CASE STUDIES

DEFINITION
the collection and presentation of detailed

information about a particular participant or small group, frequently including the accounts of subjects themselves.
participant pool, drawing conclusions only about that participant or group and only in that specific context.

study looks intensely at an individual or small

OVERVIEW
Case studies typically examine the interplay

of all variables in order to provide as complete an understanding of an event or situation as possible.

THICK DESCRIPTION: involves an in-depth

description of the entity being evaluated, the circumstances under which it is used, the characteristics of the people involved in it, and the nature of the community in which it is located

Case studies are the preferred strategy

when how or why questions are asked.

OVERVIEW
Case studies is the preferred method when the

researcher has little control over the events, and when there is a contemporary focus within a real life context holistic understanding of the event or situation in question using inductive logic--reasoning from specific to more general terms context of qualitative research and naturalistic inquiry and questions for further research.

Case studies require a problem that seeks a

Case studies are frequently discussed within the

The goal of a case study is to offer new variables

EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS
"students learn to identify actual problems, to

recognize key players and their agendas, and to become aware of those aspects of the situation that contribute to the problem" (Merseth 1991) analysis of the problems under consideration, to develop their own solutions, and to practically apply their own knowledge of theory to these problems" (Boyce 1993) master a tangled circumstance by identifying and delineating important factors; the ability to utilize ideas, to test them against facts, and to throw them into fresh combinations" (Merseth 1991).

students are encouraged to "generate their own

students also develop "the power to analyze and to

EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Case discussions can also help students prepare for real-world problems, situations and crises by providing an approximation of various professional environments. Students are given the opportunity to work out their own professional issues through the trials, tribulations, experiences, and research findings of others. The case study method also incorporates the idea that students can learn from one another "by engaging with each other and with each other's ideas, by asserting something and then having it questioned, challenged and thrown back at them so that they can reflect on what they hear, and then refine what they say" (Boehrer 1990)

TYPES OF CASE STUDIES

Illustrative Case Studies
Descriptive studies
Typically utilize one or two instances of an

event to show what a situation is like.

Exploratory (or pilot) Case Studies

Condensed case studies performed before

implementing a large-scale investigation.

Basic function is to help identify questions

and select types of measurement prior to the main investigation.

TYPES OF CASE STUDIES

Cumulative Case Studies
Serve to aggregate information from several

sites collected at different times.

Critical Instance Case Studies

Examine one or more sites for either the

purpose of examining a situation of unique interest with little to no interest in generalizability, or to call into question or challenge a highly generalized or universal assertion.

IDENTIFYING A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

Individual Theories Focus primarily on the individual development, cognitive behavior, personality, learning and disability, and interpersonal interactions of a particular subject. Organizational Theories Focus on bureaucracies, institutions, organizational structure, and functions, or excellence in organizational performance. Social Theories Focus on urban development, group behavior, cultural institutions, or marketplace functions.

DESIGNING A CASE STUDY

Research design is the string of logic that

ultimately links the data to be collected and the conclusions to be drawn into the initial questions of the study. problems:

Research designs deal with at least four

What questions to study What data are relevant What data to collect How to analyze that data

DESIGNING A CASE STUDY

Robert K. Yin (president of COSMOS Corporation,

an applied research and social firm) offers five basic components of a research design:

A study's questions. A study's propositions (if any). A study's units of analysis. The logic linking of the data to the propositions. The criteria for interpreting the findings.

Yin also stresses the importance of clearly

articulating one's theoretical perspective, determining the goals of the study, selecting one's subject(s), selecting the appropriate method(s) of collecting data, and providing some considerations to the composition of the final report.

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

Single or Multi-modal Approach
To obtain as complete a picture of the

participant as possible, case study researchers can employ a variety of methods.

Participant Selection
Case studies can use one participant, or a

small group of participants.

Case History

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

Data Collection
There are six types of data collected in case

studies:

Documents Archival records Interviews Direct observation Participant observation

Artifacts

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

In the field of composition research, these six

sources might be:

A writers drafts

School records of student writers Transcripts of interviews with a writer Transcripts of conversations between writers

(and protocols)

Videotapes and notes from direct field

observations

Hard copies of a writers work on computer.

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

DATA ANALYSIS

As the information is collected, researchers strive to make sense of their data.

Generally, researchers interpret their data in one of two ways: holistically or through coding.

Holistic analysis does not attempt to break the evidence into parts, but rather to draw conclusions based on the text as a whole.
Through Coding: researchers systematically search data to identify and/or categorize specific observable actions or characteristics.

CONDUCTING CASE STUDIES

Sharan Merriam (1988) suggests seven analytic

frameworks for the organization and presentation of data:

The role of participants The network analysis of formal and informal exchanges among groups Historical Thematical Resources Ritual and symbolism Critical incidents that challenge or reinforce fundamental beliefs, practices, and values

There are two purposes of these frameworks: to look for

patterns among the data and to look for patterns that give meaning to the case study.

COMPOSING THE CASE STUDY REPORT

In the many forms it can take, "a case study

is generically a story; it presents the concrete narrative detail of actual, or at least realistic events, it has a plot, exposition, characters, and sometimes even dialogue" (Boehrer 1990).
research process, and attempt to give the reader as much context as possible for the decisions made in the research design and for the conclusions drawn.

Typically, authors address each step of the

For more information:

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