Augmented Reality in Astrid Lindgren’s landscape

The five main steps when conducting case studies are: (Runeson & Host, 2008)

• Design: define the objectives and plan the case study
• Preparation for data collection: at this stage procedures and protocols for data collection are defined
• Collecting evidence: execution with data collection on the studied case
• Data analyzing
• Reporting

Since case study methodology is flexible, more iteration over the steps can be done, but, of course, there is a limit to the flexibility. First of all, the objectives must be set out from the beginning, and in case they change during the process it can be reasonable to think to a new case study instead of modifying the original one.
A good planning of the case study is crucial in order to reach the objectives. There are several things that need to be planned from the beginning, such as the methods used for collecting data, references, people involved in the project, persons to interview, times over the project, etc. But at least, the minimum set of items to be planned is the following (Robson, 2002):

• Objective: what to achieve?
• The case: what is studied?
• Theory: frame of references
• Research questions: what to know?
• Methods: how to collect data?
• Selection strategy: where to seek data?

The objective of a case study can be "exploratory, descriptive, explanatory or improving" (Runeson & Host, 2008, p. 139).
Compared with other research techniques, "the objective is of course less precise and more generally formulated" (Runeson & Host, 2008, p. 139), and in general at the beginning "is more a focus point that will evolve during the study." (Runeson & Host, 2008, p. 139)
The research questions state what is needed to know in order to fulfill the objective of the study, and just like the objectives, they evolve during the study too. The case is the phenomenon in its real context, that in software engineering means software development project.

The protocol "is a container for the design decisions on the case study as well as field procedures for its carrying through" (Runeson & Host, 2008, p. 141).
The protocol continuously evolves and changes when the plan for the case study change. The protocol must be thought first of all as a guide while collecting data. It avoids to miss data sources, it remembers the research who to interview, what to ask, but it also creates a shared knowledge among all the researchers who participate in the project, in order to create a common background.
An important point is collecting data. Data should come from different sources, because in this way it is possible to get the point of view of many subjects and to get to stronger conclusions.
Many researchers studied data collection techniques, and according to Lethbridge they can be classified in three levels:

• First degree: "the researcher is directly connected with the sources subjects and collect data in real time (interviews, focus groups, Delphi surveys, "think aloud" protocols)" (Runeson & Host, 2008, p. 144)

• Second degree: "indirect method, the researcher collects raw data without direct interaction with the subject (analyzing a recorded tape of the user interacting with a software tool)" (Runeson & Host, 2008, p. 144)

• Third degree: analyzing of documents already existent.

In order to have a schematic view of case study design, a schema with the items checklist is provided.