Sign System

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

In today's world, in addition to what has traditionally been thought of as language, such as spoken or written communication, individuals also use sign systems that involve a variety of symbols to transmit meaning. Sign systems include, for example, mathematical and musical notation and visual and gestural systems. With the rise of electronic mediation of ideas, particularly through the World Wide Web, people now can readily create and share information encoded in a variety of sign systems. A single Web site might contain written comments, photographs, and links to audio and video clips.

A defining characteristic of case study research is that it explores current phenomenon within the context of the real world. Case study researchers are concerned with observing specific cases of how individuals construct meaning through their use of sign systems. Individual participants actively construct meaning on the basis of their current understandings of the world and how it works, through sign systems that are embedded in social activity within the cultural community. Researchers need to learn the codes (or ways of talking and doing) associated with the phenomenon under study.

Case study researchers develop understandings of participants' worlds by systematically collecting, analyzing, and interpreting participants' use of multiple sign systems. They can collect data from a variety of sign systems, singly or in combination. For example, interviews involve not only the sign system of oral language but also accompanying gestures and other body language, which may be captured through video recording. Researchers' field notes can be supplemented by illustrations and photographs. Audiovisual artifacts, such as participants' drawings, may be accompanied by written comments, thus combining visual and written language sign systems. In addition, researchers can elicit commentary from participants by providing them with, for example, visual prompts such as artifacts or photographs.

If more than one sign system is involved, researchers need to consider more than one form of analysis. Roland Barthes, for example, suggests looking at visuals through looking first at denotation—what people and objects are seen?—followed by connotation—what ideas do things stand for, or what are they signs of? Interpretation can be presented through a synthesis of evidence obtained from all available sign systems.

Sign systems are culturally embedded. Data produced as a result of participants' activities, therefore, are culturally encoded signs and need to be interpreted as such. For example, the color red expresses “danger” in Western cultures and “happiness” in Eastern ones. Case study researchers [Page 865]also need to be sensitive that some sign systems—spiritual/religious rites, for example—are privileged or culturally private, and access to them may be restricted.

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