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 ( cas) Hammersley, Gomm & Foster, (2000) Case study and theory in Gomm, Hammersley & Foster (eds.) (2000) Case Study Method. Sage, London University Library ( 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 (2 nd ed.) Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA p ) University Library ( den) Swidler, S. A. (2000) Notes on a country School Tradition: Recitation as an individual strategy. – Journal of Research in Rural Education (29) Yin, Robert (2009) Case Study Research,: Design and Methods, 4 th. Ed. Sage, London University Library ( yin)