Triangulation in industrial qualitative case study research: Widening the scope.

Abstract

The particular qualities of case study research have enabled the advancement of theory in industrial marketing research through revealing rich insight into context-specific phenomena. Triangulation is recommended as good practice in conducting case study research and is traditionally envisaged as offering validity through convergence of findings, sources or methods. Is this, however, the only interpretation of triangulation and in what way is it consistent with case study research that is often concerned with naturalistic settings and nuanced interpretations? The purpose of this study is to delve into the role of triangulation in qualitative case study research in order to re-appraise its role. The study offers firstly, an inventory of triangulation categories for case study research in industrial marketing and secondly, a theoretical reframing of triangulation consisting of three modes - convergence, complementarity and divergence. Both the inventory and the reframing are discussed with reference to illustrations of published case studies in industrial marketing, thus extending current understanding of research practice in the development of emergent theory.