Scribd
Upload
70 views21 pages

Case Study

A case study is an in-depth analysis of a specific person, group or event that promotes understanding of a larger issue. It provides a holistic view using multiple data sources like observations, interviews and documents. Case studies can be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory. Key elements include thick description through participants' eyes, context analysis, and letting the data speak for itself. Reliability and validity are ensured through triangulation, objectivity and avoiding bias. Case studies have strengths like establishing causality and accepting complexity, but generalizability can be limited.

Uploaded by

Syahrul jihad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
70 views21 pages

Case Study

A case study is an in-depth analysis of a specific person, group or event that promotes understanding of a larger issue. It provides a holistic view using multiple data sources like observations, interviews and documents. Case studies can be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory. Key elements include thick description through participants' eyes, context analysis, and letting the data speak for itself. Reliability and validity are ensured through triangulation, objectivity and avoiding bias. Case studies have strengths like establishing causality and accepting complexity, but generalizability can be limited.

Uploaded by

Syahrul jihad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 21

Case Study

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;
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;
• Chronological narrative;
• 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.

Stake:
• 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).
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’ is incorporated into the design, e.g. a
case study of a whole school might also use sub-units of 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 may be involved in each of the different cases, and
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?
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.
TRIANGULATION
• Time;
• Place;
• Methodologies;
• Instrumentation;
• Researchers;
• Participants;
• Theory (interpretive paradigms/lenses).
ROLE OF RESEARCHER
(Stake, 1995)

TEACHER

ADVOCATE

EVALUATOR

BIOGRAPHER

INTERPRETER
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;
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


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).
STAGES IN CASE STUDY

• Start with a wide field of focus;


• Progressive focusing;
• Draft interpretation/report (avoid generalizing too early).
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.
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;

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy