Data Analysis
Data analysis was both an inductive and deductive process
which compared and contrasted findings within and across
the cases, and related emerging themes to the existing literature
(Strauss and Corbin 1998; Yin 2003). Pettigrew’s
contextual framework (1985, 1987) was used a guide for
initially coding the data, which enabled exploration of the
context, content and process of EBPI as interacting elements.
Study Limitations
While case study research of this type provides clear contextualized
findings for the cases studied, such findings
cannot be simply generalized to other organizations—that
would require a different type of study, such as large
scale surveys. Nonetheless, the strength of case study research
such as that reported here is that the findings can
contribute to propositions and theoretical generalizations.
This study explores these propositions and suggests that
the dynamics uncovered may not be untypical of healthcare
organizations elsewhere.