Exam (elaborations) UNDERSTANDING Medical Surgical Nursing

Our determination to use the qualitative case study method got its impetus from the writings of several scholars who have reiterated the increasing use of the QR especially in the social sciences, even in contexts dominated by the traditional (realist-quantitative) paradigms. Denzin and Lilcoln (2011) have commented about an explosion and a proliferation of interest in QR while Litchman (2014) aver that many disciplines in the social sciences have embraced some types of qualitative research as an alternative or complement to quantitative research. She writes that: QR as a way to answer questions is no longer a new idea. While various fields accept or value QR to a greater or lesser extent, it is clear that QR is not the stepchild that it was in the last millennium. Whether in journalism, urban studies, social work, or behavioural sciences, QR is used and will continue to be used by researchers (Litchman 2014, p.4). These sentiments echo the thinking among many QR researchers but are predominantly directed at Western audiences. Bubaker, Bala and Bernadine (2006) state that much of the literature on QR has focused on research conducted in developed, unicultural or primarily English speaking countries and that studies of qualitative case study research have been embedded in Western or Euro-centric values. Consequently, in our study, we felt obliged to explain QR principles and procedures to students, fellow lecturers and other audiences to enable them gain a better understanding of the qualitative approach and hopefully reduce what Givens (2017) terms the paradigm wars. Morrow (2005) points out that often, the qualitative researcher is called upon to give a rationale for conducting a qualitative study and to educate the reader about its underpinnings. We start by discussing the choice and importance of the research paradigm, and the qualitative case study. Hereafter, we explain our sampling procedure and the trustworthiness of our study. 4 Africa Journal of Media and Communication, Vol. 1, No. 1 (July 2020) Qualıtatıve Case Study in Contexts Domınated by Quantıtatıve Approaches Methodology We adopted the relativist-interpretivist paradigm to guide our overall design of the study. It was important to explain this in a language that would be accessible to peers, examiners, supervisors and other relevant audiences, supported heavily with citations from several publications – most of which were, unfortunately, not published nor available in the context of the study. Accordingly, we explained that the study took the interpretivist paradigm because it aims to bring into consciousness hidden social forces and structures, and is directed at understanding phenomenon from an individual’s perspective, investigating interaction among individuals, as well as, the historical and cultural contexts which people inhabit (Creswell, 2009). We elicited and understood individual constructs of media accountability through interaction with the participants (Guba & Lincon, 1994), but relied on them for this understanding as much as possible (Creswell, 2009). As already stated, we used the qualitative case study - one of the most frequently used qualitative methods in the social sciences (Ponelis, 2015) - because of its ability to combine a variety of data generation techniques. Litchman (2014) defines a case study as an in-depth investigation of a particular case or cases in real-life context in which multiple perspectives related to the complexity of the cases are sought. Gillham (2000) states that to understand people in real life, one needs to study them in their context and in the way they operate. How people behave, feel and think can only be understood if we get to know their world and what they are trying to do in it (pp.11-12). Therefore, our study sought the perspectives of reporters, editors, media managers and media analysts on media accountability from the media houses where they work. We chose the media houses in order to provide insight on the issue of media accountability in Kenya, and sought to understand the policies and practices as well as the perspectives of journalists and media managers on media accountability at the media houses. Africa Journal of Media and Communication, Vol. 1, No. 1 (July 2020) 5 Qualıtatıve Case Study in Contexts Domınated by Quantıtatıve Approaches Stake (2005), advises that researchers who use case study should seek out both what is common and what is particular about the case and this involves careful and in-depth consideration of the nature of the case, historical background, physical setting, informants through whom the case can be known and other institutional and political contextual factors (Stake, 2005). We had personal interactions with the cases through interviews and conversations with reporters, editors and newsroom managers. In line with Stake’s (1995) typology, we conducted an instrumental case study of the media houses to advance our understanding of media accountability in Kenya. Stake identifies three types of case studies: intrinsic, instrumental and multiple instrumental. The intrinsic case study is aimed at understanding a particular case because the case itself is of interest - a case may be of interest because it has particular features or because it is ordinary. An instrumental case study on the other hand, provides insight on an issue or problem and the case is selected to advance understanding of the object of interest. The complexity of the case or the research site is secondary to the issue that the researcher seeks to understand. Stake points out that the case is of secondary interest and only plays a supportive role, facilitating our understanding of something else. The difference between the intrinsic and the instrumental case study therefore lies in the purpose of the study. The third case study that Stake (2005) proposes is the collective or multiple instrumental case study. A multiple instrumental case study refers to a situation where a number of cases are studied jointly in order to understand an issue. The cases may be studied in unison, parallel, or sequential order. Stake notes that a multiple instrumental case study is chosen because it is believed that understanding them will lead to better understanding about a larger collection of cases. In our study, we used a multiple instrumental case study in the sense that we conducted the study in two media houses. The case study method offered us a thick description of the sites, the participants and their occupations. The cases themselves did