Case Studies and their Epistemological Potential in Design-Based Research – A Practice Illustration

Abstract

Researchers in DBR projects create various text products, such as interview transcripts, scientific reports and sometimes a case study[1]. Usually, case studies are only considered to be by-products created during the DBR to give the stakeholders of the project, including university students of vocational education and training, an insight into the development process and the underlying practical challenges. In this context, case studies mainly fulfil a didactic function for the stakeholders. However, we believe that case studies do not only serve as an instrument for communicating project content to others (outside the scientific community), but are a medium for the researchers themselves to ascertain their own learning processes that takes place in the exploration of the field of research. That way, we are emphasizing a process-orientated perspective on DBR. We assume that the process of creating a case study has an epistemological value on its own. As we will show and try to illustrate with practical examples, creating a case study applies to very different criteria in contrast to creating scientific text products. For instance, the researcher creating a case study has to pay attention to details, the use of language and ways of communication as well as trying to capture the overall atmosphere of the organization, social groups etc. We consider this a ‘creative act’ and see many parallels to Walter Benjamin’s theory of translation[2]: In DBR it is the world of science on the one hand and the field of practice on the other that make a translation necessary: the languages applied in both fields differ, although the people working there might all belong to one and the same nationality which might allow them to communicate with the people from the other “world”. However, this does not mean that researchers understand the practice and the emerging phenomena per se. A translation between the worlds is necessary. For this, the case study is the first step. We are convinced that this approach opens up a different perspective on the DBR project and focussed research interests. Developing a case study can be helpful for an overall and deep understanding of practice – which is one of the main goals for DBR conducted in the tradition of a paradigm consistent to the humanities. This (additional) paper aims to illustrate how a case study can derive from the background of a DBR context. We would like to provide insight into the concrete usage of a case study approach in a DBR-project. In order to structure the case study description, we use the criteria of Reetz (1988), a German professional in vocational education training whose ideas on case studies fit to Benjamin’s idea of writing narratives.