Purpose: Critical realism is an increasingly popular "lens" through which complex events, entities and phenomena can be studied. Yet detailed operationalisations of critical realism are at present relatively scarce. This study's objective here is built on existing debates by developing an open systems model of reality, a basis for…

Reflexive commitments tend to be lacking, particularly from the perspective of early career scholars. This is particularly true in relation to published research, but evident in doctoral studies exploring teachers work. Using principles of phenomenological reflexivity, this methodological paper explores the critical incidents that have come to…

Purpose: This study aims to examine how case study research has been applied in the field of human resource development (HRD). Design/methodology/approach: The authors examined HRD case study research by analyzing 118 refereed, empirical case study articles published between 2000 and 2020 in three Academy of HRD-sponsored journals. Findings:…

Purpose: This paper aims to consider ways to visually model data generated by qualitative case studies, pointing out a need for visualizations that depict both synchronic relations across representations and how those relations change diachronically. To develop an appropriate modeling approach, the paper critically examines Max Boisot's I-Space…

In 2018, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project (ADP) and Tufts University's Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) formed a 3-year partnership to explore two approaches to studying institutional climates for political learning and participation in democracy. The goals were to repeat…

This article presents a thorough review of the literature dedicated to learning more about mixed methods research design. Explanatory sequential mixed methods studies and exploratory sequential mixed methods studies are the two types of mixed methods research design models that this article presents in detail. To contextualize different ideas…

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to review some of the existing gaps in the third-generation of critical environmental justice (EJ) research and then propose promising combinations of theoretical concepts by adjoining (EJ) literature with other bodies of work with the use of qualitative research methods. Design/methodology/approach: This paper…

The case study is a widely used method in qualitative research. Although defining the case study can be simple, it is complex to develop its strategy. Furthermore, it is still often not considered to be a sufficiently robust research strategy in the education field because it does not offer well-defined and use well-structured protocols. One of…

Case study has been one of the most often used qualitative research methodologies in the field of education at all levels -- from preschool to adult. Yet the number of available resources for case study researchers--be they emerging or experienced--is still limited. This paper will review the definition of the case study method as well as some of…

This paper offers a critical analysis of the Comparative Case Study (CCS). While CCS provides a holistic methodological framework for case-based research, it is not free from drawbacks. One criticism the approach may receive, ironically, is the lack of criticism it encounters. Another critique can include its naming, as the name 'comparative case…

Despite the case study research method has been widely adopted in qualitative research, few scholarly articles addressed the comprehensive guidance on the use of embedded case study research design. This paper aims to contribute to the literature by demonstrating the use of embedded case study research design in qualitative research. A pseudo case…

Many of our ideas about workplaces have been inherited from 20th-century corporations, in which the elements of the workplace have been packaged in a highly typified configuration: work is done by people belonging to an organization, for some clear reason, at a specific place and time, using specific processes. This configuration is increasingly…

This case study considers classroom-based qualitative research conducted using semistructured interviews and classroom-based ethnography and carried out in a publicly funded special education program for high school students with autism spectrum disorder. In response to a paucity of special education research focused on student perspectives, the…

This article presents the MERITS Plus model, a conceptual framework developed during qualitative research into the process of academic transition and the impact of educational choices upon learner identity. The article considers some of the methodological challenges faced by qualitative researchers, and how effective the use of a conceptual…

Advice on case selection in small-"N" research emphasizes controlling for confounding variables to facilitate inferential tests of a cross-case pattern. Yet many researchers embrace the "mechanismic worldview" and aim to construct explanations. Explanations differ from inferences because one explains an outcome at the…