Justifying the Qualıtatıve Case Study in Contexts Domınated by Emphasis on Quantıtatıve Approaches 

Jared Obuya and Charles Ong’ondo)

Abstract

The use of the qualitative case study method has increasingly gained acceptance in research within contexts hitherto dominated by quantitative approaches. However, the burden of justifying the choice of methodology to institutional committees, peers and even students in contexts dominated by the realist paradigm is a daunting task to many qualitative researchers. In this article, our aim is to provide a justification for the use of the qualitative case study by demonstrating how this was done in a study that investigated media accountability policies and practices at two media houses in Kenya. We start by discussing the interpretive philosophy, and explain our choice of the qualitative case study method. We then present our sampling procedure, data generation techniques, data analysis and trustworthiness, and how these choices conform to the recommendations of other qualitative researchers. Our hope is that students, lecturers, editors and other researchers may gain a better understanding of the interpretive philosophy and the qualitative approach in contexts dominated by emphasis on traditional research

Keywords: Qualitative, Quantitative, Accountability.

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