Case Study Research

Front 1

What is a case study?

Back 1

A case study is an empirical inquiry
-That Investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real time context;
- When the boundaries between the phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and
- In Which Multiple sources of energy are used

Two types: single and multiple case studies

Front 2

4 Purposes of Case Studies

Back 2

* Explanatory
* Descriptive
* Exploratory
* Assessment

Hint 2

* Descriptive Exploratory are non-causal and thus Internal Validity is not applicable

Front 3

Epistemology and Theory Purpose of
Case Studies

Back 3

* Epistemology - Interpretive or Positivistic
* Theory Testing or Theory Building

Front 4

Components of Case Research Design

Back 4

* Research Question typically “how”and “why”questions
* Propositions, if any
* Units of analysis
* Logic linking the data to the propositions
* Criteria for interpreting findings

Front 5

Tests

Back 5

Case Study Tactic

Hint 5

Phase of Research when tactic occurs

Front 6

Construct Validity

Back 6

* Use Multiple Sources of Evidence
* Establish Chain of Evidence
* Have key informants review draft case study report

Hint 6

* Data Collection
* Data Collection
* Composition

Front 7

Test
Internal Validity - (mainly a concern when case is explanatory)

Back 7

Case Study Tactic
* Do Pattern Matching
* Do Explanation Building
* Do time-series analysis

Hint 7

Phase of Research when tactic occurs
* Data Analysis
* Data Analysis
* Data Analysis

Front 8

Test
* External Validity - like experimental research, Case Studies rely on analytic generalization rather than statistical generalization in Survey Research

Back 8

Case Study Tactic
* Use Replication Logic in multiple case studies

Hint 8

Phase of Research when tactic occurs
* Research Design

Front 9

Test
* Reliability

Back 9

Case Study Tactic
* Use Case Study Protocol
* Develop Case Study Database
(Both for documentation purposes)

Hint 9

Phase of Research when tactic occurs
* Data Collection
* Data Collection

Front 10

When to use a single case

Back 10

* Critical case
* Extreme or Unique case
* Revelatory Case

Front 11

When to use Multiple Case study design

Back 11

* Replication Logic (vs. sampling logic)
- Literal Replication (predicts similar results)
-Theoretical Replication (predicts different results)
* How many replications?
- Literal Replications: judgment call; Depends on how different rival
theories are from focal theory
- Theoretical Replications: depends on variability in external conditions that are relevant to your study.

Front 12

Case Study Flexibility

Back 12

-Yin says you cannot change your research objective midstream, but Eisenhardt disagrees

Front 13

Researcher skills

Back 13

Researcher Skills
* Question asking
* Listening
* Adaptivenessand Flexibility
* Grasp of issues being studied
* Lack of Bias

Front 14

Training and Preparation for a Specific Case Study

Back 14

* Purpose of study, data to be collected etc
* Uncover problems:
- Flaws in case design or research objective
- Incompatibilities in research team
- Unrealistic timelines
* Develop case study protocol

Front 15

Case Study Protocol

Back 15

Contains
* Overview of case study project
* the research instrument (questionnaire, interview guide)
* The procedures and rules that should be followed in using the
instrument
* Guide for the case study report
Particularly important in Multi-case designs
* Increases reliability of case study research

Front 16

Pilot Case Study

Back 16

* To refine research questions,
operationalizations, data collection plans, and procedures to be followed
* Much broader and less focused inquiry
* Site typically chosen because of access, convenience, geographic proximity

Front 17

Data Collection
6 Types
How much

Back 17

Types
* Documents
* Archival records
* Interviews
* Direct observation
* Participant observation
* Physical artifacts

Collect until saturated