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The Study of Students Perceptions of On-campus ... - Research Bank

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WLANs on students, the interview was needed. As the interview questions<br />

were open-ended questions, qualitative data was expected. <strong>The</strong><br />

participants were free to talk. <strong>The</strong> primary data <strong>of</strong> this research was the<br />

data gathered from interviews.<br />

<strong>The</strong> strategies and procedures for data gathering from observation, survey,<br />

interview, and the data analysis will be presented individually in this<br />

chapter.<br />

Case study<br />

Yin (1994) believed “In general, case studies are the preferred strategy when<br />

“how” or “why” questions are being posed, when the investigator has little<br />

control over events, and when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon<br />

within some real-life context.” This research is based on the uses <strong>of</strong> WLANs<br />

by students and the research has generated some questions such as “How<br />

has the availability <strong>of</strong> Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) on <strong>campus</strong><br />

affected students?”<br />

In case study research “the researcher explores in depth a program, an<br />

event, an activity, a process, or one or more individuals. <strong>The</strong> case(s) are<br />

bounded by time and activity, and researchers collect detailed information<br />

using a variety <strong>of</strong> data collection procedures over a sustained period <strong>of</strong> time”<br />

(Stake, 1995). In this study, each individual student (participant) using<br />

WLAN (activity) on <strong>campus</strong> (place) was considered as a particular case.<br />

Surveys, interviews and observation were the approaches to be used for<br />

initial data gathering.<br />

Observation will let the researcher get primary data such as when and<br />

where the most students were using WLAN. By observing the students on<br />

the <strong>campus</strong>, the researcher could clearly see whether they were alone or in<br />

30

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