This paper aims at exploring and discussing the possibilities of applying qualitative content analysis as a (text) interpretation method in case study research. First, case study research as a research strategy within qualitative social research is briefly presented. Then, a basic introduction to (qualitative) content analysis as an interpretation method for qualitative interviews and other data material is given. Finally the use of qualitative content analysis for developing case studies is examined and evaluated. The author argues in favor of both case study research as a research strategy and qualitative content analysis as a method of examination of data material and seeks to encourage the integration of qualitative content analysis into the data analysis in case study research.

Case studies are widely used across a lot of different subject areas, however there are a lot of questions about the use of it because of the doubt in its’ contribution to science and the quality of it. The purpose with this research paper is to define the case study and the characteristics required in it for it to be classified and recognized as a “good” case study. Findings reveal that case study is defined in many different ways depending on the area of subject it is presented in. A good case study is reliable, valid and is used as a qualitative research method and it contains a lot of depth in the investigated single case.

Thesis advisor: Lillie R. Albert / Mathematics education is constantly at the forefront of public and academic debates during this era of increased accountability. Questions concerning teacher preparation and teaching practices that connect to pupil learning are central to these discussions. However, very few studies have examined relationships among these factors and most are confined to a short time period; thus, this dissertation studies such relationships over a two-year period. Informed by a sociocultural perspective, this study examines how preservice elementary teachers' past K-12 schooling and teacher education experiences influences their attitudes and perceptions about mathematics education over time. It also explores how teaching practices are shaped by these experiences, and are ultimately linked to pupil learning. A mixed-method design of survey and qualitative case-study research methods was employed to collect and analyze data over a two-year period. During the first year of this study, pre- and post-surveys using Likert-scale items were administered to all preservice teachers (n=75) enrolled in an elementary mathematics methods course. For a two-year period, the experiences of two participants were explored through longitudinal interviews, observations, and an examination of artifacts (i.e., teacher lesson plans, assessments, and pupil work) to develop in-depth case studies. Findings indicate that prior schooling experiences influenced teachers' initial attitudes and perceptions about mathematics. Nevertheless, over a short period, positive changes in teachers' attitudes and confidence to teach mathematics suggest that experiences in the mathematics methods course were conducive to building on teachers' prior knowledge. Survey and case-study findings also indicate that preservice teachers planned to teach mathematics with a reformed approach, which emphasizes a conceptual understanding of mathematic. However, it was challenging for case-study participants to implement a reformed approach as first-year teachers, especially if they had limited teaching models to reinforce this method. Findings also suggest that school context, classroom management, and mathematical content knowledge all influence teaching practices and pupil learning opportunities. Implications for teacher education, school reform, and future research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Repeated instances of bullying plague schools and immobilize the learning environment for many students. Dissimilar views of policies related to bullying make it difficult for school personnel to consistently intervene on behalf of the victim. The purpose of this case study was to bring awareness to the diverse perceptions school personnel have concerning bullying and the constraints those perceptions place on implementing policies and practices set forth by the school. This qualitative case study examined the understanding and knowledge that school personnel had about bullying policies and practices at three private/independent middle schools in the metro Atlanta area. The research questions addressed were: What are school personnel’s understandings of the bullying policies at their school? What were their perceptions of bullying within their school? How does school personnel’s perception of bullying impact their efforts to intervene? Participants for the study included 3 middle school principals, two deans of students, three counselors and nine teachers. Data collected through interviews, non-participant observations, and documentation provided by each school yielded findings that clarity and awareness of bullying policies and practices were not always apparent. Additionally, varying perceptions of bullying impacted intervention efforts by school personnel. The study revealed the need for a clear and concise definition of bullying, along with policies and practices that address the issue. Additionally, school leaders need to monitor and hold school personnel accountable to address bullying consistently within the school.

This research identifies, through an extensive series of exploratory and explanatory case studies, the mathematical difficulties that might be encountered by dyslexic engineering students. It details support mechanisms that may be put in place to help these students reach their full potential and makes suggestions for the introduction of measures at institutional level to ensure compliance with current legislation. This is an area, identified from the literature search, that has not, until now, been the focus of any substantial research activity and thus the findings form an original and significant contribution to knowledge in this field. The findings are not only intrinsically interesting but will also be of use to practitioners of mathematics, support staff, staff developers and policy makers in higher education. A literature review gives historical background on the development of education in general, and mathematics in particular, in the UK. The main theories and problems associated with developmental dyslexia are also given. Surveys were undertaken to determine the extent of mathematics learning support in UK universities and also to determine the extent of the provision of mathematics support to dyslexic students. Using case study research and by providing one-to-one mathematics support, the difficulties encountered by dyslexic students were investigated. Related work is an exploratory study into the use of different media combinations in Computer Assisted Assessment. Additionally, an in-depth case study of the Mathematics Learning Support Centre at Loughborough University has been undertaken and is reported in detail with recommendations for changes suggested. The results of this research show that mathematics learning support is widespread and often essential to bridge the gap between school mathematics and university level mathematics but specialist mathematical support for dyslexic students is rarely available. It is determined that dyslexic students can be impeded in their learning and understanding of mathematics as a direct result of their dyslexia. Recommendations for further study in some areas and future lines of inquiry in others are suggested.

This study presents a normative framework of the RFID implementation process in the UK public sector. It was motivated by the lack of socio-technical studies on the RFID implementation process in the UK public sector and the need for existing and potential RFID project managers to have an implementation model which could guide their effort in implementing any RFID initiatives in the sector. The study has been conducted through a combination of case study research and grounded theory research approach. Primary data have been collected from the in-depth interviews conducted with the RFID project managers from seven public sector organisations, i.e., five libraries and two hospitals. The analyses of the data were in two main stages. The first stage involved the analysis of the RFID implementation process in each of the organisations and the second stage involved a cross analysis of the RFID implementation process across the entire organisations. Potential contribution towards the existing body of knowledge on RFID implementation was in the form of a normative framework of RFID implementation process in the public sector. This framework describes the main and sub activities in the implementation process, and illustrates the dissimilarities and similarities between the implementation processes. Consequently, the implications of the study to the existing and potential RFID project managers in the public sector and also to the study of information system and RFID implementation are discussed.

The medical equipment market is very competitive in Taiwan, the equipment suppliers in response to the multiplex market changing, and to satisfy with the hospitals about demands of equipment and costs of control, we adopt the cooperative way, buildoperate- transfer (BOT) for specific equipment in some hospitals. ¡´The equipment suppliers may participate in the management of non-medical behavior to achieve mutual benefit and win-win situation with the hospital. ¡´ This study is case study research, according to the experiences of management over past several years I collect data from the objects of 6 BOT cases in each 6 hospital. By data classification and statistical analysis, found the characteristics and differences in each case that the equipment suppliers can proposed the more precise investment appraisal in the future. ¡´ This research found that medical equipment, the number of patients, examination items, the proportion between hospital and the equipment supplier, hospital¡¦s location, and the payment points from NHI are causing hospitals and equipment suppliers having a large gap between revenue and are affecting the survival of medical suppliers. ¡´ According to the results, in order to providing more accurate diagnosis to doctors and improving patient's medical quality, this study suggested that the hospitals and the equipment suppliers should develop a set of medical equipment about BOT investment appraisal system. To achieve the aspect that a three-way win for the patient, hospital and equipment supplier.

This study explores the moods and behavior of an emotionally impaired child before and after therapeutically oriented painting activities and assesses the effectiveness of this assistance method. The study employs qualitative research methods. The subject of this study is a fourth-grade emotionally impaired student who participated in painting activities twice each week, for a total of 16 sessions. Data was collected throughout the sessions via photography, audio and video recordings and analyzed for verbal descriptions, non-verbal expression, and interaction with the researchers. In addition, assessment, observation, and interviews of the student's mother and school personnel (administrators, guidance personnel, resource class teachers, guidance teachers, and class mothers) were used to gain an understanding of how effective therapeutically oriented painting activities are as a means of helping emotionally impaired children. This study reached the following conclusions from the research findings: (1) There was a significant improvement in the child¡¦s interpersonal relationships following the painting activities. (2) The child participated actively in family activities, and displayed positive interaction with his mother and older brother. (3) The child displayed significant positive changes in terms of innate abilities, learning motivation, self-affirmation, and personal growth. (4) The child's in-school performance displayed significant progress. (5) The child's communication abilities increased dramatically.

Abstract Under the trends of the globalization and symbol consumption, the creative industries from kownledge economy become the opportunity of Taiwan development in the future. Take a broad view of the evolution of Taiwan creative industries in recent years, although the name ' cultural industry ' based on the community build is close for 'creative industries' from Britain, these are two different development concept. Because of some misunderstands, it reduce effect of the industry popularize to cause, this becomes the proposition cared about most in this research too. The purpose of research is probes into Taiwan regional ' cultural industry ' and difference of ' creative industries '¡Bprobes into the characteristic of creative industries, and get the strategy of the new product development in the creativity industries. This research choose the craft industry, and the method is case study research , with the analysis of secondary data and the interview. The conclusion part, There are eight items in analysis including ' the industries with high risk '¡B' possess the plural skill group ', ' create the goods which accord with the market ', ' with high regular costs and low costs with making again ', ' people create for means getting scarce ', ' manage risk by means of the enterprise ', ' diversifying profit ', 'technology is key '.and the new product in development is ¡uMr. Bliss¡v.

In the recent era, the popularity of Internet and multimedia has displayed technical progress, which has enabled E-learning environment to be even more perfect than before. E-learning has two-way interaction and the characteristic of unlimited time and space, which has become an important tool for initiating learning for life in the modern society. Among which Cyber University has become an example of E-learning applications. Because our national law has not allowed setting up a purely virtual university, therefore, the Cyber University of our research is pointing to the virtual school designed by a real university on the Internet. Cyber University is not purely a single organization, instead, it combined different educational provider on the Internet to actualize the objective of teaching and learning, as well as letting a learner to depend on the differences in his personal time, place, and learning condition to choose appropriate learning resource. Nevertheless, How to go about setting up a Cyber University based on the possession of administration resource, faculty, and the college of the student? What are the critical success factors that can be applied to evaluate the important items prior to establishment? How does Cyber University operation mode operate? These are all the important factors that must be considered to establish a Cyber University. The objective of research is to provide a soluble proposal as reference for the above stated questions. Our research utilized case study. The objective is National Sun Yat-Sen Cyber University (NSYCU) of National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYU). Jung-Chun Su (2002) had once used NSYCU as case study to simulate cash flow and risk analysis. The result has shown that NSYCU case is worthy to invest in, which possess ability to make a profit. Chia-Ming Liang had used operation model and financial planning model to research, which showed that ¡§Population of students¡¨ is a critical factor that affects the operation of E-learning Company. Currently, NSYCU has already been set up for more than five years and the enrollment has shown increased. Despite the effective of literature review or enrollment, it can be shown that NSYU is definitely one of representative of our domestic Cyber Universities. Our research will interview with key figures of five different aspects from areas such as marketing, administration, system, faculty, and student of NSYU. Then, to use professional questionnaire to further confirm the viewpoint of the interview. Finally, to combine the related literature review with NSYCU history data analysis, to categorize the critical success factor that set up Cyber University and to provide some suggestions for other schools domestically that have proposed to set up a Cyber University as reference.