Case Studies What are case studies? Case studies are stories. They present realistic, complex, and contextually rich situations and often involve a dilemma, conflict, or problem that one or more of the characters in the case. Learn the basics of developing case studies in this topic from the Free Management Library.
Strengths and Limitations of Case Studies. Folks: The posting below looks at, as the title suggests, the strengths and limitations of case studies research. The merits of a particular design are inherently related to the rationale for selecting it as the most appropriate plan for addressing the research problem. One strength of an experimental design, for example, is the predictive nature of the research findings. Because of the tightly controlled conditions, random sampling, and use of statistical probabilities, it is theoretically possible to predict behavior in similar settings without actually observing that behavior.
Likewise, if a researcher needs information about the characteristics of a given population or area of interest, a descriptive study is in order. Results, however, would be limited to describing the phenomenon rather than predicting future behavior. Thus a researcher selects a case study design because of the nature of the research problem and the questions being asked. Case study is the best plan for answering the research questions; its strengths outweigh its limitations.
One of the areas in which case studies have been gaining popularity is education and in particular educational evaluation. Case studies have also been. Steps in planning and managing an evaluation; Decide which evaluation method to use; Add new content / improve BetterEvaluation; Use BetterEvaluation; Find the latest evaluation material; About us; Evaluation Options. Case Studies in Education. SRI’s evaluation of the California Academic Partnership Program’s Demonstration Partnership Project will look at the. Shrewsbury Public Schools’ Approach to Using Evaluation Data in.
The case study offers a means of investigating complex social units consisting of multiple variables of potential importance in understanding the phenomenon. Anchored in real- life situations, the case study results in a rich and holistic account of a phenomenon.
It offers insights and illuminates meanings that expand its readers' experiences. These insights can be construed as tentative hypotheses that help structure future research; hence, case study plays an important role in advancing a field's knowledge base. Because of its strengths, case study is a particularly appealing design for applied fields of study such as education, social work, administration, health, and so on. An applied field's processes, problems, and programs can be examined to bring about understanding that in turn can affect and perhaps even improve practice. Case study has proven particularly useful for studying educational innovations, evaluating programs, and informing policy.
Perhaps because a case study focuses on a single unit, a single instance, the issue of generalizability looms larger here than with other types of qualitative research. However, much can be learned from a particular case. Readers can learn vicariously from an encounter with the case through the researcher's narrative description.
The colorful description in a case study can create an image: . Further, Erickson (1.
It is the reader, not the researcher, who determines what can apply to his or her context. They know that the reader, too, will add and subtract, invent and shape- -reconstructing the knowledge in ways that leave it.. Although rich, thick description and analysis of a phenomenon may be desired, a researcher may not have the time or money to devote to such an undertaking. And assuming time is available to produce a worthy case study, the product may be too lengthy, too detailed, or too involved for busy policy makers and practitioners to read and use. The amount of description, analysis, or summary material is up to the investigator. The researcher also must decide. How much to make the report a story; 2.
How much to compare with other cases; 3. How much to formalize generalizations or leave such generalizing to readers; 4.
How much description of the researcher to include in the report; and, 5. Whether or not and how much to protect anonymity. Qualitative case studies are limited, too, by the sensitivity and integrity of the investigator. The researcher is the primary instrument of data collection and analysis.
This has its advantages. But training in observation and interviewing, though necessary, is not readily available to aspiring case study researchers. Nor are there guidelines in constructing the final report. The investigator is left to rely on his or her own instincts and abilities throughout most of this research effort.
A concern about case study research- -and in particular case evaluation- -is what Guba and Lincoln (1. An unethical case writer could so select from among available data that virtually anything he wished could be illustrated. Both the readers of case studies and the authors themselves need to be aware of biases that can affect the final product. Further limitations involve the issues of reliability, validity, and generalizability. This lack of rigor is linked to the problem of bias..
However, this argument against case study research misses the point of doing this type of research. In a recent presentation critiquing the new . They do not attempt to eliminate what cannot be discounted.
They do not attempt to simplify what cannot be simplified. Thus, it is precisely because case study includes paradoxes and acknowledges that there are no simple answers, that it can and should qualify as the gold standard. These issues, which are discussed more fully in Chapter Nine, are the focus of much discussion in the literature on qualitative research generally. In an interesting discussion of the value of case study research, Flyvbjerg (2. These misunderstandings and their restatements are displayed in Table 3.
The second misunderstanding, for example, . However, citing single cases, experiments, and experiences of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Darwin, Marx, and Freud, Flyvbjerg makes the point that both human and natural sciences can be advanced by a single case.
He also argues that formal generalizations based on large samples are overrated in their contribution to scientific progress (for a discussion comparing sampling, representativeness, and generalizability in both quantitative and qualitative research, see Gobo, 2. TABLE 3. 1. General knowledge is more Universals can't be found in thevaluable than context- specific study of human affairs. One can't generalize from Formal generalization isa single case so a single case overvalued as a source ofdoesn't add to scientific scientific development; thedevelopment. The case study is most useful The case study is useful forin the first phase of a research both generating and testing ofprocess; used for generating hypotheses but is not limited tohypotheses. The case study confirms the There is no greater bias inresearcher's preconceived case study toward confirmingnotions. It is difficult to summarize Difficulty in summarizing casecase studies into general studies is due to properties of thepropositions and theories.
References. Eisner, E. W. The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice. Old Tappan, NJ: Macmillan. Erickson, F. Qualitative methods in research on teaching. Whittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching.
Old Tappan, NJ: Macmillan. Flyvberg, B. Five misunderstanding about case- study research.
Qualitative Inquiry, 1. Gobo, G. Sampling, representativeness and generalizability. Silverman (Eds.) Qualitative research practice (pp. London: Sage. Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass. Hamel, J. Qualitative Research Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Stake, R. E. Qualitative case studies. Lincoln (Eds.) The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.) (pp. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.