Case Study Research

Introduction

• An important approach to research within the qualitative tradition

• Widely used in educational research. • Defined by interest in the case, not by the

methods (Stake, 2000)• Most case studies in interpretive tradition, but

not exclusively.

What is a case study?

• Focus on one (sometimes more) distinct incidence of a phenomenon.

• Detailed, deep examination of that incidence• Study of the incidence in context• Representation of the case as experienced by

those inside it (emic perspective)• AND a critical review of the case by the

researcher (etic perspective)

3 functions of case study

• Description• “I hope to demonstrate here that much of the political and educational

rhetoric which surrounds the notion of comprehensiveness in this country ignores or is irrelevant to what actually goes on in schools” (Ball, 1981)

• Explanation• Jane Jacobs in The Death and life of Great American Cities (1961) used the

example of New York to explain the importance of parks, pavements, the importance of mixing land use and many other issues

• Evaluation• “The present study was undertaken to look at the practices of some of the

remaining one teacher schools, and what might be learned from them (Swidler, (2000)

Designing your case study

• Establish your research problem• Select a case that will answer your research

question• Consider your own role• Entry to the field• Ethics

Data collection

• Your role as the researcher• Data analysis during collection• When do you stop collecting data?

Data analysis

• Interpretational analysis• Structural analysis• Reflective analysis

Validity and reliability

• Postivist criteria – Audit trails– Pattern matching

• Interpretivist criteria

Generalisability Debate

• Generalisation is not possible. Instead “thick description” “naturalistic” generalisation and transferabilty are the aims (Stake, 2000 for example)

• The whole point of doing case study is to arrive at the same kind of empirical generalisation that a survey researcher aims at. Though there are considerable difficulties. (Hammersley et. al.)

Writing up a case study

• Finalizing your definition• Reflective reporting• Analytic reporting

Pros and Cons of Case study research

• Often highly accessible to general reader• Aids comparison with readers own situtation (emic

perspective)• Reveals researcher’s perspective (etic)• Useful for examining data outliers• Not easily generalisable (in the traditional sense

anyway)• Can pose ethical risks to participants• Highly labour intensive, and require high level language

skills to identify concepts and themes

References• Ball, Stephen, J. (1981) Beachside Comprehensive: A case study of secondary schooling. Cambridge

University Press, Cambridge• Gall, Gall & Borg (2003) Educational research. Allyn & Bacon, Boston MA (Chapter 14 provided the outline

for this session) • Gomm, Hammersley & Foster (eds.) (2000) Case Study Method. Sage, London University Library (300.72

cas)• Hammersley, Gomm & Foster, (2000) Case study and theory in Gomm, Hammersley & Foster (eds.) (2000)

Case Study Method. Sage, London University Library (300.72 cas)• Jacobs, Jane (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Penguin, Harmondsworth• Stake (2000) Case studies In. Denzin &Lincoln (eds) Handbook of Qualitative research (2nd ed.) Sage,

Thousand Oaks, CA p 435-454) University Library (300.72 den)• Swidler, S. A. (2000) Notes on a country School Tradition: Recitation as an individual strategy. – Journal of

Research in Rural Education (29) 517-544• Yin, Robert (2009) Case Study Research,: Design and Methods, 4th. Ed. Sage, London University Library

(300.72 yin)