Hi Gavin,
Thanks for raising this. Case studies seem to be flavour of the month!
For two penneth from a systems perspective. The idea of case study seems
go back well before its recent use in Sociology and qualitative analysis. In
fact it seems more like Sociology seized on it as a useful method for
exploring situations in which large scale studies are not well suited. The
case study format of research can be traced back millennia via Medicine
(clinical cases) to the early natural sciences. It is evident for example in
discussions about mathematics around the time of Pythagoras.
What you describe more or less aligns with case study as seen from a
systems perspective except for the idea of limiting it to social units
(families, organisations communities etc). Focusing only on social units
looks like an artifact of the recent resurgence of the case study approach
in the Social Sciences.
Viewing the idea of a case study is systems terms is useful, particularly
in design research, as a tool for exploring socio-technical systems (which
is the intended outcome of most design activity). From a systems
perspective, the defining characteristics of a case study for research (as I
understand it) are:
1. The 'case' is any situation that can be seen as bounded in some way (i.e.
similar epistemological characteristics as a system/subsystem)
2. The research is exploratory and in-depth and bounded by the 'case'
3. The research is about the functioning of the entity that is the focus of
the 'case'
4. Findings about the 'case' are not automatically generalisable
The wiki on case studies seems useful
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_study )
Flyberg's comments on myths of case study research seem particularly useful
- http://flyvbjerg.plan.aau.dk/Publications2006/0604FIVEMISPUBL2006.pdf
I realise it's most common that case study research is qualitative. I can't
at the moment though see any absolute reason why a 100% quantitative case
study is not possible or useful - only that it would be difficult.
I look forward to other people's comments.
Best regards,
Terry
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-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gavin
Melles
Sent: Thursday, 11 September 2008 2:11 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Defining Case Study appopriately
I found myself recently in the strange position (everything is relative
- you had to be there) of defining case study for my wife doing a masters
research project, several students I supervise, thinking about the
methodology section of somethign i was writing, and also getting constantly
irritated by designers who use the term case study to refer to some example
or other they drag up to illustrate something - so I decided to try and
draft something that positioned 'stuff' in way I thought more informed. I
copy it below and then invite any (better
informed) scholars to put me in the right/wrong or otherwise comment.
Cheers. (this is only a two hour draft so i'm not going to be insulted)
Case Study research
Although its origins can be found in classic sociology, the term case study
is now employed to describe a broad variety of approaches to research and
evaluation in applied fields. As a result some current definitions and
examples have deflated its potential as a multi-method holistic analysis of
organizations, communities and other social units.
Observing the paradox between the general view of case study 'as a weak
sibling among social science methods' (p.xiii) and its extensive use in
traditional and applied fields, Yin (2003) suggests that loose definitions
may be responsible for a stereotype that does not distinguish 'the case
study as a research tool from (a) the case study as a teaching tool, (b)
ethnographies and participant-observation, and
(c) qualitative methods' (p.xiv). In relation to case study as teaching tool
many people will recognize this use as a prompt for student discussion - my
personal experience of this is with Harvard Business Review case studies as
part of an MBA subject on Organizational Behaviour. Ethnographies and
participant observation as a necessary if not sufficient method defining
these have also been confused with case studies, a confusion exacerbated by
studies entitled 'ethnographic case study' (e.g. Hill, 1991). Ethnography,
which is fundamental to the field of anthropology (Geertz, 1973), has
distinct traditions, aims and principles to case study (Hammersley &
Atkinson, 1995)
Bryman (2008) notes that the 'in-depth elucidation' (p.54) of case study may
focus on different units of analysis: a community, school, family,
organization, person or event. Although sometimes subcategorized as a
particular research design within qualitative research, case studies are
paradigm cases of the emerging penchant for pragmatically inspired mixed
methods research (Creswell, 2003; Darke, Shanks, & Broadbent, 1998; Punch,
2005; Tashakkori, 2006). The method pluralism and unit focus of case study
is criterial for distinguishing it from other designs. Thus, Bryman points
to the existing ambiguity and confusion that seems to have emerged 'Unless a
distinction of this or some other kind is drawn, it becomes impossible to
distinguish case study as a special research design, because almost any kind
of research can be construed as a case study' (p.54). Bryman notes that
studies based only on quantitative research - potentially cross-sectional
research design - and those in which a community, organization etc., is a
context or 'backdrop' to the focus of interest in an exclusively qualitative
study should not be confused with case study.
While questions of validity, reliability and replicability are seen to be
appropriate criteria by case study researchers influenced by quantitative
research (e.g. Yin, 2003) those from the qualitative tradition do not find
them particularly relevant (e.g. Stake, 1995).
Both groups admit, however, that generalizing from a single case to other
cases is not possible (Bryman, 2008, p. 55; Yin, 2003, p. 32).
Often a primary concern of the investigation is inductive theory generation
and in some cases findings from similar cases can be used to generalize
(Bryman, 2008, p. 57). The comparative design, described by Bryman, entails
'studying two contrasting cases using more or less identical methods' (p.
58) is one way in which multiple cases may contribute to generalizable
findings (e.g. Flyvbjerg, 2006)
References
Bryman, A. (2008). Social research methods (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design : qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage
Publications.
Darke, P., Shanks, G., & Broadbent, M. (1998). Successfully completing case
study research: combining rigour, relevance and pragmatism.
Information Systems Journal, 8(4), 273-289.
Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.
Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219-245.
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures : selected essays. New
York: Basic Books.
Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography : principles in practice
(2nd ed.). London ; New York: Routledge.
Hill, R. P. (1991). Homeless Women, Special Possessions, and the Meaning of
"Home": An Ethnographic Case Study. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(3),
298-310.
Punch, K. F. (2005). Introduction to social research : quantitative and
qualitative approaches (2nd ed.). London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE
Publications.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: Sage
Publications.
Tashakkori, A. (2006). Foundations of Mixed Methods Research :
Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Techniques in the Social and
Behavioral Sciences. [S.L.]: SAGE PUBLICATIONS.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research : design and methods (3rd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Dr Gavin Melles BA (Auckland University), MLing (University of Costa Rica),
EdD (Deakin University) Research Fellow, Faculty of Design
http://www2.swinburne.edu.au/design/nidr/
Swinburne University of Technology
Associate Fellow, Communications Research Insitute
http://www.communication.org.au/
-----
Swinburne University of Technology
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