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CASE STUDY

© LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION & KEITH MORRISON

STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER •  What is a case study? •  Generalization in case study •  Reliability and validity in case studies •  What makes a good case study researcher? •  Examples of kinds of case study •  Why participant observation? •  Planning a case study •  Data in case studies •  Recording observations •  Writing up a case study

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WHAT IS A CASE STUDY? •  A case study is a specific, holistic, often

unique instance that is frequently designed to illustrate a more general principle;

•  The study of an instance in action; •  The study of an evolving situation; •  Case studies portray ‘what it is like’ to be in

a particular situation; •  Case studies often include direct

observations (participant and non-participant) and interviews.

WHAT IS A CASE?

• A person; • A group; • An organization; • An event;

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ELEMENTS OF CASE STUDY •  Rich, vivid and holistic description (‘thick

description’) and portrayal of events, contexts and situations through the eyes of participants (including the researcher);

•  Contexts are temporal, physical, organizational, institutional, interpersonal;

•  Combination of description, analysis and interpretation;

•  Focus on actors and participants; •  Let the data speak for themselves (don’t

over-interpret).

TYPES OF CASE STUDY •  Exploratory (pilot); •  Descriptive (e.g. narrative); •  Explanatory.

•  Intrinsic case studies: –  (to understand the case in question);

•  Instrumental case studies –  (examining a particular case to gain insight into an

issue or theory); •  Collective case studies

–  (groups of individual studies to gain a fuller picture).

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DESIGNS IN CASE STUDY •  Single-case design

–  a critical case, an extreme case, a unique case, a representative or typical case, a revelatory case (an opportunity to research a case heretofore unresearched.

•  Embedded, single-case design –  more than one ‘unit of analysis’ in the design, –  e.g. a study of school might also focus on classes,

teachers, students, parents, and each of these might require different data collection instruments.

•  Multiple-case design –  comparative case studies within an overall piece of

research, or replication case studies. •  Embedded multiple-case design

–  different sub-units in each of the different cases, –  a range of instruments used for each sub-unit, and each

is kept separate to each case.

KEY QUESTIONS IN CASE STUDY •  What exactly is the case(s)? •  How are cases identified and selected? •  What kind of case study is this (what is its

purpose)? •  What is reliable evidence? •  What is objective evidence? •  What is an appropriate selection to include

from the wealth of generated data? •  What is a fair and accurate account? •  Under what circumstances is it fair to take

an exceptional case or a critical event? •  What kind of sampling is most appropriate?

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KEY QUESTIONS IN CASE STUDY

•  To what extent is triangulation required and how will this be addressed?

•  What is the nature of the validation process in the case study?

•  How will the balance be struck between uniqueness and generalization?

•  What is the most appropriate form of writing up and reporting the case study?

•  What ethical issues are exposed in undertaking the case study?

DATA IN CASE STUDIES • Observations (structured to

unstructured); •  Field notes; •  Interviews (structured to

unstructured); • Documents; • Numbers.

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TRIANGULATION •  Data source triangulation

–  researcher looks for the data to remain the same in different contexts;

•  Investigator triangulation – several investigators examine the same

phenomenon; •  Theory triangulation

–  investigators with different view points interpret the same results; and

•  Methodological triangulation – one approach is followed by another, to increase

confidence in the interpretation

ROLE OF RESEARCHER (Stake, 1995)

TEACHER

ADVOCATE

EVALUATOR

BIOGRAPHER

INTERPRETER

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STRENGTHS OF CASE STUDIES

•  Can establish cause and effect; •  Rooted in real contexts; •  Regard context as determinant of

behaviour; •  The whole is more than the sum of the

parts (holism); •  Strong on reality; •  Recognize and accept complexity,

uniqueness and unpredictability;

STRENGTHS OF CASE STUDIES

•  Lead to action (link to action research); •  Can focus on critical incidents; •  Written in accessible style and are

immediately intelligible; •  Practicable (can be done by a single

researcher); •  Can permit generalizations and application to

similar situations;

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GENERALIZATION IN CASE STUDY

•  From the single instance to the class of instances;

•  From features of the single case to classes with the same features;

•  From the single features of part of the case to the whole of the case;

•  From a single case to a theoretical extension or theoretical generalization.

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY IN CASE STUDIES

•  Construct validity •  Internal validity •  External validity •  Concurrent validity •  Convergent validity •  Ecological validity •  Reliability •  Avoidance of bias

THE NEED FOR A CHAIN OF EVIDENCE

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A GOOD CASE STUDY RESEARCHER MUST BE . . .

•  An effective questioner, listener and prober •  An effective observer •  Able to make informed inferences •  Adaptable to changing situations •  Versed in research methods •  Able to collate and synthesize data •  Able to maintain confidences and to act with

discretion and confidentiality •  Versed in relevant subject knowledge

WHY PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION?

•  Observation studies are superior to experiments and surveys when data are being collected on non-verbal behaviour.

•  Investigators can discern ongoing behaviour as it occurs and are able to make appropriate notes about its salient features.

•  Researchers can develop more intimate and informal relationships with those they are observing, and in natural environments.

•  Case study observations are less reactive than other types of data-gathering methods.

•  Direct observation is faithful to the real-life, in situ and holistic nature of a case study.

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PLANNING A CASE STUDY

CONSIDER: •  The particular circumstances of the

case: –  The possible disruption to individual

participants that participation might entail;

–  Negotiating access to people; –  Negotiating ownership of the data; –  Negotiating release of the data.

PLANNING A CASE STUDY

CONSIDER: •  The conduct of the study including:

–  The use of primary and secondary sources; –  The opportunities to check data; –  Triangulation; –  Peer and respondent validation; –  Reflexivity; –  Data collection methods; –  Data analysis and interpretation; –  Theory generation; –  Writing the report

•  Consequences of the research (and for whom).

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STAGES IN CASE STUDY

•  Start with a wide field of focus; •  Progressive focusing; •  Draft interpretation/report (avoid

generalizing too early).

CONTINUA OF DATA IN CASE STUDIES

NATURAL ARTIFICIAL

UNSTRUCTURED STRUCTURED

NARRATIVE NUMERIC

JOURNALISTIC STATISTICAL

QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE

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DATA TYPES IN CASE STUDY

•  Documents •  Archival records •  Interviews •  Direct observation •  Participant observation •  Physical artifacts •  Actual data gathered, recorded and

organized by entry, and the researcher’s ongoing analysis/report/comments/narrative on the data.

RECORDING OBSERVATIONS

•  Record the notes as quickly as possible after observation.

•  Discipline yourself to write notes quickly. •  Dictating rather than writing is acceptable. •  Word-processing field notes is vastly

preferable to handwriting. •  Keep backup copies of field notes. •  The notes ought to be full enough

adequately to summon up for one again, months later, a reasonably vivid picture of any described event.

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WRITING UP A CASE STUDY •  Executive summary followed by detail. •  A prose account is provided, interspersed with

relevant figures, tables, emergent issues, analysis and conclusion.

•  Examine the same case through two or more lenses (e.g. explanatory, descriptive, theoretical).

•  Follow a simple sequence or chronology, interspersed with commentaries, interpretations and explanations.

•  Have a structure that follows theoretical constructs or a case that is being made.

•  Order by main issues. •  Consider rival explanations.

PROBLEMS WITH CASE STUDIES

•  Difficult to organize; •  Limited generalizability; •  Problems of cross-checking; •  Risk of bias, selectivity and subjectivity;

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AN EXAMPLE OF A CASE STUDY: LEARNING TO LABOUR

Willis, P. (1977) Purpose: to find out how working class kids get working class jobs and others let them

Considerations: •  the need to link macro and micro sociology; •  The need to analyze schooling in terms of

macro-constraints and human agency •  The need to see schools as sites of contestation,

resistance and struggle in both a micro and macro sense.

PROCEDURE

(a)  Ethnographic study of a group of males in their final year of school and then in their first year beyond school, working in factories and other short-term, manual employment

(b)  Study of their behaviour in school and how it feeds into their choice of post-school occupations

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ELEMENTS OF LADS’ CULTURE •  Opposition to authority and rejection of

conformity: clothing; smoking and lying; drinking;

•  Celebration of the informal group; •  Excitement is out of school; •  Rejection of the literary tradition; •  Sexism; •  Racism.

SHOP-FLOOR CULTURE •  Masculine chauvinism – sexism; •  Attempt to gain informal control of the work

process; •  Rejection of the conformists in the factory; •  Rejection of ‘theory’ and certification; •  Rejection of the coercion which underlines the

teaching paradigm; •  Shirking work/absenteeism/taking time off; •  No break on the taboo of informing; •  Speaking up for yourself; •  Present oriented; •  Rejection of mental labour and celebration of

manual labour.

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MAIN FINDINGS •  The behaviours and values which the lads sought

and practised in school lead them into choosing deliberately and positively those post-school occupations that reinforce and let them practise these behaviours and values;

•  There is a continuity between the lads’ life styles at school and their life styles out of school and post-school;

•  The need for immediate cash, immediate gratification, anti-authority behaviour, chauvinism, rejection of mental labour, and celebration of the informal group find expression in school and post-school.

CONCLUSION

Working class kids get working class jobs because that is what they choose and what they are driven to choose by the values that they hold.