Fil, I agree that "setting up some good case studies will require a lot of work" and that the right approach would be to secure proper research funding. I think it is possible to develop a few good case studies 'on the cheap' and use them to develop the necessary funding justification.
The challenges are agreeing on what defines a 'good' case study, identifying suitable candidates, finding someone who can interview the key people and then getting people with the right expertise to review the outcome. My sense is that all of these are doable given the expertise on this mailing list. Although Tom McKeag's article on the Shinkansen in the second issue of Zygote Quarterly lacked the last step, his direct access to Mr. Nakatsu revealed insights and subtleties that I had not heard before.
Thanks, Norbert
|