This picture was adapted from figure 1.4 (p. 12) of [MILHUB94] . IAHO (In Ahbeng's Humble Opinion), it is the best figure that describes Case Study Research using Qualitative Data Analysis. The most important issue is that the process is not a sequencial one. No conclusion can be drawn until there is a clear data display. Unfortunately, most first time researchers will not realize this until 24 hours before the due date :-).

That's it! How on earth to conduct a Qualitative Data Analysis? IAHO, follow the [MILHUB94] book:

• read chapter 1.G, especially page 14.
• remember figure 1.4 page 12.
• mark and tag (cross-link) the whole book.
• chapter 10 is the essence of Qualitative Data Analysis.
• however, to understand chapter 10, you have to read (browse) the whole book.
• You should also read chapter 5 of [YIN94] .

Most of first time case study researchers have been intimidated by the [MILHUB94] book. There is no way to understand Qualitative Data Analysis without having some experiences. Therefore, get some experiences! To get the idea of Case Study Research, you should practice [YIN94] :

• do a very simple case study research.
• do it with a very proper methodology.
• get an idea about the potential difficulties.

There are many good case study research references, viz.:

• [BEGOME87] -- a glance of Case Study Research.
• [GABLE94] -- mixing quantitative and qualitative methods.
• [YIN94] --
  • every chapter says: "case study research is very difficult."
  • read the whole book carefully.

You should have some general research experience. These following are some starting points:

• Cooper and Emory 1995 [COOEMO95]
• Dooley 1995 [DOOLEY95]
• Fornel 1982 [FORN82]
• Kerlinger 1986 [KERL86]
• Leedy 1993 [LEED93]

Some online references:

• The Memo Page of Grounded Theory
• The Qualitative Report
• Association for Qualitative Research

References

• [BEGOME87] Benbasat, Izak, Goldstein, David K., and Mead, Melissa. 1987. The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 11(3), pp. 369-386. [T58.6 MIS HML, ISSN 0276-7783].
• [COOEMO95] Cooper, Donald R., and Emory C. William. 1995. Business Research Methods. Irwin, 5th ed., pp. 681. [HD30.4 Coo HMLMS, ISBN 0-2561-3777-3]
• [DOOLEY95] Dooley, David. 1995. Social Research Methods. Prentice Hall, pp. 387. [HM48 Doo, ISBN 0-1312-6161-4]
• [FORN82] Fornell, Claes. 1982. A Second Generation of Multivariate Analysis: An Overview. In A Second Generation of Multivariate Analysis (Fornell, Claes editor), Praeger, - ed., pp. 1-21. [QA278 Sec HMLMS, ISBN 0-0306-1604-2].
• [GLASER98] Glaser, Barney G. 1998. Doing Grounded Theory: Issues and Discussions. Sociology Press, pp. 254. [-, -]
• [GABLE94] Gable, Guy. 1994. Intergrating Case Study and Survey Research Methods: An Example in Information Systems. European Journal of Information Systems, 3(2), pp. 112-126. [T58.6 ETS, ISSN 0960-085X].
• [KERL86] Kerlinger, Fred N. 1986. Foundations of Behavioral Research. Reinehart and Winston, 3rd ed., pp. 667. [BF76.5 Ker CLRBR, ISBN 0-0304-1761-9]
• [LEED93] Leedy, Paul D. 1993. Practical Research - Planning and Design. Macmillan, 5th ed., pp. 348. [fQ180.55 Met.L CLMS, ISBN 0-0236-9242-1]
• [MILHUB94] Miles, Matthew B., and Huberman, A. Michael. 1994. Qualitative Data Analysis. Sage Publications, pp. 339. [fH62 Mil CLMS, ISBN 0-8039-5537-5]
• [STRAUSSCORBIN98] Strauss, Anselm L., and Corbin, Juliet. 1998. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Sage, 2nd ed., pp. 312. [HA29 Str, ISBN 0-8039-5939-7]
• [YIN94] Yin, Robert K. 1994. Case Study Research. Sage Pub., 2nd ed., pp. 170. [H62 Yin HLRBR, ISBN 0-8039-5662-2]