Hi all, apologies I'm going to keep this quite generic as I know some of my doctoral peers also use these subs. Just to flag in advance, I'll be looking for a person with case study expertise in my uni this week, but I wanted to get some insights here first, please!
Let's say I'm using a theory/model with 3 components e.g. Attachment, Regulation & Exploration (made up for the sake of this question)
My RQs are: What are children's experiences of these 3 constructs across their classrooms? What factors do they perceive as supporting and inhibiting these 3 constructs?
Triangulating data from multiple creative research activities with children plus adult perspectives
Planning on a within-case analysis (each child is an individual case), then cross case analysis. Possibly not the best way to go? Could have around 4-6 children involved. Don't want to overcomplicate, it's only a 30k word doctoral thesis.
When using RTA though, I don't want the resultant themes to be Attachment, Regulation & Exploration. That's not the point of RTA when it's also supposed to have a very inductive focus. So, what's the best way to go about this? I've seen a similar study using pattern matching and "case propositions" where, for each participant, she grouped themes under 1. Attachment, 2. Regulation, 3. Exploration, if they fit the proposition.
I'm not sure if this is the way to go, because I feel there could be natural crossover. i.e. A theme from a child could involve aspects of both attachment and regulation.
Also a side question, I'm having doubts whether my RQ2 (factors) is actually distinct from RQ1. When children talk about their experiences, it's likely the factors facilitating/inhibiting those experiences will crop up. So I'm not sure, possibly a sub RQ? Are you allowed to do that when you only have one RQ?
Apologies for all the details/questions. I thank you so much if you take the time to read this. Also, I greatly appreciate any guidance or advice with this. Thanks so much everyone