Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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WHEN TO USE?
How and Why research questions
Researcher has little control over events Focus is on contemporary phenomenon within real-life context
Descriptive Explanatory
CRITICISM
Rigor of case study research
Little basis for scientific generalization Too long, result in massive, unreadable documents Cant directly address causal relationships
DEFINITION
NUMBER OF CASES
Single vs. Multiple
DESIGN
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E.g., organizational theories (theories of bureaucracy, organizational structure and functions; excellence in organizational performance, and inter-organizational partnerships)
Generalizations: statistical and analytic
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
Problem:
Operational set of measures: objectivity vs. subjectivity
Tactics:
Use multiple sources of evidence Establish chain of evidence Have key informants review draft case study report
INTERNAL VALIDITY
Problem:
Mainly a concern for explanatory case studies
Making inferences in a case study
Tactics:
Do pattern matching Do explanation building
EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Problem:
Is this study generalizable? This is a major concern in case studies!
Tactics:
Use theory in single-case studies
Use replication logic in multiple-case studies
RELIABILITY
Problem:
To minimize errors and biases in a study
Tactics:
Use case study protocol Develop case study database
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DESIRED SKILLS
Ask good questions
Be a good listener Be adaptive and flexible Have a firm grasp of the issues being studied
Be unbiased by preconceived notions
PROTOCOL OF INVESTIGATION
Major way to increase the reliability of case study
Guides the investigator in the data collection General content of a case study protocol:
an overview of the project field procedures case study questions
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SOURCES OF EVIDENCE
Documentation
DOCUMENTATION
Strengths:
Stable, unobtrusive, exact, broad coverage
Weaknesses:
Retrievability, biased selectivity, reporting bias, and access
Use of documents: to corroborate and augment evidence from other sources An Internet search prior to field visit
ARCHIVAL RECORDS
Strengths:
E.g., organizational records (budget or personnel records) Usefulness of archival records vary: from essential to passive relevance
INTERVIEWS
Strengths:
Targeted, insightful
Weaknesses:
Bias due to poorly articulated questions Response bias Inaccuracies due to poor recall
Reflexivity
DIRECT OBSERVATIONS
Strengths:
Reality, contextual
Weaknesses:
Time-consuming, selectivity, reflexivity, and cost
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
Strengths:
Same as for direct observation
Insightful into interpersonal behavior and motives
Weaknesses:
Same as for direct observation Bias due to participant-observers manipulation of events
PHYSICAL ARTEFACTS
Strengths:
Insightful into cultural features and technical operations
Weaknesses:
Selectivity and availability
Prerequisites for using multiple sources: costs, knowledge in different data collection methods
ANALYSIS
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GENERAL STRATEGIES
Relying on theoretical propositions
Developing a case description Using both qualitative and quantitative data Examining rival explanations
1. PATTERN MATCHING
Compare an empirically based pattern with a predicted one Can help to strengthen the internal validity A pattern might be related to the variables of the study Example of pattern analysis
2. EXPLANATION BUILDING
Analysis of a case study by building an explanation about the case Mainly relevant to explanatory case studies Explanation building occurs most often in a narrative form Reflect theoretically significant propositions Iterative nature of explanation building Potential problems with explanation building
3. TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS
The ability to trace changes over time is a strength of case studies Single dependent or independent variable Statistical tests are used
4. LOGIC MODELS
The model stipulates a complex chain of events over an extended period of time Repeated cause-effect-cause-effect patterns Can be considered as a form of pattern matching
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ISSUES IN REPORTING
There is no any stereotypic form Targeting case study reports Structures for case study reports:
Linear-analytic (for all types) Comparative (for all types) Chronological (for all types) Theory-building (for explanatory and exploratory) Suspense (only for explanatory) Unsequenced (only for descriptive)
REFERENCES
R. Yin, 2009, Case Study Research: design and methods, 4th Ed., SAGE.