This document provides an overview of case studies as a research method. It defines a case study as an in-depth analysis of a person, group, process, situation, program, or other social unit. Case studies aim to understand the life cycle or interactions that explain the current status or development over time of the unit of study. The document lists some examples of case studies and discusses the functions and techniques used in case studies. It compares case studies to surveys and outlines some merits and demerits of the case study method.

2. Submitted to:
Dr. V J Savaliya
Dept. Of agril extension
College of agriculture
JAU, Junagadh.
Presented by:
Jyothi P
M.Sc.(agri) I yr
Agricultural extension
College of agriculture
JAU, Junagadh.

4. Meaning...
• A case study is an in-depth comprehensive
study of a person, a social group, a process,
a situation, a programme, a community, an
institution or any other social unit.

5. • It is one of the most popular types of the
research methods
• Its purpose is to understand the life cycle of
the unit under the study or interaction between
the factors that explain the present status or the
development over period of time

6. Examples of case study
• Social anthropological study of the rural or
tribal community
• A study of labour participation in management
of particular enterprise
• A study of life style of working women
• A study of slum dwellers

7. Functions
• The case study describes a case in terms of its
peculiarities. It gives us an insight in to the
typical or extreme cases whose unique features
are not reflected by the usual statistical
methods.
• It helps us to get a wealth of information about
the unit of study, which may provide the clues
& ideas for further research work.

8. • It examines the complex factors involved in a
given situation so as to identify casual factors
operating in it
• It aims at studying everything about something
rather than something about everything
• The ‘Individual’ representing the ‘Wholeness’
is preserved, as it is an approach which views
any physical unit as a whole

9. • The case study, as a research method, often
employs more techniques than one. The
techniques may be:
-interview
-mail questionnaire
-check lists
-rating scales

10. • It ascertain the generic development of a social
unit under study.
• It is most valuable for diagnostic,
administrative & therapeutic purposes.
• It develops ideas, sometimes leading to the
conclusion & sometimes to the hypotheses to
be tested.
• It also develops new concepts or test the
existing concepts.

11. Survey Case study
Broad based investigation Intensive investigation
Covers a large number of
units
Studies a single unit/group
Findings can be generalised Findings can not be
generalised
Useful in testing the
hypotheses about large social
aggregates
Useful in testing the
hypotheses about structural &
procedural characteristics of a
social unit
Case study Vs. Survey

12. Merits
• Case studies are flexible with respect to data
collection methods.
• It can be extended virtually to any dimension
of the topic studied.
• It may be conducted practically
• It offers specific instances of tests of theories

13. • It is highly fruitful approach for the purpose of
group or process analysis as against the
analysis of individual traits alone
• It gives a wider range of insights into human
life, which can not be gained through a general
survey

14. Demerits
• Case studies may not be sufficient for making
the meaningful generalizations to larger social
aggregates
• They are generally more time consuming than
surveys

15. • The danger of investigator’s over confidence is
more in a case study which may lead to some
errors
• Case study method is inadequate for analysis
of macro-problems