MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

manager as they affect trade union managers. But to draw conclusions
about the nature of management of trade unions without trying to take
into account these contextual factors would affect the validity of the
study. It would also affect its credibility. Trade unions tend to think of
themselves as totally unique organisations; within the trade union
world, a study which did not take contextual issues into account – for
example by seeking to generalise to the whole trade union movement
the results of a study in a private sector finance union – would not be
taken at all seriously.
There are other reasons for suggesting that a case study strategy
would be an appropriate approach. First, Jankowicz (1991:163), citing
an early edition of Yin, suggests that one reason for choosing case
study method is to study a process which has rarely, if ever, been
studied. This is the case here. Secondly, Yin (1994:6) suggests that
case studies are appropriate to answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions.. The
research question, set out in Chapter 1, is solely a ‘how’ question.
Case studies therefore give the opportunity of examining managerial
activities within the contexts of individual unions which have engaged
in merger activity, noting and taking into account those contextual
issues. They also, however, give the opportunity of cross case
analysis. Miles and Huberman (1994:172) suggest that one aim of
studying multiple cases is ‘to increase generalisability, reassuring
yourself that the events and processes in one well-described setting
are not wholly idiosyncratic.’ The importance of generalisability is
proposed not for positivistic reasons but on the basis that, as they say,
provided that the cases are typical, diverse, or unusually effective or
ineffective, they can help us answer the question ‘do these findings
make sense beyond this specific case?’ The second reason is to
deepen understanding and explanation. They cite Silverstein (1988)
who points out that we are faced with the tension between the
particular and the universal: reconciling an individual case’s
uniqueness with the need for more general understanding of generic
processes that occur across cases.
This reconciliation is what this project attempts. The field is so new that
it was not clear at all whether there would be differences between the
cases. If there were, it would be possible to identify theoretical reasons
for the differences. If there were no such differences, then generic
theoretical pictures of this hitherto invisible phenomenon called a union
manager might begin to emerge.
The case study design will have to satisfy other tests of its quality. Yin
(1994:33) summarises four such tests:-
• Construct validity: establishing correct operational measures
for the concepts being studied
• Internal validity: establishing causal relationships or
explanations
63