines the global nature of the phenomenon, whereas an embedded design also pays attention to subunit(s).

I used an embedded design to analyze the cases (i.e., within each case, I also gave attention to subunits and subprocesses). In both cases, I compared the combination processes in the various divisions and local networks. Moreover, I compared three distinct change processes in DnB: before the merger, during the initial combination, and two years after the merger. The overall and most important unit of analysis in the two cases was, however, the integration process.

Sampling Time

According to Pettigrew (1990), time sets a reference for what changes can be seen and how those changes are explained. When conducting a case study, there are several important issues to decide when sampling time. The first regards how many times data should be collected, while the second concerns when to enter the organizations. There is also a need to decide whether to collect data on a continuous basis or in distinct periods.

Number of data collections. I studied the process by collecting real time and retrospective data at two points in time, with one-and-a-half- and two-year intervals in the two cases. Collecting data twice had some interesting implications for the interpretations of the data. During the first data collection in the DnB study, for example, I collected retrospective data about the premerger and initial combination phase and real-time data about the second step in the combination process.

Although I gained a picture of how the employees experienced the second stage of the combination process, it was too early to assess the effects of this process at that stage. I entered the organization two years later and found interesting effects that I had not anticipated the first time. Moreover, it was interesting to observe how people’s attitudes toward the merger processes changed over time to be more positive and less emotional.

When to enter the organizations. It would be desirable to have had the opportunity to collect data in the precombination processes. However, researchers are rarely given access in this period due to secrecy. The emphasis in this study was to focus on the postcombination process. As such, the precombination events were classified as contextual factors. This implied that it was most important to collect real-time data after the parties had been given government approval to merge or acquire. What would have been desirable was to gain access earlier in the postcombination process. This was not possible because access had to be negotiated. Due to the change of CEO in the middle of the merger process and the need for renegotiating access, this took longer than expected.

Regarding the second case, I was restricted by the time frame of the study. In essence, I had to choose between entering the combination process as soon as governmental approval was given, or entering the organization at a later stage. In light of the previous studies in the field that have failed to go beyond the initial two years, and given the need to collect data about the cultural integration process, I chose the latter strategy. And I decided to enter the organizations at two distinct periods of time rather than on a continuous basis.

There were several reasons for this approach, some methodological and some practical. First, data collection on a continuous basis would have required use of extensive observation that I didn’t have access to, and getting access to two data collections in DnB was difficult in itself. Second, I had a stay abroad between the first and second data collection in Gjensidige. Collecting data on a continuous basis would probably have allowed for better mapping of the ongoing integration process, but the contrasts between the two different stages in the integration process that I wanted to elaborate would probably be more difficult to detect. In Table 1 I have listed the periods of time in which I collected data in the two combinations.

Sampling Business Areas, Divisions, and Sites

Even when the cases for a study have been chosen, it is often necessary to make further choices within each case to make the cases researchable. The most important criteria that set the boundaries for the study are importance or criticality, relevance, and representativeness. At the time of the data collection, my criteria for making these decisions were not as conscious as they may appear here. Rather, being restricted by time and my own capacity as a researcher, I had to limit the sites and act instinctively. In both cases, I decided to concentrate on the core businesses (criticality criterion) and left out the business units that were only mildly affected by the integration process (relevance criterion). In the choice of regional offices, I used the representativeness criterion as the number of offices widely exceeded the number of sites possible to study. In making these choices, I relied on key informants in the organizations.

SELECTION OF DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

The choice of data collection procedures should be guided by the research question and the choice of design. The case study approach typically combines data collection methods such as archives, interviews, questionnaires, and observations (Yin 1989). This triangulated methodology provides stronger substantiation of constructs and hypotheses. However, the choice of data collection methods is also subject to constraints in time, financial resources, and access.

I chose a combination of interviews, archives, and observation, with main emphasis on the first two. Conducting a survey was inappropriate due to the lack of established concepts and indicators. The reason for limited observation, on the other hand, was due to problems in obtaining access early in the study and time and resource constraints. In addition to choosing among several different data collection methods, there are a number of choices to be made for each individual method.

When relying on interviews as the primary data collection method, the issue of building trust between the researcher and the interviewees becomes very important. I addressed this issue by several means. First, I established a procedure of how to approach the interviewees. In most cases, I called them first, then sent out a letter explaining the key features of the project and outlining the broad issues to be addressed in the interview. In this letter, the support from the institution’s top management was also communicated. In most cases, the top management’s support of the project was an important prerequisite for the respondent’s input. Some interviewees did, however, fear that their input would be open to the top management without disguising the information source. Hence, it became important to communicate how I intended to use and store the information.

To establish trust, I also actively used my preunderstanding of the context in the first case and the phenomenon in the second case. As I built up an understanding of the cases, I used this information to gain confidence. The active use of my preunderstanding did, however, pose important challenges in not revealing too much of the research hypotheses and in balancing between asking open-ended questions and appearing knowledgeable.

There are two choices involved in conducting interviews. The first concerns the sampling of interviewees. The second is that you must decide on issues such as the structure of the interviews, use of tape recorder, and involvement of other researchers.

Sampling Interviewees

Following the desire for detailed knowledge of each case and for grasping different participant’s views the aim was, in line with Pettigrew (1990), to apply a pluralist view by describing and analyzing competing versions of reality as seen by actors in the combination processes.

I used four criteria for sampling informants. First, I drew informants from populations representing multiple perspectives. The first data collection in DnB was primarily focused on the top management level. Moreover, most middle managers in the first data collection were employed at the head offices, either in Bergen or Oslo. In the second data collection, I compensated for this skew by including eight local middle managers in the sample. The difference between the number of employees interviewed in DnB and Gjensidige was primarily due to the fact that Gjensidige has three unions, whereas DnB only has one. The distribution of interviewees is outlined in Table 2 .

The second criterion was to use multiple informants. According to Glick et al. (1990), an important advantage of using multiple informants is that the validity of information provided by one informant can be checked against that provided by other informants. Moreover, the validity of the data used by the researcher can be enhanced by resolving the discrepancies among different informants’ reports. Hence, I selected multiple respondents from each perspective.

Third, I focused on key informants who were expected to be knowledgeable about the combination process. These people included top management members, managers, and employees involved in the integration project. To validate the information from these informants, I also used a fourth criterion by selecting managers and employees who had been affected by the process but who were not involved in the project groups.

Structured versus unstructured. In line with the explorative nature of the study, the goal of the interviews was to see the research topic from the perspective of the interviewee, and to understand why he or she came to have this particular perspective. To meet this goal, King (1994:15) recommends that one have “a low degree of structure imposed on the interviewer, a preponderance of open questions, a focus on specific situations and action sequences in the world of the interviewee rather than abstractions and general opinions.” In line with these recommendations, the collection of primary data in this study consists of unstructured interviews.

Using tape recorders and involving other researchers. The majority of the interviews were tape-recorded, and I could thus concentrate fully on asking questions and responding to the interviewees’ answers. In the few interviews that were not tape-recorded, most of which were conducted in the first phase of the DnB-study, two researchers were present. This was useful as we were both able to discuss the interviews later and had feedback on the role of an interviewer.

In hindsight, however, I wish that these interviews had been tape-recorded to maintain the level of accuracy and richness of data. Hence, in the next phases of data collection, I tape-recorded all interviews, with two exceptions (people who strongly opposed the use of this device). All interviews that were tape-recorded were transcribed by me in full, which gave me closeness and a good grasp of the data.

When organizations merge or make acquisitions, there are often a vast number of documents to choose from to build up an understanding of what has happened and to use in the analyses. Furthermore, when firms make acquisitions or merge, they often hire external consultants, each of whom produces more documents. Due to time constraints, it is seldom possible to collect and analyze all these documents, and thus the researcher has to make a selection.

The choice of documentation was guided by my previous experience with merger and acquisition processes and the research question. Hence, obtaining information on the postintegration process was more important than gaining access to the due-diligence analysis. As I learned about the process, I obtained more documents on specific issues. I did not, however, gain access to all the documents I asked for, and, in some cases, documents had been lost or shredded.

The documents were helpful in a number of ways. First, and most important, they were used as inputs to the interview guide and saved me time, because I did not have to ask for facts in the interviews. They were also useful for tracing the history of the organizations and statements made by key people in the organizations. Third, the documents were helpful in counteracting the biases of the interviews. A list of the documents used in writing the cases is shown in Table 3 .

Observation

The major strength of direct observation is that it is unobtrusive and does not require direct interaction with participants (Adler and Adler 1994). Observation produces rigor when it is combined with other methods. When the researcher has access to group processes, direct observation can illuminate the discrepancies between what people said in the interviews and casual conversations and what they actually do (Pettigrew 1990).

As with interviews, there are a number of choices involved in conducting observations. Although I did some observations in the study, I used interviews as the key data collection source. Discussion in this article about observations will thus be somewhat limited. Nevertheless, I faced a number of choices in conducting observations, including type of observation, when to enter, how much observation to conduct, and which groups to observe.

The are four ways in which an observer may gather data: (1) the complete participant who operates covertly, concealing any intention to observe the setting; (2) the participant-as-observer, who forms relationships and participates in activities, but makes no secret of his or her intentions to observe events; (3) the observer-as-participant, who maintains only superficial contact with the people being studied; and (4) the complete observer, who merely stands back and eavesdrops on the proceedings (Waddington 1994).

In this study, I used the second and third ways of observing. The use of the participant-as-observer mode, on which much ethnographic research is based, was rather limited in the study. There were two reasons for this. First, I had limited time available for collecting data, and in my view interviews made more effective use of this limited time than extensive participant observation. Second, people were rather reluctant to let me observe these political and sensitive processes until they knew me better and felt I could be trusted. Indeed, I was dependent on starting the data collection before having built sufficient trust to observe key groups in the integration process. Nevertheless, Gjensidige allowed me to study two employee seminars to acquaint me with the organization. Here I admitted my role as an observer but participated fully in the activities. To achieve variation, I chose two seminars representing polar groups of employees.

As observer-as-participant, I attended a top management meeting at the end of the first data collection in Gjensidige and observed the respondents during interviews and in more informal meetings, such as lunches. All these observations gave me an opportunity to validate the data from the interviews. Observing the top management group was by far the most interesting and rewarding in terms of input.

Both DnB and Gjensidige started to open up for more extensive observation when I was about to finish the data collection. By then, I had built up the trust needed to undertake this approach. Unfortunately, this came a little late for me to take advantage of it.

DATA ANALYSIS

Published studies generally describe research sites and data-collection methods, but give little space to discuss the analysis (Eisenhardt 1989). Thus, one cannot follow how a researcher arrives at the final conclusions from a large volume of field notes (Miles and Huberman 1994).

In this study, I went through the stages by which the data were reduced and analyzed. This involved establishing the chronology, coding, writing up the data according to phases and themes, introducing organizational integration into the analysis, comparing the cases, and applying the theory. I will discuss these phases accordingly.

The first step in the analysis was to establish the chronology of the cases. To do this, I used internal and external documents. I wrote the chronologies up and included appendices in the final report.

The next step was to code the data into phases and themes reflecting the contextual factors and features of integration. For the interviews, this implied marking the text with a specific phase and a theme, and grouping the paragraphs on the same theme and phase together. I followed the same procedure in organizing the documents.

I then wrote up the cases using phases and themes to structure them. Before starting to write up the cases, I scanned the information on each theme, built up the facts and filled in with perceptions and reactions that were illustrative and representative of the data.

The documents were primarily useful in establishing the facts, but they also provided me with some perceptions and reactions that were validated in the interviews. The documents used included internal letters and newsletters as well as articles from the press. The interviews were less factual, as intended, and gave me input to assess perceptions and reactions. The limited observation was useful to validate the data from the interviews. The result of this step was two descriptive cases.

To make each case more analytical, I introduced the three dimensions of organizational integration—integration of tasks, unification of power, and cultural integration—into the analysis. This helped to focus the case and to develop a framework that could be used to compare the cases. The cases were thus structured according to phases, organizational integration, and themes reflecting the factors and features in the study.

I took all these steps to become more familiar with each case as an individual entity. According to Eisenhardt (1989:540), this is a process that “allows the unique patterns of each case to emerge before the investigators push to generalise patterns across cases. In addition it gives investigators a rich familiarity with each case which, in turn, accelerates cross-case comparison.”

The comparison between the cases constituted the next step in the analysis. Here, I used the categories from the case chapters, filled in the features and factors, and compared and contrasted the findings. The idea behind cross-case searching tactics is to force investigators to go beyond initial impressions, especially through the use of structural and diverse lenses on the data. These tactics improve the likelihood of accurate and reliable theory, that is, theory with a close fit to the data (Eisenhardt 1989).

As a result, I had a number of overall themes, concepts, and relationships that had emerged from the within-case analysis and cross-case comparisons. The next step was to compare these emergent findings with theory from the organizational field of mergers and acquisitions, as well as other relevant perspectives.

This method of generalization is known as analytical generalization. In this approach, a previously developed theory is used as a template with which to compare the empirical results of the case study (Yin 1989). This comparison of emergent concepts, theory, or hypotheses with the extant literature involves asking what it is similar to, what it contradicts, and why. The key to this process is to consider a broad range of theory (Eisenhardt 1989). On the whole, linking emergent theory to existent literature enhances the internal validity, generalizability, and theoretical level of theory-building from case research.

According to Eisenhardt (1989), examining literature that conflicts with the emergent literature is important for two reasons. First, the chance of neglecting conflicting findings is reduced. Second, “conflicting results forces researchers into a more creative, frame-breaking mode of thinking than they might otherwise be able to achieve” (p. 544). Similarly, Eisenhardt (1989) claims that literature discussing similar findings is important because it ties together underlying similarities in phenomena not normally associated with each other. The result is often a theory with a stronger internal validity, wider generalizability, and a higher conceptual level.

The analytical generalization in the study included exploring and developing the concepts and examining the relationships between the constructs. In carrying out this analytical generalization, I acted on Eisenhardt’s (1989) recommendation to use a broad range of theory. First, I compared and contrasted the findings with the organizational stream on mergers and acquisition literature. Then I discussed other relevant literatures, including strategic change, power and politics, social justice, and social identity theory to explore how these perspectives could contribute to the understanding of the findings. Finally, I discussed the findings that could not be explained either by the merger and acquisition literature or the four theoretical perspectives.

In every scientific study, questions are raised about whether the study is valid and reliable. The issues of validity and reliability in case studies are just as important as for more deductive designs, but the application is fundamentally different.

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY

The problems of validity in qualitative studies are related to the fact that most qualitative researchers work alone in the field, they focus on the findings rather than describe how the results were reached, and they are limited in processing information (Miles and Huberman 1994).

Researchers writing about qualitative methods have questioned whether the same criteria can be used for qualitative and quantitative studies (Kirk & Miller 1986; Sykes 1990; Maxwell 1992). The problem with the validity criteria suggested in qualitative research is that there is little consistency across the articles as each author suggests a new set of criteria.

One approach in examining validity and reliability is to apply the criteria used in quantitative research. Hence, the criteria to be examined here are objectivity/intersubjectivity, construct validity, internal validity, external validity, and reliability.

Objectivity/Intersubjectivity

The basic issue of objectivity can be framed as one of relative neutrality and reasonable freedom from unacknowledged research biases (Miles & Huberman 1994). In a real-time longitudinal study, the researcher is in danger of losing objectivity and of becoming too involved with the organization, the people, and the process. Hence, Leonard-Barton (1990) claims that one may be perceived as, and may even become, an advocate rather than an observer.

According to King (1994), however, qualitative research, in seeking to describe and make sense of the world, does not require researchers to strive for objectivity and distance themselves from research participants. Indeed, to do so would make good qualitative research impossible, as the interviewer’s sensitivity to subjective aspects of his or her relationship with the interviewee is an essential part of the research process (King 1994:31).

This does not imply, however, that the issue of possible research bias can be ignored. It is just as important as in a structured quantitative interview that the findings are not simply the product of the researcher’s prejudices and prior experience. One way to guard against this bias is for the researcher to explicitly recognize his or her presuppositions and to make a conscious effort to set these aside in the analysis (Gummesson 1988). Furthermore, rival conclusions should be considered (Miles & Huberman 1994).

My experience from the first phase of the DnB study was that it was difficult to focus the questions and the analysis of the data when the research questions were too vague and broad. As such, developing a framework before collecting the data for the study was useful in guiding the collection and analysis of data. Nevertheless, it was important to be open-minded and receptive to new and surprising data. In the DnB study, for example, the positive effect of the reorganization process on the integration of cultures came as a complete surprise to me and thus needed further elaboration.

I also consciously searched for negative evidence and problems by interviewing outliers (Miles & Huberman 1994) and asking problem-oriented questions. In Gjensidige, the first interviews with the top management revealed a much more positive perception of the cultural integration process than I had expected. To explore whether this was a result of overreliance on elite informants, I continued posing problem-oriented questions to outliers and people at lower levels in the organization. Moreover, I told them about the DnB study to be explicit about my presuppositions.

Another important issue when assessing objectivity is whether other researchers can trace the interpretations made in the case studies, or what is called intersubjectivity. To deal with this issue, Miles & Huberman (1994) suggest that: (1) the study’s general methods and procedures should be described in detail, (2) one should be able to follow the process of analysis, (3) conclusions should be explicitly linked with exhibits of displayed data, and (4) the data from the study should be made available for reanalysis by others.

In response to these requirements, I described the study’s data collection procedures and processing in detail. Then, the primary data were displayed in the written report in the form of quotations and extracts from documents to support and illustrate the interpretations of the data. Because the study was written up in English, I included the Norwegian text in a separate appendix. Finally, all the primary data from the study were accessible for a small group of distinguished researchers.

Construct Validity

Construct validity refers to whether there is substantial evidence that the theoretical paradigm correctly corresponds to observation (Kirk & Miller 1986). In this form of validity, the issue is the legitimacy of the application of a given concept or theory to established facts.

The strength of qualitative research lies in the flexible and responsive interaction between the interviewer and the respondents (Sykes 1990). Thus, meaning can be probed, topics covered easily from a number of angles, and questions made clear for respondents. This is an advantage for exploring the concepts (construct or theoretical validity) and the relationships between them (internal validity). Similarly, Hakim (1987) says the great strength of qualitative research is the validity of data obtained because individuals are interviewed in sufficient detail for the results to be taken as true, correct, and believable reports of their views and experiences.

Construct validity can be strengthened by applying a longitudinal multicase approach, triangulation, and use of feedback loops. The advantage of applying a longitudinal approach is that one gets the opportunity to test sensitivity of construct measures to the passage of time. Leonard-Barton (1990), for example, found that one of her main constructs, communicability, varied across time and relative to different groups of users. Thus, the longitudinal study aided in defining the construct more precisely. By using more than one case study, one can validate stability of construct across situations (Leonard-Barton 1990). Since my study only consists of two case studies, the opportunity to test stability of constructs across cases is somewhat limited. However, the use of more than one unit of analysis helps to overcome this limitation.

Construct validity is strengthened by the use of multiple sources of evidence to build construct measures, which define the construct and distinguish it from other constructs. These multiple sources of evidence can include multiple viewpoints within and across the data sources. My study responds to these requirements in its sampling of interviewees and uses of multiple data sources.

Use of feedback loops implies returning to interviewees with interpretations and developing theory and actively seeking contradictions in data (Crabtree & Miller 1992; King 1994). In DnB, the written report had to be approved by the bank’s top management after the first data collection. Apart from one minor correction, the bank had no objections to the established facts. In their comments on my analysis, some of the top managers expressed the view that the political process had been overemphasized, and that the CEO’s role in initiating a strategic process was undervalued. Hence, an important objective in the second data collection was to explore these comments further. Moreover, the report was not as positive as the management had hoped for, and negotiations had to be conducted to publish the report. The result of these negotiations was that publication of the report was postponed one-and-a-half years.

The experiences from the first data collection in the DnB had some consequences. I was more cautious and brought up the problems of confidentiality and the need to publish at the outset of the Gjensidige study. Also, I had to struggle to get access to the DnB case for the second data collection and some of the information I asked for was not released. At Gjensidige, I sent a preliminary draft of the case chapter to the corporation’s top management for comments, in addition to having second interviews with a small number of people. Beside testing out the factual description, these sessions gave me the opportunity to test out the theoretical categories established as a result of the within-case analysis.

Internal Validity

Internal validity concerns the validity of the postulated relationships among the concepts. The main problem of internal validity as a criterion in qualitative research is that it is often not open to scrutiny. According to Sykes (1990), the researcher can always provide a plausible account and, with careful editing, may ensure its coherence. Recognition of this problem has led to calls for better documentation of the processes of data collection, the data itself, and the interpretative contribution of the researcher. The discussion of how I met these requirements was outlined in the section on objectivity/subjectivity above.

However, there are some advantages in using qualitative methods, too. First, the flexible and responsive methods of data collection allow cross-checking and amplification of information from individual units as it is generated. Respondents’ opinions and understandings can be thoroughly explored. The internal validity results from strategies that eliminate ambiguity and contradiction, filling in detail and establishing strong connections in data.

Second, the longitudinal study enables one to track cause and effect. Moreover, it can make one aware of intervening variables (Leonard-Barton 1990). Eisenhardt (1989:542) states, “Just as hypothesis testing research an apparent relationship may simply be a spurious correlation or may reflect the impact of some third variable on each of the other two. Therefore, it is important to discover the underlying reasons for why the relationship exists.”

Generalizability

According to Mitchell (1983), case studies are not based on statistical inference. Quite the contrary, the inferring process turns exclusively on the theoretically necessary links among the features in the case study. The validity of the extrapolation depends not on the typicality or representativeness of the case but on the cogency of the theoretical reasoning. Hartley (1994:225) claims, “The detailed knowledge of the organization and especially the knowledge about the processes underlying the behaviour and its context can help to specify the conditions under which behaviour can be expected to occur. In other words, the generalisation is about theoretical propositions not about populations.”

Generalizability is normally based on the assumption that this theory may be useful in making sense of similar persons or situations (Maxwell 1992). One way to increase the generalizability is to apply a multicase approach (Leonard-Barton 1990). The advantage of this approach is that one can replicate the findings from one case study to another. This replication logic is similar to that used on multiple experiments (Yin 1993).

Given the choice of two case studies, the generalizability criterion is not supported in this study. Through the discussion of my choices, I have tried to show that I had to strike a balance between the need for depth and mapping changes over time and the number of cases. In doing so, I deliberately chose to provide a deeper and richer look at each case, allowing the reader to make judgments about the applicability rather than making a case for generalizability.

Reliability

Reliability focuses on whether the process of the study is consistent and reasonably stable over time and across researchers and methods (Miles & Huberman 1994). In the context of qualitative research, reliability is concerned with two questions (Sykes 1990): Could the same study carried out by two researchers produce the same findings? and Could a study be repeated using the same researcher and respondents to yield the same findings?

The problem of reliability in qualitative research is that differences between replicated studies using different researchers are to be expected. However, while it may not be surprising that different researchers generate different findings and reach different conclusions, controlling for reliability may still be relevant. Kirk and Miller’s (1986:311) definition takes into account the particular relationship between the researcher’s orientation, the generation of data, and its interpretation:

For reliability to be calculated, it is incumbent on the scientific investigator to document his or her procedure. This must be accomplished at such a level of abstraction that the loci of decisions internal to the project are made apparent. The curious public deserves to know how the qualitative researcher prepares him or herself for the endeavour, and how the data is collected and analysed.

The study addresses these requirements by discussing my point of departure regarding experience and framework, the sampling and data collection procedures, and data analysis.

Case studies often lack academic rigor and are, as such, regarded as inferior to more rigorous methods where there are more specific guidelines for collecting and analyzing data. These criticisms stress that there is a need to be very explicit about the choices one makes and the need to justify them.

One reason why case studies are criticized may be that researchers disagree about the definition and the purpose of carrying out case studies. Case studies have been regarded as a design (Cook and Campbell 1979), as a qualitative methodology (Cassell and Symon 1994), as a particular data collection procedure (Andersen 1997), and as a research strategy (Yin 1989). Furthermore, the purpose for carrying out case studies is unclear. Some regard case studies as supplements to more rigorous qualitative studies to be carried out in the early stage of the research process; others claim that it can be used for multiple purposes and as a research strategy in its own right (Gummesson 1988; Yin 1989). Given this unclear status, researchers need to be very clear about their interpretation of the case study and the purpose of carrying out the study.

This article has taken Yin’s (1989) definition of the case study as a research strategy as a starting point and argued that the choice of the case study should be guided by the research question(s). In the illustrative study, I used a case study strategy because of a need to explore sensitive, ill-defined concepts in depth, over time, taking into account the context and history of the mergers and the existing knowledge about the phenomenon. However, the choice of a case study strategy extended rather than limited the number of decisions to be made. In Schramm’s (1971, cited in Yin 1989:22–23) words, “The essence of a case study, the central tendency among all types of case study, is that it tries to illuminate a decision or set of decisions, why they were taken, how they were implemented, and with what result.”

Hence, the purpose of this article has been to illustrate the wide range of decisions that need to be made in the context of a particular case study and to discuss the methodological considerations linked to these decisions. I argue that there is a particular need in case studies to be explicit about the methodological choices one makes and that these choices can be best illustrated through a case study of the case study strategy.

As in all case studies, however, there are limitations to the generalizability of using one particular case study for illustrative purposes. As such, the strength of linking the methodological considerations to a specific context and phenomenon also becomes a weakness. However, I would argue that the questions raised in this article are applicable to many case studies, but that the answers are very likely to vary. The design choices are shown in Table 4 . Hence, researchers choosing a longitudinal, comparative case study need to address the same set of questions with regard to design, data collection procedures, and analysis, but they are likely to come up with other conclusions, given their different research questions.

Adler, P. A., and P. Adler. 1994. Observational techniques. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln, 377–92. London: Sage.

Andersen, S. S. 1997. Case-studier og generalisering: Forskningsstrategi og design (Case studies and generalization: Research strategy and design). Bergen, Norway: Fagbokforlaget.

Blake, R. R., and J. S. Mounton. 1985. How to achieve integration on the human side of the merger. Organizational Dynamics 13 (3): 41–56.

Bryman, A., and R. G. Burgess. 1999. Qualitative research. London: Sage.

Buono, A. F., and J. L. Bowditch. 1989. The human side of mergers and acquisitions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cartwright, S., and C. L. Cooper. 1993. The psychological impact of mergers and acquisitions on the individual: A study of building society managers. Human Relations 46 (3): 327–47.

Cassell, C., and G. Symon, eds. 1994. Qualitative methods in organizational research: A practical guide. London: Sage.

Cook, T. D., and D. T. Campbell. 1979. Quasi experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Crabtree, B. F., and W. L. Miller. 1992. Primary care research: A multimethod typology and qualitative road map. In Doing qualitative research: Methods for primary care, edited by B. F. Crabtree and W. L. Miller, 3–28. Vol. 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Creswell, J. W. 1998. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Denzin, N. K., and L. S. Lincoln. 2000. Handbook of qualitative research. London: Sage.

Eisenhardt, K. M. 1989. Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review 14 (4): 532–50.

Flick, U. 1998. An introduction to qualitative research. London: Sage.

George, A. L. 1979. Case studies and theory development: The method of structured, focused comparison. In Diplomacy: New approaches in history, theory, and policy, edited by P. G. Lauren, 43–68. New York: Free Press.

Gioia, D. A., and K. Chittipeddi. 1991. Sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. Strategic Management Journal 12:433–48.

Glaser, B. G., and A. L. Strauss. 1967. The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.

Glick, W. H, G. P. Huber, C. C. Miller, D. H. Doty, and K. M. Sutcliffe. 1990. Studying changes in organizational design and effectiveness: Retrospective event histories and periodic assessments. Organization Science 1 (3): 293–312.

Gummesson, E. 1988. Qualitative methods in management research. Lund, Norway: Studentlitteratur, Chartwell-Bratt.

Hakim, C. 1987. Research design. Strategies and choices in the design of social research. Boston: Unwin Hyman.

Hamel, J., S. Dufour, and D. Fortin. 1993. Case study methods. London: Sage.

Hartley, J. F. 1994. Case studies in organizational research. In Qualitative methods in organizational research: A practical guide, edited by C. Cassell and G. Symon, 209–29. London: Sage.

Haspeslaph, P., and D. B. Jemison. 1991. The challenge of renewal through acquisitions. Planning Review 19 (2): 27–32.

King, N. 1994. The qualitative research interview. In Qualitative methods in organizational research: A practical guide, edited by C. Cassell and G. Symon, 14–36. London: Sage.

Kirk, J., and M. L. Miller. 1986. Reliability and validity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research Methods Series 1. London: Sage.

Leonard-Barton, D. 1990.Adual methodology for case studies: Synergistic use of a longitudinal single site with replicated multiple sites. Organization Science 1 (3): 248–66.

Marshall, C., and G. B. Rossman. 1999. Designing qualitative research. London: Sage.

Maxwell, J. A. 1992. Understanding and validity in qualitative research. Harvard Educational Review 62 (3): 279–99.

Miles, M. B., and A. M. Huberman. 1994. Qualitative data analysis. 2d ed. London: Sage.

Mitchell, J. C. 1983. Case and situation analysis. Sociology Review 51 (2): 187–211.

Nachmias, C., and D. Nachmias. 1981. Research methods in the social sciences. London: Edward Arnhold.

Pettigrew, A. M. 1990. Longitudinal field research on change: Theory and practice. Organization Science 1 (3): 267–92.

___. (1992). The character and significance of strategic process research. Strategic Management Journal 13:5–16.

Rossman, G. B., and S. F. Rallis. 1998. Learning in the field: An introduction to qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Schramm, W. 1971. Notes on case studies for instructional media projects. Working paper for Academy of Educational Development, Washington DC.

Schweiger, D. M., and J. P. Walsh. 1990. Mergers and acquisitions: An interdisciplinary view. In Research in personnel and human resource management, edited by G. R. Ferris and K. M. Rowland, 41–107. Greenwich, CT: JAI.

Silverman, D. 2000. Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. London: Sage.

Stake, R. E. 1995. The art of case study research. London: Sage.

Strauss, A. L., and J. Corbin. 1990. Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Sykes, W. 1990. Validity and reliability in qualitative market research: A review of the literature. Journal of the Market Research Society 32 (3): 289–328.

Waddington, D. 1994. Participant observation. In Qualitative methods in organizational research, edited by C. Cassell and G. Symon, 107–22. London: Sage.

Yin, R. K. 1989. Case study research: Design and methods. Applied Social Research Series, Vol. 5. London: Sage.

___. 1993. Applications of case study research. Applied Social Research Series, Vol. 34. London: Sage.

Christine Benedichte Meyer is an associate professor in the Department of Strategy and Management in the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Bergen-Sandviken, Norway. Her research interests are mergers and acquisitions, strategic change, and qualitative research. Recent publications include: “Allocation Processes in Mergers and Acquisitions: An Organisational Justice Perspective” (British Journal of Management 2001) and “Motives for Acquisitions in the Norwegian Financial Industry” (CEMS Business Review 1997).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

White, R.E., Cooper, K. (2022). Case Study Research. In: Qualitative Research in the Post-Modern Era. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85124-8_7

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85124-8_7

Published : 29 September 2022

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-85126-2

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-85124-8

eBook Packages : Education Education (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Find a journal
Track your research

Technical Support
Find My Rep

Case Study Methods

Jacques Hamel - University of Montreal, Canada
Stephane Dufour - University of Montreal, Canada
Dominic Fortin - University of Montreal, Canada
Description

The use of the case study goes back to the beginnings of social science research and is still one of the most common forms of qualitative research. This book is a handy introduction to understanding, researching, and doing case studies in the social sciences and related fields. In this brief monograph, Jacques Hamel outlines several differing traditions of case study research—the Chicago School of Sociology, the anthropological case studies of Malinowski and others, and the French Le Play school tradition. Hamel shows how each developed, changed, and has been practiced over time. Practical suggestions are included for doing case study research and a comprehensive bibliography on case study methods in social science allows for further exploration.

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

For assistance with your order: Please email us at [email protected] or connect with your SAGE representative.

SAGE 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 www.sagepub.com

Detailed text, more suited to PG level students and those wanting a more 'philosophical' text. This book was originally published in French. It is a thought provoking book, and worthy of extended reading, but not really suitable for many UG level students. I have certainly found it to be a book which outlines concepts and sets out the parameters and contexts for using case studies. Intriguing indeed!

Select a Purchasing Option

This title is also available on SAGE Research Methods , the ultimate digital methods library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial .

ReviseSociology

A level sociology revision – education, families, research methods, crime and deviance and more!

Research Methods in Sociology – An Introduction

Table of Contents

Last Updated on May 4, 2023 by Karl Thompson

An introduction to research methods in Sociology covering quantitative, qualitative, primary and secondary data and defining the basic types of research method including social surveys, experiments, interviews, participant observation, ethnography and longitudinal studies.

Why do social research?

The simple answer is that without it, our knowledge of the social world is limited to our immediate and limited life-experiences. Without some kind of systematic research, we cannot know the answer to even basic questions such as how many people live in the United Kingdom, let alone the answers to more complex questions about why working class children get worse results at school or why the crime rate has been falling every year since 1995.

So the most basic reason for doing social research is to describe the social world around us: To find out what people think and feel about social issues and how these thoughts and feelings vary across social groups and regions. Without research, you simply do not know with any degree of certainty, what is going on in the world.

However, most research has the aim of going beyond mere description. Sociologists typically limit themselves to a specific research topic and conduct research in order to achieve a research aim or sometimes to answer a specific question.

Subjective and Objective Knowledge in Social Research

Research in Sociology is usually carefully planned, and conducted using well established procedures to ensure that knowledge is objective – where the information gathered reflects what is really ‘out there’ in the social, world rather than ‘subjective’ – where it only reflects the narrow opinions of the researchers. The careful, systematic and rigorous use of research methods is what makes sociological knowledge ‘objective’ rather than ‘subjective’.

Subjective knowledge – is knowledge based purely on the opinions of the individual, reflecting their values and biases, their point of view

Objective knowledge – is knowledge which is free of the biases, opinions and values of the researcher, it reflects what is really ‘out there’ in the social world.

While most Sociologists believe that we should strive to make our data collection as objective as possible, there are some Sociologists (known as Phenomenologists) who argue that it is not actually possible to collect data which is purely objective – The researcher’s opinions always get in the way of what data is collected and filtered for publication.

Sources and types of data

In social research, it is usual to distinguish between primary and secondary data and qualitative and quantitative data

Quantitative data refers to information that appears in numerical form, or in the form of statistics.

Qualitative data refers to information that appears in written, visual or audio form, such as transcripts of interviews, newspapers and web sites. (It is possible to analyse qualitative data and display features of it numerically!)

Secondary data is data that has been collected by previous researchers or organisations such as the government. Quantitative sources of secondary data include official government statistics and qualitative sources are very numerous including government reports, newspapers, personal documents such as diaries as well as the staggering amount of audio-visual content available online.

Primary data is data collected first hand by the researcher herself. If a sociologist is conducting her own unique sociological research, she will normally have specific research questions she wants answered and thus tailor her research methods to get the data she wants. The main methods sociologists use to generate primary data include social surveys (normally using questionnaire), interviews, experiments and observations.

Four main primary research methods

For the purposes of A-level sociology there are four major primary research methods

social surveys (typically questionnaires)
experiments
participant observation

I have also included in this section longitudinal studies and ethnographies/ case studies.

Social Surveys

Social Surveys – are typically structured questionnaires designed to collect information from large numbers of people in standardised form.

Social Surveys are written in advance by the researcher and tend to to be pre-coded and have a limited number of closed-questions and they tend to focus on relatively simple topics. A good example is the UK National Census. Social Surveys can be administered (carried out) in a number of different ways – they might be self-completion (completed by the respondents themselves) or they might take the form of a structured interview on the high street, as is the case with some market research.

Experiments

Experiments – aim to measure as precisely as possible the effect which one variable has on another, aiming to establish cause and effect relationships between variables.

Experiments typically start off with a hypothesis – a theory or explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation, and will typically take the form of a testable statement about the effect which one or more independent variables will have on the dependent variable. A good experiment will be designed in such a way that objective cause and effect relationships can be established, so that the original hypothesis can verified, or rejected and modified.

There are two types of experiment – laboratory and field experiments – A laboratory experiment takes place in a controlled environment, such as a laboratory, whereas a field experiment takes place in a real-life setting such as a classroom, the work place or even the high street.

Interviews – A method of gathering information by asking questions orally, either face to face or by telephone.

Structured Interviews are basically social surveys which are read out by the researcher – they use pre-set, standardised, typically closed questions. The aim of structured interviews is to produce quantitative data.

Unstructured Interviews , also known as informal interviews, are more like a guided conversation, and typically involve the researcher asking open-questions which generate qualitative data. The researcher will start with a general research topic in and ask questions in response to the various and differentiated responses the respondents give. Unstructured Interviews are thus a flexible, respondent-led research method.

Semi-Structured Interviews consist of an interview schedule which typically consists of a number of open-ended questions which allow the respondent to give in-depth answers. For example, the researcher might have 10 questions (hence structured) they will ask all respondents, but ask further differentiated (unstructured) questions based on the responses given.

Participant Observation

Participant Observation – involves the researcher joining a group of people, taking an active part in their day to day lives as a member of that group and making in-depth recordings of what she sees.

Participant Observation may be overt , in which case the respondents know that researcher is conducing sociological research, or covert (undercover) where the respondents are deceived into thinking the researcher is ‘one of them’ do not know the researcher is conducting research.

Ethnographies and Case Studies

Ethnographies are an in-depth study of the way of life of a group of people in their natural setting. They are typically very in-depth and long-term and aim for a full (or ‘thick’), multi-layred account of the culture of a group of people. Participant Observation is typically the main method used, but researchers will use all other methods available to get even richer data – such as interviews and analysis of any documents associated with that culture.

Case Studies involves researching a single case or example of something using multiple methods – for example researching one school or factory. An ethnography is simply a very in-depth case study.

Longitudinal Studies

Longitudinal Studies are studies of a sample of people in which information is collected from the same people at intervals over a long period of time. For example, a researcher might start off in 2015 by getting a sample of 1000 people to fill in a questionnaire, and then go back to the same people in 2020, and again in 2025 to collect further information.

Secondary Research Methods

The main type of secondary quantitative data which students of A-level sociology need to know about are official statistics, which are data collected by government agencies, usually on a regular basis and include crime statistics, the Census and quantitative schools data such as exam results.

Secondary qualitative data is data which already exists in written or audiovisual form and include news media, the entire qualitative content of the internent (so blogs and social media data), and more old-school data sources such as diaries, autobiographies and letters.

Sociologists sometimes distinguish between private and public documents, which is a starting point to understanding the enormous variety of data out there!

Secondary data can be a challenge to get your head around because there are so many different types, all with subtly different advantages and disadvantages, and so this particular sub-topic is more likely to demand you to apply your knowledge (rather than just wrote learn) compared to other research methods!

Factors Effecting the Choice of Research Method

Positivism and Interpretivism – A Very Brief Overview

my main research methods page contains links to all of my posts on research methods.

Theory and Methods A Level Sociology Revision Bundle

If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my Theory and Methods Revision Bundle – specifically designed to get students through the theory and methods sections of A level sociology papers 1 and 3.

Contents include:

74 pages of revision notes
15 mind maps on various topics within theory and methods
Five theory and methods essays
‘How to write methods in context essays’.

15 thoughts on “Research Methods in Sociology – An Introduction”

Pingback: CRITICISM OF SOCIOLOGY - Social Vibes

Thanks for the feedback, I do go through and refine as and when I can. Although for the sake of A-level sociology the distinction between research design and research methods would be lost on something like 95% of the students I taught – most just aren’t that interested – hence why I just stick with simple terminology like ‘methods’. Those that take this on to degree level, that’s where those sorts of distinctions start to matter, but point taken, I could be tighter in many places!

You’re all over the place here. You’re confusing research designs and research methods. A survey for example is research design and can be done by different methods. You talk about ‘structured questionnaires’. What, then, would an unstructured questionnaire look like? Can you find an example? You need to put more work in. This will confuse students.

Pingback: research methods of sociology - infose.xyz

Hey cheers!

Very Helpful!!

Glad to hear it, you’re welcome!

Very useful, got valuable insights…..

good insights and precise

very, very helpful

It’s tooo much amazing… I m feeling so much happy….

Pingback: Factors Affecting Choice of Research Methods | ReviseSociology
Pingback: Factors Effecting Choice of Research Methods | ReviseSociology
Pingback: Research Methods in Sociology – An Introduction | Urban speeches

Discover more from ReviseSociology

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

SOC101: Introduction to Sociology (2020.A.01)

Sociological research.

Read this chapter for a review of sociological research. As you read, consider the following topics:

Take note of the bold terms throughout the chapter.
Take some time to study Figure 1 and the accompanying text, which outline the scientific process of studying sociology.
Take note of the differences in scientific approaches to studying sociology, including surveys, field research, participant observation, ethnographies, case studies, experiments, and secondary data analysis.
Take note of the code of ethics and think about how these ethical standards are vital to conducting research about human subjects.

Research Methods

Learning objectives.

Differentiate between four kinds of research methods: surveys, field research, experiments, and secondary data analysis
Understand why different topics are better suited to different research approaches

Sociologists examine the world, see a problem or interesting pattern, and set out to study it. They use research methods to design a study - perhaps a detailed, systematic, scientific method for conducting research and obtaining data, or perhaps an ethnographic study utilizing an interpretive framework. Planning the research design is a key step in any sociological study. When entering a particular social environment, a researcher must be careful. There are times to remain anonymous and times to be overt. There are times to conduct interviews and times to simply observe. Some participants need to be thoroughly informed; others should not know they are being observed. A researcher wouldn't stroll into a crime-ridden neighborhood at midnight, calling out, "Any gang members around?" And if a researcher walked into a coffee shop and told the employees they would be observed as part of a study on work efficiency, the self-conscious, intimidated baristas might not behave naturally. This is called the Hawthorne effect - where people change their behavior because they know they are being watched as part of a study. The Hawthorne effect is unavoidable in some research. In many cases, sociologists have to make the purpose of the study known. Subjects must be aware that they are being observed, and a certain amount of artificiality may result. Making sociologists' presence invisible is not always realistic for other reasons. That option is not available to a researcher studying prison behaviors, early education, or the Ku Klux Klan. Researchers can't just stroll into prisons, kindergarten classrooms, or Klan meetings and unobtrusively observe behaviors. In situations like these, other methods are needed. All studies shape the research design, while research design simultaneously shapes the study. Researchers choose methods that best suit their study topics and that fit with their overall approaches to research. In planning studies' designs, sociologists generally choose from four widely used methods of social investigation: survey, field research, experiment, and secondary data analysis , or use of existing sources. Every research method comes with plusses and minuses, and the topic of study strongly influences which method or methods are put to use.

As a research method, a survey collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire. The survey is one of the most widely used scientific research methods. The standard survey format allows individuals a level of anonymity in which they can express personal ideas.

A photo of a person's hand filling in a survey check box labeled 'No' with a pen.

Figure 2.3 Questionnaires are a common research method; the U.S. Census is a well-known example. At some point, most people in the United States respond to some type of survey. The U.S. Census is an excellent example of a large-scale survey intended to gather sociological data. Not all surveys are considered sociological research, however, and many surveys people commonly encounter focus on identifying marketing needs and strategies rather than testing a hypothesis or contributing to social science knowledge. Questions such as, "How many hot dogs do you eat in a month?" or "Were the staff helpful?" are not usually designed as scientific research. Often, polls on television do not reflect a general population, but are merely answers from a specific show's audience. Polls conducted by programs such as American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance represent the opinions of fans but are not particularly scientific. A good contrast to these are the Nielsen Ratings, which determine the popularity of television programming through scientific market research.

An American Idol audience member voting for a contestant using an electronic response system that uses numbers as answers

Figure 2.4 American Idol uses a real-time survey system - with numbers - that allows members in the audience to vote on contestants. Sociologists conduct surveys under controlled conditions for specific purposes. Surveys gather different types of information from people. While surveys are not great at capturing the ways people really behave in social situations, they are a great method for discovering how people feel and think - or at least how they say they feel and think. Surveys can track preferences for presidential candidates or reported individual behaviors (such as sleeping, driving, or texting habits) or factual information such as employment status, income, and education levels. A survey targets a specific population , people who are the focus of a study, such as college athletes, international students, or teenagers living with type 1 (juvenile-onset) diabetes. Most researchers choose to survey a small sector of the population, or a sample : that is, a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population. The success of a study depends on how well a population is represented by the sample. In a random sample , every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for the study. According to the laws of probability, random samples represent the population as a whole. For instance, a Gallup Poll, if conducted as a nationwide random sampling, should be able to provide an accurate estimate of public opinion whether it contacts 2,000 or 10,000 people. After selecting subjects, the researcher develops a specific plan to ask questions and record responses. It is important to inform subjects of the nature and purpose of the study up front. If they agree to participate, researchers thank subjects and offer them a chance to see the results of the study if they are interested. The researcher presents the subjects with an instrument, which is a means of gathering the information. A common instrument is a questionnaire, in which subjects answer a series of questions. For some topics, the researcher might ask yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions, allowing subjects to choose possible responses to each question. This kind of quantitative data - research collected in numerical form that can be counted - are easy to tabulate. Just count up the number of "yes" and "no" responses or correct answers, and chart them into percentages. Questionnaires can also ask more complex questions with more complex answers - beyond "yes," "no," or the option next to a checkbox. In those cases, the answers are subjective and vary from person to person. How do plan to use your college education? Why do you follow Jimmy Buffett around the country and attend every concert? Those types of questions require short essay responses, and participants willing to take the time to write those answers will convey personal information about religious beliefs, political views, and morals. Some topics that reflect internal thought are impossible to observe directly and are difficult to discuss honestly in a public forum. People are more likely to share honest answers if they can respond to questions anonymously. This type of information is qualitative data - results that are subjective and often based on what is seen in a natural setting. Qualitative information is harder to organize and tabulate. The researcher will end up with a wide range of responses, some of which may be surprising. The benefit of written opinions, though, is the wealth of material that they provide. An interview is a one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject, and it is a way of conducting surveys on a topic. Interviews are similar to the short-answer questions on surveys in that the researcher asks subjects a series of questions. However, participants are free to respond as they wish, without being limited by predetermined choices. In the back-and-forth conversation of an interview, a researcher can ask for clarification, spend more time on a subtopic, or ask additional questions. In an interview, a subject will ideally feel free to open up and answer questions that are often complex. There are no right or wrong answers. The subject might not even know how to answer the questions honestly. Questions such as, "How did society's view of alcohol consumption influence your decision whether or not to take your first sip of alcohol?" or "Did you feel that the divorce of your parents would put a social stigma on your family?" involve so many factors that the answers are difficult to categorize. A researcher needs to avoid steering or prompting the subject to respond in a specific way; otherwise, the results will prove to be unreliable. And, obviously, a sociological interview is not an interrogation. The researcher will benefit from gaining a subject's trust, from empathizing or commiserating with a subject, and from listening without judgment.

Field Research

The work of sociology rarely happens in limited, confined spaces. Sociologists seldom study subjects in their own offices or laboratories. Rather, sociologists go out into the world. They meet subjects where they live, work, and play. Field research refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey. It is a research method suited to an interpretive framework rather than to the scientific method. To conduct field research, the sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds. In field work, the sociologists, rather than the subjects, are the ones out of their element. The researcher interacts with or observes a person or people and gathers data along the way. The key point in field research is that it takes place in the subject's natural environment, whether it's a coffee shop or tribal village, a homeless shelter or the DMV, a hospital, airport, mall, or beach resort.

A man is shown taking notes outside a tent in the mountains.

Figure 2.5 Sociological researchers travel across countries and cultures to interact with and observe subjects in their natural environments. While field research often begins in a specific setting, the study's purpose is to observe specific behaviors in that setting. Field work is optimal for observing how people behave. It is less useful, however, for understanding why they behave that way. You can't really narrow down cause and effect when there are so many variables floating around in a natural environment. Much of the data gathered in field research are based not on cause and effect but on correlation. And while field research looks for correlation, its small sample size does not allow for establishing a causal relationship between two variables.

Sociology in the Real World

Parrotheads as sociological subjects.

Several people in colorful T-shirts and leis are shown talking and drinking in an outdoor tiki bar setting.

Figure 2.6 Business suits for the day job are replaced by leis and T-shirts for a Jimmy Buffett concert. Some sociologists study small groups of people who share an identity in one aspect of their lives. Almost everyone belongs to a group of like-minded people who share an interest or hobby. Scientologists, folk dancers, or members of Mensa (an organization for people with exceptionally high IQs) express a specific part of their identity through their affiliation with a group. Those groups are often of great interest to sociologists. Jimmy Buffett, an American musician who built a career from his single top-10 song "Margaritaville," has a following of devoted groupies called Parrotheads. Some of them have taken fandom to the extreme, making Parrothead culture a lifestyle. In 2005, Parrotheads and their subculture caught the attention of researchers John Mihelich and John Papineau. The two saw the way Jimmy Buffett fans collectively created an artificial reality. They wanted to know how fan groups shape culture. What Mihelich and Papineau found was that Parrotheads, for the most part, do not seek to challenge or even change society, as many sub-groups do. In fact, most Parrotheads live successfully within society, holding upper-level jobs in the corporate world. What they seek is escape from the stress of daily life. At Jimmy Buffett concerts, Parrotheads engage in a form of role play. They paint their faces and dress for the tropics in grass skirts, Hawaiian leis, and Parrot hats. These fans don't generally play the part of Parrotheads outside of these concerts; you are not likely to see a lone Parrothead in a bank or library. In that sense, Parrothead culture is less about individualism and more about conformity. Being a Parrothead means sharing a specific identity. Parrotheads feel connected to each other: it's a group identity, not an individual one. In their study, Mihelich and Papineau quote from a recent book by sociologist Richard Butsch, who writes, "un-self-conscious acts, if done by many people together, can produce change, even though the change may be unintended" (2000). Many Parrothead fan groups have performed good works in the name of Jimmy Buffett culture, donating to charities and volunteering their services. However, the authors suggest that what really drives Parrothead culture is commercialism. Jimmy Buffett's popularity was dying out in the 1980s until being reinvigorated after he signed a sponsorship deal with a beer company. These days, his concert tours alone generate nearly $30 million a year. Buffett made a lucrative career for himself by partnering with product companies and marketing Margaritaville in the form of T-shirts, restaurants, casinos, and an expansive line of products. Some fans accuse Buffett of selling out, while others admire his financial success. Buffett makes no secret of his commercial exploitations; from the stage, he's been known to tell his fans, "Just remember, I am spending your money foolishly." Mihelich and Papineau gathered much of their information online. Referring to their study as a "Web ethnography," they collected extensive narrative material from fans who joined Parrothead clubs and posted their experiences on websites. "We do not claim to have conducted a complete ethnography of Parrothead fans, or even of the Parrothead Web activity," state the authors, "but we focused on particular aspects of Parrothead practice as revealed through Web research" (2005). Fan narratives gave them insight into how individuals identify with Buffett's world and how fans used popular music to cultivate personal and collective meaning. In conducting studies about pockets of culture, most sociologists seek to discover a universal appeal. Mihelich and Papineau stated, "Although Parrotheads are a relative minority of the contemporary US population, an in-depth look at their practice and conditions illuminate [sic] cultural practices and conditions many of us experience and participate in". Here, we will look at three types of field research: participant observation, ethnography, and the case study.

Participant Observation

In 2000, a comic writer named Rodney Rothman wanted an insider's view of white-collar work. He slipped into the sterile, high-rise offices of a New York "dot com" agency. Every day for two weeks, he pretended to work there. His main purpose was simply to see whether anyone would notice him or challenge his presence. No one did. The receptionist greeted him. The employees smiled and said good morning. Rothman was accepted as part of the team. He even went so far as to claim a desk, inform the receptionist of his whereabouts, and attend a meeting. He published an article about his experience in The New Yorker called "My Fake Job" (2000). Later, he was discredited for allegedly fabricating some details of the story and The New Yorker issued an apology. However, Rothman's entertaining article still offered fascinating descriptions of the inside workings of a "dot com" company and exemplified the lengths to which a sociologist will go to uncover material. Rothman had conducted a form of study called participant observation , in which researchers join people and participate in a group's routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context. This method lets researchers experience a specific aspect of social life. A researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend, institution, or behavior. Researchers temporarily put themselves into roles and record their observations. A researcher might work as a waitress in a diner, live as a homeless person for several weeks, or ride along with police officers as they patrol their regular beat. Often, these researchers try to blend in seamlessly with the population they study, and they may not disclose their true identity or purpose if they feel it would compromise the results of their research.

Waitress serves customers in an outdoor café.

Figure 2.7 Is she a working waitress or a sociologist conducting a study using participant observation? At the beginning of a field study, researchers might have a question: "What really goes on in the kitchen of the most popular diner on campus?" or "What is it like to be homeless?" Participant observation is a useful method if the researcher wants to explore a certain environment from the inside. Field researchers simply want to observe and learn. In such a setting, the researcher will be alert and open minded to whatever happens, recording all observations accurately. Soon, as patterns emerge, questions will become more specific, observations will lead to hypotheses, and hypotheses will guide the researcher in shaping data into results. In a study of small towns in the United States conducted by sociological researchers John S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd, the team altered their purpose as they gathered data. They initially planned to focus their study on the role of religion in U.S. towns. As they gathered observations, they realized that the effect of industrialization and urbanization was the more relevant topic of this social group. The Lynds did not change their methods, but they revised their purpose. This shaped the structure of Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, their published results. The Lynds were upfront about their mission. The townspeople of Muncie, Indiana, knew why the researchers were in their midst. But some sociologists prefer not to alert people to their presence. The main advantage of covert participant observation is that it allows the researcher access to authentic, natural behaviors of a group's members. The challenge, however, is gaining access to a setting without disrupting the pattern of others' behavior. Becoming an inside member of a group, organization, or subculture takes time and effort. Researchers must pretend to be something they are not. The process could involve role playing, making contacts, networking, or applying for a job. Once inside a group, some researchers spend months or even years pretending to be one of the people they are observing. However, as observers, they cannot get too involved. They must keep their purpose in mind and apply the sociological perspective. That way, they illuminate social patterns that are often unrecognized. Because information gathered during participant observation is mostly qualitative, rather than quantitative, the end results are often descriptive or interpretive. The researcher might present findings in an article or book and describe what he or she witnessed and experienced. This type of research is what journalist Barbara Ehrenreich conducted for her book Nickel and Dimed. One day over lunch with her editor, as the story goes, Ehrenreich mentioned an idea. How can people exist on minimum-wage work? How do low-income workers get by? she wondered. Someone should do a study. To her surprise, her editor responded, Why don't you do it? That's how Ehrenreich found herself joining the ranks of the working class. For several months, she left her comfortable home and lived and worked among people who lacked, for the most part, higher education and marketable job skills. Undercover, she applied for and worked minimum wage jobs as a waitress, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide, and a retail chain employee. During her participant observation, she used only her income from those jobs to pay for food, clothing, transportation, and shelter. She discovered the obvious, that it's almost impossible to get by on minimum wage work. She also experienced and observed attitudes many middle and upper-class people never think about. She witnessed firsthand the treatment of working class employees. She saw the extreme measures people take to make ends meet and to survive. She described fellow employees who held two or three jobs, worked seven days a week, lived in cars, could not pay to treat chronic health conditions, got randomly fired, submitted to drug tests, and moved in and out of homeless shelters. She brought aspects of that life to light, describing difficult working conditions and the poor treatment that low-wage workers suffer. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , the book she wrote upon her return to her real life as a well-paid writer, has been widely read and used in many college classrooms.

About 10 empty office cubicles are shown.

Figure 2.8 Field research happens in real locations. What type of environment do work spaces foster? What would a sociologist discover after blending in?

Ethnography

Ethnography is the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting. Ethnographies involve objective observation of an entire community. The heart of an ethnographic study focuses on how subjects view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to a community. An ethnographic study might observe, for example, a small U.S. fishing town, an Inuit community, a village in Thailand, a Buddhist monastery, a private boarding school, or an amusement park. These places all have borders. People live, work, study, or vacation within those borders. People are there for a certain reason and therefore behave in certain ways and respect certain cultural norms. An ethnographer would commit to spending a determined amount of time studying every aspect of the chosen place, taking in as much as possible. A sociologist studying a tribe in the Amazon might watch the way villagers go about their daily lives and then write a paper about it. To observe a spiritual retreat center, an ethnographer might sign up for a retreat and attend as a guest for an extended stay, observe and record data, and collate the material into results.

Institutional Ethnography

Institutional ethnography is an extension of basic ethnographic research principles that focuses intentionally on everyday concrete social relationships. Developed by Canadian sociologist Dorothy E. Smith, institutional ethnography is often considered a feminist-inspired approach to social analysis and primarily considers women's experiences within male-dominated societies and power structures. Smith's work is seen to challenge sociology's exclusion of women, both academically and in the study of women's lives. Historically, social science research tended to objectify women and ignore their experiences except as viewed from the male perspective. Modern feminists note that describing women, and other marginalized groups, as subordinates helps those in authority maintain their own dominant positions. Smith's three major works explored what she called "the conceptual practices of power" and are still considered seminal works in feminist theory and ethnography.

The Making of Middletown: A Study in Modern U.S. Culture

In 1924, a young married couple named Robert and Helen Lynd undertook an unprecedented ethnography: to apply sociological methods to the study of one U.S. city in order to discover what "ordinary" people in the United States did and believed. Choosing Muncie, Indiana (population about 30,000), as their subject, they moved to the small town and lived there for eighteen months. Ethnographers had been examining other cultures for decades - groups considered minority or outsider - like gangs, immigrants, and the poor. But no one had studied the so-called average American. Recording interviews and using surveys to gather data, the Lynds did not sugarcoat or idealize U.S. life (PBS). They objectively stated what they observed. Researching existing sources, they compared Muncie in 1890 to the Muncie they observed in 1924. Most Muncie adults, they found, had grown up on farms but now lived in homes inside the city. From that discovery, the Lynds focused their study on the impact of industrialization and urbanization. They observed that Muncie was divided into business class and working class groups. They defined business class as dealing with abstract concepts and symbols, while working class people used tools to create concrete objects. The two classes led different lives with different goals and hopes. However, the Lynds observed, mass production offered both classes the same amenities. Like wealthy families, the working class was now able to own radios, cars, washing machines, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. This was an emerging material new reality of the 1920s. As the Lynds worked, they divided their manuscript into six sections: Getting a Living, Making a Home, Training the Young, Using Leisure, Engaging in Religious Practices, and Engaging in Community Activities. Each chapter included subsections such as "The Long Arm of the Job" and "Why Do They Work So Hard?" in the "Getting a Living" chapter. When the study was completed, the Lynds encountered a big problem. The Rockefeller Foundation, which had commissioned the book, claimed it was useless and refused to publish it. The Lynds asked if they could seek a publisher themselves. Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture was not only published in 1929 but also became an instant bestseller, a status unheard of for a sociological study. The book sold out six printings in its first year of publication, and has never gone out of print (PBS). Nothing like it had ever been done before. Middletown was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times. Readers in the 1920s and 1930s identified with the citizens of Muncie, Indiana, but they were equally fascinated by the sociological methods and the use of scientific data to define ordinary people in the United States. The book was proof that social data was important - and interesting - to the U.S. public.

Early 20th century black and white photo showing female students at their desks.

Figure 2.9 A classroom in Muncie, Indiana, in 1917, five years before John and Helen Lynd began researching this "typical" U.S. community.

Sometimes a researcher wants to study one specific person or event. A case study is an in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual. To conduct a case study, a researcher examines existing sources like documents and archival records, conducts interviews, engages in direct observation and even participant observation, if possible. Researchers might use this method to study a single case of, for example, a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or rape victim. However, a major criticism of the case study as a method is that a developed study of a single case, while offering depth on a topic, does not provide enough evidence to form a generalized conclusion. In other words, it is difficult to make universal claims based on just one person, since one person does not verify a pattern. This is why most sociologists do not use case studies as a primary research method. However, case studies are useful when the single case is unique. In these instances, a single case study can add tremendous knowledge to a certain discipline. For example, a feral child, also called "wild child," is one who grows up isolated from human beings. Feral children grow up without social contact and language, which are elements crucial to a "civilized" child's development. These children mimic the behaviors and movements of animals, and often invent their own language. There are only about one hundred cases of "feral children" in the world. As you may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral children provide unique information about child development because they have grown up outside of the parameters of "normal" child development. And since there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method for researchers to use in studying the subject. At age three, a Ukranian girl named Oxana Malaya suffered severe parental neglect. She lived in a shed with dogs, and she ate raw meat and scraps. Five years later, a neighbor called authorities and reported seeing a girl who ran on all fours, barking. Officials brought Oxana into society, where she was cared for and taught some human behaviors, but she never became fully socialized. She has been designated as unable to support herself and now lives in a mental institution. Case studies like this offer a way for sociologists to collect data that may not be collectable by any other method.

Experiments

You've probably tested personal social theories. "If I study at night and review in the morning, I'll improve my retention skills." Or, "If I stop drinking soda, I'll feel better." Cause and effect. If this, then that. When you test the theory, your results either prove or disprove your hypothesis. One way researchers test social theories is by conducting an experiment , meaning they investigate relationships to test a hypothesis - a scientific approach. There are two main types of experiments: lab-based experiments and natural or field experiments. In a lab setting, the research can be controlled so that perhaps more data can be recorded in a certain amount of time. In a natural or field-based experiment, the generation of data cannot be controlled but the information might be considered more accurate since it was collected without interference or intervention by the researcher. As a research method, either type of sociological experiment is useful for testing if-then statements: if a particular thing happens, then another particular thing will result. To set up a lab-based experiment, sociologists create artificial situations that allow them to manipulate variables. Classically, the sociologist selects a set of people with similar characteristics, such as age, class, race, or education. Those people are divided into two groups. One is the experimental group and the other is the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable(s) and the control group is not. To test the benefits of tutoring, for example, the sociologist might expose the experimental group of students to tutoring but not the control group. Then both groups would be tested for differences in performance to see if tutoring had an effect on the experimental group of students. As you can imagine, in a case like this, the researcher would not want to jeopardize the accomplishments of either group of students, so the setting would be somewhat artificial. The test would not be for a grade reflected on their permanent record, for example.

An Experiment in Action

The image shows a state police car that has pulled over another car near a highway exit.

Figure 2.10 Sociologist Frances Heussenstamm conducted an experiment to explore the correlation between traffic stops and race-based bumper stickers. This issue of racial profiling remains a hot-button topic today. A real-life example will help illustrate the experiment process. In 1971, Frances Heussenstamm, a sociology professor at California State University at Los Angeles, had a theory about police prejudice. To test her theory she conducted an experiment. She chose fifteen students from three ethnic backgrounds: black, white, and Hispanic. She chose students who routinely drove to and from campus along Los Angeles freeway routes, and who'd had perfect driving records for longer than a year. Those were her independent variables - students, good driving records, same commute route. Next, she placed a Black Panther bumper sticker on each car. That sticker, a representation of a social value, was the independent variable. In the 1970s, the Black Panthers were a revolutionary group actively fighting racism. Heussenstamm asked the students to follow their normal driving patterns. She wanted to see whether seeming support of the Black Panthers would change how these good drivers were treated by the police patrolling the highways. The dependent variable would be the number of traffic stops/citations. The first arrest, for an incorrect lane change, was made two hours after the experiment began. One participant was pulled over three times in three days. He quit the study. After seventeen days, the fifteen drivers had collected a total of thirty-three traffic citations. The experiment was halted. The funding to pay traffic fines had run out, and so had the enthusiasm of the participants.

Secondary Data Analysis

While sociologists often engage in original research studies, they also contribute knowledge to the discipline through secondary data analysis . Secondary data doesn't result from firsthand research collected from primary sources, but are the already completed work of other researchers. Sociologists might study works written by historians, economists, teachers, or early sociologists. They might search through periodicals, newspapers, or magazines from any period in history. Using available information not only saves time and money but can also add depth to a study. Sociologists often interpret findings in a new way, a way that was not part of an author's original purpose or intention. To study how women were encouraged to act and behave in the 1960s, for example, a researcher might watch movies, televisions shows, and situation comedies from that period. Or to research changes in behavior and attitudes due to the emergence of television in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a sociologist would rely on new interpretations of secondary data. Decades from now, researchers will most likely conduct similar studies on the advent of mobile phones, the Internet, or Facebook. Social scientists also learn by analyzing the research of a variety of agencies. Governmental departments and global groups, like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or the World Health Organization, publish studies with findings that are useful to sociologists. A public statistic like the foreclosure rate might be useful for studying the effects of the 2008 recession; a racial demographic profile might be compared with data on education funding to examine the resources accessible by different groups. One of the advantages of secondary data is that it is nonreactive research (or unobtrusive research), meaning that it does not include direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people's behaviors. Unlike studies requiring direct contact with people, using previously published data doesn't require entering a population and the investment and risks inherent in that research process. Using available data does have its challenges. Public records are not always easy to access. A researcher will need to do some legwork to track them down and gain access to records. To guide the search through a vast library of materials and avoid wasting time reading unrelated sources, sociologists employ content analysis , applying a systematic approach to record and value information gleaned from secondary data as they relate to the study at hand. But, in some cases, there is no way to verify the accuracy of existing data. It is easy to count how many drunk drivers, for example, are pulled over by the police. But how many are not? While it's possible to discover the percentage of teenage students who drop out of high school, it might be more challenging to determine the number who return to school or get their GED later. Another problem arises when data are unavailable in the exact form needed or do not include the precise angle the researcher seeks. For example, the average salaries paid to professors at a public school is public record. But the separate figures don't necessarily reveal how long it took each professor to reach the salary range, what their educational backgrounds are, or how long they've been teaching. When conducting content analysis, it is important to consider the date of publication of an existing source and to take into account attitudes and common cultural ideals that may have influenced the research. For example, Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd gathered research for their book Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture in the 1920s . Attitudes and cultural norms were vastly different then than they are now. Beliefs about gender roles, race, education, and work have changed significantly since then. At the time, the study's purpose was to reveal the truth about small U.S. communities. Today, it is an illustration of 1920s' attitudes and values.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

2.2 Research Methods

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you should be able to:

Recall the six Steps of the Scientific Method
Differentiate between six kinds of research methods: surveys, interviews, field research, participant observations, ethnographies, and secondary data analysis.
Explain the appropriateness of specific research approaches for specific topics.

Sociologists examine the social world, see a problem or interesting pattern, and set out to study it. They use research methods to design a study and ultimately collect data. Planning the research design is a key step in any sociological study. Sociologists generally choose from widely used methods of social investigation: primary sourced data collection such as surveys, interviews, field research, participant observations, ethnographies, and secondary data analysis. Every research method comes with plusses and minuses, and the topic of study and the theoretical paradigm a sociologist uses to think about society, strongly influences which method (or sometimes methods) are put into use. When you are conducting research think about the best way to gather or obtain data about your topic. Think of yourself as an architect. An architect needs a blueprint to build a house, as a sociologist your blueprint is your research design including your research methods.

When entering a particular social environment, a researcher must be careful. There are times when a sociologist will remain anonymous and times when their presence as a researcher is known to participants. There are times when sociologists will conduct interviews or times when they will simply observe. Some participants need to be thoroughly informed; others should not know they are being observed. A researcher wouldn’t stroll into a crime-ridden neighborhood at midnight, calling out, “Any people engaging in criminal activity around?”

Making sociologists’ presence invisible is not always realistic for other reasons. That option is not available to a researcher studying prison behaviors, early education, or the Ku Klux Klan. Researchers can’t just stroll into prisons, kindergarten classrooms, or Klan meetings and unobtrusively observe behaviors or attract attention. In situations like these, other methods are needed. Researchers choose methods that best suit their research topics, protect research participants or subjects, and that fit with their overall approaches to research.

As a research method, surveys collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of a questionnaire or an interview. The survey is one of the most widely used sociological research methods. The standard survey format allows individuals a level of anonymity in which they can express personal ideas.

Figure 2.3 Questionnaires are a common research method. (Credit: CDC Global/flickr)

At some point, most people in the United States respond to some type of survey. The 2020 U.S. Census is an excellent example of a large-scale survey intended to gather sociological data. Since 1790, the United States has conducted a survey consisting of six questions to collect demographic data about its residents. Today, the Census consists of 12 questions and is received by residents in the United States and five territories.

Not all surveys are considered sociological research, however. Many surveys we commonly encounter focus on identifying marketing needs and strategies rather than testing a hypothesis or contributing to social science knowledge. Questions such as, “How many hot dogs do you eat in a month?” or “Were the staff helpful?” are not usually designed as scientific research. For example, the Nielsen Ratings determine the popularity of television programming through scientific market research. However, polls conducted by television programs such as American Idol, or Squid Games: The Challenge, cannot be generalized, because they are administered to a population that does not represent all television consumption, only to a specific show’s audience. You might receive similar polls through your cell phones or emails, from grocery stores, restaurants, and retail stores. They often provide incentives for completing their surveys.

Figure 2.4 Real-time surveys are common in classrooms, live-audience events, and even popular media. Twitter polls have often replaced physical devices such as the one pictured. (Credit: Sam Howzit/flickr)

Sociologists conduct surveys under controlled conditions for specific purposes. Surveys gather different types of information from people. While surveys are not great at capturing the ways people behave in social situations, they are a great method for discovering how people feel, think, and act—or at least how they say they feel, think, and act. Surveys can track preferences for presidential candidates or report individual behaviors (such as sleeping, driving, or texting habits) or information such as employment status, income, and educational levels.

A survey targets a specific population–people who are the focus of a study, such as college athletes, international students, or teenagers living with type 1 (juvenile-onset) diabetes. Most researchers choose to survey a small sector of the population, or a sample– a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population. The success of a study depends on how well a population is represented by the sample. In a random sample , every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for the study. As a result, a Gallup Poll, if conducted as a nationwide random sampling, should be able to provide an accurate estimate of public opinion whether it contacts 2,000 or 10,000 people.

After selecting subjects, the researcher develops a specific plan to ask questions and record responses. It is important to inform subjects of the nature and purpose of the survey upfront (i.e., informed consen t). If they agree to participate, researchers thank the subjects and offer them a chance to see the results of the study if they are interested. The researcher presents the subjects with an instrument, which is a means of gathering the information.

A common instrument is a questionnaire . Subjects often answer a series of closed-ended questions . The researcher might ask yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions, allowing subjects to choose possible responses to each question. This kind of questionnaire collects quantitative data —data in numerical form that can be counted and statistically analyzed. Just count up the number of “yes” and “no” responses or correct answers, and chart them into percentages.

Questionnaires can also ask more complex questions with more complex answers—beyond “yes,” “no,” or checkbox options. These types of inquiries use open-ended questions that require short essay responses. Participants willing to take the time to write those answers might convey personal religious beliefs, political views, goals, or experiences. The answers are subjective and vary from person to person. How do you plan to use your college education?

Some topics that investigate internal processes, such as feelings of sadness, are impossible to observe directly and are difficult to discuss honestly in a public forum. People are more likely to share honest answers if they can respond to questions anonymously. This type of personal explanation is qualitative data —conveyed through words. Qualitative information is harder to organize and tabulate. The researcher will end up with a wide range of responses, some of which may be surprising. The benefit of written opinions, though, is the wealth of in-depth material that they provide.

An interview is a one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject, and it is another commonly used research method. Unlike surveys, during interviews, participants are free to respond as they wish, without being limited by predetermined choices. In the back-and-forth conversation of an interview, a researcher can ask for clarification, spend more time on a subtopic, or ask additional questions. In an interview, a subject will ideally feel free to open up and answer questions that are often complex. There are no right or wrong answers. The subject might not even know how to answer the questions honestly.

Interviewers collect both quantitative and qualitative data. For example, a researcher interviewing people who are incarcerated might receive quantitative data, such as demographics – race, age, sexuality, and gender–that can be analyzed statistically. In doing so, in addition to the rich data derived from interviews, the researcher might discover that 20 percent of incarcerated people are above the age of 50. This is then analyzed alongside the qualitative data the researcher collects from incarcerated people, such as what ages of incarcerated people take advantage of educational opportunities during their sentences and other explanatory information to understand the differences and why.

Field Research

The work of sociology rarely happens in limited, confined spaces. Rather, sociologists go out into the world. They meet subjects where they live, work, and play. Field research refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment. To conduct field research, the sociologist must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds. In fieldwork, the sociologists, rather than the subjects, are the ones out of their element.

Figure 2.5 Sociological researchers travel across countries and cultures to interact with and observe subjects in their natural environments. (Credit: IMLS Digital Collections and Content/flickr)

While field research often begins in a specific setting , the study’s purpose is to observe specific behaviors and practices in a given setting. Fieldwork is optimal for observing how people behave. It seeks to understand why they behave that way. However, researchers may struggle to narrow down cause and effect when there are so many variables floating around in a natural environment. While field research looks for correlation, its small sample size does not allow for establishing a causal relationship between two variables. Indeed, much of the data gathered in sociology does not identify a cause and effect but a correlation .

Sociology in the Real World

Beyoncé and Lady Gaga as Sociological Subjects

Figure 2.6 Researchers have used surveys and participant observations to accumulate data on Lady Gaga and Beyonce as multifaceted performers. (Credit a: John Robert Chartlon/flickr, b: Kristopher Harris/flickr.)

Sociologists have studied Lady Gaga and Beyoncé and their impact on music, movies, social media, fan participation, and social equality. Researchers have used several research methods including secondary analysis, participant observation, and surveys from concert participants.

Participant Observation

In 2000, a comic writer named Rodney Rothman wanted an insider’s view of white-collar work. He slipped into the sterile, high-rise offices of a New York “dot com” agency. Every day for two weeks, he pretended to work there. His main purpose was simply to see whether anyone would notice him or challenge his presence. No one did. The receptionist greeted him. The employees smiled and said good morning. Rothman was accepted as part of the team. He even went so far as to claim a desk, inform the receptionist of his whereabouts, and attend a meeting. He published an article about his experience in The New Yorker called “My Fake Job” (2000). Later, he was discredited for allegedly fabricating some story details and The New Yorker issued an apology. However, Rothman’s entertaining article still offered fascinating descriptions of the inside workings of a “dot com” company and exemplified the lengths to which a writer, or a sociologist, will go to uncover material.

Rothman conducted a form of study called participant observation , a research method where researchers join people and participate in a group’s routine activities to observe them within that context. This method lets researchers experience a specific aspect of social life. A researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend, institution, or behavior. A researcher might work as a waitress in a diner, experience houselessness for several weeks, or hang out and ride along with firefighters during their shifts. Often, these researchers try to blend in seamlessly with the population they study, and they may not disclose their true identity or purpose if they feel it would compromise the results of their research.

Figure 2.7 Is she a working waitress or a sociologist conducting a study using participant observation? A field researcher may take a job or take other steps to get firsthand knowledge of their subjects. (Credit: Gareth Williams/flickr.)

At the beginning of a field study, researchers might have a question, such as, “What really goes on in the kitchen of the most popular diner on campus?” Or, “What is it like to be houseless?” Participant observation is a useful method if the researcher wants to explore a certain environment from the inside.

Field researchers simply want to observe and learn. In such a setting, the researcher will be alert and open-minded to whatever happens, recording all observations accurately. Soon, as patterns emerge, questions will become more specific, observations will lead to hypotheses, and hypotheses will guide the researcher in analyzing data and generating results.

The Lynds were upfront about their mission. The townspeople of Muncie, Indiana, knew why the researchers were in their midst. However, some sociologists prefer not to alert people to their presence. The main advantage of covert participant observation is that it allows the researcher access to authentic, natural behaviors of a group’s members. The challenge, however, is gaining access to a setting without disrupting the pattern of others’ behavior. Becoming an inside member of a group, organization, or subculture takes time and effort. Researchers must pretend to be something they are not. The process could involve role-playing, making contacts, networking, or applying for a job.

Once inside a group, some researchers spend months or even years pretending to be one of the people they are observing. However, as observers, they cannot get too involved. They must keep their purpose in mind and apply the sociological perspective. That way, they illuminate social patterns that are often unrecognized. Because information gathered during participant observation is mostly qualitative, rather than quantitative, the results are often descriptive or interpretive. The researcher might present findings in an article or book and describe what he or she witnessed and experienced.

This type of research is what journalist Barbara Ehrenreich (2001) conducted for her book, Nickel and Dimed . One day over lunch with her editor, Ehrenreich mentioned an idea: “How can people exist on minimum-wage work? How do low-income workers get by?” She wondered if someone should do a study. To her surprise, her editor responded, “Why don’t you do it?”

That’s how Ehrenreich found herself joining the ranks of the working class. For several months, she left her comfortable home and lived and worked among people who did not have, for the most part, higher educational degrees and marketable job skills. Undercover, she applied for and worked minimum wage jobs as a waitress, a cleaning woman, a nursing home aide, and a retail chain employee. During her participant observation, she used only her income from those jobs to pay for food, clothing, transportation, and shelter.

She discovered the obvious, that it’s almost impossible to get by on minimum wage work. She also experienced and observed attitudes many middle and upper-class people never think about. She witnessed firsthand the treatment of working-class employees. She saw the extreme measures people take to make ends meet and to survive. She described fellow employees who held two or three jobs, worked seven days a week, lived in cars, could not pay to treat chronic health conditions, got randomly fired, submitted to drug tests, and moved in and out of homeless shelters. She brought aspects of that life to light, describing difficult working conditions and the poor treatment that low-wage workers suffer.

The book she wrote upon her return to her real life as a well-paid writer, is widely read and used in many college classrooms today.

Figure 2.8 Field research happens in real locations. What type of environment do work spaces foster? What would a sociologist discover after blending in? (Credit: Lyncconf Games/flickr)

Ethnography.

Ethnography is the immersion of the researcher in the natural setting of an entire social community to observe and experience their everyday life and culture. The heart of an ethnographic study focuses on how subjects view their social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to a socio-cultural group. As such, ethnography is the primary method used by anthropologists but is equally used by qualitative sociologists.

An ethnographic study might observe, for example, a small U.S. fishing town, a Native reservation, a village in Thailand, a Buddhist monastery, a private boarding school, or an amusement park. These places all have borders. People live, work, study, or vacation within those borders. People are there for a certain reason and therefore behave in certain ways and respect certain cultural norms. An ethnographer would commit to spending a determined amount of time studying every aspect of the chosen place, taking in as much as possible.

Institutional Ethnography

Historically, social science research tended to objectify women and ignore their experiences except as viewed from the male perspective. Modern feminists note that describing women, and other marginalized groups, as subordinates helps those in authority maintain their dominant positions (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada n.d.). Smith’s three major works explored what she called “the conceptual practices of power” and are still considered seminal works in feminist theory and ethnography today (Fensternmaker n.d.).

Secondary Data Analysis

While sociologists often engage in original research studies, they also contribute knowledge to the discipline through secondary data analysis . Secondary data does not result from firsthand research collected from primary sources but rather from the completed work of other researchers or data collected by an agency or organization. Sociologists might study works written by historians, economists, teachers, or early sociologists. They might search through periodicals, newspapers, magazines, or organizational data from any period in history.

Using available information not only saves time and money but also adds depth to a study. Sociologists often interpret findings in a new way, a way that was not part of an author’s original purpose or intention. Secondary data analysis is not to be confused with a literature review, however. As learned in the previous section (2.1), a literature review is a step in the scientific method where the researcher attempts to best understand how other researchers have studied a research topic or the conclusions they have drawn in already completed research studies on the same topic. Secondary data analysis is how researchers analyze data that already exists in unique ways. Take, for example, the Census. While data from the Census already exists, sociologists can analyze it secondarily by asking sociological questions about the data. The Census alone allows us to understand the racial demographics of the United States but coupled with other social factors, we can ask what percentages of racial demographics are more likely to obtain a college degree to help us understand resources that are accessible by different groups. Or, sociologists could even study how women were encouraged to act and behave in the 1960s, by systematically analyzing movies, television shows, magazines, and situation comedies from that period. Decades from now, researchers will most likely conduct similar studies on the advent of mobile phones, the Internet, or social media.

One of the advantages of secondary data like old movies or Census data is that it is nonreactive research (or unobtrusive research), meaning that it does not involve direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people’s behaviors. Unlike studies requiring direct contact with people, using previously published data and other secondary sources of data does not require entering a population and the investment and risks inherent in that research process.

Another problem arises when data are unavailable in the exact form needed or do not survey the topic from the precise angle the researcher seeks. For example, the average salaries paid to professors at a public school are publicly accessible. However, these figures do not necessarily reveal how long it took each professor to reach the salary range, what their educational backgrounds are, or how long they’ve been teaching.

When conducting content analysis, it is important to consider the date of publication of an existing source and to take into account attitudes and common cultural ideals that may have influenced the research. For example, when Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd gathered research in the 1920s, attitudes and cultural norms were vastly different than they are now. Beliefs about gender roles, race, education, and work have changed significantly since then. At the time, the study’s purpose was to reveal insights about small U.S. communities. Today, it is an illustration of 1920s attitudes and values.

Share This Book

Exploring Real-life Contexts: Types and Applications of Case Studies

Table of Contents

Have you ever wondered how researchers uncover the intricate details of real-world phenomena? They often use a powerful tool called the case study . This method is like a high-resolution camera, zooming in on a subject to capture its essence in vivid detail. Case studies allow researchers to explore, explain, or describe a subject within its real-life context, revealing insights that might otherwise be lost in broader surveys or experiments. But not all case studies are created equal. They come in different types, each with a unique focus and purpose. Let’s dive into the world of case studies and discover how they help us understand complex issues one case at a time.

What is a case study?

At its core, a case study is an in-depth investigation of a single person, group, event, or community. It’s a research strategy that unpacks the dynamics of a case within its natural environment, often employing multiple sources of evidence. Case studies are particularly useful when the boundaries between the phenomenon being studied and its context are not clearly evident. They can offer a rich understanding of a subject, providing a nuanced perspective that quantitative methods may not capture.

Types of case studies

Case studies are not a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on the research question and objectives, a case study can be classified into three main types: exploratory, explanatory, and descriptive. Each serves a distinct purpose, and choosing the right type is critical for achieving the research goals.

Exploratory case studies

Setting the stage for further research: Exploratory case studies are like the scouts of the research world. They are conducted when a researcher has identified a potential area of study but needs more information before developing a detailed research plan. These case studies help to identify questions, select measurement constructs, and develop hypotheses.

When to use: Ideal in the early stages of a research project.
Methods: Typically involves a flexible research design that can adapt as understanding deepens.
Examples: A preliminary study of a start-up’s organizational culture or an initial look at a community affected by a new policy.

Explanatory case studies

Unraveling complexities: Explanatory case studies dig deeper into the causes and effects within a case. They are instrumental when a situation is too complex to be understood through a simple cause-and-effect analysis, and they typically address ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions.

When to use: Suitable for clarifying complex interventions or processes.
Methods: May employ longitudinal studies to observe outcomes over time.
Examples: Investigating the success factors of a long-standing social program or analyzing the failure of a major construction project.

Descriptive case studies

Painting a detailed picture: Descriptive case studies are aptly named for their focus on describing the characteristics of a case within its context. These studies follow a structured protocol to ensure comprehensive coverage of all relevant aspects of the case.

When to use: Ideal for providing a complete, systematic description of a phenomenon.
Methods: Involves a detailed and in-depth approach, often with predefined data collection methods.
Examples: A detailed account of a company’s approach to corporate social responsibility or the stages of development in a community-led conservation effort.

Conducting a case study

Embarking on a case study research project is not a decision to be taken lightly. It requires a systematic approach and a clear understanding of the research question. Here are the typical steps a researcher would follow:

Define and select the case

The first step is to identify and define the case that will be studied. This could be based on a unique characteristic, a representative quality, or a particular relevance to the research question. Once the case is selected, the researcher needs to explain why this case is important and what it can reveal about the larger issue.

Develop a theoretical framework

Next, a theoretical framework helps to guide the research. This involves reviewing the literature, identifying relevant theories, and formulating hypotheses or questions that the case study will address. This framework provides a lens through which the data will be interpreted.

Collect data

Data collection is a critical phase in case study research. Researchers may use interviews, observations, documents, and other sources to gather a full picture of the case. The data should be collected systematically and ethically, with a clear record of all sources and methods.

Analyze and interpret data

Once the data is collected, the researcher must organize, sift through, and make sense of it. This involves identifying patterns, crafting narratives, and drawing conclusions. The researcher must remain open to where the data leads, avoiding preconceived notions or biases.

Report findings

The final step is to communicate the findings to a broader audience. This involves crafting a narrative that is compelling and accessible, with clear explanations of how the data led to the conclusions. Visual aids, such as charts or diagrams, can help illustrate complex ideas.

Applications in various fields

Case studies are versatile and can be applied across numerous disciplines. In business, they can shed light on management practices or corporate strategies. In education, they can illustrate pedagogical approaches. In social sciences, they can offer insights into societal issues. And in health sciences, they can help understand patient experiences or treatment outcomes.

Challenges and considerations

While case studies are a valuable research method, they come with their own set of challenges. The depth of analysis required can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Additionally, the findings from a single case may not be generalizable to other cases. Researchers must be careful to acknowledge these limitations and avoid overgeneralizations.

Case studies are a window into the complexities of real-life situations. They offer a depth of understanding that is invaluable for researchers across various fields. By selecting the appropriate type of case study and following a rigorous methodology, researchers can uncover the nuances and richness of any phenomenon they choose to explore.

What do you think? How might the insights gained from a well-conducted case study influence decisions in your field of interest? Can you think of a situation where a case study would be the ideal research approach?

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Submit Comment

Research Methodologies & Methods

1 Logic of Inquiry in Social Research

A Science of Society
Comte’s Ideas on the Nature of Sociology
Observation in Social Sciences
Logical Understanding of Social Reality

2 Empirical Approach

Empirical Approach
Rules of Data Collection
Cultural Relativism
Problems Encountered in Data Collection
Difference between Common Sense and Science
What is Ethical?
What is Normal?
Understanding the Data Collected
Managing Diversities in Social Research
Problematising the Object of Study
Conclusion: Return to Good Old Empirical Approach

3 Diverse Logic of Theory Building

Concern with Theory in Sociology
Concepts: Basic Elements of Theories
Why Do We Need Theory?
Hypothesis Description and Experimentation
Controlled Experiment
Designing an Experiment
How to Test a Hypothesis
Sensitivity to Alternative Explanations
Rival Hypothesis Construction
The Use and Scope of Social Science Theory
Theory Building and Researcher’s Values

4 Theoretical Analysis

Premises of Evolutionary and Functional Theories
Critique of Evolutionary and Functional Theories
Turning away from Functionalism
What after Functionalism
Post-modernism
Trends other than Post-modernism

5 Issues of Epistemology

Some Major Concerns of Epistemology
Rationalism
Phenomenology: Bracketing Experience

6 Philosophy of Social Science

Foundations of Science
Science, Modernity, and Sociology
Rethinking Science
Crisis in Foundation

7 Positivism and its Critique

Heroic Science and Origin of Positivism
Early Positivism
Consolidation of Positivism
Critiques of Positivism

8 Hermeneutics

Methodological Disputes in the Social Sciences
Tracing the History of Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics and Sociology
Philosophical Hermeneutics
The Hermeneutics of Suspicion
Phenomenology and Hermeneutics

9 Comparative Method

Relationship with Common Sense; Interrogating Ideological Location
The Historical Context
Elements of the Comparative Approach

10 Feminist Approach

Features of the Feminist Method
Feminist Methods adopt the Reflexive Stance
Feminist Discourse in India

11 Participatory Method

Delineation of Key Features

12 Types of Research

Basic and Applied Research
Descriptive and Analytical Research
Empirical and Exploratory Research
Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Explanatory (Causal) and Longitudinal Research
Experimental and Evaluative Research
Participatory Action Research

13 Methods of Research

Evolutionary Method
Comparative Method
Historical Method
Personal Documents

14 Elements of Research Design

Structuring the Research Process

15 Sampling Methods and Estimation of Sample Size

Classification of Sampling Methods
Sample Size

16 Measures of Central Tendency

Relationship between Mean, Mode, and Median
Choosing a Measure of Central Tendency

17 Measures of Dispersion and Variability

The Variance
The Standard Deviation
Coefficient of Variation

18 Statistical Inference- Tests of Hypothesis

Statistical Inference
Tests of Significance

19 Correlation and Regression

Correlation
Method of Calculating Correlation of Ungrouped Data
Method Of Calculating Correlation Of Grouped Data

20 Survey Method

Rationale of Survey Research Method
History of Survey Research
Defining Survey Research
Sampling and Survey Techniques
Operationalising Survey Research Tools
Advantages and Weaknesses of Survey Research

21 Survey Design

Preliminary Considerations
Stages / Phases in Survey Research
Formulation of Research Question
Survey Research Designs
Sampling Design

22 Survey Instrumentation

Techniques/Instruments for Data Collection
Questionnaire Construction
Issues in Designing a Survey Instrument

23 Survey Execution and Data Analysis

Problems and Issues in Executing Survey Research
Data Analysis
Ethical Issues in Survey Research

24 Field Research – I

History of Field Research
Ethnography
Theme Selection
Gaining Entry in the Field
Key Informants
Participant Observation

25 Field Research – II

Interview its Types and Process
Feminist and Postmodernist Perspectives on Interviewing
Narrative Analysis
Interpretation
Case Study and its Types
Life Histories
Oral History
PRA and RRA Techniques

26 Reliability, Validity and Triangulation

Concepts of Reliability and Validity
Three Types of “Reliability”
Working Towards Reliability
Procedural Validity
Field Research as a Validity Check
Method Appropriate Criteria
Triangulation
Ethical Considerations in Qualitative Research

27 Qualitative Data Formatting and Processing

Qualitative Data Processing and Analysis
Description
Classification
Making Connections
Theoretical Coding
Qualitative Content Analysis

28 Writing up Qualitative Data

Problems of Writing Up
Grasp and Then Render
“Writing Down” and “Writing Up”
Write Early
Writing Styles
First Draft

29 Using Internet and Word Processor

What is Internet and How Does it Work?
Internet Services
Searching on the Web: Search Engines
Accessing and Using Online Information
Online Journals and Texts
Statistical Reference Sites
Data Sources
Uses of E-mail Services in Research

30 Using SPSS for Data Analysis Contents

Introduction
Starting and Exiting SPSS
Creating a Data File
Univariate Analysis
Bivariate Analysis

31 Using SPSS in Report Writing

Why to Use SPSS
Working with SPSS Output
Copying SPSS Output to MS Word Document

32 Tabulation and Graphic Presentation- Case Studies

Structure for Presentation of Research Findings
Data Presentation: Editing, Coding, and Transcribing
Case Studies
Qualitative Data Analysis and Presentation through Software
Types of ICT used for Research

33 Guidelines to Research Project Assignment

Overview of Research Methodologies and Methods (MSO 002)
Research Project Objectives
Preparation for Research Project
Stages of the Research Project
Supervision During the Research Project
Submission of Research Project
Methodology for Evaluating Research Project

Share on Mastodon

Case Study: Types, Advantages And Disadvantages

Case study is both method and tool for research. Case study is the intensive study of a phenomenon, but it gives subjective information rather than objective. It gives detailed knowledge about the phenomena and is not able to generalize beyond the knowledge.

Case studies aim to analyze specific issues within the boundaries of a specific environment, situation or organization. According to its design, case study research method can be divided into three categories: explanatory, descriptive and exploratory.

Explanatory case studies aim to answer ‘how’ or ‘why’ questions with little control on behalf of the researcher over occurrence of events. This type of case study focuses on phenomena within the contexts of real-life situations.

Descriptive case studies aim to analyze the sequence of interpersonal events after a certain amount of time has passed. Case studies belonging to this category usually describe culture or sub-culture, and they attempt to discover the key phenomena.

Exploratory case studies aim to find answers to the questions of ‘what’ or ‘who’. Exploratory case study data collection method is often accompanied by additional data collection method(s) such as interviews, questionnaires, experiments etc.

DEFINITION OF CASE STUDY

The case study or case history method is not a newer thing, but it is a linear descendent of very ancient methods of sociological description and generalization namely, the ‘parable’, the ‘allegory’, the ‘story’ and the ‘novel’.

According to P.V. Young . “A fairly exhaustive study of a person or group is called a life of case history.”

Thus, the case study is more intensive in nature; the field of study is comparatively limited but has more depth in it.

TYPES OF CASE STUDY

Six types of case studies are conducted which are as follows:

Community Studies: The community study is a careful description and analysis of a group of people living together in a particular geographic location in a corporative way. The community study deals with such elements of the community as location, appearance, prevailing economic activity, climate and natural sources, historical development, how the people live, the social structure, goals and life values, an evaluation of the social institutions within the community that meet the human needs etc. Such studies are case studies, with the community serving as the case under investigation.

Casual Comparative Studies: Another type of study seeks to find the answers to the problems through the analysis of casual relationships. What factors seem to be associated with certain occurrences, conditions or types of behaviour? By the methodology of descriptive research, the relative importance of these factors may be investigated.

Activity Analysis: The analysis of the activities or processes that an individual is called upon to perform is important, both in industry and in various types of social agencies. This process of analysis is appropriate in any field of work and at all levels of responsibility. In social system, the roles of superintendent, the principal, the teacher and the custodian have been carefully analyzed to discover what these individuals do and need to be able to do.

Content or Document Analysis: Content analysis, sometimes known as document analysis. Deals with the systematic examination of current records or documents as sources of data. In documentary analysis, the following may be used as sources of data: official records and reports, printed forms, text-books, reference books, letters, autobiographies diaries, pictures, films and cartoons etc . But in using documentary sources, one must bear in mind the fact that data appearing in print is not necessarily trustworthy. This content or document analysis should serve a useful purpose in research, adding important knowledge to a field to study or yielding information that is helpful in evaluating and improving social or educational practices.

A Follow-up Study: A follow-up study investigates individuals who have left an institution after having completed programme, a treatment or a course of study, to know what has been the impact of the institutions and its programme upon them. By examining their status or seeking their opinions, one may get some idea of the adequacy or inadequacy of the institutes programme. Studies of this type enable an institution to evaluate various aspects of its programme in the light of actual results.

Trend Studies: The trend or predictive study is an interesting application of the descriptive method. In essence, it is based upon a longitudinal consideration of recorded data, indicating what has been happening in the past, what does the present situation reveal and on the basis of these data, what will be likely to happen in the future.

Whatever type of case study is to conduct, it’s important to first identify the purpose, goals, and approach for conducting methodologically sound research.

ADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY

The main points of advantages of case study are given below:

Formation of valid hypothesis: Case study helps in formulating valid hypothesis. Once the various cases are extensively studied and analyze, the researcher can deduce various generalizations, which may be developed into useful hypotheses. It is admitted by all that the study of relevant literature and case study form the only potent sources of hypothesis.

Useful in framing questionnaires and schedules: Case study is of great help in framing questionnaires, schedules or other forms. When a questionnaire is prepared after thorough case study the peculiarities of the group as well as individual units, become known also the type of response likely to be available, liking and aversions of the people. This helps in getting prompt response.

Sampling: Case study is of help in the stratification of the sample. By studying the individual units the researcher can put them in definite classes or types and thereby facilitate the perfect stratification of the sample.

Location of deviant cases: The case study makes it possible to locate deviant cases. There exists a general tendency to ignore them, but for scientific analysis, they are very important. The analysis of such cases is of valuable help in clarifying the theory itself.

Study of process: In cases where the problem under study constitutes a process and not one incident e.g. courtship process, clique formation etc., case study is the appropriate method as the case data is essential for valid study of such problems.

Enlarges experience: The range of personal experience of the researcher is enlarged by the case study on the other hand in statistical methods a narrow range of topics is selected, and the researcher’s knowledge is restricted to the particular aspect only.

Qualitative analysis in actual situation: Case study enables the establishment of the significance of the recorded data when the individual is alive and later on within the life of the classes of individuals. The researcher has the opportunity to come into contact with different classes of people and he is in a position to watch their life and hear their experiences. This provides him with an opportunity to acquire experiences of such life situations which he is never expected to lead.

This discussion highlights the advantages of the case data in social research. Social scientists developed the techniques to make it more perfect and remove the chances of bias.

LIMITATIONS/DISADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDY METHOD

Subjective bias: Research subjectivity in collecting data for supporting or refuting a particular explanation, personal view of investigation influences the findings and conclusion of the study.

Problem of objectivity: Due to excessive association with the social unit under investigation the researcher may develop self-justificatory data which are far from being factual.

Difficulty in comparison: Because of wide variations among human beings in terms of their response and behaviour, attitudes and values, social setting and circumstances, etc., the researcher actually finds it difficult to trace out two social units which are identical in all respects. This hinders proper comparison of cases.

A time, energy and money consuming method: The preparation of a case history involves a lot of time and expenditure of human energy, therefore, there is every possibility that most of the cases may get stray. Due to such difficulties, only a few researchers can afford to case study method.

Time span: Long time span may be another factor that is likely to distort the information provided by the social unit to the researcher.

Unreliable source material: The two major sources of case study are: Personal documents and life history. But in both these cases, the records or the own experience of the social units may not present a true picture. On the contrary, the social unit may try to suppress his unpleasant facts or add colour to them. As a result, the conclusions drawn do not give a true picture and dependable findings.

Scope for wrong conclusions: The case study is laden with inaccurate observation, wrong inferences, faulty reporting, memory failure, repression or omission of unpleasant facts in an unconscious manner, dramatization of facts, more imaginary description, and difficulty in choosing a case typical of the group. All these problems provide the researcher with every possibility of drawing wrong conclusions and errors.

Case studies are complex because they generally involve multiple sources of data, may include multiple cases within a study and produce large amounts of data for analysis. Researchers from many disciplines use the case study method to build upon theory, to produce new theory, to dispute or challenge theory, to explain a situation, to provide a basis to apply solutions to situations, to explore, or to describe an object or phenomenon. The advantages of the case study method are its applicability to real-life, contemporary, human situations and its public accessibility through written reports. Case study results relate directly to the common readers everyday experience and facilitate an understanding of complex real-life situations.

__________________________________________________________________________

Research Methodology Methods and Techniques~C. R. Kothari (p.113) - Link

Fundamental of Research Methodology and Statistics~Yogesh Kumar Singh (Chapter–10: Case Study Method p. 147) - Link

Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches~W. Lawrence Neuman (p.42) - Link

The Basics of Social Research~Earl Babbie (p.280) - Link

Social Science Research Principles, Methods, and Practices~Anol Bhattacherjee (93) - Link

PREPARING A CASE STUDY: A Guide for Designing and Conducting a Case Study for Evaluation Input - Link

A Case in Case Study Methodology - Link

Case Study Method - Link1 & Link 2

Unit-4 Case Study - Link

Case study as a research method - Link

Case_Study~Tanya Sammut-Bonnici and John McGee - Link

Developing a survey to measure nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, influences, and willingness to be involved in Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): a mixed method modified e-Delphi study

Jocelyn Schroeder 1 ,
Barbara Pesut 1 , 2 ,
Lise Olsen 2 ,
Nelly D. Oelke 2 &
Helen Sharp 2

BMC Nursing volume 23 , Article number: 326 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

31 Accesses

Metrics details

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) was legalized in Canada in 2016. Canada’s legislation is the first to permit Nurse Practitioners (NP) to serve as independent MAiD assessors and providers. Registered Nurses’ (RN) also have important roles in MAiD that include MAiD care coordination; client and family teaching and support, MAiD procedural quality; healthcare provider and public education; and bereavement care for family. Nurses have a right under the law to conscientious objection to participating in MAiD. Therefore, it is essential to prepare nurses in their entry-level education for the practice implications and moral complexities inherent in this practice. Knowing what nursing students think about MAiD is a critical first step. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a survey to measure nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, influences, and willingness to be involved in MAiD in the Canadian context.

The design was a mixed-method, modified e-Delphi method that entailed item generation from the literature, item refinement through a 2 round survey of an expert faculty panel, and item validation through a cognitive focus group interview with nursing students. The settings were a University located in an urban area and a College located in a rural area in Western Canada.

During phase 1, a 56-item survey was developed from existing literature that included demographic items and items designed to measure experience with death and dying (including MAiD), education and preparation, attitudes and beliefs, influences on those beliefs, and anticipated future involvement. During phase 2, an expert faculty panel reviewed, modified, and prioritized the items yielding 51 items. During phase 3, a sample of nursing students further evaluated and modified the language in the survey to aid readability and comprehension. The final survey consists of 45 items including 4 case studies.

Systematic evaluation of knowledge-to-date coupled with stakeholder perspectives supports robust survey design. This study yielded a survey to assess nursing students’ attitudes toward MAiD in a Canadian context.

The survey is appropriate for use in education and research to measure knowledge and attitudes about MAiD among nurse trainees and can be a helpful step in preparing nursing students for entry-level practice.

Peer Review reports

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) is permitted under an amendment to Canada’s Criminal Code which was passed in 2016 [ 1 ]. MAiD is defined in the legislation as both self-administered and clinician-administered medication for the purpose of causing death. In the 2016 Bill C-14 legislation one of the eligibility criteria was that an applicant for MAiD must have a reasonably foreseeable natural death although this term was not defined. It was left to the clinical judgement of MAiD assessors and providers to determine the time frame that constitutes reasonably foreseeable [ 2 ]. However, in 2021 under Bill C-7, the eligibility criteria for MAiD were changed to allow individuals with irreversible medical conditions, declining health, and suffering, but whose natural death was not reasonably foreseeable, to receive MAiD [ 3 ]. This population of MAiD applicants are referred to as Track 2 MAiD (those whose natural death is foreseeable are referred to as Track 1). Track 2 applicants are subject to additional safeguards under the 2021 C-7 legislation.

Three additional proposed changes to the legislation have been extensively studied by Canadian Expert Panels (Council of Canadian Academics [CCA]) [ 4 , 5 , 6 ] First, under the legislation that defines Track 2, individuals with mental disease as their sole underlying medical condition may apply for MAiD, but implementation of this practice is embargoed until March 2027 [ 4 ]. Second, there is consideration of allowing MAiD to be implemented through advanced consent. This would make it possible for persons living with dementia to receive MAID after they have lost the capacity to consent to the procedure [ 5 ]. Third, there is consideration of extending MAiD to mature minors. A mature minor is defined as “a person under the age of majority…and who has the capacity to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a decision” ([ 6 ] p. 5). In summary, since the legalization of MAiD in 2016 the eligibility criteria and safeguards have evolved significantly with consequent implications for nurses and nursing care. Further, the number of Canadians who access MAiD shows steady increases since 2016 [ 7 ] and it is expected that these increases will continue in the foreseeable future.

Nurses have been integral to MAiD care in the Canadian context. While other countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands also permit euthanasia, Canada is the first country to allow Nurse Practitioners (Registered Nurses with additional preparation typically achieved at the graduate level) to act independently as assessors and providers of MAiD [ 1 ]. Although the role of Registered Nurses (RNs) in MAiD is not defined in federal legislation, it has been addressed at the provincial/territorial-level with variability in scope of practice by region [ 8 , 9 ]. For example, there are differences with respect to the obligation of the nurse to provide information to patients about MAiD, and to the degree that nurses are expected to ensure that patient eligibility criteria and safeguards are met prior to their participation [ 10 ]. Studies conducted in the Canadian context indicate that RNs perform essential roles in MAiD care coordination; client and family teaching and support; MAiD procedural quality; healthcare provider and public education; and bereavement care for family [ 9 , 11 ]. Nurse practitioners and RNs are integral to a robust MAiD care system in Canada and hence need to be well-prepared for their role [ 12 ].

Previous studies have found that end of life care, and MAiD specifically, raise complex moral and ethical issues for nurses [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. The knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of nurses are important across practice settings because nurses have consistent, ongoing, and direct contact with patients who experience chronic or life-limiting health conditions. Canadian studies exploring nurses’ moral and ethical decision-making in relation to MAiD reveal that although some nurses are clear in their support for, or opposition to, MAiD, others are unclear on what they believe to be good and right [ 14 ]. Empirical findings suggest that nurses go through a period of moral sense-making that is often informed by their family, peers, and initial experiences with MAID [ 17 , 18 ]. Canadian legislation and policy specifies that nurses are not required to participate in MAiD and may recuse themselves as conscientious objectors with appropriate steps to ensure ongoing and safe care of patients [ 1 , 19 ]. However, with so many nurses having to reflect on and make sense of their moral position, it is essential that they are given adequate time and preparation to make an informed and thoughtful decision before they participate in a MAID death [ 20 , 21 ].

It is well established that nursing students receive inconsistent exposure to end of life care issues [ 22 ] and little or no training related to MAiD [ 23 ]. Without such education and reflection time in pre-entry nursing preparation, nurses are at significant risk for moral harm. An important first step in providing this preparation is to be able to assess the knowledge, values, and beliefs of nursing students regarding MAID and end of life care. As demand for MAiD increases along with the complexities of MAiD, it is critical to understand the knowledge, attitudes, and likelihood of engagement with MAiD among nursing students as a baseline upon which to build curriculum and as a means to track these variables over time.

Aim, design, and setting

The aim of this study was to develop a survey to measure nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, influences, and willingness to be involved in MAiD in the Canadian context. We sought to explore both their willingness to be involved in the registered nursing role and in the nurse practitioner role should they chose to prepare themselves to that level of education. The design was a mixed-method, modified e-Delphi method that entailed item generation, item refinement through an expert faculty panel [ 24 , 25 , 26 ], and initial item validation through a cognitive focus group interview with nursing students [ 27 ]. The settings were a University located in an urban area and a College located in a rural area in Western Canada.

Participants

A panel of 10 faculty from the two nursing education programs were recruited for Phase 2 of the e-Delphi. To be included, faculty were required to have a minimum of three years of experience in nurse education, be employed as nursing faculty, and self-identify as having experience with MAiD. A convenience sample of 5 fourth-year nursing students were recruited to participate in Phase 3. Students had to be in good standing in the nursing program and be willing to share their experiences of the survey in an online group interview format.

The modified e-Delphi was conducted in 3 phases: Phase 1 entailed item generation through literature and existing survey review. Phase 2 entailed item refinement through a faculty expert panel review with focus on content validity, prioritization, and revision of item wording [ 25 ]. Phase 3 entailed an assessment of face validity through focus group-based cognitive interview with nursing students.

Phase I. Item generation through literature review

The goal of phase 1 was to develop a bank of survey items that would represent the variables of interest and which could be provided to expert faculty in Phase 2. Initial survey items were generated through a literature review of similar surveys designed to assess knowledge and attitudes toward MAiD/euthanasia in healthcare providers; Canadian empirical studies on nurses’ roles and/or experiences with MAiD; and legislative and expert panel documents that outlined proposed changes to the legislative eligibility criteria and safeguards. The literature review was conducted in three online databases: CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Medline. Key words for the search included nurses , nursing students , medical students , NPs, MAiD , euthanasia , assisted death , and end-of-life care . Only articles written in English were reviewed. The legalization and legislation of MAiD is new in many countries; therefore, studies that were greater than twenty years old were excluded, no further exclusion criteria set for country.

Items from surveys designed to measure similar variables in other health care providers and geographic contexts were placed in a table and similar items were collated and revised into a single item. Then key variables were identified from the empirical literature on nurses and MAiD in Canada and checked against the items derived from the surveys to ensure that each of the key variables were represented. For example, conscientious objection has figured prominently in the Canadian literature, but there were few items that assessed knowledge of conscientious objection in other surveys and so items were added [ 15 , 21 , 28 , 29 ]. Finally, four case studies were added to the survey to address the anticipated changes to the Canadian legislation. The case studies were based upon the inclusion of mature minors, advanced consent, and mental disorder as the sole underlying medical condition. The intention was to assess nurses’ beliefs and comfort with these potential legislative changes.

Phase 2. Item refinement through expert panel review

The goal of phase 2 was to refine and prioritize the proposed survey items identified in phase 1 using a modified e-Delphi approach to achieve consensus among an expert panel [ 26 ]. Items from phase 1 were presented to an expert faculty panel using a Qualtrics (Provo, UT) online survey. Panel members were asked to review each item to determine if it should be: included, excluded or adapted for the survey. When adapted was selected faculty experts were asked to provide rationale and suggestions for adaptation through the use of an open text box. Items that reached a level of 75% consensus for either inclusion or adaptation were retained [ 25 , 26 ]. New items were categorized and added, and a revised survey was presented to the panel of experts in round 2. Panel members were again asked to review items, including new items, to determine if it should be: included, excluded, or adapted for the survey. Round 2 of the modified e-Delphi approach also included an item prioritization activity, where participants were then asked to rate the importance of each item, based on a 5-point Likert scale (low to high importance), which De Vaus [ 30 ] states is helpful for increasing the reliability of responses. Items that reached a 75% consensus on inclusion were then considered in relation to the importance it was given by the expert panel. Quantitative data were managed using SPSS (IBM Corp).

Phase 3. Face validity through cognitive interviews with nursing students

The goal of phase 3 was to obtain initial face validity of the proposed survey using a sample of nursing student informants. More specifically, student participants were asked to discuss how items were interpreted, to identify confusing wording or other problematic construction of items, and to provide feedback about the survey as a whole including readability and organization [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. The focus group was held online and audio recorded. A semi-structured interview guide was developed for this study that focused on clarity, meaning, order and wording of questions; emotions evoked by the questions; and overall survey cohesion and length was used to obtain data (see Supplementary Material 2 for the interview guide). A prompt to “think aloud” was used to limit interviewer-imposed bias and encourage participants to describe their thoughts and response to a given item as they reviewed survey items [ 27 ]. Where needed, verbal probes such as “could you expand on that” were used to encourage participants to expand on their responses [ 27 ]. Student participants’ feedback was collated verbatim and presented to the research team where potential survey modifications were negotiated and finalized among team members. Conventional content analysis [ 34 ] of focus group data was conducted to identify key themes that emerged through discussion with students. Themes were derived from the data by grouping common responses and then using those common responses to modify survey items.

Ten nursing faculty participated in the expert panel. Eight of the 10 faculty self-identified as female. No faculty panel members reported conscientious objector status and ninety percent reported general agreement with MAiD with one respondent who indicated their view as “unsure.” Six of the 10 faculty experts had 16 years of experience or more working as a nurse educator.

Five nursing students participated in the cognitive interview focus group. The duration of the focus group was 2.5 h. All participants identified that they were born in Canada, self-identified as female (one preferred not to say) and reported having received some instruction about MAiD as part of their nursing curriculum. See Tables 1 and 2 for the demographic descriptors of the study sample. Study results will be reported in accordance with the study phases. See Fig. 1 for an overview of the results from each phase.

Fig. 1 Overview of survey development findings

Phase 1: survey item generation

Review of the literature identified that no existing survey was available for use with nursing students in the Canadian context. However, an analysis of themes across qualitative and quantitative studies of physicians, medical students, nurses, and nursing students provided sufficient data to develop a preliminary set of items suitable for adaptation to a population of nursing students.

Four major themes and factors that influence knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about MAiD were evident from the literature: (i) endogenous or individual factors such as age, gender, personally held values, religion, religiosity, and/or spirituality [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], (ii) experience with death and dying in personal and/or professional life [ 35 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 ], (iii) training including curricular instruction about clinical role, scope of practice, or the law [ 23 , 36 , 39 ], and (iv) exogenous or social factors such as the influence of key leaders, colleagues, friends and/or family, professional and licensure organizations, support within professional settings, and/or engagement in MAiD in an interdisciplinary team context [ 9 , 35 , 46 ].

Studies of nursing students also suggest overlap across these categories. For example, value for patient autonomy [ 23 ] and the moral complexity of decision-making [ 37 ] are important factors that contribute to attitudes about MAiD and may stem from a blend of personally held values coupled with curricular content, professional training and norms, and clinical exposure. For example, students report that participation in end of life care allows for personal growth, shifts in perception, and opportunities to build therapeutic relationships with their clients [ 44 , 47 , 48 ].

Preliminary items generated from the literature resulted in 56 questions from 11 published sources (See Table 3 ). These items were constructed across four main categories: (i) socio-demographic questions; (ii) end of life care questions; (iii) knowledge about MAiD; or (iv) comfort and willingness to participate in MAiD. Knowledge questions were refined to reflect current MAiD legislation, policies, and regulatory frameworks. Falconer [ 39 ] and Freeman [ 45 ] studies were foundational sources for item selection. Additionally, four case studies were written to reflect the most recent anticipated changes to MAiD legislation and all used the same open-ended core questions to address respondents’ perspectives about the patient’s right to make the decision, comfort in assisting a physician or NP to administer MAiD in that scenario, and hypothesized comfort about serving as a primary provider if qualified as an NP in future. Response options for the survey were also constructed during this stage and included: open text, categorical, yes/no , and Likert scales.

Phase 2: faculty expert panel review

Of the 56 items presented to the faculty panel, 54 questions reached 75% consensus. However, based upon the qualitative responses 9 items were removed largely because they were felt to be repetitive. Items that generated the most controversy were related to measuring religion and spirituality in the Canadian context, defining end of life care when there is no agreed upon time frames (e.g., last days, months, or years), and predicting willingness to be involved in a future events – thus predicting their future selves. Phase 2, round 1 resulted in an initial set of 47 items which were then presented back to the faculty panel in round 2.

Of the 47 initial questions presented to the panel in round 2, 45 reached a level of consensus of 75% or greater, and 34 of these questions reached a level of 100% consensus [ 27 ] of which all participants chose to include without any adaptations) For each question, level of importance was determined based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = very unimportant, 2 = somewhat unimportant, 3 = neutral, 4 = somewhat important, and 5 = very important). Figure 2 provides an overview of the level of importance assigned to each item.

Ranking level of importance for survey items

After round 2, a careful analysis of participant comments and level of importance was completed by the research team. While the main method of survey item development came from participants’ response to the first round of Delphi consensus ratings, level of importance was used to assist in the decision of whether to keep or modify questions that created controversy, or that rated lower in the include/exclude/adapt portion of the Delphi. Survey items that rated low in level of importance included questions about future roles, sex and gender, and religion/spirituality. After deliberation by the research committee, these questions were retained in the survey based upon the importance of these variables in the scientific literature.

Of the 47 questions remaining from Phase 2, round 2, four were revised. In addition, the two questions that did not meet the 75% cut off level for consensus were reviewed by the research team. The first question reviewed was What is your comfort level with providing a MAiD death in the future if you were a qualified NP ? Based on a review of participant comments, it was decided to retain this question for the cognitive interviews with students in the final phase of testing. The second question asked about impacts on respondents’ views of MAiD and was changed from one item with 4 subcategories into 4 separate items, resulting in a final total of 51 items for phase 3. The revised survey was then brought forward to the cognitive interviews with student participants in Phase 3. (see Supplementary Material 1 for a complete description of item modification during round 2).

Phase 3. Outcomes of cognitive interview focus group

Of the 51 items reviewed by student participants, 29 were identified as clear with little or no discussion. Participant comments for the remaining 22 questions were noted and verified against the audio recording. Following content analysis of the comments, four key themes emerged through the student discussion: unclear or ambiguous wording; difficult to answer questions; need for additional response options; and emotional response evoked by questions. An example of unclear or ambiguous wording was a request for clarity in the use of the word “sufficient” in the context of assessing an item that read “My nursing education has provided sufficient content about the nursing role in MAiD.” “Sufficient” was viewed as subjective and “laden with…complexity that distracted me from the question.” The group recommended rewording the item to read “My nursing education has provided enough content for me to care for a patient considering or requesting MAiD.”

An example of having difficulty answering questions related to limited knowledge related to terms used in the legislation such as such as safeguards , mature minor , eligibility criteria , and conscientious objection. Students were unclear about what these words meant relative to the legislation and indicated that this lack of clarity would hamper appropriate responses to the survey. To ensure that respondents are able to answer relevant questions, student participants recommended that the final survey include explanation of key terms such as mature minor and conscientious objection and an overview of current legislation.

Response options were also a point of discussion. Participants noted a lack of distinction between response options of unsure and unable to say . Additionally, scaling of attitudes was noted as important since perspectives about MAiD are dynamic and not dichotomous “agree or disagree” responses. Although the faculty expert panel recommended the integration of the demographic variables of religious and/or spiritual remain as a single item, the student group stated a preference to have religion and spirituality appear as separate items. The student focus group also took issue with separate items for the variables of sex and gender, specifically that non-binary respondents might feel othered or “outed” particularly when asked to identify their sex. These variables had been created based upon best practices in health research but students did not feel they were appropriate in this context [ 49 ]. Finally, students agreed with the faculty expert panel in terms of the complexity of projecting their future involvement as a Nurse Practitioner. One participant stated: “I certainly had to like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now let me finish this degree first, please.” Another stated, “I'm still imagining myself, my future career as an RN.”

Finally, student participants acknowledged the array of emotions that some of the items produced for them. For example, one student described positive feelings when interacting with the survey. “Brought me a little bit of feeling of joy. Like it reminded me that this is the last piece of independence that people grab on to.” Another participant, described the freedom that the idea of an advance request gave her. “The advance request gives the most comfort for me, just with early onset Alzheimer’s and knowing what it can do.” But other participants described less positive feelings. For example, the mature minor case study yielded a comment: “This whole scenario just made my heart hurt with the idea of a child requesting that.”

Based on the data gathered from the cognitive interview focus group of nursing students, revisions were made to 11 closed-ended questions (see Table 4 ) and 3 items were excluded. In the four case studies, the open-ended question related to a respondents’ hypothesized actions in a future role as NP were removed. The final survey consists of 45 items including 4 case studies (see Supplementary Material 3 ).

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a survey that can be used to track the growth of knowledge about MAiD among nursing students over time, inform training programs about curricular needs, and evaluate attitudes and willingness to participate in MAiD at time-points during training or across nursing programs over time.

The faculty expert panel and student participants in the cognitive interview focus group identified a need to establish core knowledge of the terminology and legislative rules related to MAiD. For example, within the cognitive interview group of student participants, several acknowledged lack of clear understanding of specific terms such as “conscientious objector” and “safeguards.” Participants acknowledged discomfort with the uncertainty of not knowing and their inclination to look up these terms to assist with answering the questions. This survey can be administered to nursing or pre-nursing students at any phase of their training within a program or across training programs. However, in doing so it is important to acknowledge that their baseline knowledge of MAiD will vary. A response option of “not sure” is important and provides a means for respondents to convey uncertainty. If this survey is used to inform curricular needs, respondents should be given explicit instructions not to conduct online searches to inform their responses, but rather to provide an honest appraisal of their current knowledge and these instructions are included in the survey (see Supplementary Material 3 ).

Some provincial regulatory bodies have established core competencies for entry-level nurses that include MAiD. For example, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) requires “knowledge about ethical, legal, and regulatory implications of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) when providing nursing care.” (10 p. 6) However, across Canada curricular content and coverage related to end of life care and MAiD is variable [ 23 ]. Given the dynamic nature of the legislation that includes portions of the law that are embargoed until 2024, it is important to ensure that respondents are guided by current and accurate information. As the law changes, nursing curricula, and public attitudes continue to evolve, inclusion of core knowledge and content is essential and relevant for investigators to be able to interpret the portions of the survey focused on attitudes and beliefs about MAiD. Content knowledge portions of the survey may need to be modified over time as legislation and training change and to meet the specific purposes of the investigator.

Given the sensitive nature of the topic, it is strongly recommended that surveys be conducted anonymously and that students be provided with an opportunity to discuss their responses to the survey. A majority of feedback from both the expert panel of faculty and from student participants related to the wording and inclusion of demographic variables, in particular religion, religiosity, gender identity, and sex assigned at birth. These and other demographic variables have the potential to be highly identifying in small samples. In any instance in which the survey could be expected to yield demographic group sizes less than 5, users should eliminate the demographic variables from the survey. For example, the profession of nursing is highly dominated by females with over 90% of nurses who identify as female [ 50 ]. Thus, a survey within a single class of students or even across classes in a single institution is likely to yield a small number of male respondents and/or respondents who report a difference between sex assigned at birth and gender identity. When variables that serve to identify respondents are included, respondents are less likely to complete or submit the survey, to obscure their responses so as not to be identifiable, or to be influenced by social desirability bias in their responses rather than to convey their attitudes accurately [ 51 ]. Further, small samples do not allow for conclusive analyses or interpretation of apparent group differences. Although these variables are often included in surveys, such demographics should be included only when anonymity can be sustained. In small and/or known samples, highly identifying variables should be omitted.

There are several limitations associated with the development of this survey. The expert panel was comprised of faculty who teach nursing students and are knowledgeable about MAiD and curricular content, however none identified as a conscientious objector to MAiD. Ideally, our expert panel would have included one or more conscientious objectors to MAiD to provide a broader perspective. Review by practitioners who participate in MAiD, those who are neutral or undecided, and practitioners who are conscientious objectors would ensure broad applicability of the survey. This study included one student cognitive interview focus group with 5 self-selected participants. All student participants had held discussions about end of life care with at least one patient, 4 of 5 participants had worked with a patient who requested MAiD, and one had been present for a MAiD death. It is not clear that these participants are representative of nursing students demographically or by experience with end of life care. It is possible that the students who elected to participate hold perspectives and reflections on patient care and MAiD that differ from students with little or no exposure to end of life care and/or MAiD. However, previous studies find that most nursing students have been involved with end of life care including meaningful discussions about patients’ preferences and care needs during their education [ 40 , 44 , 47 , 48 , 52 ]. Data collection with additional student focus groups with students early in their training and drawn from other training contexts would contribute to further validation of survey items.

Future studies should incorporate pilot testing with small sample of nursing students followed by a larger cross-program sample to allow evaluation of the psychometric properties of specific items and further refinement of the survey tool. Consistent with literature about the importance of leadership in the context of MAiD [ 12 , 53 , 54 ], a study of faculty knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes toward MAiD would provide context for understanding student perspectives within and across programs. Additional research is also needed to understand the timing and content coverage of MAiD across Canadian nurse training programs’ curricula.

The implementation of MAiD is complex and requires understanding of the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. Within the field of nursing this includes clinical providers, educators, and students who will deliver clinical care. A survey to assess nursing students’ attitudes toward and willingness to participate in MAiD in the Canadian context is timely, due to the legislation enacted in 2016 and subsequent modifications to the law in 2021 with portions of the law to be enacted in 2027. Further development of this survey could be undertaken to allow for use in settings with practicing nurses or to allow longitudinal follow up with students as they enter practice. As the Canadian landscape changes, ongoing assessment of the perspectives and needs of health professionals and students in the health professions is needed to inform policy makers, leaders in practice, curricular needs, and to monitor changes in attitudes and practice patterns over time.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to small sample sizes, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives

Medical assistance in dying

Nurse practitioner

Registered nurse

University of British Columbia Okanagan

Nicol J, Tiedemann M. Legislative Summary: Bill C-14: An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying). Available from: https://lop.parl.ca/staticfiles/PublicWebsite/Home/ResearchPublications/LegislativeSummaries/PDF/42-1/c14-e.pdf .

Downie J, Scallion K. Foreseeably unclear. The meaning of the “reasonably foreseeable” criterion for access to medical assistance in dying in Canada. Dalhousie Law J. 2018;41(1):23–57.

Nicol J, Tiedeman M. Legislative summary of Bill C-7: an act to amend the criminal code (medical assistance in dying). Ottawa: Government of Canada; 2021.

Google Scholar

Council of Canadian Academies. The state of knowledge on medical assistance in dying where a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition. Ottawa; 2018. Available from: https://cca-reports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/The-State-of-Knowledge-on-Medical-Assistance-in-Dying-Where-a-Mental-Disorder-is-the-Sole-Underlying-Medical-Condition.pdf .

Council of Canadian Academies. The state of knowledge on advance requests for medical assistance in dying. Ottawa; 2018. Available from: https://cca-reports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/The-State-of-Knowledge-on-Advance-Requests-for-Medical-Assistance-in-Dying.pdf .

Council of Canadian Academies. The state of knowledge on medical assistance in dying for mature minors. Ottawa; 2018. Available from: https://cca-reports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/The-State-of-Knowledge-on-Medical-Assistance-in-Dying-for-Mature-Minors.pdf .

Health Canada. Third annual report on medical assistance in dying in Canada 2021. Ottawa; 2022. [cited 2023 Oct 23]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying/annual-report-2021.html .

Banner D, Schiller CJ, Freeman S. Medical assistance in dying: a political issue for nurses and nursing in Canada. Nurs Philos. 2019;20(4): e12281.

Article PubMed Google Scholar

Pesut B, Thorne S, Stager ML, Schiller CJ, Penney C, Hoffman C, et al. Medical assistance in dying: a review of Canadian nursing regulatory documents. Policy Polit Nurs Pract. 2019;20(3):113–30.

Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia. Scope of practice for registered nurses [Internet]. Vancouver; 2018. Available from: https://www.bccnm.ca/Documents/standards_practice/rn/RN_ScopeofPractice.pdf .

Pesut B, Thorne S, Schiller C, Greig M, Roussel J, Tishelman C. Constructing good nursing practice for medical assistance in dying in Canada: an interpretive descriptive study. Global Qual Nurs Res. 2020;7:2333393620938686. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333393620938686 .

Article Google Scholar

Pesut B, Thorne S, Schiller CJ, Greig M, Roussel J. The rocks and hard places of MAiD: a qualitative study of nursing practice in the context of legislated assisted death. BMC Nurs. 2020;19:12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-020-0404-5 .

Pesut B, Greig M, Thorne S, Burgess M, Storch JL, Tishelman C, et al. Nursing and euthanasia: a narrative review of the nursing ethics literature. Nurs Ethics. 2020;27(1):152–67.

Pesut B, Thorne S, Storch J, Chambaere K, Greig M, Burgess M. Riding an elephant: a qualitative study of nurses’ moral journeys in the context of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). Journal Clin Nurs. 2020;29(19–20):3870–81.

Lamb C, Babenko-Mould Y, Evans M, Wong CA, Kirkwood KW. Conscientious objection and nurses: results of an interpretive phenomenological study. Nurs Ethics. 2018;26(5):1337–49.

Wright DK, Chan LS, Fishman JR, Macdonald ME. “Reflection and soul searching:” Negotiating nursing identity at the fault lines of palliative care and medical assistance in dying. Social Sci & Med. 2021;289: 114366.

Beuthin R, Bruce A, Scaia M. Medical assistance in dying (MAiD): Canadian nurses’ experiences. Nurs Forum. 2018;54(4):511–20.

Bruce A, Beuthin R. Medically assisted dying in Canada: "Beautiful Death" is transforming nurses' experiences of suffering. The Canadian J Nurs Res | Revue Canadienne de Recherche en Sci Infirmieres. 2020;52(4):268–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/0844562119856234 .

Canadian Nurses Association. Code of ethics for registered nurses. Ottawa; 2017. Available from: https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing/regulated-nursing-in-canada/nursing-ethics .

Canadian Nurses Association. National nursing framework on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada. Ottawa: 2017. Available from: https://www.virtualhospice.ca/Assets/cna-national-nursing-framework-on-maidEng_20170216155827.pdf .

Pesut B, Thorne S, Greig M. Shades of gray: conscientious objection in medical assistance in dying. Nursing Inq. 2020;27(1): e12308.

Durojaiye A, Ryan R, Doody O. Student nurse education and preparation for palliative care: a scoping review. PLoS ONE. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286678 .

McMechan C, Bruce A, Beuthin R. Canadian nursing students’ experiences with medical assistance in dying | Les expériences d’étudiantes en sciences infirmières au regard de l’aide médicale à mourir. Qual Adv Nurs Educ - Avancées en Formation Infirmière. 2019;5(1). https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1179 .

Adler M, Ziglio E. Gazing into the oracle. The Delphi method and its application to social policy and public health. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 1996

Keeney S, Hasson F, McKenna H. Consulting the oracle: ten lessons from using the Delphi technique in nursing research. J Adv Nurs. 2006;53(2):205–12.

Keeney S, Hasson F, McKenna H. The Delphi technique in nursing and health research. 1st ed. City: Wiley; 2011.

Willis GB. Cognitive interviewing: a tool for improving questionnaire design. 1st ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage; 2005. ISBN: 9780761928041

Lamb C, Evans M, Babenko-Mould Y, Wong CA, Kirkwood EW. Conscience, conscientious objection, and nursing: a concept analysis. Nurs Ethics. 2017;26(1):37–49.

Lamb C, Evans M, Babenko-Mould Y, Wong CA, Kirkwood K. Nurses’ use of conscientious objection and the implications of conscience. J Adv Nurs. 2018;75(3):594–602.

de Vaus D. Surveys in social research. 6th ed. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge; 2014.

Boateng GO, Neilands TB, Frongillo EA, Melgar-Quiñonez HR, Young SL. Best practices for developing and validating scales for health, social, and behavioral research: A primer. Front Public Health. 2018;6:149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149 .

Puchta C, Potter J. Focus group practice. 1st ed. London: Sage; 2004.

Book Google Scholar

Streiner DL, Norman GR, Cairney J. Health measurement scales: a practical guide to their development and use. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2015.

Hsieh H-F, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res. 2005;15(9):1277–88.

Adesina O, DeBellis A, Zannettino L. Third-year Australian nursing students’ attitudes, experiences, knowledge, and education concerning end-of-life care. Int J of Palliative Nurs. 2014;20(8):395–401.

Bator EX, Philpott B, Costa AP. This moral coil: a cross-sectional survey of Canadian medical student attitudes toward medical assistance in dying. BMC Med Ethics. 2017;18(1):58.

Beuthin R, Bruce A, Scaia M. Medical assistance in dying (MAiD): Canadian nurses’ experiences. Nurs Forum. 2018;53(4):511–20.

Brown J, Goodridge D, Thorpe L, Crizzle A. What is right for me, is not necessarily right for you: the endogenous factors influencing nonparticipation in medical assistance in dying. Qual Health Res. 2021;31(10):1786–1800.

Falconer J, Couture F, Demir KK, Lang M, Shefman Z, Woo M. Perceptions and intentions toward medical assistance in dying among Canadian medical students. BMC Med Ethics. 2019;20(1):22.

Green G, Reicher S, Herman M, Raspaolo A, Spero T, Blau A. Attitudes toward euthanasia—dual view: Nursing students and nurses. Death Stud. 2022;46(1):124–31.

Hosseinzadeh K, Rafiei H. Nursing student attitudes toward euthanasia: a cross-sectional study. Nurs Ethics. 2019;26(2):496–503.

Ozcelik H, Tekir O, Samancioglu S, Fadiloglu C, Ozkara E. Nursing students’ approaches toward euthanasia. Omega (Westport). 2014;69(1):93–103.

Canning SE, Drew C. Canadian nursing students’ understanding, and comfort levels related to medical assistance in dying. Qual Adv Nurs Educ - Avancées en Formation Infirmière. 2022;8(2). https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1326 .

Edo-Gual M, Tomás-Sábado J, Bardallo-Porras D, Monforte-Royo C. The impact of death and dying on nursing students: an explanatory model. J Clin Nurs. 2014;23(23–24):3501–12.

Freeman LA, Pfaff KA, Kopchek L, Liebman J. Investigating palliative care nurse attitudes towards medical assistance in dying: an exploratory cross-sectional study. J Adv Nurs. 2020;76(2):535–45.

Brown J, Goodridge D, Thorpe L, Crizzle A. “I am okay with it, but I am not going to do it:” the exogenous factors influencing non-participation in medical assistance in dying. Qual Health Res. 2021;31(12):2274–89.

Dimoula M, Kotronoulas G, Katsaragakis S, Christou M, Sgourou S, Patiraki E. Undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge about palliative care and attitudes towards end-of-life care: A three-cohort, cross-sectional survey. Nurs Educ Today. 2019;74:7–14.

Matchim Y, Raetong P. Thai nursing students’ experiences of caring for patients at the end of life: a phenomenological study. Int J Palliative Nurs. 2018;24(5):220–9.

Canadian Institute for Health Research. Sex and gender in health research [Internet]. Ottawa: CIHR; 2021 [cited 2023 Oct 23]. Available from: https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/50833.html .

Canadian Nurses’ Association. Nursing statistics. Ottawa: CNA; 2023 [cited 2023 Oct 23]. Available from: https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing/regulated-nursing-in-canada/nursing-statistics .

Krumpal I. Determinants of social desirability bias in sensitive surveys: a literature review. Qual Quant. 2013;47(4):2025–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-011-9640-9 .

Ferri P, Di Lorenzo R, Stifani S, Morotti E, Vagnini M, Jiménez Herrera MF, et al. Nursing student attitudes toward dying patient care: a European multicenter cross-sectional study. Acta Bio Medica Atenei Parmensis. 2021;92(S2): e2021018.

PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Beuthin R, Bruce A. Medical assistance in dying (MAiD): Ten things leaders need to know. Nurs Leadership. 2018;31(4):74–81.

Thiele T, Dunsford J. Nurse leaders’ role in medical assistance in dying: a relational ethics approach. Nurs Ethics. 2019;26(4):993–9.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the faculty and students who generously contributed their time to this work.

JS received a student traineeship through the Principal Research Chairs program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Health and Human Services, Selkirk College, Castlegar, BC, Canada

Jocelyn Schroeder & Barbara Pesut

School of Nursing, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada

Barbara Pesut, Lise Olsen, Nelly D. Oelke & Helen Sharp

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

JS made substantial contributions to the conception of the work; data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation; and drafting and substantively revising the work. JS has approved the submitted version and agreed to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature. BP made substantial contributions to the conception of the work; data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation; and drafting and substantively revising the work. BP has approved the submitted version and agreed to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature. LO made substantial contributions to the conception of the work; data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation; and substantively revising the work. LO has approved the submitted version and agreed to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature. NDO made substantial contributions to the conception of the work; data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation; and substantively revising the work. NDO has approved the submitted version and agreed to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature. HS made substantial contributions to drafting and substantively revising the work. HS has approved the submitted version and agreed to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and the resolution documented in the literature.

Authors’ information

JS conducted this study as part of their graduate requirements in the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Pesut .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The research was approved by the Selkirk College Research Ethics Board (REB) ID # 2021–011 and the University of British Columbia Behavioral Research Ethics Board ID # H21-01181.

All participants provided written and informed consent through approved consent processes. Research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Supplementary material 1., supplementary material 2., supplementary material 3., rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Schroeder, J., Pesut, B., Olsen, L. et al. Developing a survey to measure nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, influences, and willingness to be involved in Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): a mixed method modified e-Delphi study. BMC Nurs 23 , 326 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01984-z

Download citation

Received : 24 October 2023

Accepted : 28 April 2024

Published : 14 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01984-z

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD)
End of life care
Student nurses
Nursing education

BMC Nursing

ISSN: 1472-6955

General enquiries: [email protected]

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Learning Objectives

Differentiate between four kinds of research methods: surveys, field research, experiments, and secondary data analysis
Understand why different topics are better suited to different research approaches

Sociologists examine the world, see a problem or interesting pattern, and set out to study it. They use research methods to design a study—perhaps a detailed, systematic, scientific method for conducting research and obtaining data, or perhaps an ethnographic study utilizing an interpretive framework. Planning the research design is a key step in any sociological study.

When entering a particular social environment, a researcher must be careful. There are times to remain anonymous and times to be overt. There are times to conduct interviews and times to simply observe. Some participants need to be thoroughly informed; others should not know they are being observed. A researcher wouldn’t stroll into a crime-ridden neighborhood at midnight, calling out, “Any gang members around?” And if a researcher walked into a coffee shop and told the employees they would be observed as part of a study on work efficiency, the self-conscious, intimidated baristas might not behave naturally. This is called the Hawthorne effect —where people change their behavior because they know they are being watched as part of a study. The Hawthorne effect is unavoidable in some research. In many cases, sociologists have to make the purpose of the study known. Subjects must be aware that they are being observed, and a certain amount of artificiality may result (Sonnenfeld 1985).

Making sociologists’ presence invisible is not always realistic for other reasons. That option is not available to a researcher studying prison behaviors, early education, or the Ku Klux Klan. Researchers can’t just stroll into prisons, kindergarten classrooms, or Klan meetings and unobtrusively observe behaviors. In situations like these, other methods are needed. All studies shape the research design, while research design simultaneously shapes the study. Researchers choose methods that best suit their study topics and that fit with their overall approaches to research.

In planning studies’ designs, sociologists generally choose from four widely used methods of social investigation: survey, field research, experiment, and secondary data analysis , or use of existing sources. Every research method comes with plusses and minuses, and the topic of study strongly influences which method or methods are put to use.

At some point, most people in the United States respond to some type of survey. The U.S. Census is an excellent example of a large-scale survey intended to gather sociological data. Not all surveys are considered sociological research, however, and many surveys people commonly encounter focus on identifying marketing needs and strategies rather than testing a hypothesis or contributing to social science knowledge. Questions such as, “How many hot dogs do you eat in a month?” or “Were the staff helpful?” are not usually designed as scientific research. Often, polls on television do not reflect a general population, but are merely answers from a specific show’s audience. Polls conducted by programs such as American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance represent the opinions of fans but are not particularly scientific. A good contrast to these are the Nielsen Ratings, which determine the popularity of television programming through scientific market research.

Sociologists conduct surveys under controlled conditions for specific purposes. Surveys gather different types of information from people. While surveys are not great at capturing the ways people really behave in social situations, they are a great method for discovering how people feel and think—or at least how they say they feel and think. Surveys can track preferences for presidential candidates or reported individual behaviors (such as sleeping, driving, or texting habits) or factual information such as employment status, income, and education levels.

A survey targets a specific population , people who are the focus of a study, such as college athletes, international students, or teenagers living with type 1 (juvenile-onset) diabetes. Most researchers choose to survey a small sector of the population, or a sample : that is, a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population. The success of a study depends on how well a population is represented by the sample. In a random sample , every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for the study. According to the laws of probability, random samples represent the population as a whole. For instance, a Gallup Poll, if conducted as a nationwide random sampling, should be able to provide an accurate estimate of public opinion whether it contacts 2,000 or 10,000 people.

After selecting subjects, the researcher develops a specific plan to ask questions and record responses. It is important to inform subjects of the nature and purpose of the study up front. If they agree to participate, researchers thank subjects and offer them a chance to see the results of the study if they are interested. The researcher presents the subjects with an instrument, which is a means of gathering the information. A common instrument is a questionnaire, in which subjects answer a series of questions. For some topics, the researcher might ask yes-or-no or multiple-choice questions, allowing subjects to choose possible responses to each question. This kind of quantitative data —research collected in numerical form that can be counted—are easy to tabulate. Just count up the number of “yes” and “no” responses or correct answers, and chart them into percentages.

Questionnaires can also ask more complex questions with more complex answers—beyond “yes,” “no,” or the option next to a checkbox. In those cases, the answers are subjective and vary from person to person. How do plan to use your college education? Why do you follow Jimmy Buffett around the country and attend every concert? Those types of questions require short essay responses, and participants willing to take the time to write those answers will convey personal information about religious beliefs, political views, and morals. Some topics that reflect internal thought are impossible to observe directly and are difficult to discuss honestly in a public forum. People are more likely to share honest answers if they can respond to questions anonymously. This type of information is qualitative data —results that are subjective and often based on what is seen in a natural setting. Qualitative information is harder to organize and tabulate. The researcher will end up with a wide range of responses, some of which may be surprising. The benefit of written opinions, though, is the wealth of material that they provide.

An interview is a one-on-one conversation between the researcher and the subject, and it is a way of conducting surveys on a topic. Interviews are similar to the short-answer questions on surveys in that the researcher asks subjects a series of questions. However, participants are free to respond as they wish, without being limited by predetermined choices. In the back-and-forth conversation of an interview, a researcher can ask for clarification, spend more time on a subtopic, or ask additional questions. In an interview, a subject will ideally feel free to open up and answer questions that are often complex. There are no right or wrong answers. The subject might not even know how to answer the questions honestly.

Questions such as, “How did society’s view of alcohol consumption influence your decision whether or not to take your first sip of alcohol?” or “Did you feel that the divorce of your parents would put a social stigma on your family?” involve so many factors that the answers are difficult to categorize. A researcher needs to avoid steering or prompting the subject to respond in a specific way; otherwise, the results will prove to be unreliable. And, obviously, a sociological interview is not an interrogation. The researcher will benefit from gaining a subject’s trust, from empathizing or commiserating with a subject, and from listening without judgment.

Field Research

The researcher interacts with or observes a person or people and gathers data along the way. The key point in field research is that it takes place in the subject’s natural environment, whether it’s a coffee shop or tribal village, a homeless shelter or the DMV, a hospital, airport, mall, or beach resort.

While field research often begins in a specific setting , the study’s purpose is to observe specific behaviors in that setting. Field work is optimal for observing how people behave. It is less useful, however, for understanding why they behave that way. You can’t really narrow down cause and effect when there are so many variables floating around in a natural environment.

Much of the data gathered in field research are based not on cause and effect but on correlation . And while field research looks for correlation, its small sample size does not allow for establishing a causal relationship between two variables.

Some sociologists study small groups of people who share an identity in one aspect of their lives. Almost everyone belongs to a group of like-minded people who share an interest or hobby. Scientologists, folk dancers, or members of Mensa (an organization for people with exceptionally high IQs) express a specific part of their identity through their affiliation with a group. Those groups are often of great interest to sociologists.

Jimmy Buffett, an American musician who built a career from his single top-10 song “Margaritaville,” has a following of devoted groupies called Parrotheads. Some of them have taken fandom to the extreme, making Parrothead culture a lifestyle. In 2005, Parrotheads and their subculture caught the attention of researchers John Mihelich and John Papineau. The two saw the way Jimmy Buffett fans collectively created an artificial reality. They wanted to know how fan groups shape culture.

What Mihelich and Papineau found was that Parrotheads, for the most part, do not seek to challenge or even change society, as many sub-groups do. In fact, most Parrotheads live successfully within society, holding upper-level jobs in the corporate world. What they seek is escape from the stress of daily life.

At Jimmy Buffett concerts, Parrotheads engage in a form of role play. They paint their faces and dress for the tropics in grass skirts, Hawaiian leis, and Parrot hats. These fans don’t generally play the part of Parrotheads outside of these concerts; you are not likely to see a lone Parrothead in a bank or library. In that sense, Parrothead culture is less about individualism and more about conformity. Being a Parrothead means sharing a specific identity. Parrotheads feel connected to each other: it’s a group identity, not an individual one.

In their study, Mihelich and Papineau quote from a recent book by sociologist Richard Butsch, who writes, “un-self-conscious acts, if done by many people together, can produce change, even though the change may be unintended” (2000). Many Parrothead fan groups have performed good works in the name of Jimmy Buffett culture, donating to charities and volunteering their services.

However, the authors suggest that what really drives Parrothead culture is commercialism. Jimmy Buffett’s popularity was dying out in the 1980s until being reinvigorated after he signed a sponsorship deal with a beer company. These days, his concert tours alone generate nearly $30 million a year. Buffett made a lucrative career for himself by partnering with product companies and marketing Margaritaville in the form of T-shirts, restaurants, casinos, and an expansive line of products. Some fans accuse Buffett of selling out, while others admire his financial success. Buffett makes no secret of his commercial exploitations; from the stage, he’s been known to tell his fans, “Just remember, I am spending your money foolishly.”

Mihelich and Papineau gathered much of their information online. Referring to their study as a “Web ethnography,” they collected extensive narrative material from fans who joined Parrothead clubs and posted their experiences on websites. “We do not claim to have conducted a complete ethnography of Parrothead fans, or even of the Parrothead Web activity,” state the authors, “but we focused on particular aspects of Parrothead practice as revealed through Web research” (2005). Fan narratives gave them insight into how individuals identify with Buffett’s world and how fans used popular music to cultivate personal and collective meaning.

In conducting studies about pockets of culture, most sociologists seek to discover a universal appeal. Mihelich and Papineau stated, “Although Parrotheads are a relative minority of the contemporary US population, an in-depth look at their practice and conditions illuminate [sic] cultural practices and conditions many of us experience and participate in” (2005).

Here, we will look at three types of field research: participant observation, ethnography, and the case study.

Participant Observation

Rothman had conducted a form of study called participant observation , in which researchers join people and participate in a group’s routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context. This method lets researchers experience a specific aspect of social life. A researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend, institution, or behavior. Researchers temporarily put themselves into roles and record their observations. A researcher might work as a waitress in a diner, live as a homeless person for several weeks, or ride along with police officers as they patrol their regular beat. Often, these researchers try to blend in seamlessly with the population they study, and they may not disclose their true identity or purpose if they feel it would compromise the results of their research.

This type of research is what journalist Barbara Ehrenreich conducted for her book Nickel and Dimed . One day over lunch with her editor, as the story goes, Ehrenreich mentioned an idea. How can people exist on minimum-wage work? How do low-income workers get by? she wondered. Someone should do a study. To her surprise, her editor responded, Why don’t you do it?

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , the book she wrote upon her return to her real life as a well-paid writer, has been widely read and used in many college classrooms.

Ethnography

Ethnography is the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting. Ethnographies involve objective observation of an entire community.

The heart of an ethnographic study focuses on how subjects view their own social standing and how they understand themselves in relation to a community. An ethnographic study might observe, for example, a small U.S. fishing town, an Inuit community, a village in Thailand, a Buddhist monastery, a private boarding school, or an amusement park. These places all have borders. People live, work, study, or vacation within those borders. People are there for a certain reason and therefore behave in certain ways and respect certain cultural norms. An ethnographer would commit to spending a determined amount of time studying every aspect of the chosen place, taking in as much as possible.

Institutional Ethnography

Historically, social science research tended to objectify women and ignore their experiences except as viewed from the male perspective. Modern feminists note that describing women, and other marginalized groups, as subordinates helps those in authority maintain their own dominant positions (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, n.d.). Smith’s three major works explored what she called “the conceptual practices of power” (1990; cited in Fensternmaker, n.d.) and are still considered seminal works in feminist theory and ethnography.

Ethnographers had been examining other cultures for decades—groups considered minority or outsider—like gangs, immigrants, and the poor. But no one had studied the so-called average American.

Recording interviews and using surveys to gather data, the Lynds did not sugarcoat or idealize U.S. life (PBS). They objectively stated what they observed. Researching existing sources, they compared Muncie in 1890 to the Muncie they observed in 1924. Most Muncie adults, they found, had grown up on farms but now lived in homes inside the city. From that discovery, the Lynds focused their study on the impact of industrialization and urbanization.

They observed that Muncie was divided into business class and working class groups. They defined business class as dealing with abstract concepts and symbols, while working class people used tools to create concrete objects. The two classes led different lives with different goals and hopes. However, the Lynds observed, mass production offered both classes the same amenities. Like wealthy families, the working class was now able to own radios, cars, washing machines, telephones, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators. This was an emerging material new reality of the 1920s.

As the Lynds worked, they divided their manuscript into six sections: Getting a Living, Making a Home, Training the Young, Using Leisure, Engaging in Religious Practices, and Engaging in Community Activities. Each chapter included subsections such as “The Long Arm of the Job” and “Why Do They Work So Hard?” in the “Getting a Living” chapter.

Nothing like it had ever been done before. Middletown was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times . Readers in the 1920s and 1930s identified with the citizens of Muncie, Indiana, but they were equally fascinated by the sociological methods and the use of scientific data to define ordinary people in the United States. The book was proof that social data was important—and interesting—to the U.S. public.

Researchers might use this method to study a single case of, for example, a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or rape victim. However, a major criticism of the case study as a method is that a developed study of a single case, while offering depth on a topic, does not provide enough evidence to form a generalized conclusion. In other words, it is difficult to make universal claims based on just one person, since one person does not verify a pattern. This is why most sociologists do not use case studies as a primary research method.

However, case studies are useful when the single case is unique. In these instances, a single case study can add tremendous knowledge to a certain discipline. For example, a feral child, also called “wild child,” is one who grows up isolated from human beings. Feral children grow up without social contact and language, which are elements crucial to a “civilized” child’s development. These children mimic the behaviors and movements of animals, and often invent their own language. There are only about one hundred cases of “feral children” in the world.

As you may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral children provide unique information about child development because they have grown up outside of the parameters of “normal” child development. And since there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method for researchers to use in studying the subject.

Experiments

You’ve probably tested personal social theories. “If I study at night and review in the morning, I’ll improve my retention skills.” Or, “If I stop drinking soda, I’ll feel better.” Cause and effect. If this, then that. When you test the theory, your results either prove or disprove your hypothesis.

One way researchers test social theories is by conducting an experiment , meaning they investigate relationships to test a hypothesis—a scientific approach.

There are two main types of experiments: lab-based experiments and natural or field experiments. In a lab setting, the research can be controlled so that perhaps more data can be recorded in a certain amount of time. In a natural or field-based experiment, the generation of data cannot be controlled but the information might be considered more accurate since it was collected without interference or intervention by the researcher.

As a research method, either type of sociological experiment is useful for testing if-then statements: if a particular thing happens, then another particular thing will result. To set up a lab-based experiment, sociologists create artificial situations that allow them to manipulate variables.

Classically, the sociologist selects a set of people with similar characteristics, such as age, class, race, or education. Those people are divided into two groups. One is the experimental group and the other is the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable(s) and the control group is not. To test the benefits of tutoring, for example, the sociologist might expose the experimental group of students to tutoring but not the control group. Then both groups would be tested for differences in performance to see if tutoring had an effect on the experimental group of students. As you can imagine, in a case like this, the researcher would not want to jeopardize the accomplishments of either group of students, so the setting would be somewhat artificial. The test would not be for a grade reflected on their permanent record, for example.

A real-life example will help illustrate the experiment process. In 1971, Frances Heussenstamm, a sociology professor at California State University at Los Angeles, had a theory about police prejudice. To test her theory she conducted an experiment. She chose fifteen students from three ethnic backgrounds: black, white, and Hispanic. She chose students who routinely drove to and from campus along Los Angeles freeway routes, and who’d had perfect driving records for longer than a year. Those were her independent variables—students, good driving records, same commute route.

Next, she placed a Black Panther bumper sticker on each car. That sticker, a representation of a social value, was the independent variable. In the 1970s, the Black Panthers were a revolutionary group actively fighting racism. Heussenstamm asked the students to follow their normal driving patterns. She wanted to see whether seeming support of the Black Panthers would change how these good drivers were treated by the police patrolling the highways. The dependent variable would be the number of traffic stops/citations.

The first arrest, for an incorrect lane change, was made two hours after the experiment began. One participant was pulled over three times in three days. He quit the study. After seventeen days, the fifteen drivers had collected a total of thirty-three traffic citations. The experiment was halted. The funding to pay traffic fines had run out, and so had the enthusiasm of the participants (Heussenstamm 1971).

Secondary Data Analysis

While sociologists often engage in original research studies, they also contribute knowledge to the discipline through secondary data analysis . Secondary data doesn’t result from firsthand research collected from primary sources, but are the already completed work of other researchers. Sociologists might study works written by historians, economists, teachers, or early sociologists. They might search through periodicals, newspapers, or magazines from any period in history.

Social scientists also learn by analyzing the research of a variety of agencies. Governmental departments and global groups, like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or the World Health Organization, publish studies with findings that are useful to sociologists. A public statistic like the foreclosure rate might be useful for studying the effects of the 2008 recession; a racial demographic profile might be compared with data on education funding to examine the resources accessible by different groups.

One of the advantages of secondary data is that it is nonreactive research (or unobtrusive research), meaning that it does not include direct contact with subjects and will not alter or influence people’s behaviors. Unlike studies requiring direct contact with people, using previously published data doesn’t require entering a population and the investment and risks inherent in that research process.

But, in some cases, there is no way to verify the accuracy of existing data. It is easy to count how many drunk drivers, for example, are pulled over by the police. But how many are not? While it’s possible to discover the percentage of teenage students who drop out of high school, it might be more challenging to determine the number who return to school or get their GED later.

Another problem arises when data are unavailable in the exact form needed or do not include the precise angle the researcher seeks. For example, the average salaries paid to professors at a public school is public record. But the separate figures don’t necessarily reveal how long it took each professor to reach the salary range, what their educational backgrounds are, or how long they’ve been teaching.

When conducting content analysis, it is important to consider the date of publication of an existing source and to take into account attitudes and common cultural ideals that may have influenced the research. For example, Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd gathered research for their book Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture in the 1920s. Attitudes and cultural norms were vastly different then than they are now. Beliefs about gender roles, race, education, and work have changed significantly since then. At the time, the study’s purpose was to reveal the truth about small U.S. communities. Today, it is an illustration of 1920s’ attitudes and values.

Sociological research is a fairly complex process. As you can see, a lot goes into even a simple research design. There are many steps and much to consider when collecting data on human behavior, as well as in interpreting and analyzing data in order to form conclusive results. Sociologists use scientific methods for good reason. The scientific method provides a system of organization that helps researchers plan and conduct the study while ensuring that data and results are reliable, valid, and objective.

The many methods available to researchers—including experiments, surveys, field studies, and secondary data analysis—all come with advantages and disadvantages. The strength of a study can depend on the choice and implementation of the appropriate method of gathering research. Depending on the topic, a study might use a single method or a combination of methods. It is important to plan a research design before undertaking a study. The information gathered may in itself be surprising, and the study design should provide a solid framework in which to analyze predicted and unpredicted data.

Section Quiz

Which materials are considered secondary data?

Photos and letters given to you by another person
Books and articles written by other authors about their studies
Information that you have gathered and now have included in your results
Responses from participants whom you both surveyed and interviewed

What method did researchers John Mihelich and John Papineau use to study Parrotheads?

Web Ethnography

Why is choosing a random sample an effective way to select participants?

Participants do not know they are part of a study
The researcher has no control over who is in the study
It is larger than an ordinary sample
Everyone has the same chance of being part of the study

What research method did John S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd mainly use in their Middletown study?

Secondary data
Participant observation

Which research approach is best suited to the scientific method?

Questionnaire
Secondary data analysis

The main difference between ethnography and other types of participant observation is:

ethnography isn’t based on hypothesis testing
ethnography subjects are unaware they’re being studied
ethnographic studies always involve minority ethnic groups
ethnography focuses on how subjects view themselves in relationship to the community

Which best describes the results of a case study?

It produces more reliable results than other methods because of its depth
Its results are not generally applicable
It relies solely on secondary data analysis
All of the above

Using secondary data is considered an unobtrusive or ________ research method.

nonreactive
nonparticipatory
nonrestrictive
nonconfrontive

Short Answer

What type of data do surveys gather? For what topics would surveys be the best research method? What drawbacks might you expect to encounter when using a survey? To explore further, ask a research question and write a hypothesis. Then create a survey of about six questions relevant to the topic. Provide a rationale for each question. Now define your population and create a plan for recruiting a random sample and administering the survey.

Imagine you are about to do field research in a specific place for a set time. Instead of thinking about the topic of study itself, consider how you, as the researcher, will have to prepare for the study. What personal, social, and physical sacrifices will you have to make? How will you manage your personal effects? What organizational equipment and systems will you need to collect the data?

Create a brief research design about a topic in which you are passionately interested. Now write a letter to a philanthropic or grant organization requesting funding for your study. How can you describe the project in a convincing yet realistic and objective way? Explain how the results of your study will be a relevant contribution to the body of sociological work already in existence.

Further Research

For information on current real-world sociology experiments, visit: http://openstax.org/l/Sociology-Experiments

Butsch, Richard. 2000. The Making of American Audiences: From Stage to Television, 1750–1990 . Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Caplow, Theodore, Louis Hicks, and Ben Wattenberg. 2000. “The First Measured Century: Middletown.” The First Measured Century . PBS. Retrieved February 23, 2012 ( http://www.pbs.org/fmc/index.htm ).

Durkheim, Émile. 1966 [1897]. Suicide . New York: Free Press.

Fenstermaker, Sarah. n.d. “Dorothy E. Smith Award Statement” American Sociological Association . Retrieved October 19, 2014 ( http://www.asanet.org/about/awards/duboiscareer/smith.cfm ).

Franke, Richard, and James Kaul. 1978. “The Hawthorne Experiments: First Statistical Interpretation.” American Sociological Review 43(5):632–643.

Grice, Elizabeth. “Cry of an Enfant Sauvage.” The Telegraph . Retrieved July 20, 2011 ( http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3653890/Cry-of-an-enfant-sauvage.html ).

Heussenstamm, Frances K. 1971. “Bumper Stickers and Cops” Trans-action: Social Science and Modern Society 4:32–33.

Igo, Sarah E. 2008. The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Lynd, Robert S., and Helen Merrell Lynd. 1959. Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture . San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Javanovich.

Lynd, Staughton. 2005. “Making Middleton.” Indiana Magazine of History 101(3):226–238.

Mihelich, John, and John Papineau. Aug 2005. “Parrotheads in Margaritaville: Fan Practice, Oppositional Culture, and Embedded Cultural Resistance in Buffett Fandom.” Journal of Popular Music Studies 17(2):175–202.

Pew Research Center. 2014. “Ebola Worries Rise, But Most Are ‘Fairly’ Confident in Government, Hospitals to Deal with Disease: Broad Support for U.S. Efforts to Deal with Ebola in West Africa.” Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, October 21. Retrieved October 25, 2014 ( http://www.people-press.org/2014/10/21/ebola-worries-rise-but-most-are-fairly-confident-in-government-hospitals-to-deal-with-disease/ ).

Rothman, Rodney. 2000. “My Fake Job.” Pp. 120 in The New Yorker , November 27.

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. n.d. “Institutional Ethnography.” Retrieved October 19, 2014 ( http://web.uvic.ca/~mariecam/kgSite/institutionalEthnography.html ).

Sonnenfeld, Jeffery A. 1985. “Shedding Light on the Hawthorne Studies.” Journal of Occupational Behavior 6:125.

Share This Book

Open supplemental data
Reference Manager
Simple TEXT file

People also looked at

Original research article, local perspectives on marine ecotourism development in a water-insecure island region: the case of bocas del toro, panama.

1 Ocean Nexus, Dalhousie University, Marine Affairs Program, Halifax, NS, Canada
2 Center for Tropical Island Biodiversity Studies, The School for Field Studies, Bocas del Toro, Panama

As a dimension of a blue economy, marine ecotourism should, in theory, not only increase economic viability and environmental sustainability but, most importantly, pursue socially equitable outcomes. In tropical and sub-tropical island regions, where substantial tourism development is often coupled with widespread strains on public infrastructure and services, including water access, there exists a need to better understand the expansion of this industry is felt at the community level; more importantly by individuals who are reliant on these infrastructures and services. Through a case study of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, where water insecurity is becoming acute, we draw on and mobilize stories from local community members, alongside non-participant observations and document collection, to 1) document the experience of some community members with water insecurity and shortages, including how they perceive the roles played by the central government and marine ecotourism sector, and 2) examine how community members feel about how communities feel about policies and investment priorities of the central government regarding water insecurity, including the extent to which they view marine ecotourism development as undermining or promoting local needs. Our results underline the complex nature of marine ecotourism governance and infrastructure development outcomes in a resource-insecure island region, demonstrating that current issues are greatly impacted by historical and social underpinnings of neo-colonialism and systemic racism, misalignments of community vs. government development priorities, and eroded political trust, that shape local experiences with sustainable development and local residents’ perceptions of the ability of marine ecotourism to address issues of water insecurity. Moreover, while our focus is on the marine ecotourism industry, the significance of these findings contributes to a growing body of literature that places local experiences at the forefront of research into the implications of sustainable development in island regions.

Introduction

The marine ecotourism industry is considered to be a dimension of a ‘blue economy’; an ocean-wide sustainable development strategy proposed by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in 2012 to “promote economic growth, social inclusion, and preservation or improvement of livelihoods, while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability” ( World Bank and UN DESA, 2017 , p.1). In theory, marine ecotourism should not only increase economic viability and environmental sustainability but, most importantly, pursue social equity—a “distinctive system of individualized justice” ( Minow, 2021 , p.173). In island regions, where substantial tourism appeal is often coupled with widespread issues of water insecurity ( Cole, 2012 ; Gössling et al., 2012 ; Gossling, 2015 ), this study explores questions regarding the ability of a blue economy strategy, rooted in marine ecotourism, to equitably address both development and well-being in the eyes of those local to island regions. In this paper, we refer exclusively to tropical and sub-tropical islands when discussing ‘islands’ or ‘island regions.’

In island regions, local blue economies are often heavily reliant on the marine tourism industry ( UNWTO, 2023 ). However, as per Leposa (2020) , large volumes of tourists, and the services required to support them (e.g., transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, recreation, etc.), can exacerbate existing issues of local public utility access, often due to infrastructural deficiencies or inherent vulnerabilities to climate change. Important to this study, in particular, is the relationship between the marine ecotourism industry and the availability and management of water resources.

To our knowledge there exist few studies that sit at the intersection of marine ecotourism and water insecurity in island regions specifically; less so those that are guided by, and draw conclusions from, the experiences of those individuals that most closely feel their impacts. As the push for blue economic development continues to grow ( Cisneros-Montemayor et al., 2021 ; Pace et al., 2023 ), and water insecurity becomes increasingly prevalent in climate-vulnerable regions ( Winters et al., 2022 ; Crisman and Winters, 2023 ), failing to capture how the two intersect and are felt at the community level could pose risks of conducting research with communities as the ‘subject’ rather than active participants and beneficiaries of the research process ( Israel et al., 2019 ), and/or informing policies that do not capture the nuances of community interests and needs ( Freudenberg and Tsui, 2014 ; Cisneros-Montemayor et al., 2019 ).

Marine ecotourism can be described as a “nature-based; environmentally educated; and sustainably managed” ocean tourism industry involving activities such as recreational fishing, snorkelling, whale watching, and SCUBA diving, for example ( Blamey, 2001 , p.6). Modern definitions also include dimensions of local benefits ( Sakellariadou, 2014 ; Das and Chatterjee, 2015 ; Ramos-García et al., 2017 ; Tuwo et al., 2021 ). This can entail increasing market demand for locally produced goods, the use of, and investment in, local facilities and infrastructure, opportunities for local entrepreneurship, and the generation of new revenue streams that remain within a community, for example ( Sakellariadou, 2014 ).

Unlike traditional mass tourism models, marine ecotourism adopts aspects of environmental conservation and promotes community involvement. However, when these tenets are not upheld, due to a variety of reasons (e.g., poor management, lack of community involvement, limited enforcement regimes, etc.), the industry can promote unsustainable practices on all fronts—economic, social, and environmental ( Hoyman and McCall, 2013 ; Rahman et al., 2022 ; Zeng et al., 2022 ). As such, recent scholarship has called for a re-prioritization of social sustainability within blue economic development ( Pascual et al., 2014 ; Bennett et al., 2019 ; Leposa, 2020 ; Nugraheni et al., 2020 ; Osterblum et al., 2020 ; Campbell et al., 2021 ; Cisneros-Montemayor et al., 2021 ), with concerns raised regarding the implication of developing marine industries in areas where there is significant need to consume and manage resources sustainably.

The United Nations (UN) refers to water security as the ability of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities and quality of water for the support of livelihoods, human well-being and socio-economic development ( UN Water, 2013 ). In this sense, water in security is the condition in which at least one of the above variables (i.e., quantity, quality, or accessibility) is not met, threatening human well-being. While many island regions have some degree of established water infrastructure, the coincidence of ‘dry season’ and peak tourist landings can perpetuate regional instabilities in water security, where local residents compete for this essential yet scarce resource; both with tourists and between communities ( Gheuens et al., 2019 ).

In this study, we draw on and mobilize stories of local residents in a heavily touristed island to better understand how the relationship between marine ecotourism and water insecurity manifests at the community level. We explore the case of Panama’s Bocas del Toro Archipelago (henceforth referred to as ‘Bocas del Toro’ or ‘the archipelago’), where substantial tourism appeal and infrastructural issues coexist, as a microcosm of the paradox of pursuing a marine ecotourism-based blue economy in a water insecure island region. Through integrating non-participant observations and collected documents with a series of semi-structured interview responses we aim to 1) document the experience of some community members with water insecurity and shortages, including how they perceive the roles played by the central government and marine ecotourism sector, and 2) examine whether community members feel as though water insecurity and shortages have influenced policies and economic investment and the extent to which marine ecotourism development may undermine or promote changes.

Our results underline the dynamic and complex nature of marine ecotourism governance and infrastructure development outcomes in a resource-insecure island region, highlighting the historical, political, and social underpinnings that shape perceptions of, and poor experiences with, blue economic. While our focus is on the marine ecotourism industry, the significance of these findings contributes to a growing body of literature that places local experiences at the forefront of research into the implications of sustainable development in island regions.

Island development and marine ecotourism

Although often associated with ‘paradise’ ( Baldacchino, 2012 ), island nations are considered, by the UN, to be some of the world’s ‘least developed’ nations (UN, n.d.), with island regions often referred to as ‘vulnerable,’ given their narrow resource bases, remoteness, and susceptibility to natural hazards and external economic shocks ( Baldacchino, 2012 ; Belmar et al., 2016 ; Lucas et al., 2017 ; Nunn and Kumar, 2017 ). That said, it is important to note that this explicitly reflects the barriers that may limit attempts to garner increased economic prosperity and/or development capacity rather than island societies as a whole.

As described by ( Grydehøj et al., 2021 , p.4), in reflecting upon Hau’ofa (1994) , the modern development and governance of island resources is also often heavily steeped in colonialism, where Western standards for ‘successful’ development are far too narrow in their economic, geographic, and cultural views. Dating back to the 15th century, island states have faced oppression from the United States, France, Spain, England, and the Netherlands ( Keegan and Diamond, 1987 ; Leposa, 2020 ). While there remain proponents of some aspects of the colonial legacy ( Feyrer and Sacerdote, 2009 ), Kay (2010) maintains that colonialism, in Latin America specifically, has led to harmful endo -colonial relations that sit at the root of present-day developmental inequities. In the Caribbean, Sealy (2018) notes that colonization has not only impacted the regional ethnic makeup, but that the perpetuation of globalization as a neo-colonial structure has created a larger dependence on investments from the Global North. Overall, there exists a small body of literature that discusses the role of the blue economy in perpetuating or combating neo-colonialism. However, scholarship surrounding the colonization of islands maintains that neo-colonialism can propagate harmful outcomes of sustainable development projects such as marine ecotourism ( Heim, 2017 ; Durokifa and Ijeoma, 2018 ; Grydehøj et al., 2021 ).

Typically, ‘tourism intensive’ island regions derive a substantial proportion of their economic development from the marine ecotourism industry ( Adamiak and Szyda, 2022 ). McElroy (2006) refers to tourist-driven island economies as SITES (‘Small Island Tourist Economies’), describing the expansion of tourism as a prominent development strategy for small economies, where there exist large dependencies on the industry. While, marine ecotourism can lead to a host of benefits, research in the island context specifically, more often notes the potential consequences of such development in destinations considered to be on the ‘global periphery’ ( Dodds and Graci, 2012 ). For example, while ecotourism may produce local job opportunities, Das and Chatterjee (2015) posit that community members are more often placed in low-skill and/or low-pay roles. Moreover, Harrison and Prasad (2011) found that in Fiji, for example, there exist high levels of benefit leakages to foreign investors. In Bocas del Toro, specifically ( Scott et al., 2024 , p.2), explain that tourism-related development can lead to inequitable impacts through the promotion of real estate ventures in culturally significant areas, like mangroves, where investors may view the local environment as “obstacles to achieving ‘paradise.’”

Bocas del Toro, Panama

Located off the Caribbean coast of Panama, Bocas del Toro is one of the country’s top ecotourism destinations. It consists of approximately nine islands and 200 islets and is home to a population of approximately 22,500 across the larger Bocas del Toro district ( INEC, 2021 ). Attributable to a history of colonialism, the construction of the Panama Canal, and the cultivation of a plantation economy, among other reasons, the region is also home to a variety of distinct racial and cultural groups including Ngäbe peoples (those indigenous to present-day Panama and Costa Rica), Panamanians, Afro-Antilleans, and Chinese individuals, for example ( Guerrón-Montero, 2006 ; Carse, 2014 ; Suman and Spalding, 2018 ). Moreover, Bocas del Toro’s most developed islands have become increasingly inhabited by lifestyle migrants—relatively affluent individuals with the capacity to move to destinations, typically in the Global South, with warmer climates, a lower cost of living, and a seemingly higher quality of life—from the United States ( Benson, 2013 ; Spalding, 2013 ).

Although not formally considered an autonomous state, Bocas del Toro displays many of the hallmark characteristics of a SIDS as per the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States ( UN-OHRLLS, 2022 ). It is home to both a distinct societal makeup and unique marine ecosystems ( Seemann et al., 2014 ; Pleasant and Spalding, 2021 ), and faces documented issues of infrastructural development and geographic isolation from larger global markets ( Tilmans et al., 2014 ; Pleasant and Spalding, 2021 ).

Bocas del Toro’s economy is predominantly supported by the tourism industry; across the larger Bocas del Toro province, tourism makes up 95% of all economic activity, greatly exceeding the national average ( Klytchnikova and Dorosh, 2013 ). The most lucrative form of tourism is referred to by the Autoridad de Turismo de Panama (Tourism Authority of Panama; ATP) as ‘island ecotourism’ ( ATP, 2020 ), with the most popular destinations being Starfish Beach, Red Frog Beach, and Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park ( Camarca de Turismo de Bocas del Toro, 2022 ). While the ATP does not explicitly refer to ‘marine ecotourism’ in their reporting, for the purposes of this study, ‘island ecotourism’ and ‘marine ecotourism’ will be considered synonymous, as their accepted definitions align greatly.

Common marine ecotourism-based businesses in the region include boat tours and taxis, restaurants, hostels, and gift shops, with much of the region’s tourism development concentrated in Bocas Town, Isla Colón, where an average of 150,000 tourists visited annually pre-COVID-19 pandemic ( Gray et al., 2015 ). Strikingly, although Bocas del Toro now sees approximately 225,000 tourists per year, the Bocas del Toro province remains one of the poorest in the nation ( CECOMRO, 2018 ; ATP, 2020 ).

Moreover, to appreciate the nuances of Bocas del Toro’s current socioeconomic landscape, one must also understand its economic history, which is closely tied to colonial resource extraction. In the early 20 th century, the construction of the Panama Canal and the establishment of the U.S. Canal Zone cemented the United States as a major player in the Panamanian economy. In Bocas del Toro, specifically, this presence was predominantly felt through the establishment of the United Fruit Company (UFC), an American-owned corporation trading in Latin American-grown fruit, namely bananas ( Pleasant and Spalding, 2021 ). Typically supporting the UFC’s operations were Afro-Caribbean and Ngäbe workers, as well as labour migrants from China and Italy ( Spalding, 2011 ). This created harmful shifts in power, as Black and Indigenous individuals were often exploited and marginalized through the imposition of a globally capitalistic system ( Amin, 1978 ). While small-scale operations remain (now Chiquita Brands International), the UFC’s presence in the archipelago declined greatly by 1990 due to war, crop diseases, and labour losses (as a result of poor pay and working conditions) ( Guerrón-Montero, 2006 ), making way for a burgeoning tourism industry by the 2000s, as many large-scale housing developments were left vacant and global interest in the region increased following the 1991 earthquake.

Today, the archipelago’s socioeconomic and environmental systems are inextricably linked to the marine ecotourism industry, attracting individuals looking to experience its vibrant culture, beautiful beaches, and ocean life ( Klytchnikova and Dorosh, 2013 ; Spalding et al., 2015 ; Lucas, 2019 ; ATP, 2020 ; Mach and Vahradian, 2021 ; Pleasant and Spalding, 2021 ; Bocas del Toro Tourism, 2023 ). That said, tourism infrastructure across Bocas del Toro has been deemed ‘suboptimal’ by the ATP, specifically as it pertains to the limitation of physical space and the overload of basic services, such as water provisioning ( ATP, 2020 ). Critical to this study, Bocas del Toro is also home to widespread issues of water insecurity; the majority of households across archipelago do not have access to running water supplied by the Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (Institute of Aquaducts and Sewers; IDAAN), with 23% of the population instead turning to bottled water or drinking unfiltered rainwater respectively ( CNA, 2016 ) ( Figure 1 ). In fact, just 1.9% of the total residences connected to IDAAN’s services reside in the Bocas del Toro province ( IDAAN, 2022 ). As such, water insecurity is among the region’s most precarious issues.

Figure 1 Regional water insecurity across the Bocas del Toro Archipelago represented by the percentage of households in each census region without access to running water. The population density of each region in relation to the archipelago’s total population is also represented. Uncoloured areas represent regions outside of the archipelago or those not captured by the Panamanian Census. Created using the 2010 Panamanian Census Data, accessed from the STRI GIS Data Portal (2019) .

In this study we employ a multi-method approach—the combining of two or more methods to expand one’s research base when investigating a research question or phenomenon ( Roller and Lavrakas, 2015 )—that is firmly rooted in local experiences and perceptions. This includes the use of semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation, and document collection. While our approach pulls from that of political ecology, we do not attempt to formally mobilize methods typically used in such studies (e.g., Cole, 2012 ), but rather utilize participant responses to deduce the governance processes, historical events, etc., that frame their experiences with marine ecotourism and water insecurity. It should be noted that the data collection period in Bocas del Toro (May 25 th , 2023 to June 27 th , 2023) also coincided with a water shortage; declared an environmental emergency on June 9 th , 2023.

Semi-structured interviews

A member of our research team travelled to Bocas del Toro from May 25 th , 2023 to June 9 th , 2023 to conduct semi-structured interviews; asking participants open-ended questions to elicit information regarding one’s research topic ( Adeoye-Olatunde and Olenik, 2021 ). During this time, a total of 16 individuals, including members of the Bocas del Toro Chamber of Tourism, property owners, business owners, tour guides, labourers, and concerned citizens, were interviewed. Participants in this process—those older than 18 years of age and who have lived in the region for over 5 years—were identified through a purposive snowball method ( Weiss, 1994 ), beginning with contacts provided by a local informant.

Topics discussed (i.e., water shortages, infrastructure, economic and tourism development, and overall welfare) were drawn from a pre-determined interview guide developed through preliminary document collection and with guidance from researchers in the region (see Supplementary Table 3 ). While the guide was used to facilitate conversation, it adapted as more information was provided and new events occurred (i.e., the onset of an environmental emergency during the interview period). Interviews lasted an average of one hour and, depending on the participant’s level of comfort, were conducted in both English and Spanish (with an interpreter translating responses). Due to participant location and the accessibility of each island, interviews took place across three of Bocas del Toro’s nine main islands—Isla Colón, Isla Carenero, and Isla San Cristóbal ( Table 1 ).

Table 1 Socioeconomic and geographic description of interview locations/study sites.

Non-participant observation

To support responses collected during interviews, non-participant observation—observing and documenting an event without actively participating in activities ( Becker and Geer, 1957 )—was used to explore how ecotourist attractions function across the archipelago and further understand how communities respond to, and navigate, water shortages. Observed events were identified through community contacts established during the interview period as well as local WhatsApp groups; typically used to share important information across the region. They included waiting in line at public wells, visiting an ecotourist attraction, observing protests regarding water access, and attending a public meeting with IDAAN (further event details available in Supplementary Table 4 ). The average observation process lasted approximately one hour and involved taking notes regarding what did and did not occur, what demographic of individuals were present, and the overall tone of those present.

Document collection

Given that this is the first study to investigate topics of marine ecotourism and water insecurity in Bocas del Toro, supplementary grey literature was sought out to provide wider context and breadth to the study. Documents were found by searching for qualitative phrases related to drought, water, and tourism in Bocas del Toro in Google and the Bocas Breeze Newspaper database. Documents collected include government policies, local news articles, and regional reports.

The analysis of the data was guided by an inductive, constant comparative approach, as per Hodkinson (2008) and Glaser (1965) , whereby we sought to increase our understanding of potential underlying theories and identify emergent themes through a constant back-and-forth engagement with the data. In practice, this first involved transcribing and digitizing interview responses and observation notes. The data was then coded categorically (e.g., the codes ‘GOV-TOURISM’ and ‘GOV-WATER’ were utilized whenever a participant described how they felt about and experienced tourism and water governance respectively), and supplemental documents were reviewed to compare and contrast with interview and observational data.

In an effort to mirror the anecdotal nature of the data collected, here we weave together interview responses, observational notes, and document insights to describe how the economic development of Bocas del Toro, governance processes, experiences with water shortages, and future development in the region, shape local experiences with, and perceptions of, marine ecotourism and water insecurity. Figure 2 demonstrates a timeline of events and governance developments described by participants, as well as relevant events to contextualize the case.

Figure 2 Timeline of events and developments regarding ecotourism and water security in Bocas del Toro, Panama. The timeline presented is not exhaustive of all related moments in history, but rather those relevant to this particular study. Entries on the left of the timeline represent historical events, while those on the left represent policies and plans. ATP refers to the Tourism Authority of Panama; IDAAN refers to the Institute of Aquaducts and Sewers.

Beaches as the new bananas–shifting to a tourism-based economy

With increased neoliberal capital interest, government incentives to purchase land for tourism, and an abundance of global interest, tourism in Bocas del Toro effectively ‘exploded’ by the year 2000, signifying, as put by Pleasant and Spalding (2021) , a shift from a banana-based export economy created by the UFC to a tourism-centric economy based on the region’s beaches and biodiversity. Despite this shift, the UFC’s presence in Bocas del Toro remains prominent, as it had become integrated into the region’s social and infrastructural fabric (e.g., the creation of communication networks, railway systems, power plants, medical facilities, and housing developments) (United Fruit Historical Society, n.d.). Furthermore, when asked about the UFC in Bocas del Toro, participants described how a dependency on a singular industry and foreign entity resulted in harmful losses of traditional livelihoods, such as fishing and agriculture—”we used to be farmers who could feed ourselves, now we’ve lost this completely,” said one property owner.

Among those participants directly employed by the tourism industry, all spoke positively about the renewed economic benefit it brings. As one tour operator put it, “the money is in tourism, the experiences.” Of those participants situated outside of the industry, a majority also acknowledged that marine ecotourism does play a major role in supporting the local economy— “tourism is good,” noted a construction worker we spoke with, “yeah it’s good because it makes work and brings in money to us when it’s done right.”

That said, there remains great skepticism across all participants surrounding the industry’s future in Bocas del Toro:

“I used to fully believe that tourism was the key to successful cities with no opportunities.

But then we have fragile societies like we have in Latin America, and there’s not a strong

government that actually tries to implement human development. It is not taking us to the

right place,” said a member of the Bocas del Toro Chamber of Tourism.

When asked what she believes to be the largest development project in the community, one business owner responded:

“Tourists. But it grew alone. It grows alone … It’s incredible. Bocas [del Toro] has been developed in many ways, but not in basic things. It keeps growing, growing, growing, and I don’t see [public utilities] growing with it.”

Navigating an era of sustainable development – tourism and water governance

In contextualizing participant responses, we offer a brief exploration of relevant actors, plans, and policies as they pertain to marine ecotourism and water governance in Bocas del Toro. The overarching development of Panama’s marine sector is directed by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Ministerio de Ambiente (Ministry of the Environment; MiAMBIENTE), and the UN Development Programme via the Política Nacional de Océanos de Panamá ( National Ocean Policy of Panama; NOP). Ratified in 2022, the goal of the NOP is to pursue a ‘Blue Panama,’ where “marine and coastal resources are protected, conserved, valued, and used sustainably, positively impacting the quality of life of citizens in an inclusive and participatory manner” ( MiAMBIENTE, 2022 , p.13). To do so, blue economic development, internally defined as the “sustainable use of marine and coastal resources…, approaching marine-coastal activities under the prism of balance between the three social, economic and environmental dimensions,” is prioritized as one of 4 strategic axes ( MiAMBIENTE, 2022 , p.21). Central to this, under Goal M. 27, is the “promotion of sustainable tourism development linked to the oceans” ( MiAMBIENTE, 2022 , p.21), where the NOP yields much of the responsibility around this directive to the ATP.

Since 2008, the ATP has been responsible for “the development, promotion, and regulation of tourism as an activity”; maintaining tourist resources, protecting the ecological balance of the land, and respecting the customs of its inhabitants ( Decreto Ley No.4, 2008 , p.1). When asked about their feelings towards the ATP, virtually all participants expressed concern regarding tourism governance in Bocas del Toro, and its ability to “make things happen.” According to one individual, tourism in Bocas del Toro is “governed by people who don’t have morals, they are just selfish. If it doesn’t make them money, they don’t do it.” At the community level, tourism in Bocas del Toro is monitored by the Cámara Turismo Bocas del Toro (Bocas del Toro Chamber of Tourism), a non-profit community organization that works to organize the local tourism sector and protect its longevity ( CTB, 2023 ). Nonetheless, the Chamber of Tourism is not afforded government funds or jurisdiction to carry out and/or enforce such endeavours and does not play a large role in high-level decision-making regarding tourism in the archipelago ( ATP, 2020 ). According to a member of the Chamber of Tourism, this creates issues surrounding community input, whereby the community is neither adequately consulted nor are their ideas accurately integrated into development plans:

“We are a private sector, but we have no say or worth in the final decision. [The ATP] says: ‘We met with the Chamber of Tourism and the chamber is approving [the development]’. But later, when we come and tell you all the things wrong with the plan, they say ‘Oh no, you came up with this idea, the Chamber approved it’…We don’t want that; we don’t need that. We need real things.”

At large, plans for tourism development in Bocas del Toro are organized under the Plan Maestro de Desarrollo Turístico Sostenible 2020-2050 (Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development 2020-2050; MPSTD), with goals to promote Panamanian tourism, improve global competitiveness, decentralize tourism operations, and develop state tourism policies ( ATP, 2020 ). In Bocas del Toro, the MPSTD’s Action Plan includes a total of 19 actions and 75 projects. Of this, 6 projects fall under Action 2.4.4. Improvement of Basic Infrastructures, including a project to, in tandem with IDAAN, “improve the drinking water supply system on Isla Colón” by 2022 ( ATP, 2020 , p.316). Despite this, participants were wary as to whether these plans would ever “hit the ground,” as put by one individual. “The [MPSTD] is a plan,” said a member of the Chamber of Tourism, “but if you do nothing to implement it, it’s not going to change. I haven’t seen any real action.” “You don’t need the government. The government is not going to do it. Because the government has no brain to think,” expressed another member of the community.

The implementation of these projects is largely overseen by IDAAN, with more specific water infrastructure improvement plans for Bocas del Toro listed in Panama’s Plan Nacional de Seguridad Hídrica 2015-2050 (National Plan for Water Security 2015-2050; NPWS). The NPWS serves as a roadmap for ensuring that “every person in [Panama] has sustained access to quality water and basic sanitation,” with a focus on “eliminating inequalities of access in an inclusive and equitable manner” ( CNA, 2016 , p.65). In pursuit of this, the NPSW budgets 3.3 billion USD to address issues of drinking water in Isla Colón exclusively, including improvements to catchments and sewage systems ( CNA, 2016 ). However, while the NPSW projects that all individuals in the Bocas del Toro province will have access to drinking water by 2025, as will be described in subsequent sections, participants note that, as of 2023, they are skeptical as to whether this goal will ever be reached. As one business owner put it, “it’s only plans plans. But when you go to practice? No, nothing happens.”

Accessing water in Bocas del Toro – a myriad of methods

Very limited formal documentation on water infrastructure and distribution processes in Bocas del Toro is publicly available; as put by one participant, “nobody really knows exactly how the water works [in Bocas del Toro].” Despite this, with insights from community members, we attempt here to establish a clearer picture of water distribution across the study sites ( Figure 3 ), highlighting the intensity of water insecurity in Bocas del Toro and inform how marine ecotourism might impact water access.

Figure 3 Maps of approximate locations of examples of water infrastructure across Isla Colón/Isla Carenero (A) , and Isla San Cristóbal (B) as described by participants. Image 1—a newly constructed water reserve tank. Image 2—a typical public well in Isla Colón. Image 3—Big Creek Reservoir. Image 4—IDAAN water processing station. Image 5—a typical rain catchment system in Isla Colón. Image 6—a water tanker deployed during water shortages. Image 7—water line that connects Isla Colón and Isla Carenero. Image 8—a typical rain catchment system in Isla Carenero. Image 9—water catchment station in Isla San Cristóbal. Image 10—underground pipe system in Isla San Cristóbal. Images 1-3 and 5-10 were taken by Abigael Kim. Image 4 is reprinted from the IDAAN Water Treatment Plant Database ( https://sig-idaan.hub.arcgis.com/apps/0a722564d72f421798b33b902ebef781/explore ).

Residents of Isla Colón typically access water through IDAAN’s public distribution system, and/or via public or private wells. IDAAN services over 9,000 individuals across the southern region of Isla Colón through an underground pipe system powered by gravity and a select number of pumps. While it is widely understood this water, supplied by a local reservoir (‘Big Creek’) ( Figure 3 , Point 3), is filtered at a nearby plant ( Figure 3 , Point 4), the efficacy of this process remains highly debated ( Corea, 2016 ; Telemetro, 2022 ; Albaez, 2023 ; Godoy, 2023 ; Ortiz, 2023 ). When asked whether she would drink water from her tap, one shop owner responded, “I’m not gonna do that,” while her partner added that the water is often “yellow or brown” in colour. This system is also subject to the impacts of ‘dry season’ in the Caribbean (October to April), when services are often limited by IDAAN to two hours in the morning and evening. Regions of the island not serviced by IDAAN rely on rainwater collection ( Figure 3 , Point 5) or the use of public or private wells ( Figure 3 , Point 2). As of today, there exist eight IDAAN wells in Isla Colón, with only four in constant operation, while private wells on the island are typically located in regions populated by lifestyle migrants and affluent families. That said, virtually all wells across the archipelago require electricity, of which the local supply is highly unpredictable.

In Isla Carenero, those residing along the island’s perimeter typically rely on underwater pipes that distribute water sourced from IDAAN’s system in Isla Colón ( Figure 3 , Point 7). That said, participants noted that this process is unreliable, as there is often not enough water pressure from Big Creek to reach the shores of Isla Carenero. According to a local restaurant owner, “[Isla] Carenero has huge water problems. When there is no water there, [they] struggle the most.” Participants from Isla Carenero also noted that it is common to utilize rain collection systems ( Figure 3 , Point 8) or to travel to Isla Colón to purchase jugs of water. Furthermore, many restaurants and tourist operations on the island utilize private wells to service their patrons, while lifestyle migrants are also known to have access to private wells.

Isla Colón and Isla Carenero are the only islands (out of nine that are inhabited) to have direct access to IDAAN’s services. Other islands, like Isla San Cristóbal, rely on community-led initiatives or the purchasing of water jugs from Isla Colón. As described by a local tour guide, approximately 600 individuals on Isla San Cristóbal access water via a natural catchment system and man-made storage and distribution point developed through a fundraising project by local and international organizations ( Figure 3 , Point 9). The storage point collects water from the island’s northern mountain region, filters it for solids, and distributes it to the community via gravity and underground pipes ( Figure 3 , Point 10). According to a local tour guide, this process is quite reliable; during times of drought, residents of other islands have looked to him for water.

Frustrations run high – a history of water shortages

Bocas del Toro has faced (documented) water shortages in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023. One restaurant owner noted that, while “water has always been an issue in [Bocas del Toro],” the problem “has never been this bad.” Following a prolonged period of drought and water restrictions, as well as pressure from MiAMBIENTE, a State of Environmental Emergency was declared by the Cabinet of Panama in both 2022 (November 8 th ) and 2023 (May 30 th ) ( Resolución de Gabinete No. 127, 2022 ; Resolución de Gabinete No. 48, 2023 ). Doing so authorizes IDAAN to enact the region’s ‘Contingency Plan’, involving the assignment of water trucks to distribute potable water to affected businesses and residences on Isla Colón and Isla Carenero, the increase of water conduction line diameters, the activation of additional wells, and the increase of regional technical support ( IDAAN, n.d. ).

During this type of Environmental Emergency, those without private well access typically purchase water jugs from local shops, fill their household tanks at public wells, or fill up smaller jugs from IDAAN trucks ( Figure 3 , Point 6). However, participants mentioned that such alternative methods are not sufficient, leaving many without water for days on end. One souvenir vendor, for example, mentioned that she had not been able to shower in “over 8 days.” Moreover, as lines for local wells grow, business owners mentioned that these trucks are extremely challenging to access, having to “choose between running [their] shops and getting water.”

Overall, aside from climate change as a catalyst, there is no largely agreed-upon answer or government consensus as to why water management and infrastructure are so precarious or why Bocas del Toro feels droughts so intensely. However, participants speculated that they have something to do with the coinciding of ‘dry season’ and tourist season in the fall. As mentioned in the Bocas Breeze Newspaper in response to the 2016 shortage:

“In recent years, sometimes it doesn’t rain for a while or excited tourists flood the island in

record numbers and when you turn the faucet, you are met with the depressing sound of a

‘drip, drip, (silence)…’ Maybe you left your toilet running and your tank has gone empty, or

perhaps the town reservoir has gone dry” (2016).

Undoubtedly at the center of these frustrations is IDAAN, more specifically as it pertains to the uneven distribution of water and lack of government accountability. According to IDAAN, water trucks are to deliver water to both city centres and residential areas. However, almost all participants mentioned that this system is not well executed, citing disparities in where water was being delivered during the 2023 shortage. “Unfortunately, there is a bad distribution of the water and trucks,” one tour operator said, “they don’t have a good plan for giving out the water, so they pass me by.” More specifically, many participants mentioned that hotels are often prioritized, and speculated that truck drivers were being paid a premium by these establishments to visit them first. “A government truck should be for the community,” said one community member, “but it doesn’t happen in Panama.”

Participants also expressed frustration with IDAAN’s accountability during these shortages. “I don’t look to the government for water,” said one individual, “I pray to God.” During the 2023 shortage, in particular, many community members were left with unanswered questions, as the regional IDAAN phone line for Bocas del Toro was disconnected, and public meetings with IDAAN were continuously cancelled. As was seen on multiple occasions during the 2023 shortage, such feelings often led to public displays of frustration, in the form of road blockades and protests; “we don’t just wait for water, we have to block the streets for water,” said one shop owner.

In June 2023, after over a month without reliable access to running water, IDAAN announced the connection of two additional wells to supplement Big Creek while precipitation levels remained low ( Ortiz, 2023 ). Despite these developments, residents of both Isla Colón and Isla Carenero still face water insecurity at large, with water remaining a contentious issue across the archipelago.

A potential paradox? – Future plans for water infrastructure and marine ecotourism

Looking towards 2050, Bocas del Toro is the topic of numerous development projects in both marine ecotourism and water infrastructure. However, participants expressed disappointment about the priorities of the central government’s plans and were skeptical of their potential outcomes.

In 2022, under the NPSW, IDAAN announced a 10 million USD investment in the “study, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of improvements to the components of the aqueduct in Isla Colón” ( Ortiz, 2023 , p.1). According to Albaez (2023) , this includes a 3-Phase Plan to develop a more reliable 24-hour public, potable water supply system:

● Phase 1—Well drilling/maintenance and construction of a water storage tank with a 700,000-gallon capacity.

● Phase 2—Construction of well-housing units and pumping equipment.

● Phase 3—Construction of supplementary desalinization plant and improvements to water treatment plant and dispensers.

Despite reports that 60% of the project has been completed as of May 2023 ( Ortiz, 2023 ), including the totality of Phase 1 and the maintenance of public well systems from Phase 2, none of the participants indicated that they had seen improvements in their water supply, but instead questioned the efficacy of IDAAN’s projects. For example, one participant referred to the early release of 5 million USD of the 3-Phase Plan investment during the 2022 shortage to rapidly increase water infrastructure quality and capacity ( Resolución de Gabinete No. 127, 2022 ), of which they had yet to see the effects of:

“They would come around and promise us that they would solve the problem, and it never

happened … They released 5 million dollars. Where does it go? It’s like ice in the sun, nobody knows where it goes … A week after they got the money the water came like lemonade, and we got it once a day”.

All participants were critical of where the Government of Panama’s plans for the development of water infrastructure sit on the list of priorities, as compared to tourism. Those directly employed by the tourism industry made note of the Urban Development of Cities with a Tourist Vocation Plan; a 6-year 100 million USD loan (2019-2023) for the development of tourism infrastructure, management, and governance, including that of public utilities in Isla Colón ( Inter-American Development Bank , n.d.). However, when asked whether they had seen any benefits from this investment, all pointed to the development of more hotels, attractions, and restaurants rather than improvements to existing infrastructure. “When I see that [investment] here, it’s in building hotels,” mentioned one property owner, “but they’re not building up the community with it, you know? ‘Why is that?’ I ask all the time”. Another participant mentioned that “[Bocas del Toro] is so marketed as a tourism place that there is nothing else [the government] does. We have culture and needs but they don’t see.”

While not explicitly discussed with participants, an important development in this case came in July of 2023, when Panama signed on to the UN’s Water Capacity Development Initiative (CDI) for SDG 6; the first country in the world to do so. The CDI serves as a vehicle for inter-agency cooperation on capacity development related to freshwater, sanitation, and hygiene ( UN Water, 2021 , p.1). Its goal is to enable the UN system, and its partners, to coordinate support for participating countries based on their unique needs. While it is too early to predict the efficacy of this initiative, it does indeed promote “national-level ownership” and capacity building, rather than a “simple transfer of mechanisms” ( UN Water, 2021 , p.1). As Panama continues to pursue a blue economy rooted in marine ecotourism as well as improved water security, questions remain as to whether there is indeed a balance to be struck between the two; one that aligns government aspirations for development with the realities and needs of those living in Bocas del Toro.

Contextualized around the potential paradox of developing a blue economy in a resource-insecure island region, this study examines how the relationship between marine ecotourism and water insecurity, in particular, manifests at the community level through a case study of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Guided by local experiences and perceptions, our findings highlight the role that socio-historical shifts, central plans and policies, and ongoing crises play in shaping the realities of local residents and their attitudes toward sustainable development and the government as a whole. In this section, we situate key findings within the literature, teasing out applicable lessons learned, making inquiries into the reasoning behind our results, and contemplating areas for future research.

The role of colonialism and race in marine ecotourism and water governance

Our results further perpetuate the widely accepted notion that issues of island development and resource governance must be considered within the context of colonization and systemic racism. In particular, studies in the ‘island tourism’ field (e.g., Cywiński (2015) ; Guerrón-Montero (2006) ; Grydehøj et al. (2021) ) would describe the lasting impacts of losses in traditional livelihoods at the hands of the UFC, and its role in directing Bocas del Toro’s economic development, as a function of neo -colonialism. Along this vein, Grimwood et al ( Grimwood et al., 2019 , p.1) posit that the production and consumption of tourism have the propensity to “(re)inscribe colonizing structures, systems, and narratives across time and space,” while ( Eyisi et al., 2024 , p.154) note that the pace and manner of tourism development is often an artifact of “tourists from colonizers becoming the source market for the colonized”. For example, a study of wildlife tourism by ( Mach et al., 2023 , p.1474) found that wildlife tourism boat guides learned what tourists (many being from Europe and North America) “wanted to see and seemed to enjoy most (e.g. pretty beaches and charismatic wildlife) and itineraries evolved accordingly,” often changing the actual names of destination, commonly used between locals to simple English, in order attract more tourists (e.g., ‘Sloth Island’).

A discussion of colonialism in this context, that being inherently racially formed, also brings us to the role of systemic racism. While the Panamanian government has enacted laws surrounding racial discrimination, in an effort to reconcile past and present harms [e.g., the dispossession of Afro-Caribbean farming communities ( Chapman, 2014 ), infringements upon Ngäbe land rights ( Finley-Brook and Thomas, 2010 ), and the attempted assimilation of Afro-Caribbean identity into mestizo society ( Corinealdi, 2022 )], Afro-Panamanians and Ngäbe individuals still make up some of the poorest groups in the nation, often residing in some of the least invested-in regions, with limited access to social services, water included ( INEC, 2021 ). While drawing a causal relationship between race and water insecurity is not within the scope of this research, the 2020 UN World Water Report does explicitly relate water insecurity and intersectionality, especially regarding race and class ( UN Water, 2020 ). Peer-reviewed studies on this issue, however, overwhelmingly exist in the North American context (e.g., Deitz and Meehan, 2019 ; Dickin and Gabrielsson, 2023 ; Harrington et al., 2023 ; Méndez-Barrientos et al., 2023 ; Workman and Shah, 2023 ). For example, a spatial analysis of water insecurity across the United States by Deitz and Meehan (2019) found that deficiencies in household water infrastructure are concentrated in regions typically inhabited by racialized groups. Specific to Bocas del Toro, our research highlights disparities in access to water between social and racial groups, as determined by foreign and ethno-racial status. For example, participants note that, during water shortages, wealthier lifestyle migrants and hotel operators have the financial capital to purchase water and/or pay truck drivers to deliver it.

The government-community disconnect

Central to this case is an evident disconnect between the Government of Panama’s aspirations for marine ecotourism development in Bocas del Toro and the needs of those living in the region, with many participants believing the government to be prioritizing marine ecotourism development over plans to improve water infrastructure. While a more intensive study, one which highlights the interconnectedness of climate change impacts and water management within larger government policies, is required to support this notion, our findings suggest that local realities may perpetuate the narrative that the government is ‘leaving behind’ social sustainability in pursuit of a viable marine ecotourism industry. In the Caribbean context, Peterson ( Peterson, 2020 , p.20) argues that “growth, rather than development, remains the overriding focus,” whereby “the quality of life for residents and, in turn, the quality of experience for visitors have not always met the various principles of sustainable tourism.” Furthermore, Srivastava and Mehta (2023) and Scott et al. (2024) propose that this outcome can indeed be “further exacerbated by neoliberal development policies and the notion of [Bocas del Toro] as a ‘resource frontier.’

As found by Wortman et al. (2016) ’s examination of local opinions on foreign tourism investment in Mauritius, our results suggest that the sheer profitability of the marine ecotourism sector may incentivize governments to continue to pursue its growth in terms of investment and future planning. They describe the tourism industry as “a variant of outward-oriented development strategies,” where the services required to host a successful industry may eclipse the services required by the local population. This is of extreme relevance in island regions, where tourism is a major contributor to national economies, motivating governments to continue to pursue ‘tourism-led growth,’ as put by Lee and Chien (2008) , and attracting increasing amounts of foreign direct investment ( Tecel et al., 2020 ; Broner et al., 2023 ).

If Bocas del Toro’s marine ecotourism sector continues to grow without the development of essential infrastructure alongside it, the region may indeed hit the point of ‘over-tourism’, where the arrival of excessive numbers of tourists at a destination imposes negative impacts on local communities ( Dioko, 2017 ). Peterson (2023) notes that over-tourism, in the Caribbean specifically, is often an artifact of “neo-liberal outward-oriented tourism policy., largely based on private and political interests to the exclusion of societal values and community interests.” Notably, reaching this point may, in fact, incentivize governing bodies to prioritize the development of public utility infrastructure to ensure that marine ecotourism remains an economically viable industry.

The importance of trust

The prevalence of mistrust in the Government of Panama expressed by participants can be described as a lack of ‘political trust’; trust in institutions and governance actors stemming from group membership, government policies, and/or general political support or satisfaction ( Bauer and Freitag, 2016 ). Our results demonstrate that local perceptions of corruption can mold residents’ opinions of marine ecotourism development, and its ability to act on issues of water insecurity. While we are not aware of any studies that explore the role of government corruption in affecting local perceptions of sustainable development, more broadly, Karst and Nepal (2022) note that a lack of established trust between communities and actors that oversee ecotourism development can lead to an array of management challenges and stakeholder conflicts.

Political trust is also often tied to the ability of actors to deliver quality public services and respond to citizen demands ( Murtin et al., 2018 ). In this study, participant responses indicate skepticism regarding the effectiveness and accountability of government actors and policies. As described by Fragkou and McEvoy (2016) , in an investigation of community attitudes surrounding water scarcity in Latin America, traumatic and frequent experiences with water scarcity can foster concerns regarding political accountability, further erode trust in utility providers, and perpetuate poor opinions of future developments that could potentially improve water access, like desalinization plants. Enqvist and Ziervogel (2019) also found that when compounded with historically tense relationships between communities and policymakers, the mishandling of water shortages can signal to local residents that government action is ineffective and subsequently untrustworthy. Eyisi et al. (2024) review of tourism in Nigeria also found that negative opinions of tourism development can be tied to a history of unfulfilled government promises. In the case of Bocas del Toro, participants often pointed out a lack of follow-through on the MPSTD. Nilsen et al. (2023) describe what it means to be a ‘periphery’ region on an intra -national scale, where the development of rural or isolated regions may fall victim to an ‘urban bias’ ( Lipton, 1977 ). We witness this in Bocas del Toro as participants note that management schemes from the national level often overlook their interests as compared to more urbanized provinces closer to the core of Panama City.

Study limitations and future research avenues

While we believe the stories and perceptions shared with us to be of the utmost value to understanding our research questions, we acknowledge that our results represent the experiences of 16 individuals across the archipelago. Although a smaller sample size can enhance the validity of an in-depth inquiry ( Crouch and McKenzie, 2006 ), a larger sample size can better account for diversity within and between stakeholder groups ( Boddy, 2016 ). As the pool of research in this field begins to expand, we recommend that not only do future studies adequately account for community experiences and perceptions, but that they aim to include a variety of stake- and rights-holders, determining sample size as a “matter of judgment and experience … evaluating the quality of the information collected against the uses to which it will be put,” as per Sandelowski ( Sandelowski, 1995 , p.179).

This research begins to fill knowledge gaps in the literature surrounding marine ecotourism development and access to water in island regions. To ensure that community realities and interests do not effectively ‘fall through the cracks,’ there exists a need to pursue community-centric research on the impact of a blue economic agenda on a variety of essential public utilities and human needs (e.g., electricity, food, housing). Furthermore, valuable insights can be drawn from studies that compare and contrast, in-depth, cases across island regions to better understand the norms of the community impacts of blue economic development in resource-scarce societies. Concerning Bocas del Toro specifically, there is a great need for continued research into all areas of marine ecotourism development and the equitable distribution of resources (both in relation to one another and independently), as ours is one of a handful of studies within the region (e.g., Spalding, 2013 ; Spalding et al., 2015 ; Spalding, 2017 ; Mach and Vahradian, 2021 ; Pleasant and Spalding, 2021 ; Mach et al., 2023 ; Sandelowski, 1995 ; Pigram, 2000 ; McElroy, 2006 ; Pascual et al., 2014 ; Sakellariadou, 2014 ; Roller and Lavrakas, 2015 ; Pierskalla, 2016 ; Nunn and Kumar, 2017 ; Ramos-García et al., 2017 ; Murtin et al., 2018 ; Nugraheni et al., 2020 ; Osterblum et al., 2020 ; Peterson, 2020 ; Phelan et al., 2020 ; Mach and Vahradian, 2021 ; Minow, 2021 ; Pleasant and Spalding, 2021 ; Ministerio de Ambiente de Panamá, 2022 ; Rahman et al., 2022 ; Resolución de Gabinete No. 127, 2022 ; Méndez-Barrientos et al., 2023 ; Nilsen et al., 2023 ; Ortiz, 2023 ; Pace et al., 2023 ; Resolución de Gabinete No. 48, 2023 ; Scott et al., 2024 ).

In this study, we mobilize local experiences with marine ecotourism and water insecurity to better understand how the relationship between the two manifests at the community level. Our results highlight issues, of colonialism and systemic racism, misalignments of development priorities, and eroded trust, that shape local experiences with sustainable development, and residents’ perceptions of the ability of marine ecotourism to address issues of water insecurity.

Moving forward, as the Government of Panama pursues a ‘Blue Panama,’ and the global community continues to adopt the blue economy as a framework for sustainable ocean development, there exists a need to re-center and internalize social sustainability, primarily issues of equity, as the leading goal of blue economic development. More specifically, in order to adhere to the original intent of a blue economy, this must not only include the prioritization of social equity throughout marine ecotourism and water governance, but also address the issues that underpin such misalignments, as found in this study. This can include an approach that focuses on the power disparities between groups through a socio-historical lens. Singh et al. (2023) refer to this as an ‘anti-inequity’ approach, whereby it is critical to investigate and understand the processes that perpetuate inequities in, in this case, water security.

Overall, this research has demonstrated that the ‘balance’ between community well-being and development in the pursuit of a blue economy in island regions is a matter far greater than ‘growth,’ ‘infrastructure,’ or ‘development’. There exist important historical and social underpinnings that define the relationship between decision-makers and the communities in which they make decisions for, who proves to benefit from a blue economy, and perceptions of sustainable development as a whole. Ultimately, marine ecotourism cannot be considered part of a blue economy strategy if it does not prioritize social equity. As such it is pivotal that future research within this field understand how relevant plans and policies may manifest at the community level, directly from those communities that may face existing barriers to social well-being and sustainability.

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary Material . Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by Marine Affairs Program Ethics Review Standing Committee, Dalhousie University. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

AK: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. CS: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing. WS: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the Nippon Foundation, Ocean Nexus.

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank the communities and participants of Bocas del Toro for allowing, actively participating in, and supporting the data collection for this study. We also thank the staff of The School for Field Studies, Panama, for hosting us during our time in the field, as well as Laura Bruce and Sydney Rubinstein for their support as interpreters. Commentary and edits on the original manuscript were also provided by Ricardo de Ycaza (Oregon State University). We are grateful for the time and input from the reviewers of this paper, which have greatly improved the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2024.1377053/full#supplementary-material

Adamiak C., Szyda B. (2022). Combining conventional statistics and big data to map global tourism destinations before COVID-19. J. Travel Res. 6, 1848–1871. doi: 10.1177/00472875211051418

CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Adeoye-Olatunde O. A., Olenik N. L. (2021). Research and scholarly methods: Semi- structured interviews. J. Am. Coll. Clin. Pharm. 4, 1358–1367. doi: 10.1002/jac5.1441

Albaez A. (2023) IDAAN advances in the contingency plan for water supply in Isla Colón (province of Bocas del Toro: Radio Panama). Available online at: https://radioPanama.com.pa/idaan-avanza-en-plan-de-contingencia-de-abastecimiento-de-agua-en-isla-colon-provincia-de-bocas-del-toro/ (Accessed July 22, 2023).

Google Scholar

Amin S. (1978). Unequal development: An essay on the social formations of peripheral capitalism. Sci. Soc. 42, 219–222.

ATP (2020) Plan Maestro de Turismo Sostenible (Panama City: Autoridad de Tourismo de Panama). Available online at: https://www.atp.gob.pa/Plan_Maestro_de_Turismo_Sostenible_2020-2025.pdf (Accessed May 8, 2023).

Baldacchino G. (2012). The Lure of the island: A spatial analysis of power relations. J. Mar. Island Cultures 1, 55–62. doi: 10.1016/j.imic.2012.11.003

Bauer P. C., Freitag M. (2016). ““Measuring trust,”,” in The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust . Ed. Uslaner E. (Oxford University Press, New York).

Becker H. S., Geer B. (1957). Participant observation and interviewing: A comparison. Hum. Organ. 16, 28–32. doi: 10.17730/humo.16.3.k687822132323013

Belmar Y. N., McNamara K. E., Morrison T. H. (2016). Water security in small island developing states: The limited utility of evolving governance paradigms. WIREs Water 3, 181–193. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1129

Bennett N. J., Cisneros-Montemayor A. M., Blythe J., Silver J. J., Singh G., Andrews N., et al. (2019). Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy. Nat. Sustainability. 2, 1665–1685. doi: 10.1038/s41893-019-0404-1

Benson M. C. (2013). Postcoloniality and privilege in new lifestyle flows: The case of north Americans in Panama. Mobilities 8, 313–330. doi: 10.1080/17450101.2013.810403

Blamey R. K. (2001). ““Principles of ecotourism,“,” in The Encyclopedia of Ecotourism . Ed. Weaver D. B. (New York: CABI Publishing), 5–22.

Bocas del Toro Tourism (2023) Isla Colón . Available online at: https://go.bocasdeltoro.travel/es/destinos/isla-colon/ (Accessed May 3, 2023).

Boddy C. R. (2016). Sample size for qualitative research. Qual. Market Res. 19, 426–432. doi: 10.1108/QMR-06-2016-0053

Broner F., Didier T., Schmukler S. L., von Peter G. (2023). Bilateral international investments: The big sur? J. Int. Economics 145, 103795. doi: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2023.103795

Camarca de Turismo de Bocas del Toro (2022). Estudio del Destino 2020 Bocas del Toro, Panama. Available at: https://camaraturismobocas.org/estudio-del-destino-2020/ .

Campbell L. M., Fairbanks L., Murray G., Stoll J. S., D’Anna L., Bingham J. (2021). From Blue Economy to Blue Communities: Reorienting aquaculture expansion for community wellbeing. Mar. Policy 124, 104361. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104361

Carse A. (2014). Beyond the big ditch : politics, ecology, and infrastructure at the Panama Canal. (Massachusetts: The MIT Press). doi: 10.7551/mitpress/9780262028110.001.0001

CECOMRO (2018) Visiones Regionales al 2050 de Bocas del Toro (Centro de Competitividad de la Región Occidental: David). Available online at: https://www.cecomro.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VISION-2050-REGION-OCCIDENTAL.pdf (Accessed May 3, 202).

Chapman P. (2014). Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World (Scotland: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic).

Cisneros-Montemayor A. M., Moreno-Báez M., Reygondeau G., Cheung W. W. L., Crosman K. M., González-Espinosa P. C., et al. (2021). Enabling conditions for an equitable and sustainable blue economy. Nature. 591, 396–401. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03327-3

PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar

Cisneros-Montemayor A. M., Moreno-Báez M., Voyer M., Allison E. H., Cheung W. W. L., Hessing-Lewis M., et al. (2019). Social equity and benefits as the nexus of a transformative Blue Economy: A sectoral review of implications. Mar. Policy. 109, 103702. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103702

Cole S. (2012). A political ecology of water equity and tourism. Ann. Tourism Res. 39, 1221–1241. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2012.01.003

CNA. (2016). Plan Nacional de Seguridad Hídrica 2015-2050 (Panama City: Republic of Panama). Available online at: https://www.undp.org/es/Panama/publications/plan-nacional-de-seguridad-h%C3%ADdrica-2015-2050-agua-para-todos (Accessed August 9, 2023).

Corea N. (2016). Moving 55,000 Cubic Meters of Sediment Means More Water for Bocas Town (The Bocas Breeze Newspaper). Available online at: https://thebocasbreeze.com/community/moving-55000-cubic-meters-sediment-means-water-bocas-town/ (Accessed July 30, 2023).

Corinealdi K. (2022). Panama in Black: Afro-Caribbean World Making in the Twentieth Century (North Carolina: Duke University Press). doi: 10.1215/9781478023128

Crisman T. L., Winters Z. S. (2023). Caribbean small island developing states must incorporate water quality and quantity in adaptive management of the water-energy-food nexus. Front. Environ. Sci. 11. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1212552

Crouch M., McKenzie H. (2006). The logic of small samples in interview-based qualitative research. Soc. Sci. Inf. 45, 483–499. doi: 10.1177/0539018406069584

CTB (2023) Sobre Nosotros . Available online at: https://camaraturismobocas.org/sobre-nosotros/ (Accessed May 3, 2023).

Cywiński P. (2015). Tourist neo-colonialism as an indication of the future of islands. The example of borobodur (Central Java). Miscellanea Geographica 19, 21–24. doi: 10.1515/mgrsd-2015-0011

Das M., Chatterjee B. (2015). Ecotourism: A panacea or a predicament? Tourism Manage. Perspect. 14, 3–16. doi: 10.1016/j.tmp.2015.01.002

Decreto Ley No.4 (2008). Available online at: https://www.atp.gob.pa/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/decretoley_atp2008.pdf (Accessed March 25, 2023).

Deitz S., Meehan K. (2019). Plumbing poverty: Mapping hot spots of racial and geographic inequality in U.S. Household water insecurity. Ann. Am. Assoc. Geographers 109, 1092–1109. doi: 10.1080/24694452.2018.1530587

Dickin S., Gabrielsson S. (2023). Inequalities in water, sanitation and hygiene: Challenges and opportunities for measurement and monitoring. Water Secur. 20, 100143. doi: 10.1016/j.wasec.2023.100143

Dioko L. A. (2017). The problem of rapid tourism growth—An overview of the strategic question. Worldwide Hospitality Tourism Themes 9, 252–259. doi: 10.1108/WHATT-02-2017-0005

Dodds R., Graci S. (2012). Sustainable Tourism in Island Destinations (New York: Routledge). doi: 10.4324/9781849776660

Durokifa A. A., Ijeoma E. C. (2018). Neo-colonialism and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa: A blend of an old wine in a new bottle. Afr. J. Science Technology Innovation Dev. 10, 355–366. doi: 10.1080/20421338.2018.1463654

Enqvist J. P., Ziervogel G. (2019). Water governance and justice in Cape Town: An overview. WIREs Water 6, 1354. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1354

Eyisi A. P., Ololo N. G., Aruomah M. O. (2024). The impacts of colonialism on residents’ perceptions of tourism in Southeastern Nigeria. Tourism Hospitality Res. 24, 152–165. doi: 10.1177/14673584221128139

Feyrer J., Sacerdote B. (2009). Colonialism and modern income: Islands as natural experiments. Rev. Economics Stat 91, 245–262. doi: 10.1162/rest.91.2.245

Finley-Brook M., Thomas C. (2010). Treatment of displaced indigenous populations in two large hydro projects in Panama. Water Alternatives 3, 269–290.

Fragkou M. C., McEvoy J. (2016). Trust matters: Why augmenting water supplies via desalination may not overcome perceptual water scarcity. Desalination 397, 1–8. doi: 10.1016/j.desal.2016.06.007

Freudenberg N., Tsui E. (2014). Evidence, power, and policy change in community-based participatory research. Am. J. Public Health (1971) 104, 11–14. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301471

Gheuens J., Nagabhatla N., Perera E. D. P. (2019). Disaster-risk, water security challenges and strategies in small island developing states (SIDS). Water 11, 637. doi: 10.3390/w11040637

Glaser B. G. (1965). The constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Soc. Problems 12, 436–445. doi: 10.2307/798843

Godoy Y. (2023) Panama will develop water and sanitation project (Telemetro). Available online at: https://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/Panama-desarrollara-proyecto-agua-y-saneamiento-n5902526 (Accessed July 22, 2023).

Gossling S. (2015). New performance indicators for water management in tourism. Tourism Manage. (1982) 46, 233–244. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.06.018

Gössling S., Peeters P., Hall C. M., Ceron J.-P., Dubois G., Lehmann L. V., et al. (2012). Tourism and water use: Supply, demand, and security. An international review. Tourism Manage. (1982) 33, 1–15. doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2011.03.015

Gray E., Burke L., Lambert J. (2015). Valuing the costs and benefits of improved wastewater management: An economic valuation resource guide for the wider caribbean region (World Resource Institute). Available at: https://clmeplus.org/app/uploads/2020/04/CReW_C2_WRI_Valuing_Wastewater_PART_I_-Summary_Revised_April16.pdf .

Grimwood B. S. R., Stinson M. J., King L. J. (2019). A decolonizing settler story. Ann. Tourism Res. 79, 102763. doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2019.102763

Grydehøj A., Bevacqua M. L., Chibana M., Nadarajah Y., Simonsen A., Su P., et al. (2021). Practicing decolonial political geography: Island perspectives on neocolonialism and the China threat discourse. Political Geogr. 85, 102330. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2020.102330

Guerrón-Montero C. (2006). Racial democracy and nationalism in Panama. Ethnology 45, 209–228. doi: 10.2307/20456595

Harrington C., Montana P., Schmidt J. J., Swain A. (2023). Race, ethnicity, and the case for intersectional water security. Global Environ. Politics 23, 1–10. doi: 10.1162/glep_a_00702

Harrison D., Prasad B. (2011). “The contribution of tourism to the development of Fiji and other pacific island countries,” in Handbook of Tourism Economics (Queensland: WORLD SCIENTIFIC), 741–761. doi: 10.1142/9789814327084_0032

Hau’ofa E. (1994). Our sea of islands. Contemp. Pacific 6, 148–161.

Heim O. (2017). Island logic and the decolonization of the pacific. Interventions 19, 914–929. doi: 10.1080/1369801X.2017.1401945

Hodkinson P. (2008). “Grounded Theory and inductive research,” in Researching Social Life , vol. 5. (London: SAGE Publications Ltd), 80–100.

Hoyman M. M., McCall J. R. (2013). Is there trouble in paradise? The perspectives of Galapagos community leaders on managing economic development and environmental conservation through ecotourism policies and the Special Law of 1998. J. Ecotourism 12, 33–48. doi: 10.1080/14724049.2012.749882

IDAAN IDAAN maintains a contingency plan for water supply on Isla Colón (IDAAN). Available online at: https://www.idaan.gob.pa/idaan-mantiene-plan-de-contingencia-de-abastecimiento-de-agua-en-isla-colon/ (Accessed July 22, 2023).

IDAAN (2022) Facturcion Total Clientes Medidos, Medidor Promediado y no Medidos en Balboas y Volumen en Galones (No. 2) . Available online at: https://www.idaan.gob.pa/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/FACTURACION-TOTAL-CLIENTES-MEDIDOS-MEDIDOR-PROMEDIADO-Y-NO-MEDIDOS-EN-BALBOAS-Y-VOLUMEN-EN-GALONES.pdf .

INEC. (2021). Population . Available online at: https://www.inec.gob.pa/publicaciones/Default3.aspx?ID_PUBLICACION=1196andID_CATEGORIA=17andID_SUBCATEGORIA=45 (Accessed October 11, 2023).

Inter-American Development Bank Comprehensive urban development program with tourist vocations . Available online at: https://www.iadb.org/en/whats-our-impact/PN-L1154 (Accessed October 15, 2023).

Israel B. A., Schulz A. J., Coombe C. M., Parker E. A., Reyes A. G., Rowe Z., et al. (2019). Community-based participatory research. Urban Health 272, 272–282. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780190915858.003.0029

Karst H. E., Nepal S. K. (2022). Social-ecological wellbeing of communities engaged in ecotourism: Perspectives from Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhutan. J. Sustain. Tourism 30, 1177–1199. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2021.1913500

Kay C. (2010). Latin American Theories of Development and Underdevelopment (New York: Routledge). doi: 10.4324/9780203835418

Keegan W. F., Diamond J. M. (1987). Colonization of islands by humans: A biogeographical perspective. Adv. Archaeological Method Theory 10, 49–92. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-003110-8.50005-0

Klytchnikova I., Dorosh P. (2013). Tourism sector in Panama: Regional economic impacts and the potential to benefit the poor. Natural Resour. Forum 37, 70–79. doi: 10.1111/1477-8947.12019

Lee C.-C., Chien M.-S. (2008). Structural breaks, tourism development, and economic growth: Evidence from Taiwan. Mathematics Comput. Simulation 77, 358–368. doi: 10.1016/j.matcom.2007.03.004

Leposa N. (2020). Problematic blue growth: A thematic synthesis of social sustainability problems related to growth in the marine and coastal tourism. Sustainability Sci. 15, 1233–1244. doi: 10.1007/s11625-020-00796-9

Lipton M. (1977). ““Why poor people stay poor: A study of urban bias in world development,”,” in Milestones and Turning Points in Development Thinking . Ed. Jolly R. (Palgrave Macmillan, London), 148.

Lucas A. (2019) Tourism in Bocas del Toro, contradictory paths (Alba Sud). Available online at: https://www.albasud.org/noticia/es/1111/turismo-en-bocas-del-toro-caminos-contradictorios (Accessed May 3, 2023).

Lucas H., Fifita S., Talab I., Marschel C., Cabeza L. F. (2017). Critical challenges and capacity building needs for renewable energy deployment in Pacific Small Island Developing States (Pacific SIDS). Renewable Energy 107, 42–52. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.01.029

Mach L., McPherson B., Hayes R. (2023). Wildlife tourism maps and the governance of environmental collapse. Tourism Geographies 25, 1465–1482. doi: 10.1080/14616688.2023.2231423

Mach L., Vahradian D. (2021). Tourists want to be spooked, not schooled: Sustaining indigenous tourism in the Bastimentos Island National Marine Park, Bocas del Toro, Panama. J. Ecotourism 20, 130–144. doi: 10.1080/14724049.2019.1585439

McElroy J. L. (2006). Small island tourist economies across the life cycle. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 47, 61–77. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2006.00303.x

Méndez-Barrientos L. E., Fencl A. L., Workman C. L., Shah S. H. (2023). Race, citizenship, and belonging in the pursuit of water and climate justice in California. Environ. Plann. E: Nat. Space 6, 1614–1635. doi: 10.1177/25148486221133282

MiAMBIENTE. (2022). Política Nacional de Océanos de Panamá (Panama City: MiAmbiente). Available online at: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-03/UNDP-PA-Politica-Oceanos-Documento.pdf (Accessed October 15, 2023).

Minow M. (2021). Equality vs. equity. Am. J. Law Equality 1, 167–193. doi: 10.1162/ajle_a_00019

Murtin F., Fleischer L., Siegerink V., Aassve A., Algan Y., Boarini R., et al. (2018) Trust and its determinants: Evidence from the Trustlab experiment (OECD Working Paper). Available online at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/trust-and-its-determinants_869ef2ec-en (Accessed October 10, 2023).

Nilsen T., Grillitsch M., Hauge A. (2023). Varieties of periphery and local agency in regional development. Regional Stud. 57, 749–762. doi: 10.1080/00343404.2022.2106364

Nugraheni A. I. P., Priyambodo T. K., Sutikno B., Kusworo H. A. (2020). The social dimensions’ Aspects of sustainable tourism development analysis: A systematic literature review. Digital Press Soc. Sci. Humanities 4, 1. doi: 10.29037/digitalpress.44348

Nunn P., Kumar R. (2017). Understanding climate-human interactions in Small Island Developing States (SIDS): Implications for future livelihood sustainability. Int. J. Climate Change Strategies Manage. 10, 245–271. doi: 10.1108/IJCCSM-01-2017-0012

Ortiz N. (2023) From Crises To Solutions: Tackling The Water Challenges Of An Island Paradise (The Bocas Breeze Newspaper). Available online at: https://thebocasbreeze.com/community/water-solutions/ (Accessed August 30, 2023).

Osterblum H., Wabnitz C. C., Tladi D., Allison E., Arnaud-Haond S., Bebbington J., et al. (2020) Towards Ocean Equity. High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy Working Paper . Available online at: https://digitalarchive.worldfishcenter.org/handle/20.500.12348/4486 (Accessed January 1, 2023).

Pace L. A., Saritas O., Deidun A. (2023). Exploring future research and innovation directions for a sustainable blue economy. Mar. Policy 148, 105433. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105433\

Pascual U., Phelps J., Garmendia E., Brown K., Corbera E., Martin A., et al. (2014). Social equity matters in payments for ecosystem services. BioScience. 64, 1027–1036. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biu146

Peterson R. R. (2020). Over the caribbean top: Community well-being and over-tourism in small island tourism economies. Int. J. Community Well-Being 6, 89–126. doi: 10.1007/s42413-020-00094-3

Peterson R. R. (2023). Over the caribbean top: Community well-being and over-tourism in small island tourism economies. Int. J. Community Well-Being 6, 89–126. doi: 10.1007/s42413-020-00094-3

Phelan A., Ruhanen L., Mair J. (2020). Ecosystem services approach for community-based ecotourism: towards an equitable and sustainable blue economy. J. Sustain. Tourism 28, 1665–1685. doi: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1747475

Pierskalla J. H. (2016). The politics of urban bias: Rural threats and the dual dilemma of political survival. Stud. Comp. Int. Dev. 51, 286–307. doi: 10.1007/s12116-015-9194-2

Pigram J. (2000) Water Resources Management: In Island Environments: The Challenge of Tourism Development (Wisconsin: Centre for Water Policy Research). Available online at: https://mail.perfectbg.com/TouristDocuments.nsf/0/9a3404dbc7a13563c2257061003bc83f/$FILE/waterresourse.pdf (Accessed October 7, 2023).

Pleasant T., Spalding A. (2021). Development and dependency in the periphery: From bananas to tourism in Bocas del Toro, Panama. World Dev. Perspect. 24, 100363. doi: 10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100363

Rahman M. K., Masud M. M., Akhtar R., Hossain M. M. (2022). Impact of community participation on sustainable development of marine protected areas: Assessment of ecotourism development. Int. J. Tourism Res. 24, 33–43. doi: 10.1002/jtr.2480

Ramos-García J., Ibarra-Michel J. P., Velarde-Valdez M. (2017). Community-based ecotourism management: the case of a cooperative in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Czech J. Tourism 6, 155–170. doi: 10.1515/cjot-2017–0008

Resolución de Gabinete No. 127 (2022). Available online at: https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/29660_A/GacetaNo_29660a_20221109.pdf .

Resolución de Gabinete No. 48 (2023). Available online at: https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.pa/pdfTemp/29793/GacetaNo_29793_20230531.pdf .

Roller M. R., Lavrakas P. H. (2015). “A multi-method approach in qualitative research,” in Applied Qualitative Research Design: A Total Quality Framework Approach (New York: Guilford Publications), 288–289.

Sakellariadou F. (2014). The concept of marine ecotourism: A case study in a mediterranean island. Int. J. Climate Change: Impacts Responses 6, 33–39. doi: 10.18848/1835-7156/CGP/v06i01/37218

Sandelowski M. (1995). Sample size in qualitative research. Res. Nurs. Health 18, 179–183. doi: 10.1002/nur.4770180211

Scott C. P., Mach L., Lucas K. M., Myers A. E. (2024). Whose cultural ecosystem service values matter? Exploring power inequities in diverse mangrove communities. Hum. Ecology : Interdiscip. J . 52, 81–97. doi: 10.1007/s10745-023-00462-5

Sealy W. (2018). From colonialism to transnationalism: The neo-colonial structure of caribbean tourism. J. On Tourism Sustainability 1, 81–92.

Seemann J., González C. T., Carballo-Bolaños R., Berry K., Heiss G. A., Struck U., et al. (2014). Assessing the ecological effects of human impacts on coral reefs in Bocas del Toro, Panama. Environ. Monit. Assessment. 186, 1747–1763. doi: 10.1007/s10661-013-3490-y

Singh G. G., Keefer J., Ota Y. (2023). An inequity assessment framework for planning coastal and marine conservation and development interventions. Front. Mar. Sci. 10. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1256500

Spalding A. K. (2017). Exploring the evolution of land tenure and land use change in panama: Linking land policy with development outcomes. Land Use Policy 61, 543–552. doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2016.11.023

Spalding A. K. (2011). Re-Making Lives Abroad: Lifestyle Migration and Socio-Environmental Change in Bocas del Toro (Panama: [Alberta]: University of Lethbridge).

Spalding A. K. (2013). Lifestyle Migration to Bocas del Toro, Panama: Exploring migration strategies and introducing local implications of the search for paradise. Int. Rev. Soc. Res. 3, 67–86. doi: 10.1515/irsr-2013-0005

Spalding A. K., Suman D. O., Mellado M. E. (2015). Navigating the evolution of marine policy in Panama: Current policies and community responses in the Pearl Islands and Bocas del Toro Archipelagos of Panama. Mar. Policy 62, 161–168. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2015.09.020

Srivastava S., Mehta L. (2023). The social life of mangroves: Neoliberal development and mangrove conservation in the changing landscape of Kutch. Environ. Planning. E Nat. Space (Print) 6, 2229–2248. doi: 10.1177/25148486211045360

STRI GIS Data Portal (2019). Available online at: https://stridata-si.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/e9b8ba21a21d4ac7be98bbff2c67d3f2_0/explore .

Suman D. O., Spalding A. K. (2018). Coastal Resources of Bocas del Toro, PANAMA: Tourism and Development Pressures and the Quest for Sustainability (Miami: University of Miami).

Tecel A., Katircioğlu S., Taheri E., Victor Bekun F. (2020). Causal interactions among tourism, foreign direct investment, domestic credits, and economic growth: Evidence from selected Mediterranean countries. Portuguese Economic J. 19, 195–212. doi: 10.1007/s10258-020-00181-5

Telemetro (2022) State of Environmental Emergency declared on Colón and Carenero islands due to lack of water (Telemetro). Available online at: https://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/declaran-estado-emergencia-ambiental-islas-colon-y-carenero-falta-agua-n5799895 (Accessed July 22, 2023).

Tilmans S., Diaz-Hernandez A., Nyman E., Davis J. (2014). The potential for financing small-scale wastewater treatment through resource recovery: Experience from Bocas del Toro, Panama. J. Water Sanitation Hygiene Dev. 4, 449–459. doi: 10.2166/washdev.2014.138

Tuwo A., Yunus M., Aprianto R., Tresnati J. (2021). Marine ecotourism development in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. IOP Conf. Series. Earth Environ. Sci. 763, 12068. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/763/1/012068

UN Water (2013) What is Water Security (Geneva: UN Water). Available online at: https://www.unwater.org/sites/default/files/app/uploads/2017/05/unwater_poster_Oct2013.pdf (Accessed October 16, 2023).

UN Water (2020) Water and Climate Change: United Nations World Water Development Report 2020 (UNESCO). Available online at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000372985.locale=en (Accessed October 16, 2023).

UN Water (2021) SDG 6 Capacity Development Initiative: Concept Note (Geneva: UN Water). Available online at: https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/un-water-sdg-6-capacity-development-initiative#:~:text=The%20SDG%206%20Capacity%20Development%20Initiative%20supports%20coordination%20on%20SDG,the%20SDG%206%20Global%20Acceleration (Accessed July 23, 2023).

UNWTO. (2023). Inbound tourism expenditure over exports of goods and services. Available online at https://www.unwto.org/news/international-tourism-to-reach-pre-pandemic-levels-in-2024 .

UN-OHRLLS. (2022). List of LDCs. In: Office of the high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states . Available at: https://www.un.org/ohrlls/content/list-ldcs (Accessed November 8, 2023).

Weiss R. S. (1994). Learning from strangers : The art and method of qualitative interview studies (New York: Free Press).

Winters Z. S., Crisman T. L., Dumke D. T. (2022). Sustainability of the Water-energy-food nexus in caribbean small island developing states. Water (Basel) 14, 322. doi: 10.3390/w14030322

Workman C. L., Shah S. H. (2023). Water infrastructure as intrusion: race, exclusion, and nostalgic futures in North Carolina. Ann. Am. Assoc. Geographers 113, 1639–1651. doi: 10.1080/24694452.2022.2149461

World Bank and UN DESA (2017) The Potential of the Blue Economy—Increasing Long- term Benefits of the Sustainable Use of Marine Resources for SIDS and Coastal Least Developed Countries (Washington: World Bank). Available online at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/cee24b6c-2e2f-5579-b1a4-457011419425/content (Accessed November 9, 2023).

Wortman T., Donaldson R., van Westen G. (2016). “They are stealing my island”: Residents’ opinions on foreign investment in the residential tourism industry in Tamarin, Mauritius. Singapore J. Trop. Geogr. 37, 139–157. doi: 10.1111/sjtg.12151

Zeng X., Chen M., Zeng C., Cheng S., Wang Z., Liu S., et al. (2022). Assessing the management effectiveness of China’s marine protected areas: Challenges and recommendations. Ocean Coast. Management. 224, 106172. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2022.106172

Keywords: marine ecotourism, water security, blue economy, island systems, Bocas del Toro, sustainable development

Citation: Kim A, Scott CP and Swartz W (2024) Local perspectives on marine ecotourism development in a water-insecure island region: the case of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Front. Mar. Sci. 11:1377053. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1377053

Received: 26 January 2024; Accepted: 02 May 2024; Published: 17 May 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Kim, Scott and Swartz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Abigael Kim, [email protected]

† These authors have contributed equally to this work

This article is part of the Research Topic

The Potentials and Pitfalls from National Blue Economy Plans Towards Sustainable Development

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

8 Research Methods

Learning objectives.

Differentiate between four kinds of research methods: surveys, field research, experiments, and secondary data analysis
Understand why different topics are better suited to different research approaches

Making sociologists’ presence invisible is not always realistic for other reasons. That option is not available to a researcher studying prison behaviors, early education, or the Ku Klux Klan. Researchers can’t just stroll into prisons, kindergarten classrooms, or Klan meetings and unobtrusively observe behaviors. In situations like these, other methods are needed. All studies shape the research design, while research design simultaneously shapes the study. Researchers choose methods that best suit their study topics and that fit with their overall approaches to research.

Sociologists conduct surveys under controlled conditions for specific purposes. Surveys gather different types of information from people. While surveys are not great at capturing the ways people really behave in social situations, they are a great method for discovering how people feel and think—or at least how they say they feel and think. Surveys can track preferences for presidential candidates or reported individual behaviors (such as sleeping, driving, or texting habits) or factual information such as employment status, income, and education levels.

A survey targets a specific population , people who are the focus of a study, such as college athletes, international students, or teenagers living with type 1 (juvenile-onset) diabetes. Most researchers choose to survey a small sector of the population, or a sample : that is, a manageable number of subjects who represent a larger population. The success of a study depends on how well a population is represented by the sample. In a random sample , every person in a population has the same chance of being chosen for the study. According to the laws of probability, random samples represent the population as a whole. For instance, a Gallup Poll, if conducted as a nationwide random sampling, should be able to provide an accurate estimate of public opinion whether it contacts 2,000 or 10,000 people.

Field Research

Here, we will look at three types of field research: participant observation, ethnography, and the case study.

Participant Observation

Rothman had conducted a form of study called participant observation , in which researchers join people and participate in a group’s routine activities for the purpose of observing them within that context. This method lets researchers experience a specific aspect of social life. A researcher might go to great lengths to get a firsthand look into a trend, institution, or behavior. Researchers temporarily put themselves into roles and record their observations. A researcher might work as a waitress in a diner, live as a homeless person for several weeks, or ride along with police officers as they patrol their regular beat. Often, these researchers try to blend in seamlessly with the population they study, and they may not disclose their true identity or purpose if they feel it would compromise the results of their research.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America , the book she wrote upon her return to her real life as a well-paid writer, has been widely read and used in many college classrooms.

Ethnography

Ethnography is the extended observation of the social perspective and cultural values of an entire social setting. Ethnographies involve objective observation of an entire community.

Institutional Ethnography

Historically, social science research tended to objectify women and ignore their experiences except as viewed from the male perspective. Modern feminists note that describing women, and other marginalized groups, as subordinates helps those in authority maintain their own dominant positions (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, n.d.). Smith’s three major works explored what she called “the conceptual practices of power” (1990; cited in Fensternmaker, n.d.) and are still considered seminal works in feminist theory and ethnography.

Ethnographers had been examining other cultures for decades—groups considered minority or outsider—like gangs, immigrants, and the poor. But no one had studied the so-called average American.

Nothing like it had ever been done before. Middletown was reviewed on the front page of the New York Times . Readers in the 1920s and 1930s identified with the citizens of Muncie, Indiana, but they were equally fascinated by the sociological methods and the use of scientific data to define ordinary people in the United States. The book was proof that social data was important—and interesting—to the U.S. public.

As you may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral children provide unique information about child development because they have grown up outside of the parameters of “normal” child development. And since there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method for researchers to use in studying the subject.

Experiments

One way researchers test social theories is by conducting an experiment , meaning they investigate relationships to test a hypothesis—a scientific approach.

Classically, the sociologist selects a set of people with similar characteristics, such as age, class, race, or education. Those people are divided into two groups. One is the experimental group and the other is the control group. The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable(s) and the control group is not. To test the benefits of tutoring, for example, the sociologist might expose the experimental group of students to tutoring but not the control group. Then both groups would be tested for differences in performance to see if tutoring had an effect on the experimental group of students. As you can imagine, in a case like this, the researcher would not want to jeopardize the accomplishments of either group of students, so the setting would be somewhat artificial. The test would not be for a grade reflected on their permanent record, for example.

Next, she placed a Black Panther bumper sticker on each car. That sticker, a representation of a social value, was the independent variable. In the 1970s, the Black Panthers were a revolutionary group actively fighting racism. Heussenstamm asked the students to follow their normal driving patterns. She wanted to see whether seeming support of the Black Panthers would change how these good drivers were treated by the police patrolling the highways. The dependent variable would be the number of traffic stops/citations.

The first arrest, for an incorrect lane change, was made two hours after the experiment began. One participant was pulled over three times in three days. He quit the study. After seventeen days, the fifteen drivers had collected a total of thirty-three traffic citations. The experiment was halted. The funding to pay traffic fines had run out, and so had the enthusiasm of the participants (Heussenstamm 1971).

Secondary Data Analysis

Social scientists also learn by analyzing the research of a variety of agencies. Governmental departments and global groups, like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or the World Health Organization, publish studies with findings that are useful to sociologists. A public statistic like the foreclosure rate might be useful for studying the effects of the 2008 recession; a racial demographic profile might be compared with data on education funding to examine the resources accessible by different groups.

When conducting content analysis, it is important to consider the date of publication of an existing source and to take into account attitudes and common cultural ideals that may have influenced the research. For example, Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd gathered research for their book Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture in the 1920s. Attitudes and cultural norms were vastly different then than they are now. Beliefs about gender roles, race, education, and work have changed significantly since then. At the time, the study’s purpose was to reveal the truth about small U.S. communities. Today, it is an illustration of 1920s’ attitudes and values.

Section Quiz

Which materials are considered secondary data?

Photos and letters given to you by another person
Books and articles written by other authors about their studies
Information that you have gathered and now have included in your results
Responses from participants whom you both surveyed and interviewed

What method did researchers John Mihelich and John Papineau use to study Parrotheads?

Web Ethnography

Why is choosing a random sample an effective way to select participants?

Participants do not know they are part of a study
The researcher has no control over who is in the study
It is larger than an ordinary sample
Everyone has the same chance of being part of the study

What research method did John S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd mainly use in their Middletown study?

Secondary data
Participant observation

Which research approach is best suited to the scientific method?

Questionnaire
Secondary data analysis

The main difference between ethnography and other types of participant observation is:

ethnography isn’t based on hypothesis testing
ethnography subjects are unaware they’re being studied
ethnographic studies always involve minority ethnic groups
ethnography focuses on how subjects view themselves in relationship to the community

Which best describes the results of a case study?

It produces more reliable results than other methods because of its depth
Its results are not generally applicable
It relies solely on secondary data analysis
All of the above

Using secondary data is considered an unobtrusive or ________ research method.

nonreactive
nonparticipatory
nonrestrictive
nonconfrontive