Case Study Research

Qualitative Methods in Social Research 2010-2011 Alice Mah

Outline
Introduction: what is a case study? Case study research design Contrasting theoretical views Case study rationales and varieties Research methods and process Discussion: advantages and disadvantages Case study research example Conclusion and workshop discussion

What is a case study?

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A research frame or design a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence. (Yin 1994) those research projects which attempt to explain holistically the dynamics of a certain historical period of a particular social unit. (Stoecker 1991)

What is a case study?

Intensive vs. extensive Holistic: attending to interrelationships Contextual:

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Internal context (eg. detailed analysis of internal social processes, Burawoy) External context (eg. necessarily reified characterisation of external social forces, Burawoy)

Choose the case study method:

When a how question is asked of a contemporary vs. historical phenomenon, in a situation in which the researcher has little control, and when the boundaries between the phenomenon and the context are not clearly evident (Yin 1994) For producing exemplars: Good social science is problem driven and not methodology driven in the sense that it employs those methods that for a given problematic, best help answer the research questions at hand. (Flyvberg, 2006, p 242)

Case study research design

Start with research questions or propositions Define spatial and temporal boundaries around the case: the unit of analysis (an individual, a countrys economy, a community, an industry, a policy, a social group, an organisation): provisional Construct validity, internal validity, external validity and reliability (Yin 1994)

Contrasting theoretical views of case studies 1/2

Diverse conceptions of case studies: Positivist: only exploratory (method of last resort Goldthorpe) Interpretivist: 1) sui generis (in its own right), 2) a basis for grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss) Ethnomethodological: loci of generic phenomenon (claims to universality of primordial practices) Critical realist: case studies are opportunities for explanatory theory development (Burawoy, Stoecker, Walton) Post-modern: occasions for creative narratives

Contrasting theoretical views of case studies 2/2

The role of theory
generating, testing, avoiding, elaborating

Wider implications beyond the case

The extended case method: extending out from the field (Burawoy, Zambian copper industry) Challenge to the (positivist) notion that one cannot generalise from single cases (Flyvberg, 2006)

Case study rationales: single cases

Critical case: testing a well-formulated theory Extreme or deviant case: unusual or problematic Representative or typical case: everyday or commonplace situation (eg. Robert and Helen Lynds community study of Middletown, 1929) Revelatory case: new sociology insights (eg. Whytes Street Corner Society, 1955) Longitudinal: studying the same case over time. Paradigmatic (Flyvberg, 1006): an exemplary, prototypical or metaphorical case that highlights more general characteristics of the society

Case study rationales: multiple cases

By definition, the unusual, critical and the revelatory case are likely to involve single cases, whereas exemplary, typical or paradigmatic might be multiple. A substitute for the experimental techniques of the natural sciences (Ragin 1987) Multiple case studies raise new questions: replication design (Yin, 1994) Literal replication: predicts similar results Theoretical replication: predicts contrasting results but for anticipatable reasons Necessity of a rich theoretical framework

Holistic vs. embedded case studies

Relevant to both single and multiple case studies Holistic: a global approach with only one unit of analysis (eg. an organisation Embedded or nested: more than one unit of analysis within a case (eg. the organisation as well as its employees, services, clients, programmes, etc.)

The role of comparison in and between cases

Within cases: nested or embedded cases Consider internal divisions/tensions/conflicts, often reflected in differing accounts of what is going on in the case Between cases: (multiple case study rationales); also: representative/typical cases; paradigmatic cases; similarities and differences Comparative method: contested approach

Case study methods

Usually draws on multiple sources of evidence BUT may rely exclusively on one method Commonly contrasted with quantitative surveys BUT can involve mixed qualitative and quantitative methods Common sources of data: Interviews (narrative, life history, semi-structured or informal), participant observation (and other observations), documents, photographs, official records (including statistical information) Triangulation of data

Research process
Data collection and analysis as a continuing and iterative process (Tony Elgar, 2009)
First impressions Exploring and contextualising actors/informants perspectives Identifying distinctive narratives and their contexts Drawing out social processes Tracing temporal sequences Pursuing puzzles and anomalies Triangulation to test analyses Feedback and revisits

Discussion: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to case study research?
Discuss for 5 minutes with a partner, then share your ideas with the group.

Case study research: example

Landscapes and Legacies of Industrial Ruination (Mah, forthcoming, University of Toronto Press) Case study design: theoretically driven, multiple site (3), exemplary/paradigmatic (Flyvberg), combination of typical and unique (Yin), drew up criteria for selection. Iterative, mixed methods, spatial/social analysis, interviews & observations

Conclusion and discussion

Multiple theoretical views of case studies Role of theory is important in research design Case study rationales should be considered carefully prior to research Many varieties of case studies (single, multiple, holistic, embedded, comparative) Case study boundaries are fuzzy and difficult to define/maintain Discussion: workshop (homework task)