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EDU 8677 |
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The Case Study Methodology: Introduction to the Case Study Methodology (PowerPoint)
Case Study Methodology Links:
http://www.gslis.utexas.edu/
http://www.uidaho.edu/ag/agecon/
http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/
http://www.aare.edu.au/00pap/
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The second written exercise for the EDU 8677 course project requires the student to formulate a case study investigating and reporting professional educators' perceptions about successful school leadership. Successful completion of the case study will include four activities:
While many of the questions that may arise during the process of conducting the case study are answered in the materials the students will study, as they collate the data gathered, consider them, and analyze them, time will be used in class as necessary to address student questions. These may include such matters as how to organize data, difficulties associated with interpreting the data, and how to report them. It will be the students' responsibility, however, to raise these questions as they arise.
For students who have not taken a course in Educational Research or need to refresh what they learned in Educational Research, one class session will be devoted in EDU 8677 to read and discuss the case study research methodology that educational researchers use as well as to investigate additional information from Internet websites offering concrete ideas and approaches for conducting and reporting a case study. In addition, this class session will be used to assist students organize the interview instrument and protocol for conducting the interviews. Armed with this knowledge about the case study method, the student will then interview two principals (one elementary or middle school principal and one high school principal) and two "master" teachers (one elementary or middle school teacher and one high school teacher) regarding their perceptions and beliefs about successful school leadership. As the student conducts each interview, it is important that the student accurately note not only the interviewee's responses but also the interviewer's perceptions (the process called "memoing") both during and following each interview. All of this information will form the data the student will analyze when preparing the case study report.
Of all the activities successful managers engage in, perhaps the single most important activity involves interviewing people (Sayles, 1979). Through numerous formal and even more numerous informal interactions with superordinates, peers, colleagues, and subordinates, successful managers use interviews to glean a rich, detailed, elaborate, and extensive body of information concerning practically every aspect of organizational functioning. In turn, successful managers utilize this information to complicate how they understand their organization and its functioning so that, as they engage organizational decision making, they do so having identified more accurately what really needs to be done and how to do it. Some observers of the principalship have argued that successful principals follow a similar pattern. As they formally and informally interact with teachers, staff members, parents, students, volunteers, and a host of other members of the school community including school board members and the superintendent, successful principals use interviews with the intention of ferreting out the information they need to complicate how they understand not only how their school is actually functioning but also to identify more accurately what really needs to be done and how to do it with the goal of improving their school’s overall functioning. But, a good interview doesn’t just happen by chance. Instead, a good interview is dependent upon one’s ability to interview people well. Conducting an interview is a learned, purposeful activity where the interviewer not only solicits information from others but also controls for the extraneous factors that threaten the validity of the data being gleaned from the interview. It is in this sense that an interviewer conducts an interview with both of one’s eyes wide open, focusing one eye upon the subject being interviewed and the other eye focused upon oneself. The intrinsic, collective, ethnographic case study that is required in EDU 8677 introduces aspiring principals to the techniques of conducting successful interviews, meaning “valid” interviews. In this exercise, students will utilize a structured interview process along with a standardized protocol to conduct formal interviews with two principals (one middle school principal and one high school principal) and two “master” teachers (again, one middle school teacher and one high school principal). The purpose for these interviews is for students: l to determine the nature of the principalship as it exists at the time of the study by ferreting out through the interviews the important variables impacting the principalship; l to develop insight into these variables so as to identify relationships between the variables (hypotheses) influencing the behavior of principals; and, l to understand in greater detail and depth how successful principals function, why successful principals do what they do, and how successful principals adjust their behavior as they respond to the environment. When approaching the case study, it is important that students understand the entire interview process and formulate an explicit plan for conducting each interview. Some of the more significant activities the student should consider include: a) How one will gain access. Generally this involves an initial contact of the interviewee(s) by letter, telephone call, informal or serendipitous encounter, etc. In this initial contact, the student should identify oneself, the purpose for and the length of the interview, how the student will use the information gathered in the interview, provide the interviewee a guarantee of confidentiality, and set up date and time of the interview. b) Preparing for each interview. The student should formulate a standard process to control for threats to validity, especially interviewer bias (e.g., prejudice, subjectivity, halo effect) and interviewer effect (the interviewee knows that the responses are being reported; the interviewee wants to “look good”). Generally, this requires the student to formulate a thoughtful approach to all aspects of the interview (e.g., one’s dress, where the interview will take place, how one will introduce the interview and put the interviewee at ease, reiterating purpose of interview, the guarantee of confidentiality, agreement upon a method for recording one’s notes, developing key phrases that will be used for probing, as well as how one will conclude the interview and whether one will provide each interviewee with a copy of the case study). c) Conducting each interview. On the day of each interview, the student should arrive at least five minutes early. When the interview starts: thank the interviewee for participating in the interview; reiterate confidentiality; describe why "experience-based" responses are needed; inquire whether a tape recorded can be used; follow the interview plan, being prepared to adapt the interview plan as contingencies arise; make probes; and, make sure to gather one’s field notes in such a way they can be easily transcribed. Conclude the interview by thanking the interviewee for taking time to participate, reiterate any agreed-upon information concerning follow-up activities, etc. d) Post-interview activities. Following the interview (sooner rather than later), the student should: write a thank you to each interviewee, transcribe interview notes, begin considering how one will organize and analyze the data as well as write the report. In addition, the student should engaging in “memoing” as ideas, interpretations, understandings, questions, etc., arise in one’s mind.
4. Conducting the case study interviews The student will interview two principals (one elementary or middle school principal and one high school principal) using the following interview protocol provided. The general approach to the interview should include: First: Thank the interviewee for participating in the interview and follow the interview plan one has devised. Second: Conduct the interview. Use the questions provided and make probes as necessary. Third: Thank the interviewee for taking time to participate in the interview and reiterate any agree-upon information concerning follow-up activities, etc.
On becoming a principal… 1. Describe the people and events surrounding your decision to become a principal. What made you desire to be a principal? 2. Characterize what was useful and what was not in your principal’s training program. 3. Describe the period of transition from teaching to leadership. What made it difficult? What made it easy? On school leadership… 4. List five words that best describe your leadership role. 5. List five of the most important skills a principal needs. 6. List five “landmines” that principals need to avoid. 7. List three of the “joys” associated with the principalship. 8. List three of the “stressers” associated with the principalship. 9. What characterizes a typical weekly schedule? 10. What three problems command the greater proportion of your attention? 11. Describe your leadership vision for this school. Concerning ongoing professional development… 12. Do you engage in an ongoing program for professional and leadership development? Could you describe its components? Is it required or is it a personal interest? 13. Are there any books you have read during the past year? If so, could you identify whether and how these have fostered your thinking about school leadership? 14. Do you ready any professional journals regularly? If so, can you speak about whether and how you have used ideas in these articles in your professional practice? 15. What do you believe is the best form of ongoing professional and leadership development for principals? A retrospective analysis 16. Can you describe three of most important practical learnings your experience as a principal has taught you? 17. Complete this idea: “If I knew then what I know now…” 18. Do you have any advice for an aspiring principal? Problem-solving perspective 19. Of the three problems identified in #10, can you explore one with me and describe how you have solved or intend to solve this problem. The kind of information I am interested in is that which will help me to understand your approach to problem solving and its complexities. Closing questions 20. Reviewing the questions I have asked and all we have discussed, is there any response you would like to amend? 21. Is there anything of importance that I did not ask that you believe I should have asked?
On becoming a teacher… 1. Describe the people and events surrounding your decision to become a teacher. What made you desire to be a teacher? 2. Characterize what was useful and what was not in your teacher’s training program. 3. Describe how you “learned” to teach. What made it difficult? What made it easy? On teaching … 4. List five words that best describe your role as a teacher. 5. List five of the most important skills a teacher needs. 6. List five “landmines” that teachers need to avoid. 7. List three of the “joys” associated with teaching. 8. List three of the “stressers” associated with the teaching. 9. What characterizes your typical weekly schedule? 10. What three problems command the greater proportion of your attention? 11. Describe your leadership vision for this school. Concerning ongoing professional development… 12. Do you engage in an ongoing program for professional development? Could you describe its components? Is it required or is it a personal interest? 13. Are there any books you have read during the past year? If so, could you identify whether and how these have fostered your thinking about teaching? 14. Do you ready any professional journals regularly? If so, can you speak about whether and how you have used ideas in articles in your professional practice? 15. What do you believe is the best form of ongoing professional development for teacher? 16. Of the three problems identified in #10, can you explore one with me and describe how you have solved or intend to solve this problem. The kind of information I am interested in is that which will help me to understand your approach to professional problem solving and its complexities. A retrospective analysis… 17. Can you describe three of most important practical learnings your experience as a teacher has taught you? 18. Complete this idea: “If I knew then what I know now…” 19. Do you have any advice for an aspiring teacher? Concerning school leadership… 20. Reflecting not upon your principal but your experience and beliefs, can you identify three characteristics you believe to embody your concept about how a principal would function as an excellent school leader? 21. Conversely, can you identify three characteristics you believe impede how a principal can function as an excellent school leader? 22. Were you to be asked for advice about how a new principal should approach the role, are there any behaviors you would suggest the new principal adopt? 23. Are there any behaviors that you would caution a new principal to avoid? 24. In your experience, is there any behavior(s) you have observed to characterize an “excellent” principal? 25. Conversely, can you identify in your experience any behavior(s) that characterize(s) a principal’s “failure”? Closing questions 26. Reviewing the questions I have asked and all we have discussed, is there any response you would like to amend? 27. Is there anything of importance that I did not ask that you believe I should have asked?
Sayles, L. R. (1979). What effective managers really do…and how they do it. New York: McGraw-Hill. |
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