CASE STUDY RESEARCH

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CASE STUDY RESEARCH

• An Introduction

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WHY CASE STUDY RESEARCH?

• The case study method is amongst the most
  flexible of research designs, and is particularly
  useful in researching issues related to
  sustainability and institutional systems. It
  incorporates a number of data-gathering
  strategies document analysis, surveys,
  participant or non-participant observation, and
  participatory or action research.

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WHY CASE STUDY RESEARCH? contd

• Case study research can serve a variety of
  functions exploratory (enabling researchers to
  get a feeling for potentially important variables
  and to describe phenomena in the appropriate
  contextual setting), for testing hypotheses or
  theories (relating to cause and effect in a
  quasi-experimental fashion), and for policy
  analysis (teasing out prescriptions for action).

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TYPES OF CASE STUDIES

• Most Favourable to illustrate a theory and show
  it in a positive light
• Exceptional to validate or falsify a hypothesis
  by choosing a least favourable case
• Critical Case using a case to show the
  limitations of previous theories and other
  factors that might be operating.

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GENERALIZING FROM CASES

• Ones ability to generalize from case studies
  increases with the number of case studies.
  However, one way to overcome the limitations of a
  small number of cases is to choose ones that have
  the greatest variety of characteristics, and that
  encompass a range of extremes.

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FOCUSES OF STUDY

• Case studies are classified according to the
  focus of study. This can include
• Individuals
• Communities
• Social groups
• Organizations and institutions, and
• Events, roles, relationships, and interactions.

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PROBLEM OF CASE STUDY RESEARCH

• Ideally, one should avoid studying an issue
  solely from the perspective of one stakeholder.
• Case study researchers are often guilty of two
  additional errors 1) presenting a mass of
  indigestible data, or 2) only presenting the
  conclusions without showing the logical
  inferences from evidence that make those
  conclusions possible. Researchers should try to
  be both selective and systematic.

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TRIANGULATION

• There are different kinds of triangulation (ways
  of trapping the answers)
• Methodological (different types of research
  methods)
• Data (different types of data, or replication)
• Investigator (using more than one), and
• Theoretical (using different theoretical
  frameworks).

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CONSTRUCT VALIDITY

• This is establishing correct operational measures
  for the things being studied. To meet the test
  of construct validity, an investigator must be
  sure to 1) select the specific types of changes
  that are to be studied and 2) demonstrate that
  the selected measures of these changes do indeed
  reflect the specific types of changes that have
  been selected.

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CONSTRUCT VALIDITY contd

• There are a number of strategies for ensuring
  construct validity
• Using multiple sources of evidence to see if they
  converge
• Building a sold chain of evidence
• Circulating a case study report to key informants
  for them to review for accuracy.

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INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL VALIDITY

• Internal validity involves establishing a causal
  relationship between factors or variables
  causality is not the same as correlation
• External validity involves establishing the
  domain to which ones studies can be generalized.
  Unless one is studying a large number of cases,
  the ability to generalize is based on analytical,
  not statistical, grounds.

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RELIABILITY

• Reliability involves demonstrating that the
  operations of a study, such as data collection
  procedures, can be repeated with the same results
  (i.e. would a different researcher, using the
  same methods, reach the same conclusions?)
• To allay concerns, one documents the steps
  undertaken and keeps proper records for
  instance, transcribing interviews and explaining
  how one coded the results. However, no matter
  how linear one tries to be, there is always a
  certain amount of doubling back.

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RSEOURCES ON CASE STUDY RESEARCH

• Applications of Case Study Research by Robert K.
  Yin (Sage Publications, 2012).
• Research Design Successful Designs for Social
  Economics Research by Catherine Hakim (Routledge,
  2012).