Paper
Processes of a case study methodology for postgraduate research in marketing
Chad Perry
Processes of a case study methodology 7 85
U n ive rsi ty of Sou the r n Q ueensl a nd, Toowoomba , A ust r a l i a
Introduction
C a s e s t u d i e s a re f a m i l i a r t o m a rke t i n g e d u c a t o r s a n d t h e i r s t u d e n t s a s a teaching device. For example, the Harvard Business School’s cases are widely used to allow students to be emotionally involved and le ar n action-related analysis of real, complex situations (Christensen and Hansen, 1987). However, a l t h o u g h c a s e s t u d i e s c a n a l s o b e u s e d a s a re s e a r c h m e t h o d o l o g y ( E a s t o n ,
1994a; Parkhe, 1993; Tsoukas, 1989; Yin, 1993, 1994), no jour nal of research case studies or case study methods exists and the most common social science and evaluation rese arch methods textbooks “hardly mention case studies” (Yin,
1993, p. xi). Indeed, one survey of PhD dissertations in six fields concluded that case studies were inappropriate in postg raduate research, that is, one way to rectify the “mindless empiricism” of many doctoral disser tations would be to
“simply eliminate … case study dissertations” (Adams and White, 1994, p. 573).
This paper reports the Australian development of a successful, str uctured approach to using the case study methodology in postg raduate research. The paper is designed for postg raduate research students in marketing and their supervisors, for its aim is to present and justify guidelines for using the case study research methodology in honours, masters and PhD research theses. That is, only case studies used in postgraduate theses are considered, and not those used fo r other pur poses such as consulting (Yin, 1994), prog ram evaluation
(Patton, 1990) or market research.
The paper’s contribution to marketing education derives from its focus on str uctured, postgraduate research processes and from its detailed
Chad Perry
Processes of a case study methodology 7 85
U n ive rsi ty of Sou the r n Q ueensl a nd, Toowoomba , A ust r a l i a
Introduction
C a s e s t u d i e s a re f a m i l i a r t o m a rke t i n g e d u c a t o r s a n d t h e i r s t u d e n t s a s a teaching device. For example, the Harvard Business School’s cases are widely used to allow students to be emotionally involved and le ar n action-related analysis of real, complex situations (Christensen and Hansen, 1987). However, a l t h o u g h c a s e s t u d i e s c a n a l s o b e u s e d a s a re s e a r c h m e t h o d o l o g y ( E a s t o n ,
1994a; Parkhe, 1993; Tsoukas, 1989; Yin, 1993, 1994), no jour nal of research case studies or case study methods exists and the most common social science and evaluation rese arch methods textbooks “hardly mention case studies” (Yin,
1993, p. xi). Indeed, one survey of PhD dissertations in six fields concluded that case studies were inappropriate in postg raduate research, that is, one way to rectify the “mindless empiricism” of many doctoral disser tations would be to
“simply eliminate … case study dissertations” (Adams and White, 1994, p. 573).
This paper reports the Australian development of a successful, str uctured approach to using the case study methodology in postg raduate research. The paper is designed for postg raduate research students in marketing and their supervisors, for its aim is to present and justify guidelines for using the case study research methodology in honours, masters and PhD research theses. That is, only case studies used in postgraduate theses are considered, and not those used fo r other pur poses such as consulting (Yin, 1994), prog ram evaluation
(Patton, 1990) or market research.
The paper’s contribution to marketing education derives from its focus on str uctured, postgraduate research processes and from its detailed
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