4.14.2006
4.1. The Method
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Empirical research of qualitative and explorative nature about the cases of Colombia and Spain, and the perspectives of Film related agents in the two countries, will be carried out in an attempt to see how key theoretical structures and predictions about National Film Industries emerge from these two non-Hollywood industries.
Case study research has been the chosen methodology because, as Yin explains, Case Studies are used to do research on a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, with boundaries between phenomenon and context not clearly evident. Case studies are useful when there are more variables of interest than data points, and multiple sources of evidence can be explored. The explaining power of case studies is the product of converging data from these multiple sources. Data convergence (converging lines of inquiry) generates a process of triangulation or corroboration that gives strength to the conclusions produced by the study (construct validity) (Yin, 2003: 13-14, 98).
In the present research project the contemporary phenomenon to be explored is the “struggle to exist and grow of National Film Industries.” The real-life context of this phenomenon involves the structural conditions of the countries from which these National Films are “created”, and the people that structure, and interact with, the film sectors in each country (policymakers, policy institutions filmmakers, audiovisual workers, financiers, film education institutions, critics, audiences, etc).
The chosen type of Case Study design is the Embedded, Multiple-Case Design. This research design refers to studies that cover not one but several cases, and within each case, not one but several units of analysis. The units of analysis are the chosen elements to be studied – within each case – in order to find and substantiate the answers to the project’s research questions. The final conclusions drawn from the knowledge provided by the multiple analysis are the basis for an answer of the central research question, for policy recommendations and for further research on the subject (Yin, 2003: 23-25, 40).
The research approach is that of an Institutional Analysis: how the Cinema Institution is formed within a country, how does it operate, which agents play a part. On the basis of the resulting information the research questions can be answered through the unveiling of the different mechanisms and actors that shape the chosen cases.
¶ 9:21 PM Empirical research of qualitative and explorative nature about the cases of Colombia and Spain, and the perspectives of Film related agents in the two countries, will be carried out in an attempt to see how key theoretical structures and predictions about National Film Industries emerge from these two non-Hollywood industries.
Case study research has been the chosen methodology because, as Yin explains, Case Studies are used to do research on a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, with boundaries between phenomenon and context not clearly evident. Case studies are useful when there are more variables of interest than data points, and multiple sources of evidence can be explored. The explaining power of case studies is the product of converging data from these multiple sources. Data convergence (converging lines of inquiry) generates a process of triangulation or corroboration that gives strength to the conclusions produced by the study (construct validity) (Yin, 2003: 13-14, 98).
In the present research project the contemporary phenomenon to be explored is the “struggle to exist and grow of National Film Industries.” The real-life context of this phenomenon involves the structural conditions of the countries from which these National Films are “created”, and the people that structure, and interact with, the film sectors in each country (policymakers, policy institutions filmmakers, audiovisual workers, financiers, film education institutions, critics, audiences, etc).
The chosen type of Case Study design is the Embedded, Multiple-Case Design. This research design refers to studies that cover not one but several cases, and within each case, not one but several units of analysis. The units of analysis are the chosen elements to be studied – within each case – in order to find and substantiate the answers to the project’s research questions. The final conclusions drawn from the knowledge provided by the multiple analysis are the basis for an answer of the central research question, for policy recommendations and for further research on the subject (Yin, 2003: 23-25, 40).
The research approach is that of an Institutional Analysis: how the Cinema Institution is formed within a country, how does it operate, which agents play a part. On the basis of the resulting information the research questions can be answered through the unveiling of the different mechanisms and actors that shape the chosen cases.
