Case Study Research in the Digital Age

3    Collection practices for digital case studies

DOI: 10.4324/9781003402169-4

This chapter is broken into two distinct sections on data collection, theoretical issues and practical methods respectively. Part I discusses breaking down the binary between digital and “real-world” contexts and then argues for a conceptual approach to data collection based on a Wittgensteinian notion of family resemblance. Part II of this chapter discusses the granular, practical details of digital collection practices and procedures. Here I examine observations, fieldnotes, interviews, and document collection via qualitative and web scraping methods. I conclude with brief remarks about when to stop collecting data and post hoc collection.

Part I: Theoretical ...