Merriam Ch 3_5.24.10

Qualitative Case Study Research Chapter 3 Sharan B. Merriam

Case Study Defined
“ Case study is an in-depth description and analysis of a bound system”
Yin says “A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context.”

Bounded system
Merriam -” Single most defining characteristic of case study research lies in delimiting the object of the study, the case.”
The case could be a single person, a program, a group, a community, etc.
Bound system is “fencing in” what is studied.

Bounded System
“ The unit of analysis, not the topic of investigation, characterizes a case study.”
“ If the phenomenon you are interested in studying is not intrinsically bound, it is not a case.”

Combining other types of studies
Ethnographic case studies, i.e. study the culture of a particular social group.
Grounded theory within a case study.
Use critical theory perspective to analyze the data.

Case study
“ No particular method for data collection or data analysis.”
Use qualitative research.
“ Design is chosen precisely because researchers are interested in insight, discovery……rather that hypothesis testing.”

Case Study Defined
Merriam “An in-depth description and analysis of a bounded system.”

Special Features
Particularistic-focuses on a particular situation, program or phenomenon.
Descriptive-rich,thick description of phenomenon under study.
Heuristic-illuminate the readers’ understanding of the phenomenon.

Knowledge Learned
Stake - claims that knowledge learned from case study is different from other research knowledge.
More concrete - vivid experience.
More contextual - rooted in context.
Readers’ interpretation - bring in own experience.

Case Study Research IS NOT
Case work - social services
Case method- using case studies for illustration.
Case Studies - for teaching purposes.
Case history - tracking the past.

When to use a case study
Depends on what the researcher wants to learn.
Bromley - “get close to the subject of interest.”
Merraim - “spread the net for evidence widely” experiments and surveys have a narrow focus.

Qualitative Case Study
“ Process or actually carrying out the investigation, the unit of analysis and the end product.”
Intensive
Holistic description
Analysis of a single entity, phenomenon or social unit.

Types of Case Studies
Historical Organizational Case Study - “study of the development of a particular organization over time.”
Yin - No one alive so researcher must rely on primary or secondary documents and cultural or physical artifacts.
Bogdan and Biklen - life history - extensive interviews with one person - first person narrative.

Intrinsic and Instrumental
Stake - case studies differentiated by the researcher’s interest.
Intrinsic - researcher interested
Instrumental - “provide insight into an issue or to redraw a generalization.”

Multiple Case Studies
Used to study a phenomenon, a population or a general condition.
Collective or multi-site
“ Individual cases share a common characteristic or condition.”
More cases = more compelling the interpretation.

Strengths of using Case Studies
Real-life situations
Complex social units with multiple variables.
Expand the readers’ experiences
Good for applied fields of study.
Focus on a single unit, single instance

Limitations of Case Studies
May want rich description but lack resources.
May have too much information.
Limited experience of the researcher
Could cherry pick data to achieve a desired outcome - News
Lack of accurate representation.

Misunderstandings
Flyvbejerg Table 3.1
Determining the value of case studies.
No researcher is going to make a recommendation based on the findings of a single case.

Summary
Encounter case studies with professional work.
The term “Case Study” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase.
“ The process of conducting the inquiry, the bounded system or unit of analysis selected for study, or the product, the end report of a case investigation.” (Merriam, p. 54)

Merriam Ch 3_5.24.10

by Daberkow on May 27, 2010

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