dotLAB Radio - How to do case study research

How to do case study research

11/11/20 • 28 min

In this episode of dotLAB Radio, Prof Tony Dundon of University of Limerick discusses his experience of using case studies as a research method within management research. He specifically draws on his worker voice research in an Irish organisation in the mid 2000's and key lessons he learned.

In this podcast Tony covers the following areas:

+What is case study research?

+Best practice advice on setting up and carrying out interviews.

+How to interview reluctant respondents and develop rapport.

+Case studies in a post-Covid world – remote v in-person interviews.

+The importance of fully immersing oneself in the case study.

+Well known case studies and what can be learned from them.

Professor Dundon refers to two case studies in particular:

1.Interviewing Reluctant Respondents: Strikes, Henchmen and Gaelic Games
2.Accessing the Law to Enforce Employment Rights: A Case Study of Worker Activism in a Non-Union Workplace

About Professor Tony Dundon

Tony Dundon is Professor of HRM and Employment Relations in the Kemmy Business School at University of Limerick. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS); Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD); former Chief Examiner for the CIPD; and was Editor-in-Chief of the Human Resource Management Journal (HRMJ). He is Visiting Professor at the Work & Equalities Institute, The University of Manchester; Honorary Professor at St Andrews University Management School, Scotland, and previously Head of Management at NUI Galway. His research has been published in journals such as: Human Relations, Organizational Research Methods, British Journal of Management, Work Employment & Society, International Journal of HRM (among other). Recent books include: Handbook of Research on Employee Voice, 2e (2020, Edward Elgar); Case Studies in Work, Employment and Human Resource Management (2020); A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Employment Relations (2017, Sage); Routledge Companion of Employment Relations (2018); HRM: Texts & Cases, 5e, (Pearson, 2017); Routledge Companion of Employment Relations (2018).

In this podcast Tony covers the following areas:

+What is case study research?

+Best practice advice on setting up and carrying out interviews.

+How to interview reluctant respondents and develop rapport.

+Case studies in a post-Covid world – remote v in-person interviews.

+The importance of fully immersing oneself in the case study.

+Well known case studies and what can be learned from them.

Professor Dundon refers to two case studies in particular:

1.Interviewing Reluctant Respondents: Strikes, Henchmen and Gaelic Games
2.Accessing the Law to Enforce Employment Rights: A Case Study of Worker Activism in a Non-Union Workplace

About Professor Tony Dundon

Previous Episode

Sustainability and the circular economy in construction – How the RINNO project aims to improve efficiency and reduce emissions

Under the current Programme for Government, Ireland has set a target of 500,000 homes to be retrofitted to improve energy efficiency by 2030. With the European Union committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050 under the European Green Deal, the construction industry is a key player in helping society migrate to a circular economy and cutting emissions.

Launched in June 2020, RINNO is a four-year project, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, that will focus on developing solutions for the construction industry to accelerate the rate of deep renovation in energy inefficient buildings across Europe. The Irish Institute of Digital Business at Dublin City University are leading the business research on the project and are working with 17 partners across industry and academia.

In this episode of dotLAB Radio, Patrick Haughey (CEO, Audiobrand) is joined by Joseph Kilroy (Policy and Public Affairs Manager, The Chartered Institute of Building) and Dr Mohamad Kassem (RINNO Partner & Professor of Digital Construction and Engineering, Northumbria University). They discuss:

· The role of the Chartered Institute of Building in Ireland in bringing multiple stakeholders together to address sustainability in the building industry.

· The innovative technologies and processes being developed by the RINNO project to improve cost-efficiency, productivity and sustainability in European building renovation.

· An overview of deep renovation, retrofitting and the benefits these offer for public health, employment and regional rebalancing.

· How COVID-19 has presented an opportunity for developers to rethink and reimagine the built environment.

Find out more about RINNO by visiting the project website and by following the project updates on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Next Episode

Transforming the digital delivery of mental health care

Recent years have seen a growth in demand and the necessity for digital mental health care delivery. This has allowed organizations to provide earlier and easier access to services to help manage resilience, sleep, stress, depression, anxiety, and illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and COPD which can result from these.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has seen the need for digitized mental health supports being further accelerated and transformed. In this episode of dotLAB Radio we speak to Ken Cahill, CEO and co-founder of SilverCloud Health, the world’s leading digital mental health platform. In October 2020, Ken joined the Irish Institute of Digital Business for their TRANSFORM Health webinar series. Ken discusses the origin and growth of SilverCloud, the need for constant agility in the health sector, and the opportunities and challenges of transatlantic expansion and operation.