The Use of Case Study Design in Learning Management System Research: A Label of Convenience?

Abstract

Case study design is often characterized as a poorly applied and understood approach to conduct research into information systems. This literature review examined 28 empirical studies of Learning Management Systems (LMS) that were self-declared as case studies. This paper’s main aim was to establish whether these studies actually applied case study techniques or simply utilized the term “case study” as a label of convenience. Alarmingly, more than one-third of the examined articles contained little or no justification for adopting a case study design and did not meet the established criteria for identification as a case study as outlined in this review. The lack of an appropriate discussion on the characteristics and applicability of the case study approach to empirical discovery brings into question the robustness of a study’s stated methodology. It is not sufficient to assume that the label “case study” by itself will portray a universal understanding of the research design of an empirical LMS study. This paper proposes that a robust description of what constitutes a case study in a LMS context will assist in ensuring that future studies on LMS (or other information systems) research that intend to adopt a case study approach, adequately present appropriate justifications for adopting this methodology. It is hoped that our definition and description of LMS case study methodology will serve to inspire further reflection on the characteristics of this robust research approach that might lead to a set of guidelines for applying this methodology to information systems research.

Whether to flip Extreme Apprenticeship: which is more effective in programming instruction?

“…(See the conclusion for limitations to this.) Generally, research has been conducted on a single case (one faculty of education), whereas this current study provides a deeper and richer understanding in examining a situation (Turnbull et al, 2021 ). The students were from four different departments: Social Studies Teaching, Elementary Education Teaching, Preschool Teaching, and Turkish Language Teaching, which were randomly assigned to the three groups of the study.…”

Property Taxation Imperatives for Africa

“…This is a qualitative study based on a case study method. The descriptive case studies lead to the development of a narrative of the phenomena with reference to extant literature (Turnbull et al, 2021). A similar study design has been used in examining property tax in Franzsen and McCluskey (2017a), Goodfellow (2017) and Odimegwu et al (2018).…”

The Qualitative Case Study Research Strategy as Applied on a Rural Enterprise Development Doctoral Research Project

“…There was a need to hear of the lived experiences of different designers and implementers of rural enterprise business support programmes in these organisations given the somewhat different programming contexts under which the different programmes are developed and delivered. Although it is noted in the literature that qualitative case studies, or case studies in general, lack generalisation (Brown, 2008; Creswell, 2007; Denscombe, 2004; Stake, 2005), studying a phenomenon based on multiple cases results in better applicability (‘generalisation’) of results than would be studying a single case (Glette & Wiig, 2022; Piekkari et al, 2009; Rashid et al, 2019; Schwandt & Gates, 2018; Stake, 2005; Turnbull et al, 2021; Yin, 2018), thus, the decision against the single case study I made in my study. Also, evidence from multiple cases is often considered more reliable and robust (Baxter & Jack, 2008; Yin, 2018) than would studying a single case.…”

“…Generally, in case study research, triangulation is considered very important as a form of confirmation of the validity of the processes (Ebneyamini & Moghadam, 2018; Farquhar & Michels, 2014; Takahashi & Araujo, 2020; Turnbull et al, 2021) or trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985), a key quality consideration in qualitative case study research. Triangulation is critical in all aspects of trustworthiness, i.e., credibility (how far the findings reflect reality), transferability (the extent to which the findings can be applied to other contexts) and dependability (the ability of the research methods used to produce the same findings if replicated with similar subjects under similar contexts).…”

“…Consideration of the research questions is always taken as a key choice criterion of the research strategy to be used in a given study (Bowen, 2005;. Yin (2018), together with almost all other writers on case studies (e.g., Stake, 2005;Merriam, 2009;Miles et al, 2014;Ebneyamini & Moghadam, 2018;Turnbull et al, 2021;Lavarda & Bellucci, 2022), says case studies are good at answering 'how' and 'why' research questions. Such research questions would need rich and deep qualitative data to effectively answer them.…”