Monday, October 11, 2010

Case Study: What's it About?

BEFORE READING:
My experiences tell me that the case study design helps look at data as if I have a microscope. There's a phenomena that makes me want to look at it closely--describe it for what it is; conditions surrounding it in the hope of understanding it from a certain perspective. It allows me to see the data for what it is then discuss/explain it through layers of existing theory.

What's appealing about this design is this: it fits what I want to describe about programs, models of instruction, methods of teaching---all these within the realm of my experience as a teacher. The findings allow me to reflect on what is happening

So I've done a few ones but what I need to understand is how do you analyze data once you have all these. Yes, I tried looking at patterns. Yes, sometimes I try to generalize or come up with big ideas. Yes, I try to see the theory that supports what is happening right in front of me.

What are the varied forms of case study? Its uses and applications across fields/ disciplines? and when it is best used as a design?

How do the results become valid?

But how data analysis can be done more systematically?


WHILE READING:
Now I have a few readings/ notes to guide:

Application of Case Study Methodology by Winston Tellis, 1997 (The Qualitative Report, Volume 3, Number 3, September, 1997 Retrieved from: www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-3/tellis2.html

Yin (1993) has identified some specific types of case studies: Exploratory, Explanatory, and Descriptive. Stake (1995) included three others: Intrinsic - when the researcher has an interest in the case; Instrumental - when the case is used to understand more than what is obvious to the observer; Collective - when a group of cases is studied. Exploratory cases are sometimes considered as a prelude to social research. Explanatory case studies may be used for doing causal investigations. Descriptive cases require a descriptive theory to be developed before starting the project.

Case study research is not sampling research; that is a fact asserted by all the major researchers in the field, including Yin, Stake, Feagin and others. However, selecting cases must be done so as to maximize what can be learned in the period of time available for the study.

The unit of analysis is a critical factor in the case study. It is typically a system of action rather than an individual or group of individuals. Case studies tend to be selective, focusing on one or two issues that are fundamental to understanding the system being examined.

Case studies are multi-perspectival analyses. This means that the researcher considers not just the voice and perspective of the actors, but also of the relevant groups of actors and the interaction between them. This one aspect is a salient point in the characteristic that case studies possess. They give a voice to the powerless and voiceless. When sociological investigations present many studies of the homeless and powerless, they do so from the viewpoint of the "elite" (Feagin, Orum, & Sjoberg, 1991).


Case study is known as a triangulated research strategy. Snow and Anderson (cited in Feagin, Orum, & Sjoberg, 1991) asserted that triangulation can occur with data, investigators, theories, and even methodologies. Stake (1995) stated that the protocols that are used to ensure accuracy and alternative explanations are called triangulation. The need for triangulation arises from the ethical need to confirm the validity of the processes. In case studies, this could be done by using multiple sources of data (Yin, 1984). The problem in case studies is to establish meaning rather than location

Yin (1994) presented at least four applications for a case study model:

To explain complex causal links in real-life interventions

To describe the real-life context in which the intervention has occurred

To describe the intervention itself

To explore those situations in which the intervention being evaluated has no clear set of outcomes.


PREPARING A CASE STUDY: A Guide for Designing and Conducting a Case Study for
Evaluation Input By Palena Neale, PhD, Senior Evaluation Associate
Shyam Thapa, PhD, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation AdvisorCarolyn Boyce, MA, Evaluation Associate, May 2006. Retrieved from: http://www.pathfind.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_case_studypdf?docID=6302


What is a Case Study?
A case study is a story about something unique, special, or interesting—stories can be about individuals, organizations, processes, programs, neighborhoods, institutions, and even events.1 The case study gives the story behind the result by capturing what happened to bring it about, and can be a good opportunity to highlight a project’s success, or to bring attention to a particular challenge or difficulty in a project. Cases2 might be selected because they are highly effective, not effective, representative, typical, or of special interest. A few examples of case study topics are provided below—the case studies would describe
what happened when, to whom, and with what consequences in each case.


What are the Advantages and Limitations of a Case Study?
The primary advantage of a case study is that it provides much more detailed information than what is available through other methods, such as surveys. Case studies also allow one to present data collected from multiple methods (i.e., surveys, interviews, document review, and observation) to provide the complete story. There are a few limitations and pitfalls however, each of which is described below.


Can be lengthy: Because they provide detailed information about the case in narrative form, it may be difficult to hold a reader’s interest if too lengthy. In writing the case study, care should be taken to provide the rich information in a digestible manner.

Concern that case studies lack rigor: Case studies have been viewed in the evaluation and research fields as less rigorous than surveys or other methods. Reasons for this include the fact that qualitative research in general is still considered unscientific by some and in many cases, case study researchers have not been systematic in their data collection or have allowed bias in their findings. In conducting and writing case studies, all involved should use care in being systematic in their data collection and take steps to ensure validity3 and
reliability4 in the study.

Not generalizable: A common complaint about case studies is that it is difficult to generalize from one case to another. But case studies have also been prone to overgeneralization, which comes from selecting a few examples and assuming without evidence that they are typical or representative of the population. Yin, a prominent researcher, advises case study analysts to generalize findings to theories, as a scientist generalizes from experimental results to theories.5


3 Validity refers to the degree to which a study accurately reflects or assesses the specific concept that the researcher is attempting to measure.
4 Reliability is the extent to which an experiment, test, or any measuring procedure yields the same result on repeated trials.
5 Yin, Robert K. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Addt'l Reads: http://ctl.sri.com/publications/downloads/vstaera2001.pdf

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