scholarly journals Case Study Research Methodology

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Widdowson
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Process Measures ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Research Resources

Commenting on the lack of case studies published in modern psychotherapy publications, the author reviews the strengths of case study methodology and responds to common criticisms, before providing a summary of types of case studies including clinical, experimental and naturalistic. Suggestions are included for developing systematic case studies and brief descriptions are given of a range of research resources relating to outcome and process measures. Examples of a pragmatic case study design and a hermeneutic single-case efficacy design are given and the paper concludes with some ethical considerations and an exhortation to the TA community to engage more widely in case study research. 

scholarly journals Lessons learnt: examining the use of case study methodology for nursing research in the context of palliative care

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 446-459
Author(s):  
Paula Brogan ◽  
Felicity Hasson ◽  
Sonja McIlfatrick
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Nursing Research ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Study Methodology

Background An empirical social research approach, facilitating in-depth exploration of complex, contemporary contextualised phenomena, case study research has been used internationally in healthcare studies across clinical settings, to explore systems and processes of care delivery. In the United Kingdom, case study methods have been championed by nurse researchers, particularly in the context of community nursing and palliative care provision, where its applicability is well established. Yet, dogged by conceptual confusion, case study remains largely underutilised as a research approach. Method Drawing on examples from nursing and palliative care studies, this paper clarifies case study research, identifies key concepts and considers lessons learned about its potential for nursing research within the unique and complex palliative and end of life context. Conclusion A case study approach offers nurse researchers the opportunity for in-depth, contextualised understanding of the systems and processes which influence their role in palliative care delivery across settings. However, philosophical and conceptual understandings are needed and further training in case study methodology is required to enable researchers to articulate and conduct case study.

scholarly journals Case study research for better evaluations of complex interventions: rationale and challenges

BMC Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Paparini ◽  
Judith Green ◽  
Chrysanthi Papoutsi ◽  
Jamie Murdoch ◽  
Mark Petticrew ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Empirical Case Studies

Abstract Background The need for better methods for evaluation in health research has been widely recognised. The ‘complexity turn’ has drawn attention to the limitations of relying on causal inference from randomised controlled trials alone for understanding whether, and under which conditions, interventions in complex systems improve health services or the public health, and what mechanisms might link interventions and outcomes. We argue that case study research—currently denigrated as poor evidence—is an under-utilised resource for not only providing evidence about context and transferability, but also for helping strengthen causal inferences when pathways between intervention and effects are likely to be non-linear. Main body Case study research, as an overall approach, is based on in-depth explorations of complex phenomena in their natural, or real-life, settings. Empirical case studies typically enable dynamic understanding of complex challenges and provide evidence about causal mechanisms and the necessary and sufficient conditions (contexts) for intervention implementation and effects. This is essential evidence not just for researchers concerned about internal and external validity, but also research users in policy and practice who need to know what the likely effects of complex programmes or interventions will be in their settings. The health sciences have much to learn from scholarship on case study methodology in the social sciences. However, there are multiple challenges in fully exploiting the potential learning from case study research. First are misconceptions that case study research can only provide exploratory or descriptive evidence. Second, there is little consensus about what a case study is, and considerable diversity in how empirical case studies are conducted and reported. Finally, as case study researchers typically (and appropriately) focus on thick description (that captures contextual detail), it can be challenging to identify the key messages related to intervention evaluation from case study reports. Conclusion Whilst the diversity of published case studies in health services and public health research is rich and productive, we recommend further clarity and specific methodological guidance for those reporting case study research for evaluation audiences.

Case Study Research

2014 ◽  
pp. 454-470
Author(s):  
Helen Simons
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Political Interests

This chapter explores case study as a major approach to research and evaluation. After first noting various contexts in which case studies are commonly used, the chapter focuses on case study research directly Strengths and potential problematic issues are outlined and then key phases of the process. The chapter emphasizes how important it is to design the case, to collect and interpret data in ways that highlight the qualitative, to have an ethical practice that values multiple perspectives and political interests, and to report creatively to facilitate use in policy making and practice. Finally, it explores how to generalize from the single case. Concluding questions center on the need to think more imaginatively about design and the range of methods and forms of reporting requiredto persuade audiences to value qualitative ways of knowing in case study research.

The Logic and Design of Case Study Research

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald E. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Study Methodology

Advances in applied sport psychology will require the application of experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental research methodologies. The case study has stimulated important discoveries in many areas of psychology, although its limitations for drawing causal inferences are widely acknowledged. Case studies vary markedly in their design and methodology, however, and these differences dictate the extent to which alternative explanations can be ruled out on procedural or empirical grounds. The present article discusses design considerations that influence the construct validity, internal and external validity, and reliability of case reports. The application of techniques such as pattern matching, time-series analysis, and goal-attainment scaling to case study methodology is also described. Finally, guidelines for planning and reporting case studies in a manner that enhances their scientific and practical contributions are discussed.

Comparative Case Study Methodology and Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meera Pathmarajah
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Study Methodology

Case study researchers have traditionally focused on micro-level analysis of a “bounded” case, yet this approach has come under methodological scrutiny in a world where phenomena are rarely isolated from globalization’s expansive reach. Social science and policy-oriented research in particular are nearly always subject to local and global histories as well as socio-cultural, political, and economic trends. Furthermore, the experience of individuals, organizations, and institutions are often tangled in interconnected webs of influence, such that a case study that does not trace these underlying relationships is likely to be analyzing only the tip of a phenomenological iceberg. Hence critical scholars call for the need to repurpose traditional case study research methods to embrace shifting contextual factors that surround a research project at multiple levels. Comparative case study methods answer this call by making socio-cultural and political analysis an explicit part of the research process. They expand the researcher’s methodological lens by advancing the analysis of processes across three axes: the horizontal (through distinct research sites), the vertical (through scales; e.g., local vs national) and the transversal (over time; e.g., historically). The methodology is particularly useful for social science research and policy studies, where complex interactions between actors and institutions are tied to socio-cultural, political, and economic contexts. Teacher education research is an area where comparative case studies can potentially contribute to policy formulation. Using the example of case study research on teacher education in India, the comparative case study methodology is shown to be an effective research tool. Through insights into the socio-cultural and political context surrounding pedagogical reform, case study research can generate corrective measures to improve policy effectiveness.

Transparency and the rhetorical use of citations to Robert Yin in case study research

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Massaro ◽  
John Dumay ◽  
Carlo Bagnoli
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Citation Practices ◽  
Design And Methods ◽  
Structured Literature Review

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse “how”, “why” and “where” authors use citations of Robert Yin’s classic text, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, to determine the application of methodological transparency in published case study research.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is conducted using a structured literature review methodology.FindingsThe results reveal problems of obliteration by incorporation, miscitations, appeals to ethos, rhetorical convenience and a shadow effect, also known as adumbration. The authors argue that case study research relying, either in full or in part, on Yin’s methodology should transparently describe how and which parts of the methodology have been applied. Thus, the conclusions signal some opportunities for improving transparency in the use of citations in case study research.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis highlights behaviours that may lead researchers to questionable findings due to a lack of methodological transparency in developing case study research, along with some recommendations for avoiding such problems. Improving transparency is useful for readers to understand what was done, for reviewers and editors to evaluate the research, and to guide other researchers who wish to conduct case study research.Originality/valueThis research compares citation practices in case study research in accounting and management with a focus on citations of Robert Yin. The results build on previous studies that analyse how scholars apply case study methodology that encourages researchers to adopt greater transparency.

The Types of Case Studies in Research and Career-Based Endeavors

2022 ◽  
pp. 548-567
Author(s):  
Laurie Wellner ◽  
Kathleen Pierce-Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Teaching Tool ◽  
Additional Structure ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Methodology

This chapter focuses on the overarching components of the case study methodology in the context of research and career-based teaching and organizational learning settings. More specifically, this chapter, presented in several distinct sections, provides a description of the various types of case studies that can be selected for research purposes as well as for use as a teaching tool for career professionals, higher education faculty, and others interested in employing this type methodology. This chapter is intended to serve as a foundation to the subsequent text in this book pertaining to the detailed descriptions and elements of the case study serving as either a research design or a function of the teaching and learning process in academic and career-based settings. Providing a rich initial presentation of the types and qualities of the case study research design, this chapter will launch additional structure for the later chapters to offer a deeper understanding for the reader.

scholarly journals Case study research and critical IR: the case for the extended case methodology

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Lai ◽  
Roberto Roccu
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Case Methodology ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Socioeconomic Dimension

Discussions on case study methodology in International Relations (IR) have historically been dominated by positivist and neopositivist approaches. However, these are problematic for critical IR research, pointing to the need for a non-positivist case study methodology. To address this issue, this article introduces and adapts the extended case methodology as a critical, reflexivist approach to case study research, whereby the case is constructed through a dynamic interaction with theory, rather than selected, and knowledge is produced through extensions rather than generalisation. Insofar as it seeks to study the world in complex and non-linear terms, take context and positionality seriously, and generate explicitly political and emancipatory knowledge, the extended case methodology is consistent with the ontological and epistemological commitments of several critical IR approaches. Its potential is illustrated in the final part of the article with reference to researching the socioeconomic dimension of transitional justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On Case Study Methodology

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Problem Situation ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Actual Problem ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽  
Study Methodology

A case study is expected to capture the complexity of a single case, which should be a functioning unit, be investigated in its natural context with a multitude of methods, and be contemporary. A case study and, normally, history focus on one case, but simultaneously take account of the context, and so encompass many variables and qualities. When a physical artefact is the case the gap between case study and history tends to diminish and case studies often become more or less historical case studies. Case study methodology also bridges the gap between quantitative and qualitative methods in the social sciences. Still the different concepts of validation in quantitative and qualitative research sometimes create confusion when they are combined, as they often are in case studies. The case might be studied with an intrinsic interest in the case as such, or with an interest in generalising. When a generalisation is based on the deductive principle, the procedure of testing hypothesis is used. A second mode of generalisation is inductive theory-generation, or conceptualisation. The third mode depends on the principle of abduction. Abduction is the process of facing an unexpected fact, applying some rule and, as a result, positing a case that may be. But there are two kinds of abduction: One is when a case is created from a few facts; for instance, historical data or clues. The other is operative when generalisations are made from known cases and applied to an actual problem situation by making appropriate comparisons. This is also called naturalistic generalisation. In a case study, the different modes of generalisation are often combined. The conclusion is that case studies has the potential for further development through the mastery of the combination on different levels of techniques, methodologies, strategies, or theories, like; the combination of case study and history, which is important when the case is an artefact; the combination of differing quality standards in qualitative and quantitative research, which are difficult to codify; and the combination of different modes of generalisation.

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