Case Study Strategy for Global Environmental Change Research: Empirical-Methodological Lessons from Rural Western Ethiopia
Keywords:
global environmental changes, case study, local change processes, differential impacts, pluralistic philosophyAbstract
This study is aimed to explore the potentials and process of integrating different case study methods used in our studies on the local processes and impacts of global environmental change (GEC) in western Ethiopia into comprehensive research strategy. The author’s extensive fieldworks for the dissertation, methodological lessons, and archived raw data were applied, and analyzed by the conceptual framework method. The results revealed the pluralistic philosophical framework of the initial studies as a key element on both empirical and methodological inputs in this study. Though the entire analytical process and results were mutually reinforcing in this study, the role of the framework was crucial in the first stage of characterizing each case study method, followed by elevating their distinct roles in the process. In the third stage, the patterns of relationships were designed, and applied for enhancing the complementarities and integration of the methods. The aggregate of entire analytical process resulted to the synergistic integration of the methods into a framework, designated as a comprehensive case study research strategy in this study. The study underscores the rigor of the analytical process in designing this research strategy, legitimacy for studies in complex socio-ecological landscapes, and heightened potential to informing policy on context-sensitive development plans. This study recommends the strategy as a crucial tool for unpacking multiple global environmental changes, and their processes and impact evidence at micro-levels without sacrificing global nuance.
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