case study as a research method aims to

The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

• Introduction and overview
• What is qualitative research?
• What is qualitative data?
• Examples of qualitative data
• Qualitative vs. quantitative research
• Mixed methods
• Qualitative research preparation
• Theoretical perspective
• Theoretical framework
• Literature reviews

Research question

• Conceptual framework
• Conceptual vs. theoretical framework

Data collection

• Qualitative research methods
• Focus groups
• Observational research

What is a case study?

Applications for case study research, what is a good case study, process of case study design, benefits and limitations of case studies.

• Ethnographical research
• Ethical considerations
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Power dynamics
• Reflexivity

Case studies

Case studies are essential to qualitative research , offering a lens through which researchers can investigate complex phenomena within their real-life contexts. This chapter explores the concept, purpose, applications, examples, and types of case studies and provides guidance on how to conduct case study research effectively.

Whereas quantitative methods look at phenomena at scale, case study research looks at a concept or phenomenon in considerable detail. While analyzing a single case can help understand one perspective regarding the object of research inquiry, analyzing multiple cases can help obtain a more holistic sense of the topic or issue. Let's provide a basic definition of a case study, then explore its characteristics and role in the qualitative research process.

Definition of a case study

A case study in qualitative research is a strategy of inquiry that involves an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon within its real-world context. It provides researchers with the opportunity to acquire an in-depth understanding of intricate details that might not be as apparent or accessible through other methods of research. The specific case or cases being studied can be a single person, group, or organization – demarcating what constitutes a relevant case worth studying depends on the researcher and their research question .

Among qualitative research methods , a case study relies on multiple sources of evidence, such as documents, artifacts, interviews , or observations , to present a complete and nuanced understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The objective is to illuminate the readers' understanding of the phenomenon beyond its abstract statistical or theoretical explanations.

Characteristics of case studies

Case studies typically possess a number of distinct characteristics that set them apart from other research methods. These characteristics include a focus on holistic description and explanation, flexibility in the design and data collection methods, reliance on multiple sources of evidence, and emphasis on the context in which the phenomenon occurs.

Furthermore, case studies can often involve a longitudinal examination of the case, meaning they study the case over a period of time. These characteristics allow case studies to yield comprehensive, in-depth, and richly contextualized insights about the phenomenon of interest.

The role of case studies in research

Case studies hold a unique position in the broader landscape of research methods aimed at theory development. They are instrumental when the primary research interest is to gain an intensive, detailed understanding of a phenomenon in its real-life context.

In addition, case studies can serve different purposes within research - they can be used for exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory purposes, depending on the research question and objectives. This flexibility and depth make case studies a valuable tool in the toolkit of qualitative researchers.

Remember, a well-conducted case study can offer a rich, insightful contribution to both academic and practical knowledge through theory development or theory verification, thus enhancing our understanding of complex phenomena in their real-world contexts.

What is the purpose of a case study?

Case study research aims for a more comprehensive understanding of phenomena, requiring various research methods to gather information for qualitative analysis . Ultimately, a case study can allow the researcher to gain insight into a particular object of inquiry and develop a theoretical framework relevant to the research inquiry.

Why use case studies in qualitative research?

Using case studies as a research strategy depends mainly on the nature of the research question and the researcher's access to the data.

Conducting case study research provides a level of detail and contextual richness that other research methods might not offer. They are beneficial when there's a need to understand complex social phenomena within their natural contexts.

The explanatory, exploratory, and descriptive roles of case studies

Case studies can take on various roles depending on the research objectives. They can be exploratory when the research aims to discover new phenomena or define new research questions; they are descriptive when the objective is to depict a phenomenon within its context in a detailed manner; and they can be explanatory if the goal is to understand specific relationships within the studied context. Thus, the versatility of case studies allows researchers to approach their topic from different angles, offering multiple ways to uncover and interpret the data .

The impact of case studies on knowledge development

Case studies play a significant role in knowledge development across various disciplines. Analysis of cases provides an avenue for researchers to explore phenomena within their context based on the collected data.

This can result in the production of rich, practical insights that can be instrumental in both theory-building and practice. Case studies allow researchers to delve into the intricacies and complexities of real-life situations, uncovering insights that might otherwise remain hidden.

Types of case studies

In qualitative research , a case study is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on the nature of the research question and the specific objectives of the study, researchers might choose to use different types of case studies. These types differ in their focus, methodology, and the level of detail they provide about the phenomenon under investigation.

Understanding these types is crucial for selecting the most appropriate approach for your research project and effectively achieving your research goals. Let's briefly look at the main types of case studies.

Exploratory case studies

Exploratory case studies are typically conducted to develop a theory or framework around an understudied phenomenon. They can also serve as a precursor to a larger-scale research project. Exploratory case studies are useful when a researcher wants to identify the key issues or questions which can spur more extensive study or be used to develop propositions for further research. These case studies are characterized by flexibility, allowing researchers to explore various aspects of a phenomenon as they emerge, which can also form the foundation for subsequent studies.

Descriptive case studies

Descriptive case studies aim to provide a complete and accurate representation of a phenomenon or event within its context. These case studies are often based on an established theoretical framework, which guides how data is collected and analyzed. The researcher is concerned with describing the phenomenon in detail, as it occurs naturally, without trying to influence or manipulate it.

Explanatory case studies

Explanatory case studies are focused on explanation - they seek to clarify how or why certain phenomena occur. Often used in complex, real-life situations, they can be particularly valuable in clarifying causal relationships among concepts and understanding the interplay between different factors within a specific context.

Intrinsic, instrumental, and collective case studies

These three categories of case studies focus on the nature and purpose of the study. An intrinsic case study is conducted when a researcher has an inherent interest in the case itself. Instrumental case studies are employed when the case is used to provide insight into a particular issue or phenomenon. A collective case study, on the other hand, involves studying multiple cases simultaneously to investigate some general phenomena.

Each type of case study serves a different purpose and has its own strengths and challenges. The selection of the type should be guided by the research question and objectives, as well as the context and constraints of the research.

The flexibility, depth, and contextual richness offered by case studies make this approach an excellent research method for various fields of study. They enable researchers to investigate real-world phenomena within their specific contexts, capturing nuances that other research methods might miss. Across numerous fields, case studies provide valuable insights into complex issues.

Critical information systems research

Case studies provide a detailed understanding of the role and impact of information systems in different contexts. They offer a platform to explore how information systems are designed, implemented, and used and how they interact with various social, economic, and political factors. Case studies in this field often focus on examining the intricate relationship between technology, organizational processes, and user behavior, helping to uncover insights that can inform better system design and implementation.

Health research

Health research is another field where case studies are highly valuable. They offer a way to explore patient experiences, healthcare delivery processes, and the impact of various interventions in a real-world context.

Case studies can provide a deep understanding of a patient's journey, giving insights into the intricacies of disease progression, treatment effects, and the psychosocial aspects of health and illness.

Asthma research studies

Specifically within medical research, studies on asthma often employ case studies to explore the individual and environmental factors that influence asthma development, management, and outcomes. A case study can provide rich, detailed data about individual patients' experiences, from the triggers and symptoms they experience to the effectiveness of various management strategies. This can be crucial for developing patient-centered asthma care approaches.

Other fields

Apart from the fields mentioned, case studies are also extensively used in business and management research, education research, and political sciences, among many others. They provide an opportunity to delve into the intricacies of real-world situations, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of various phenomena.

Case studies, with their depth and contextual focus, offer unique insights across these varied fields. They allow researchers to illuminate the complexities of real-life situations, contributing to both theory and practice.

Whatever field you're in, ATLAS.ti puts your data to work for you

Download a free trial of ATLAS.ti to turn your data into insights.

Understanding the key elements of case study design is crucial for conducting rigorous and impactful case study research. A well-structured design guides the researcher through the process, ensuring that the study is methodologically sound and its findings are reliable and valid. The main elements of case study design include the research question , propositions, units of analysis, and the logic linking the data to the propositions.

The research question is the foundation of any research study. A good research question guides the direction of the study and informs the selection of the case, the methods of collecting data, and the analysis techniques. A well-formulated research question in case study research is typically clear, focused, and complex enough to merit further detailed examination of the relevant case(s).

Propositions

Propositions, though not necessary in every case study, provide a direction by stating what we might expect to find in the data collected. They guide how data is collected and analyzed by helping researchers focus on specific aspects of the case. They are particularly important in explanatory case studies, which seek to understand the relationships among concepts within the studied phenomenon.

Units of analysis

The unit of analysis refers to the case, or the main entity or entities that are being analyzed in the study. In case study research, the unit of analysis can be an individual, a group, an organization, a decision, an event, or even a time period. It's crucial to clearly define the unit of analysis, as it shapes the qualitative data analysis process by allowing the researcher to analyze a particular case and synthesize analysis across multiple case studies to draw conclusions.

Argumentation

This refers to the inferential model that allows researchers to draw conclusions from the data. The researcher needs to ensure that there is a clear link between the data, the propositions (if any), and the conclusions drawn. This argumentation is what enables the researcher to make valid and credible inferences about the phenomenon under study.

Understanding and carefully considering these elements in the design phase of a case study can significantly enhance the quality of the research. It can help ensure that the study is methodologically sound and its findings contribute meaningful insights about the case.

Ready to jumpstart your research with ATLAS.ti?

Conceptualize your research project with our intuitive data analysis interface. Download a free trial today.

Conducting a case study involves several steps, from defining the research question and selecting the case to collecting and analyzing data . This section outlines these key stages, providing a practical guide on how to conduct case study research.

Defining the research question

The first step in case study research is defining a clear, focused research question. This question should guide the entire research process, from case selection to analysis. It's crucial to ensure that the research question is suitable for a case study approach. Typically, such questions are exploratory or descriptive in nature and focus on understanding a phenomenon within its real-life context.

Selecting and defining the case

The selection of the case should be based on the research question and the objectives of the study. It involves choosing a unique example or a set of examples that provide rich, in-depth data about the phenomenon under investigation. After selecting the case, it's crucial to define it clearly, setting the boundaries of the case, including the time period and the specific context.

Previous research can help guide the case study design. When considering a case study, an example of a case could be taken from previous case study research and used to define cases in a new research inquiry. Considering recently published examples can help understand how to select and define cases effectively.

Developing a detailed case study protocol

A case study protocol outlines the procedures and general rules to be followed during the case study. This includes the data collection methods to be used, the sources of data, and the procedures for analysis. Having a detailed case study protocol ensures consistency and reliability in the study.

The protocol should also consider how to work with the people involved in the research context to grant the research team access to collecting data. As mentioned in previous sections of this guide, establishing rapport is an essential component of qualitative research as it shapes the overall potential for collecting and analyzing data.

Collecting data

Gathering data in case study research often involves multiple sources of evidence, including documents, archival records, interviews, observations, and physical artifacts. This allows for a comprehensive understanding of the case. The process for gathering data should be systematic and carefully documented to ensure the reliability and validity of the study.

Analyzing and interpreting data

The next step is analyzing the data. This involves organizing the data , categorizing it into themes or patterns , and interpreting these patterns to answer the research question. The analysis might also involve comparing the findings with prior research or theoretical propositions.

Writing the case study report

The final step is writing the case study report . This should provide a detailed description of the case, the data, the analysis process, and the findings. The report should be clear, organized, and carefully written to ensure that the reader can understand the case and the conclusions drawn from it.

Each of these steps is crucial in ensuring that the case study research is rigorous, reliable, and provides valuable insights about the case.

The type, depth, and quality of data in your study can significantly influence the validity and utility of the study. In case study research, data is usually collected from multiple sources to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the case. This section will outline the various methods of collecting data used in case study research and discuss considerations for ensuring the quality of the data.

Interviews are a common method of gathering data in case study research. They can provide rich, in-depth data about the perspectives, experiences, and interpretations of the individuals involved in the case. Interviews can be structured , semi-structured , or unstructured , depending on the research question and the degree of flexibility needed.

Observations

Observations involve the researcher observing the case in its natural setting, providing first-hand information about the case and its context. Observations can provide data that might not be revealed in interviews or documents, such as non-verbal cues or contextual information.

Documents and artifacts

Documents and archival records provide a valuable source of data in case study research. They can include reports, letters, memos, meeting minutes, email correspondence, and various public and private documents related to the case.

These records can provide historical context, corroborate evidence from other sources, and offer insights into the case that might not be apparent from interviews or observations.

Physical artifacts refer to any physical evidence related to the case, such as tools, products, or physical environments. These artifacts can provide tangible insights into the case, complementing the data gathered from other sources.

Ensuring the quality of data collection

Determining the quality of data in case study research requires careful planning and execution. It's crucial to ensure that the data is reliable, accurate, and relevant to the research question. This involves selecting appropriate methods of collecting data, properly training interviewers or observers, and systematically recording and storing the data. It also includes considering ethical issues related to collecting and handling data, such as obtaining informed consent and ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the participants.

Data analysis

Analyzing case study research involves making sense of the rich, detailed data to answer the research question. This process can be challenging due to the volume and complexity of case study data. However, a systematic and rigorous approach to analysis can ensure that the findings are credible and meaningful. This section outlines the main steps and considerations in analyzing data in case study research.

Organizing the data

The first step in the analysis is organizing the data. This involves sorting the data into manageable sections, often according to the data source or the theme. This step can also involve transcribing interviews, digitizing physical artifacts, or organizing observational data.

Categorizing and coding the data

Once the data is organized, the next step is to categorize or code the data. This involves identifying common themes, patterns, or concepts in the data and assigning codes to relevant data segments. Coding can be done manually or with the help of software tools, and in either case, qualitative analysis software can greatly facilitate the entire coding process. Coding helps to reduce the data to a set of themes or categories that can be more easily analyzed.

Identifying patterns and themes

After coding the data, the researcher looks for patterns or themes in the coded data. This involves comparing and contrasting the codes and looking for relationships or patterns among them. The identified patterns and themes should help answer the research question.

Interpreting the data

Once patterns and themes have been identified, the next step is to interpret these findings. This involves explaining what the patterns or themes mean in the context of the research question and the case. This interpretation should be grounded in the data, but it can also involve drawing on theoretical concepts or prior research.

Verification of the data

The last step in the analysis is verification. This involves checking the accuracy and consistency of the analysis process and confirming that the findings are supported by the data. This can involve re-checking the original data, checking the consistency of codes, or seeking feedback from research participants or peers.

Like any research method , case study research has its strengths and limitations. Researchers must be aware of these, as they can influence the design, conduct, and interpretation of the study.

Understanding the strengths and limitations of case study research can also guide researchers in deciding whether this approach is suitable for their research question . This section outlines some of the key strengths and limitations of case study research.

Benefits include the following:

• Rich, detailed data: One of the main strengths of case study research is that it can generate rich, detailed data about the case. This can provide a deep understanding of the case and its context, which can be valuable in exploring complex phenomena.
• Flexibility: Case study research is flexible in terms of design , data collection , and analysis . A sufficient degree of flexibility allows the researcher to adapt the study according to the case and the emerging findings.
• Real-world context: Case study research involves studying the case in its real-world context, which can provide valuable insights into the interplay between the case and its context.
• Multiple sources of evidence: Case study research often involves collecting data from multiple sources , which can enhance the robustness and validity of the findings.

On the other hand, researchers should consider the following limitations:

• Generalizability: A common criticism of case study research is that its findings might not be generalizable to other cases due to the specificity and uniqueness of each case.
• Time and resource intensive: Case study research can be time and resource intensive due to the depth of the investigation and the amount of collected data.
• Complexity of analysis: The rich, detailed data generated in case study research can make analyzing the data challenging.
• Subjectivity: Given the nature of case study research, there may be a higher degree of subjectivity in interpreting the data , so researchers need to reflect on this and transparently convey to audiences how the research was conducted.

Being aware of these strengths and limitations can help researchers design and conduct case study research effectively and interpret and report the findings appropriately.

Ready to analyze your data with ATLAS.ti?

See how our intuitive software can draw key insights from your data with a free trial today.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Methodology
• Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on 5 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 30 January 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organisation, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating, and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyse the case.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

Unlike quantitative or experimental research, a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

If you find yourself aiming to simultaneously investigate and solve an issue, consider conducting action research . As its name suggests, action research conducts research and takes action at the same time, and is highly iterative and flexible. 

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience, or phenomenon.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews, observations, and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data .

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis, with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results , and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyse its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, January 30). Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved 6 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/case-studies/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, correlational research | guide, design & examples, a quick guide to experimental design | 5 steps & examples, descriptive research design | definition, methods & examples.

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Acquisition
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Religion
• Music and Media
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Strategy
• Business Ethics
• Business History
• Business and Government
• Business and Technology
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic Systems
• Economic History
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Public Administration
• Public Policy
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

23 Case Study Research: In-Depth Understanding in Context

Helen Simons, School of Education, University of Southampton

• Published: 02 September 2020
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

This chapter explores case study as a major approach to research and evaluation. After first noting various contexts in which case studies are commonly used, the chapter focuses on case study research directly. Strengths and potential problematic issues are outlined, followed by key phases of the process. The chapter emphasizes how important it is to design the case, to collect and interpret data in ways that highlight the qualitative, to have an ethical practice that values multiple perspectives and political interests, and to report creatively to facilitate use in policymaking and practice. Finally, the chapter explores how to generalize from the single case. Concluding issues center on the need to think more imaginatively about design and the range of methods and forms of reporting required to persuade audiences to value qualitative ways of knowing in case study research.

Introduction

This chapter explores case study as a major approach to research and evaluation using primarily qualitative methods, as well as documentary sources, contemporaneous or historical. However, this is not the only way in which case study can be conceived. No one has a monopoly on the term. While sharing a focus on the singular in a particular context, case study has a wide variety of uses, not all associated with research. A case study, in common parlance, documents a particular situation or event in detail in a specific sociopolitical context. The particular can be a person, a classroom, an institution, a program, or a policy. In the sections that follow, I identify different ways in which case study is used before focusing directly on qualitative case study research. However, first I wish to indicate how I came to advocate and practice this form of research. Origins, context, and opportunity often shape the research processes we endorse. It is helpful for the reader, I think, to know how I came to the perspective I hold.

The Beginnings

I first came to appreciate and enjoy the virtues of case study research when I entered the field of curriculum evaluation and research in the 1970s. The dominant research paradigm for educational research at that time was experimental or quasi-experimental, cost–benefit, or systems analysis, and the dominant curriculum model was aims and objectives (House, 1993 ). The field was dominated, in effect, by a psychometric view of research in which quantitative methods were preeminent. But the innovative projects we were asked to evaluate (predominantly, but not exclusively, in the humanities) were not amenable to such methodologies. The projects were challenging to the status quo of institutions, involved people interpreting the policy and programs, were implemented differently in different contexts and regions, and had many unexpected effects.

We had no choice but to seek other ways to evaluate these complex programs, and case study was the methodology we found ourselves exploring to understand how the projects were being implemented, why they had positive effects in some regions of the country and not others, and what the outcomes meant in different sociopolitical and cultural contexts. What better way to do this than to talk with people to see how they interpreted the “new” curriculum; to watch how teachers and students put it into practice; to document transactions, outcomes, and unexpected consequences; and to interpret all in the specific context of the case (Simons, 1971 , 1987 , ch. 3). From this point on and in further studies, case study in educational research and evaluation came to be a major methodology for understanding complex educational and social programs. It also extended to other practice professions, such as nursing, health, and social care (Greenhalgh & Worrall, 1997 ; Shaw & Gould, 2001 ; Zucker, 2001 ). (For further details of the evolution of the case study approach and qualitative methodologies in evaluation, see Greene, 2000 ; House, 1993 , pp. 2–3; Simons, 2009 , pp. 14–18).

This was not exactly the beginning of case study, of course. It has a long history in many disciplines (Gomm, Hammersley, & Foster, 2004 ; Platt, 2007 ; Ragin, 1992 ; Simons, 1980 ), many aspects of which form part of case study practice to this day. But its evolution in the context just described was a major move in the contemporary evolution of the logic of evaluative inquiry (House, 1980 ). It also coincided with movement toward the qualitative in other disciplines, such as sociology and psychology. This was all part of what Denzin & Lincoln ( 1994 ) termed “a quiet methodological revolution” (p. ix) in qualitative inquiry that had been evolving over the past two decades.

There is a further reason why I continue to advocate and practice case study research and evaluation to this day, and that is my personal predilection for trying to understand and represent complexity, for puzzling through the ambiguities that exist in many contexts and programs, and for presenting and negotiating different values and interests in fair and just ways.

Put more simply, I like interacting with people, listening to their stories, trials and tribulations—giving them a voice in understanding the contexts and projects with which they are involved and finding ways to share these with a range of audiences. In other words, the move toward case study methodology suited my preference for how I learn—through observation of people, events and social interaction in particular sociopolitical contexts.

Concepts and Purposes of Case Study

Before exploring case study as it has come to be established in educational research and evaluation since the mid-sixties I wish to acknowledge other uses of case study. More often than not, these relate to purpose, and appropriately so in their different contexts, but many do not have a research intention. For a study to count as research, it would need to be a systematic investigation generating evidence that leads to “new” knowledge that is made public and open to scrutiny. There are many ways to conduct research stemming from different traditions and disciplines, but they all, in different ways, involve these characteristics.

Everyday Usage: Stories We Tell

The most familiar of these uses of case study is the everyday reference to a person, an anecdote or story illustrative of a particular incident, event, or experience of that person. It is often a short, reported account seen commonly in journalism but also in books exploring a phenomenon, such as recovery from serious accidents or tragedies where the author chooses to illustrate the story or argument with a “lived” example. The story is sometimes written by the author and sometimes by the person whose tale it is. “Let me share with you a story” is a phrase frequently heard.

The spirit behind this everyday usage and its power to connect can be seen in a report by Tim Adams of the London Olympics opening ceremony’s dramatization by Danny Boyle.

It was the point when we suddenly collectively wised up to the idea that what we are about to receive over the next two weeks was not only about “legacy collateral” and “targeted deliverables,” not about G4S failings and traffic lanes and branding opportunities, but about the second-by-second possibilities of human endeavour and spirit and communality, enacted in multiple places and all at the same time. Stories in other words (Adams, 2012 ).

This was a collective story, of course, not an individual one, but it does convey some of the major characteristics of case study—that richness of detail, time, place, multiple happenings, and experiences—that are also manifest in case study research, although carefully evidenced in the latter instance. We can see from this common usage how people have come to associate case study with story. I return to this thread in the reporting section.

Individual Cases in the Professions

In professional settings, in health and social care, case studies, often called case histories , are used to accurately record a person’s health or social care history and his or her current symptoms, experience, and treatment. These case histories include facts, as well as judgments and observations about the person’s reaction to situations or medication. Usually they are confidential. Not dissimilar is the detailed documentation of a case in law, often termed a case precedent when referred to in a court case to support an argument being made. However, in law there is a difference in that such case precedents are publicly documented, whereas in health and social care, confidentiality of the client is the prime concern.

Case Studies in Teaching

Exemplars of practice.

In education, but also in health and social care training contexts, case studies have long been used as exemplars of practice. These are brief descriptions with some detail of a person or project’s experience in an area of practice. Though frequently reported accounts, they are based on a person’s experience and sometimes on previous research.

Case Scenarios

Management studies are a further context in which case studies are often used. Here the case is more like a scenario outlining a particular problem situation for the management student to resolve. These scenarios may be based on research, but frequently are hypothetical situations used to raise issues for discussion and resolution. What distinguishes these case scenarios and the case exemplars in education from case study research is the intention to use them for teaching purposes.

Country Case Studies

Then there are case studies of programs, projects, and even countries, as in international development, where a whole-country study might be termed a case study or, in the context of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which examines the state of the art of a subject, such as education or environmental science in one or several countries. This may be a contemporaneous study and/or what transpired in a program over a period of time. Such studies often do have a research base, but frequently are reported accounts that do not detail the design, methodology, and analysis of the case as a research case study would do. Nor do they report in ways that give readers a vicarious experience, through observations, incidents, and voices of participants, of what it is like to live in the particular context of the case. Such case studies tend to be more knowledge and information focused than experiential.

Case Study as History

Closer to a research context is case study as history—what transpired at a certain time in a certain place. This is likely to be supported by documentary evidence but not primary data, unless it is an oral history (see Leavy, 2011 , for the evolution and practice of oral history as a research method). In education, in the late 1970s, Stenhouse ( 1978 ) experimented with a case study archive. Using contemporaneous data gathering, primarily through interviewing, he envisaged this database, which he termed a case record , forming an archive from which different individuals, at some later date, could write a case study . This approach uses case study as a documentary source to begin to generate a history of education, as indicated in the subtitle of Stenhouse’s 1978 paper, “Towards a Contemporary History of Education.”

Case Study Research

From here on, my focus is on case study research per se, adopting for this purpose the following definition: “Case study is an in-depth exploration from multiple perspectives of the complexity and uniqueness of a particular project, policy, institution or system in a “real-life” context. It is research based, inclusive of different methods and is evidence-led” (Simons, 2009 , p. 21). For further related definitions of case study, see Stake ( 1995 ), Merriam ( 1988 ), and Chadderton and Torrance ( 2011 ). For definitions from a slightly different perspective, see Yin ( 2004 ) and Thomas ( 2016 , p. 23).

Not Defined by Method or Perspective

The inclusion of different methods in the definition quoted above signals that case study research is not defined by methodology or method. What defines case study is its singularity and the concept and boundary of the case. It is theoretically possible to conduct a case study using primarily quantitative data if this is the best way of providing evidence to inform the issues the case is exploring. This may not happen often, and only perhaps in some disciplines like medicine, although even in that context, there is increasing recognition, particularly in clinical settings, that client-centered and context studies are important for diagnosis and treatment (Greenhalgh & Worrall, 1997 ). It is equally possible to conduct case study that is mainly qualitative, to engage people with the experience of the case or to provide a rich portrayal of a person (MacDonald, 1977 ) or an event, project, or program. While the focus of the case is usually a project, program, or policy, within the case there can be portrayals of individuals who are key actors. These are what I term case profiles . In some instances, these profiles, or even shorter cameos of individuals, may be quite prominent. For it is through the perceptions, interpretations, and interactions of people that we learn how policies and programs are enacted (Kushner, 2000 , p. 12). The program is still the main focus of analysis in such cases, but, in exploring how individuals play out their different roles in the program, we get closer to the actual experience and meaning of the program in practice.

In the past three decades the literature and associated courses and conferences on mixed methods in educational and social research has proliferated (Greene, Caracelli, & Graham, 1989 ); (Greene & Caracelli, 1997 ; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 1998, 2003). This development, which first became evident in the eighties, evolved partly to overcome the partisan focus of either quantitative or qualitative research, but it also provides a perspective from different methodologies that may add to understanding of the case and increases the options for learning from different ways of knowing. Mixed methods methodology is sometimes preferred by stakeholders who believe it provides a firmer basis for informing policy. This is not necessarily the case, but is beyond the scope of this chapter to explore. Case study research has always been open to the inclusion of different methods because what is paramount in case research is understanding the complexity and uniqueness of the case, and a variety of methods offer different angles to comprehending this complexity and uniqueness. For further discussion of the complexities of mixing methods and the virtue of using qualitative methods and case study in a mixed methods design, see Greene ( 2007 ). The focus for the remainder of this chapter will be on the qualitative dimension of case study research.

Case study research may also be conducted from different standpoints—realist, interpretivist, or constructivist, for example. My perspective falls within a constructivist, interpretivist framework. What interests me is how I and those in the case perceive and interpret what we find and how we construct or co-construct understandings of the case. This suits not only my predilection for how I see the world, but also my preferred phenomenological approach to interviewing and curiosity about people and how they act in social and professional life.

Qualitative Case Study Research

Qualitative case study research shares many characteristics with other forms of qualitative research, such as narrative, oral history, life history, ethnography, in-depth interview and observational studies that utilize qualitative methods. However, its focus, purpose, and origins, in educational research and evaluation at least, are a little different. The focus is clearly the study of the singular. The purpose is to portray an in-depth view of the quality and complexity of social/educational programs or policies as they are implemented in specific sociopolitical contexts. What makes it qualitative is its emphasis on subjective ways of knowing, particularly the experiential, practical, and presentational rather than the propositional (Heron, 1992 , 1999 ) to comprehend and communicate what transpired in the case.

Characteristic Features and Advantages

Case study research is not method dependent, as noted earlier, nor is it constrained by resources or time. Although it can be conducted over several years, which provides an opportunity to explore the process of change and explain how and why things happened, it can equally be carried out contemporaneously in a few days, weeks, or months. This flexibility is extremely useful in many contexts, particularly when a change in policy or unforeseen issues in the field require modifying the design.

Flexibility extends to reporting. The case can be written up in different lengths and forms to meet different audience needs and to maximize use (see the section on reporting). Using the natural language of participants and familiar methods (like interview, observation and oral history) also enables participants to engage in the research process, thereby contributing significantly to the generation of knowledge of the case. As I have indicated elsewhere (Simons, 2009 ), “This is both a political and epistemological point. It signals a potential shift in the power base of who controls knowledge and recognizes the importance of co-constructing perceived reality through the relationships and joint understandings we create in the field” (p. 23).

Possible Disadvantages

If one is an advocate, identifying advantages of a research approach is easier than pointing out its disadvantages, something detractors are quite keen to do anyway! But no approach is perfect, and here are some of the issues that often trouble people about case study research. The sample of one is an obvious issue that worries those convinced that only large samples can constitute valid research, especially if it is to inform policy. Understanding complexity in depth may not be a sufficient counterargument, and I suspect there is little point in trying to persuade otherwise. For frequently this perception is one of epistemological and methodological, if not ideological, preference.

However, there are some genuine concerns that many case researchers face: the difficulty of processing a mass of data; of “telling the truth” in contexts where people may be identifiable; personal involvement, when the researcher is the main instrument of data gathering; and writing reports that are data based, yet readable in style and length. But one issue that concerns advocates and nonadvocates alike is how inferences are drawn from the single case.

Answers to some of these issues are covered in the sections that follow. Whether they convince may again be a question of preference. However, it is worth noting here that I do not think we should seek to justify these concerns in terms identified by other methodologies. Many are intrinsic to the nature and strength of qualitative case study research.

Subjectivity, for instance, both of participants and of the researcher, is inevitable, as it is in many other qualitative methodologies. This is often the basis on which we act. Rather than seeing this as bias or something to counter, it is an intelligence that is essential to understanding and interpreting the experience of participants and stakeholders. Such subjectivity needs to be disciplined, of course, through procedures that examine the validity of individuals’ representations of “their truth” and demonstrate how the researcher took a reflexive approach to monitoring how his or her own values and predilections may have unduly influenced the data.

Types of Case Study

There are numerous types of case study, too many to categorize, I think, as there are overlaps between them. However, attempts have been made to do so and, for those who value typologies, I refer them to Bassey ( 1999 ) and, for a more extended typology, to Thomas ( 2011 ). A slightly different approach is taken by Gomm et al. ( 2004 ): noting, in an annotated bibliography, the different emphases in major texts on case study. What I prefer to do here is to highlight a few familiar types to focus the discussion that follows on the practice of case study research.

Stake ( 1995 ) offered a threefold distinction that is helpful when it comes to practice, he says, because it influences the methods we choose to gather data (p. 4). He distinguishes between an intrinsic case study , one that is studied to learn about the particular case itself, and an instrumental case study , in which we choose a case to gain insight into a particular issue (i.e., the case is instrumental to understanding something else; p. 3). The collective case study is what its name suggests: an extension of the instrumental to several cases.

Theory-led or theory-generated case study is similarly self-explanatory, the first starting from a specific theory that is tested through the case and the second constructing a theory through interpretation of data generated in the case. In other words, one ends rather than begins with a theory. In qualitative case study research, this is the more familiar route. The theory of the case becomes the argument or story you will tell.

Evaluation case study has three essential elements. Its purpose is to determine the value of a particular project, program or policy, to include and balance different interests and perspectives and to report findings to a range of stakeholders in ways that they can use. It is a social, political and ethical practice. It needs to be responsive to issues or questions identified by stakeholders, including those who commission evaluations, who often have different perspectives of the program and different interests in the expected outcomes. The task of the evaluator in such situations becomes one of negotiating and representing all interests and values in the program fairly and justly. This is an inherently political process and requires an ethical practice that offers participants some protection over the personal data they give as part of the research and agreed audiences access to the findings presented in ways they can understand. The ethical protocols that have evolved to support this process are outlined in the section on ethics.

Designing Case Study Research

Design issues in case study sometimes take second place to those of data gathering, the more exciting task, perhaps, in beginning research. However, it is critical to consider the design at the outset, even if changes are required in practice due to the reality of what is encountered in the field. In this sense, the design of case study is emergent, rather than preordinate (predetermined in advance), shaped and reshaped as understanding of the significance of foreshadowed issues emerges and other, perhaps more pertinent issues are discovered.

Before entering the field, there are a myriad of planning issues to think about related to stakeholders, participants, and audiences. These include whose values matter, whether to engage these groups in data gathering and interpretation, the style of reporting appropriate for each, and the ethical guidelines that will underpin data collection and reporting. However, here I emphasize only three: the broad focus of the study, what the case is a case of, and framing questions/issues. These steps are often ignored in an enthusiasm to gather data, resulting in a case study that claims to be research but lacks the basic principles required for generation of valid, public knowledge.

Conceptualize the Topic

First, it is important that the topic of the research is conceptualized in a way that it can be researched (i.e., it is not too wide). This seems an obvious point to make, but failure to think through precisely what it is about your research topic you wish to investigate will have a knock-on effect on the framing of the case, data gathering and interpretation and may lead, in some instances, to not gathering or analyzing data that actually inform the topic. Further conceptualization or reconceptualization may be necessary as the study proceeds, but it is critical to have a clear focus at the outset.

What Constitutes the Case

Second, it is important to decide what would constitute the case (i.e., what it is a case of) and where the boundaries lie. This often proves more difficult than first appears. And sometimes, partly because of the semifluid nature of the way the case evolves, it is only possible to finally establish what the case is a case of at the end. Nevertheless, it is useful to identify what the case and its boundaries are at the outset to help focus data collection while maintaining an awareness that they may shift. This is emergent design in action.

In deciding the boundary of the case, there are several factors to bear in mind. Is it bounded by an institution or a unit within an institution, by people within an institution, by region, or by project, program, or policy? If we take a school as an example, the case could be composed of the principal, teachers and students, or the boundary could be extended to the cleaners, the caretaker, or the receptionist, people who often know a great deal about the subnorms and culture of the institution.

If the case is a policy or particular parameter of a policy, the considerations may be slightly different. People will still be paramount—those who generated the policy and those who implemented it—but there is likely also to be a political culture surrounding the policy that had an influence on the way the policy evolved. Would this be part of the case? In evaluation case study it invariably would, because it is difficult to fully comprehend how a policy is interpreted and implemented without an understanding of the values and intentions behind the setting up of the policy in the first place.

Whatever boundary is chosen, it may change in the course of conducting the study when issues arise that can only be understood by going to another level. What transpires in a classroom, for example, if a classroom is the case, is often partly dependent on the support of the school leadership and culture of the institution and this, in turn, to some extent is dependent on what resources are allocated from the local education administration. Much like a series of Russian dolls, one context inside the other.

Unit of analysis

Thinking about what would constitute the unit of analysis—a classroom, an institution, a program, a region—may help in setting the boundaries of the case, and it will certainly facilitate analysis. But this is a slightly different issue from deciding what the case is a case of. Taking a health example, the case may be palliative care support, but the unit of analysis the palliative care ward. The focus would be directly on how palliative care was managed in the context of a particular ward or wards and the understanding this generated for palliative care support in general. Here, as in the school example, you would need to consider which of the many people who populate the ward form part of the case—is it the nurses, interns, or doctors only, or does it extend to patients, cleaners, nurse aides, and medical students? If you took palliative care support as the unit of analysis, you would be less concerned about the specific details of the ward. Your focus would be more on the broader policy, key strategies, and units supporting palliative care, as well as the perspective of key actors in the process and how they delivered such care.

Framing Questions and Issues

The third most important consideration is how to frame the study, and you are likely to do this once you have selected the site or sites for study. There are at least four approaches: specific research or evaluative questions, foreshadowed issues (Smith & Pohland, 1974 ), theoretical framework, or a program logic. To some extent, your choice will be dictated by the type of case you have chosen, as well as by your personal preference for how to conduct it—in either a structured or an open way.

Initial questions give structure; foreshadowed issues give more freedom to explore. In qualitative case study, foreshadowed issues are more common, allowing scope for issues to change as the study evolves, guided by participants’ perspectives and events in the field. With this perspective, it is more likely that you will generate a theory of the case toward the end, through your interpretation and analysis, rather than start with a preexisting theoretical framework. See Thomas ( 2016 , ch. 11) for an exploration of different ways to generate theory in and of your case.

If you are conducting an instrumental case study , staying close to the questions or foreshadowed issues is necessary to be sure you gain data that will illuminate the central focus of the study. This is critical if you are exploring issues across several cases, although it is possible also to do a cross-case analysis from cases that have each followed a different route to discovering significant issues.

Opting to start with a theoretical framework provides a basis for formulating questions or identifying issues, but it can also constrain the study to only those questions/issues that fit the framework. The same is true with using program logic to frame the case. This approach is frequently adopted in evaluation case study, where the evaluator, individually or with stakeholders, examines how the aims and objectives of the program relate to the activities designed to promote it and the outcomes and impacts expected. It provides direction and is useful for engaging stakeholders in thinking through the assumptions underlying any theory of change they propose. However, it can lead to simply confirming what was anticipated, rather than documenting what transpired in the case (see Rogers, 2017 ; and Funnell & Rogers, 2011 , for helpful accounts of the potential and pitfalls of adopting a logic model as a framework).

Whichever approach you choose to frame the case, it is useful to think about the rationale or theory for each question or aspect of the framing and what methods would best enable you to gain an understanding of them. This will not only start a reflexive process of examining your choices—an important aspect of the process of data gathering and interpretation—but also aid analysis and interpretation further down the track.

Methodology and Methods

Qualitative case study research, as already noted, appeals to subjective ways of knowing and to a primarily qualitative methodology that captures experiential understanding (Stake, 2010 , pp. 56–70). It follows that the main methods of data gathering to access this way of knowing will be qualitative. Interviewing, observation, and document analysis are the primary three, often supported by critical incidents, focus groups, cameos, vignettes, diaries/journals, and photographs. Before gathering any primary data, however, it is useful to search relevant existing sources (written or visual) to learn about the antecedents and context of a project, program, or policy as a backdrop to the case. This can sharpen framing questions, avoid unnecessary data gathering, and shorten the time needed in the field.

Given that there are excellent texts on qualitative methods (see, for example, Denzin & Lincoln, 1994 ; Seale, 1999 ; Silverman, 2000 , 2004 ; Stake, 2010 ), I will not discuss all potential relevant methods here, but simply focus on the qualities of the primary methods that are particularly appropriate for case study research.

Primary Qualitative Data Gathering Methods

Interviewing.

The most effective style of interviewing in qualitative case study research is the unstructured interview, in which active listening and open questioning are paramount, whatever prequestions or foreshadowed issues have been identified. Specific advantages of this approach to gaining in-depth data are the opportunity to document multiple perspectives and experiences and establish which issues are most significant in the case—an important step in refining the emergent design. This form of interviewing can include photographs—a useful starting point with certain cultural groups and the less articulate, to encourage them to tell their story through connecting or identifying with something in the image. The flexibility of unstructured interviewing has three further advantages for understanding participants’ experiences. First, through questioning, probing, listening, and, above all, paying attention to the silences and what they mean, you can get closer to the meaning of participants’ experiences. It is not always what they say. For thoughtful observations of the meaning of silences in qualitative research, see Mazzei ( 2003 , 2007 ).Second, unstructured interviewing is useful for engaging participants in the process of research. Instead of starting with questions and issues, invite participants to tell their stories or reflect on specific issues, to conduct their own self-evaluative interview, in fact. Not only will they contribute their particular perspective to the case, they will also learn about themselves, thereby making the process of research educative for them as well as for audiences of the research. Third, the open-endedness of this style of interviewing has the potential for creating a dialogue between participants and the researcher and between the researcher and the public, if enough of the dialogue is retained in the publication (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985 ).

Observations

Observations in case study research are likely to be close-up descriptions of events, activities, and incidents that detail what happens in a particular context. These will record time, place, specific incidents, transactions, dialogue, and note characteristics of the setting and of people within it without preconceived categories or judgment. No description is devoid of some judgment in selection, but, on the whole, the intent is to describe the scene or event as it is, providing a rich, textured description to give readers a sense of what it was like to be there or provide a basis for later interpretation.

Take the following excerpt from a study of the West Bromwich Operatic Society. It is the first night of a new production, The Producers , by this amateur operatic society. This brief excerpt is from a much longer observation of the overture to the first evening’s performance, detailing exactly what the production is, where it is, and why there is such a tremendous sense of atmosphere and expectation surrounding the event. Space prevents including the whole observation, but I hope you can get a glimmer of the passion and excitement that precedes the performance:

Birmingham, late November, 2011, early evening.… Bars and restaurants spruce up for the evening’s trade. There is a chill in the air but the party season is just starting … A few hundred yards away, past streaming traffic on Suffolk Street, Queensway, an audience is gathering at the New Alexandra Theatre. The foyer windows shine in the orange sodium night. Above each one is the rubric: WORLD CLASS THEATRE. Inside the preparatory rituals are being observed; sweets chosen, interval drinks ordered and programmes bought. People swap news and titbits about the production … The bubble of anticipation grows as the 5-minute warning sounds. People make their way to the auditorium. There have been so many nights like this in the past 110 years since a man named William Coutts invested £10,000 to build this palace of dreams.… So many fantasies have been played under this arch: melodramas and pantomimes, musicals and variety.… So many audiences, settling down in their tip-up seats, wanting to be transported away from work, from ordinariness and private troubles … The dimming lights act like a mother’s hush. You could touch the silence. Boinnng! A spongy thump on a bass drum, and the horns pipe up that catchy, irrepressible, tasteless tune and already you’re singing under your breath, “Springtime for Hitler and Germany …” The orchestra is out of sight in the pit. There’s just the velvet curtain to watch as your fingers tap along. What’s waiting behind? Then it starts it to move. Opening night … It’s opening night! (Matarasso, 2012 , pp. 1–2)

For another and different example—a narrative observation of an everyday but unique incident that details date, time, place, and experience—see Simons ( 2009 , p. 60).

Such naturalistic observations are also useful in contexts where we cannot understand what is going on through interviewing alone or in cultures with which we are less familiar and where key actors may not share our language or have difficulty expressing what they mean. Careful description in these situations can help identify key issues, discover the norms and values that exist in the culture, and, if sufficiently detailed, allow others to cross-corroborate what significance we draw from these observations. This last point is very important to avoid the danger in observation of ascribing motivations to people and meanings to transactions.

Finally, naturalistic observations are very important in highly politicized environments, often the case in commissioned evaluation case study, where individuals in interview may try to elude the “truth” or press upon you that their view is the right view of the situation. In these contexts, naturalistic observations not only enable you to document interactions as you perceive them, but also provide a cross-check on the veracity of information obtained in interviews.

Document Analysis

Analysis of documents, as already intimated, is useful for establishing what historical antecedents might exist to provide a springboard for contemporaneous data gathering. In most cases, existing documents are also extremely pertinent for understanding the policy context.

In a national policy case study I conducted on a major curriculum change, the importance of preexisting documentation was brought home to me sharply when certain documentation initially proved elusive to obtain. It was difficult to believe that it did not exist, because the evolution of the innovation involved several parties who had not worked together before and they needed to develop a shared understanding of the ‘new’ curriculum. There was bound, I thought, to be minuted meetings sharing progress and documentation of the “new” curriculum. In the absence of some crucial documents, I began to piece together the story through interviewing different individuals who had a role to play in the evolution of the new curriculum. But there were gaps, and certain issues did not make sense.

It was only when I presented two versions of what I discerned had transpired in the development of this initiative in an interim report 18 months into the study that things started to change. Subsequent to the meeting at which the report was presented, the “missing” documents started to appear. Suddenly found! What lay behind the “missing” documents, something I suspected from what certain individuals did and did not say in interview, was a major difference of view about how the innovation evolved, who was key in the process, and whose voice was more important in the context: political differences, in other words, that some stakeholders were trying to keep from me. The emergence of the documents enabled me to finally produce an accurate and fair account.

This is an example of the importance of having access to all relevant documents relating to a program or policy to study it fairly. The other major way in which document analysis is useful in case study is for understanding the values, explicit and hidden, in policy and program documents and in the organization where the program or policy is implemented. Not to be ignored as documents are photographs; these, too, can form the basis of a cultural and value analysis of an organization (Prosser, 2000 ).

Creative Artistic Approaches

Increasingly, some case study researchers are employing creative approaches associated with the arts as a means of data gathering and analysis. Artistic approaches have often been used in representing findings, but less frequently in data gathering and interpretation (Simons & McCormack, 2007 ). A major exception is the work of Richardson ( 1994 ), who views the very process of writing as an interpretative act, and that of Cancienne and Snowber ( 2003 ), who argue for movement as method.

The most familiar of these creative and artistic forms are written—narratives and short stories (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000 ; Richardson, 1994 ; Sparkes, 2002 ), poems or poetic form (Butler-Kisber, 2010 ; Duke, 2007 ; Richardson, 1997; Sparkes & Douglas, 2007 ), and cameos of people, or vignettes of situations. These can be written by participants or by the researcher or developed in partnership. They can also be shared with participants to further the interpretation of the data.

Photographs also have a long history in qualitative research for presenting and constructing understanding (Butler-Kisber, 2010 ; Collier, 1967 ; Prosser, 2000 ; Rugang, 2006 ; Walker, 1993 ). The photo story in particular—a selection of photographs placed in sequence to show the interpretation of an event or circumstance—is a powerful way of telling. Less common are other visual forms of gathering data, such as “draw and write” (Sewell, 2011 ), artifacts, drawings, sketches, paintings, and collages, although these, too, are increasingly being adopted. For examples of the use of collage in data gathering, see Duke ( 2007 ) and Butler-Kisber ( 2010 ), and for charcoal drawing, see Elliott ( 2008 ). Collages have the potential not only for revealing inner states and feelings, but also for documenting conflicts and tensions in a case. Duke ( 2007 ) made effective use of collage in this respect to portray differences and tensions with doctors in a medical setting where she, in her role as a nurse consultant, was conducting research as well as performing her normal nurse duties. The collage served to channel the emotions she was experiencing in this hierarchical context without influencing the research or her professional role. More recently, Plakoyiannaki & Stavraki ( 2018 ) explored the various ways in which collages can be interpreted to reveal the meaning embedded in the juxtaposition of images and visual metaphors in a collage. They also offer a heuristic analytic approach to counter what they see as limitations in some of the other forms of analyzing collages. Though written primarily for an audience in management research, many aspects of their paper are pertinent for case study research.

Videos can be a useful means of documenting events and interactions between people, especially when individuals cannot be interviewed. See, for example, Flewitt ( 2005 ) for a discussion of the value of video for exploring communications between young children in the home and preschool contexts. In other contexts—videos of classroom events, for example—they can be extremely useful for engaging participants and stakeholders in the interpretation of such events. It is often suggested, furthermore, that videos are a useful means of reporting case study data. Not, I suggest, in raw form. Beyond the ethical issue of the potential identification of individuals is the difficulty of understanding what is going on if you were not present at the time and had a grasp of other data relevant to that understanding. In other words, videos have a temporary life. Without additional data, the distant viewer may not comprehend. This is a separate issue from preparing a video report, composed of different kinds of data to tell the story of the case in a visual, succinct way. Such videos have the power to engage different audiences and can facilitate immediate understanding of the critical issues in the case. An excellent example of this is the CD that Jenny Elliot ( 2008 ) prepared as part of her Ph.D. thesis, showing how it was possible through the research she conducted to get a unit of brain-damaged men to dance. The video was widely shown subsequently in many healthcare contexts.

In qualitative inquiry broadly, these creative approaches are now quite common. And in the context of arts and health (see, for example, Frank, 1997 ; Liamputtong & Rumbold, 2008 ; Spouse, 2000 ), they are frequently used to illuminate perspectives of individuals in therapeutic settings or enhance understanding of how spaces and environments in health and social care affect those who inhabit them (Fenner, 2011 , 2017 ). However, in case study research to date, narrative forms have tended to dominate, possibly because the contexts in which much case study research is conducted are policy or program focused where narrative forms of understanding are more the norm. This is not to say creative approaches may not be useful in these contexts. It may be a question of lack of familiarity with such approaches and acceptance of their usefulness in those environments.

Finally, for capturing the quality and essence of peoples’ experience, nothing could be more revealing than a recording of their voices. Video diaries—self-evaluative portrayals by individuals of their perspectives, feelings, or experience of an event or situation—are a most potent way both of gaining understanding and of communicating that to others. It is rather more difficult to gain access for observational videos because it is hard to effectively disguise individuals. Even if consent is granted, where individuals are visible it is not possible to foresee how portrayals of their life and experience will be viewed years after the research is completed. Research is context and time bound. So, video diaries may be most useful in a temporal sense to facilitate understanding of the case. See Simons ( 2007 ) for an exploration of the ethical dimension of the use of visual data.

It will be evident from the foregoing discussion of qualitative methods that close-up portrayals of individuals and contexts requires sensitive ethical protocols. Negotiating what information becomes public can be quite difficult in singular settings where people are identifiable and intricate or problematic transactions have been documented. The consequences that ensue from making knowledge public that hitherto was private may be considerable for those in the case. It may also be difficult to portray some of the contextual detail that would enhance understanding for readers because it would raise the risk of identifiability of individuals, as would visual data, as already noted.

The ethical stance that underpins the case study research and evaluation I conduct stems from a theory of ethics that emphasizes the centrality of relationships in the specific context (see Kirkhart, 2013 , for the concept of relational validity that supports this focus) and the consequences for individuals, while remaining aware of the research imperative to publicly report. It is essentially an independent democratic process based on the concepts of fairness and justice, in which confidentiality, negotiation, and accessibility are key principles (MacDonald, 1976 ; Simons, 2009 , ch. 6; and Simons, 2010 ). The principles are translated into specific procedures to guide the collection, validation, and dissemination of data in the field. These include:

engaging participants and stakeholders in identifying issues to explore and sometimes also in interpreting the data;

documenting how different people interpret and value the program;

negotiating what data become public, respecting both the individual’s “right to privacy” and the public’s “right to know”;

offering participants opportunities to check how their data are used in the context of reporting;

reporting in language and forms accessible to a wide range of audiences; and

disseminating to audiences within and beyond the case.

For further discussion of the ethics of democratic case study evaluation and examples of their use in practice, see Simons ( 2000 , 2006 , 2009 , ch. 6, 2010 ).

Getting It All Together

Case study is so often associated with story or with a report of some event or program that it is easy to forget that much analysis and interpretation has gone on before we reach this point. In many case study reports, this process is hidden, leaving the reader with little evidence on which to assess the validity of the findings and having to trust the one who wrote the tale.

This section briefly outlines possibilities, first, for analyzing and interpreting data, and second, for how to communicate the findings to others. However, it is useful to think of them together and indeed, at the start, because decisions about how you report may influence how you choose to make sense of the data. Your choice may also vary according to the context of the study—what is expected or acceptable—and your personal predilections, whether you prefer a more rational than intuitive mode of analysis, for example, or a formal or informal style of writing up that includes images, metaphor, narratives, or poetic forms.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

When it comes to making sense of data, I make a distinction between analysis—a formal inductive process that seeks to explain—and interpretation, a more intuitive process that gains understanding and insight from an holistic grasp of data, although they may interact and overlap at different stages.

The process, whichever emphasis you choose, is one of reducing or transforming a large amount of data to themes that can encapsulate the overarching meaning in the data. This involves sorting, refining, and refocusing data until they make sense. It starts at the beginning with preliminary hunches, sometimes called interpretative asides or working hypotheses , later moving to themes, analytic propositions, or a theory of the case.

There are many ways to conduct this process. Two strategies often employed are concept mapping —a means of representing data visually to explore links between related concepts—and progressive focusing (Parlett & Hamilton, 1976 ), the gradual reframing of initially identified issues into themes that are then further interpreted to generate findings. Each of these strategies tends to have three stages: initial sense making, identification of themes, and examination of patterns and relationships between them.

If taking a formal analytic approach to the task, the data would likely be broken down into segments or data sets (coded and categorized) and then reordered and explored for themes, patterns, and possible propositions. If adopting a more intuitive process, you might focus on identifying insights through metaphors and images, lateral thinking, or puzzling over paradoxes and ambiguities in the data, after first immersing yourself in the total data set and reading and rereading interview scripts, observations, and field notes to get a sense of the whole. Trying different forms of making sense through poetry, vignettes, cameos, narratives, collages, and drawing are further creative ways to interpret data, as are photographs taken in the case arranged to explain or tell the story of the case.

Reporting Case Study Research

Narrative structure and story.

As indicated in the introduction, telling a story is often associated with case study and some think this is what a case study is. In one sense it is, and, given that story is the natural way in which we learn (Okri, 1997 ), it is a useful framework both for gathering data and for communicating case study findings. Not any story will do, however. To count as research, it must be authentic, grounded in data, interpreted and analyzed to convey the meaning of the case.

There are several senses in which story is appropriate in qualitative case study: in capturing stories participants tell, in generating a narrative structure that makes sense of the case (i.e., the story you will tell), and in deciding how you communicate this narrative (i.e., in story form). If you choose a written story form, Harrington ( 2003 ) and Caulley ( 2008 ) are useful authors to consult to ensure the story is clearly structured, well written, and contains only the detail that is necessary to give readers the vicarious experience of what it was like in the case. Harrington ( 2003 ) reminds us, among other things, that it is not only in the technical sense that good writing is required—using plain, precise, direct language and grammar—but also how we convey meaning—“‘selecting telling details’ … ‘balancing the particular and the universal’ … ‘structuring stories so insight emerges’” (p. 97). If the story is to be communicated in other ways, through, for example, audio or videotape or computer or personal interaction, the same applies, substituting visual and interpersonal skill for written. In addition to these authors, I often get inspiration for constructing a story or a portrayal of a person from novelists who write well.

Matching Forms of Reporting to Audience

The art of reporting is strongly connected to usability, so forms of reporting need to connect to the audiences we hope to inform: how they learn, what kind of evidence they value, and what kind of reporting maximizes the chances they will use the findings to promote policies and programs in the interests of beneficiaries. As Okri ( 1997 ) further reminds us “The writer only does half the work, the reader does the other” (p. 41).

There may be other considerations as well: How open are commissioners to receiving stories of difficulties as well as success stories? What might they need to hear beyond what is sought in the technical brief? And through what style of reporting would you try to persuade them? If you are conducting noncommissioned case study research, the scope for different forms of reporting is wider. In academia, for instance, many institutions these days accept creative and artistic forms of reporting when supported by supervisors and appreciated by examiners.

Styles of Reporting

The most obvious form of reporting is linear , often starting with a short executive summary and a brief description of focus and context, followed by methodology, the case study itself in its totality, or demonstrated in the thematic analysis, findings, and conclusions or implications. Conclusion-led reporting is similar in terms of its formality, but simply starts the other way around. From the conclusions drawn from the analyzed data, it works backward to tell the story through narrative, verbatim, and observational data of how these conclusions were reached. Both have a strong storyline. The intent is analytic and explanatory.

Quite a different approach is to engage the reader in the experience and veracity of the case. Rather like constructing a portrait or editing a documentary film, this involves the sifting, constructing, and reordering of frames, events, and episodes to tell a coherent story primarily through interview excerpts, observations, vignettes, and critical incidents that depict what transpired in the case. Interpretation is indirect through the weaving of the data. The story can start at any point, provided the underlying narrative structure is maintained to establish coherence (House, 1980 , p. 116).

Different again, and from the other end of a continuum, is a highly interpretative account that may use similar ways of presenting data but weaves a story from the outset that is highly interpretative. Engaging metaphor, images, short stories, contradictions, paradoxes, and puzzles, it is invariably interesting to read and can be most persuasive. However, the evidence is less visible and therefore less open to alternative interpretations.

Even more persuasive is a case study that uses artistic forms to communicate the story of the case. Paintings, poetic form, drawings, photography, collage, and movement can all be adopted to report findings, whether the data were acquired using these forms or by other means. The arts-based inquiry movement (Mullen & Finley, 2003 ) has contributed hugely to the validation and legitimation of artistic and creative ways of representing qualitative research findings. The journal Qualitative Inquiry contains many good examples, but see also Liamputtong & Rumbold ( 2008 ). Such artistic forms of representation may not be for everyone or appropriate in some contexts, but they do have the power to engage an audience and the potential to facilitate use.

Before leaving reporting, it is important to mention that in recent years, not surprisingly given the rapid growth and ever-changing technology at our disposal, there has been an increase in the use of data visualization techniques, both to present data and to report findings. See, for example, some of the excellent ideas offered by Stephanie Evergreen ( 2013 , 2016 ) using graphics and charts of different kinds to summarize data effectively. Telling the story of the case, then, can be visual as well as literary. Using these techniques, linked often with quotations from interviews and pictorial evidence of context, it is possible to communicate the findings of a case in a few pages, or even just one page. This can be of immense benefit to policy makers who may have little time to read long case reports or those who value visual learning as much as written. Such techniques are unlikely to replace the narrative form. Given the importance of people and context in case study, the need to represent participants’ voices and the sociopolitical context will invariably demand a longer and integrated story. Data visualization is an added strength and an option for those who are persuaded by visual means or who have little time.

Generalization in Case Study Research

One of the potential limitations of case study often proposed is that it is impossible to generalize. This is not so. However, the way in which one generalizes from a case is different from that adopted in traditional forms of social science research that utilize large samples (randomly selected) and statistical procedures and that assume regularities in the social world that allow cause and effect to be determined. In this form of research, inferences from data are stated as formal propositions that apply to all in the target population. See Donmoyer ( 1990 ) for an argument on the restricted nature of this form of generalization when considering single-case studies.

Making inferences from cases with a qualitative data set arises more from a process of interpretation in context, appealing to tacit and situated understanding for acceptance of their validity. Such inferences are possible where the context and experience of the case is richly described so the reader can recognize and connect with the events and experiences portrayed. There are two ways to examine how to reach these generalized understandings. One is to generalize from the case to other cases of a similar or dissimilar nature. The other is to see what we learn in depth from the uniqueness of the single case itself.

Generalizing from the Single Case

A common approach to generalization and one most akin to a propositional form is cross-case generalization. In a collective or multisite case study, each case is explored to see if issues that arise in one case also exist in other cases and what interconnecting themes exist between them. This kind of generalization has a degree of abstraction and potential for theorizing and is often welcomed by commissioners of research concerned that findings from the single case do not provide an adequate or “safe” basis for policy determination.

However, there are four additional ways to generalize from the single case, all of which draw more on tacit knowledge and recognition of context, although in different ways. In naturalistic generalization , first proposed by Stake ( 1978 ), generalization is reached on the basis of recognition of similarities and differences to cases with which we are familiar. To enable such recognition, the case should feature rich description; people’s voices; and enough detail of time, place, and context to provide a vicarious experience to help readers discern what is similar and dissimilar to their own context (Stake, 1978 ).

Situated generalization (Simons, Kushner, Jones, & James, 2003 ) is close to the concept of naturalistic generalization in relying for its generality on retaining a connectedness with the context in which it first evolved. However, it has an extra dimension in a practice context. This notion of generalization was identified in an evaluation of a research project that engaged teachers in and with research. Here, in addition to the usual validity criteria to establish the methodological warrant for the findings, the generalization was seen as dependable if trust existed between those who conducted the research (teachers, in this example) and those thinking about using it (other teachers). In other words, beyond the technical validity of the research, teachers considered using the findings in their own practice because they had confidence in those who generated them. This is a useful way to think about generalization if we wish research findings to improve professional practice.

The next two concepts of generalization— concept and process generalization —relate more to what you discover in making sense of the case. As you interpret and analyze, you begin to generate a theory of the case that makes sense of the whole. Concepts may be identified that make sense in the one case but have equal significance in other cases of a similar kind, even if the contexts are different. It is the concept that generalizes, not the specific content or context. This may be similar to the process Donmoyer ( 2008 ) identifies of “intellectual generalization” (as cited in Butler-Kisber, 2010 , p. 15) to indicate the cognitive understanding one can gain from qualitative accounts even if settings are quite different.

The same is true for generalization of a process. It is possible to identify a significant process in one case (or several cases) that is transferable to other contexts, irrespective of the precise content and contexts of those other cases. An example here is the collaborative model for sustainable school self-evaluation I identified in researching school self-evaluation in a number of schools and countries (Simons, 2002 ). Schools that successfully sustained school self-evaluation had an infrastructure that was collaborative at all stages of the evaluation process from design to conduct of the study, to analyzing and interpreting the results, and to reporting the findings. This ensured that the whole school was involved and that results were discussed and built into the ongoing development of school policies and practice. In other cases, different processes may be discovered that have applicability in a range of contexts. As with concept generalization, it is the process that generalizes not the substantive content or specific context.

Particularization

The forms of generalization discussed above are useful when we have to justify case study in a research or policy context. But the overarching justification for how we learn from case study is particularization —a rich portrayal of insights and understandings interpreted in the particular context. Several authors have made this point (Flyvberg, 2006 ; Simons, 2009 ; Stake, 1995 , 2006 ). Stake (2005) puts it most sharply when he observes that “the real business of case study is particularization, not generalization” (p. 8), referring here to the main reason for studying the singular, which is to understand the uniqueness of the case itself.

My perspective (explored further in Simons, 1996 , 2009 , p. 239; Simons & McCormack, 2007 ) is similar in that I believe the “real” strength of case study lies in the insights we gain from in-depth study of the particular. But I also argue for the universality of such insights—if we get it “right,” by which I mean that if we are able to capture and report the uniqueness, the essence of the case, in all its particularity and present it in a way we can all recognize, we will discover something of universal significance. This is something of a paradox. The more you learn in depth about the particularity of one person, situation, or context, the more likely you are to discover something universal. This process of reaching understanding has support both from the way in which many discoveries are made in science and in how we learn from artists, poets, and novelists, who reach us by communicating a recognizable truth about individuals, human relationships, and/or social contexts.

This concept of particularization is far from new, as the quotation below from a preface to a book written in 1908 attests. Stephen Reynolds, the author of A Poor Man’s House (Reynolds, 1908 ) noted in the preface that the substance of the book was first recorded in a journal, kept for purposes of fiction and in letters to one of his friends, but fiction proved an inappropriate medium. He felt that the life and the people were so much better than anything he could invent. The book therefore consists of the journal and letters drawn together to present a picture of a typical poor man’s house and life, much as we might draw together a range of data to present a case study. It is not the substance of the book that concerns us here, but the methodological relevance to case study research. Reynolds pointed out that the conclusions in his book were tentative and possibly went beyond this man’s life, so he thought some explanation of the way he arrived at them was needed:

Educated people usually deal with the poor man’s life deductively; they reason from the general to the particular; and, starting with a theory, religious, philanthropic, political, or what not, they seek, and too easily find, among the millions of poor, specimens—very frequently abnormal—to illustrate their theories. With anything but human beings, that is an excellent method. Human beings, unfortunately, have individualities. They do what, theoretically, they ought not to do, and leave undone those things they ought to do. They are even said to possess souls—untrustworthy things beyond the reach of sociologists. The inductive method—reasoning from the particular to the general … should at least help to counterbalance the psychological superficiality of the deductive method. (Reynolds, 1908 , preface) 1

Slightly overstated, perhaps, but the point is well made. In our search for general laws, we not only lose sight of the uniqueness and humanity of individuals, but also reduce them in the process, failing to present their experience in any “real” sense. What is astonishing about the quotation is that it was written over a century ago, and yet many still argue that you cannot generalize from the particular.

Going even further back to 1798, Blake proclaimed that ‘To generalise is to be an idiot; to particularise is the alone distinction of merit&quot; (Blake,1798, cited by Keynes (1957). In research, we may not wish to make such a strong distinction; these processes both have their uses in different kinds of research. But there is a major point here for the study of the particular that Wilson ( 2008 ) notes in commenting on Blake’s perception when he says, “Favouring the abstract over the concrete, one ‘sees all things only thro’ the narrow chinks of his cavern’ ” (referring here to Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell [1793], as cited in Wilson, 2008 , p. 62). The danger Wilson is pointing to here is that abstraction relies heavily on what we know from our past understanding of things, and this may prevent us experiencing a concrete event directly or “apprehend[ing] a particular moment” (Wilson, 2008 , p. 63).

Blake had a different mission, of course, from case researchers, and he was not himself free from abstractions, as Wilson points out, although he [Blake] fought hard “to break through mental barriers to something unique and living” (Wilson, 2008 , p. 65). It is this search for the “unique and living” and experiencing the “isness” of the particular that we should take from the Blake example to remind us of the possibility of discovering something “new,” beyond our current understanding of the way things are.

Focusing on particularization does not diminish the usefulness of case study research for policy makers or practitioners. Grounded in recognizable experience, the potential is there to reach a range of audiences and to facilitate use of the findings. It may be more difficult for those who seek formal generalizations that seem to offer a safe basis for policy making to accept case study reports. However, particular stories often hold the key to why policies have or have not worked well in the past. It is not necessary to present long cases—a criticism frequently leveled—to demonstrate the story of the case. Such case stories can be most insightful for policy makers who, like many of us in everyday life, often draw inferences from a single instance or case, whatever the formal evidence presented “I am reminded of the story of …” Stake ( 2006 , pp. 197–198) also reminds us that we are constantly making small generalizations from particular situations as we go about our professional work and life. These may not survive systematic research scrutiny, but the point Stake is making here is that it is our natural tendency to generalize from the particular in making sense of our worlds. In case study research that aspires to represent “lived experience,” this seems a natural way to proceed.

The case for studying the particular to inform practice in professional contexts needs less persuasion because practitioners can recognize the content and context quite readily and make the inference to their own particular context (Simons et al., 2003 ). In both sets of circumstances—policy and practice—it is more a question of whether the readers of our case research accept the validity of findings determined in this way, how they choose to learn, and our skill in telling the case study story.

Conclusion and Future Directions

In this chapter, I have presented an argument for case study research, making the case, in particular, for using qualitative methods to highlight what qualitative case study research can bring to the study of social and educational programs. I outlined the various ways in which case study is commonly used before focusing directly on case study as a major mode of research inquiry, noting characteristics it shares with other qualitative methodologies, as well as its difference and the difficulties it is often perceived to have. The chapter emphasizes the importance of thinking through what the case is to be sure that the issues explored and the data generated do illuminate this case and not any other.

But there is still more to be done. In particular, I think we need to be more adventurous in how we craft and report the case, and I have made several suggestions in the text as to how this could be done. I suspect also that we may have been too cautious in the past in how we justified case study research, borrowing concepts from other disciplines and forms of educational research. Fifty years on, it is time to take a greater risk—in demonstrating the intrinsic nature of case study research and what it can offer our understanding of human and social situations.

I have already drawn attention to the need to design the case, although this could be developed further to accentuate the uniqueness of the particular case. One way to do this is to feature individuals more in the design itself, not only to explore programs and policies through perspectives of key actors or groups and transactions between them, which to some extent happens already, but also to get them to characterize what makes the context unique. This is the reversal of many a design framework that starts with the logic of a program and takes forward the argument for personalizing evaluation (Kushner, 2000 ) on the grounds that it is through individuals that programs and policies are enacted. Apart from this attention to design, there are three other issues I think we need to explore further: the warrant for creative methods in case study, more imaginative reporting, and how we learn from a study of the singular.

Warrant for More Creative Methods in Case Study Research

The promise that creative methods have for eliciting in-depth understanding and capturing the unusual, the idiosyncratic, the uniqueness of the case, was mentioned in the methods section. Yet, in case study research, particularly in program and policy contexts, we have few good examples of the use of artistic approaches for eliciting and interpreting data, although there are more, indicated below for presenting it. This may be because case study research is often conducted in academic or policy environments, where propositional ways of knowing are more valued.

Using creative and artistic forms in generating and interpreting case study data offers a form of evidence that acknowledges experiential understanding in illuminating the uniqueness of the case. The question is how to establish the warrant for this way of knowing and persuade others of its virtue. The answer is simple: by demonstrating the use of these methods in action, by arguing for a different form of validity that matches the intrinsic nature of the method, and, above all, by good examples. I earlier noted the impact that Elliott’s CD of men with brain damage had on audiences beyond the case. Rugang ( 2006 ) also used the CD form, two in this instance, presenting contrasting photographs of a “new” culture and an old culture in one province in China. These told the story well, as did a narrative poem by Duke ( 2007 ) of her leadership illustrating how she performed her role as a nurse consultant with responsibility to help other nurses research concurrent with her usual job as a senior nurse.

Re-presenting Findings to Engage Audiences in Learning

In evaluative and research policy contexts, where case study is often the main mode of inquiry or part of a broader study, case study reports often take a formal structure or, sometimes, where the context is receptive, a portrayal or interpretative form. But, too often, the qualitative is an add-on to a story told by other means or reduced to issues in which the people who gave rise to the data are no longer seen. However, there are many ways to put them center stage.

Tell good stories and tell them well. Or, let key actors tell their own stories in narrative or on video. Explore the different ways technology can help. Make video clips that demonstrate events in context, illustrate interactions between people, give voice to participants—show the reality of the program, in other words. Use graphics to summarize key issues and interactive cartoon technology, as seen on some TED presentations, to summarize and visually show the complexity of the case. Explore the data visualization techniques now becoming widely available. Video diaries were mentioned in the methods section: seeing individuals tell their tales directly is a powerful way of communicating, unhindered by “our” sense making. Tell photo stories. Let the photos convey the narrative, but make sure the structure of the narrative is evident to ensure coherence. These are just the beginnings. Those skilled in information technology could no doubt stretch our imagination further.

One problem and a further question concerns our audiences. In your thesis you may well have scope to experiment with some of these alternative forms of presentation. In other contexts—I am thinking here of policy makers and commissioners—it may be more challenging, and you may wonder if they will accept these alternative modes of communication. Maybe not, in some cases. However, there are three points I wish to leave you with. First, if people are fully present in the story and the complexity is not diminished, those reading, watching, or hearing about the case will get the message. If you are worried about how commissioners might respond, remember that they are no different from any other stakeholder or participant when it comes to how they learn from human experience. Witness the reference to Okri ( 1997 ) earlier about how we learn and Stake’s ( 2010 ) reminder of how we generalize from the particular in everyday life.

Second, when you detect that the context requires a more formal presentation of findings, respond according to expectation, but also include elements of other forms of presentation. Nudge a little in the direction of creativity. Third, simply take a chance. Challenge the status quo. Find situations and contexts where you can fully represent the qualitative nature of the experience in the cases you study with creative forms of interpretation and representation. And let the audience decide.

Learning from a Study of the Singular

Finally, to return to the issue of “generalization” in case study that worries some audiences. I pointed out in the generalization section several ways in which it is possible to generalize from case study research, not in a formal propositional sense or from a case to a population, but by retaining a connection with the context in which the generalization first arose—that is, to realize in-depth understanding in context in different circumstances and situations. However, I also emphasized that, in many instances, it is particularization from which we learn. That is the point of the singular case study, and it is an art to perceive and craft the case in ways that we can.

Acknowledgments

Parts of this chapter build on ideas first explored in Simons ( 2009 ).

I am grateful to Bob Williams for pointing out the relevance of this quotation from Reynolds to remind us that “there is nothing new under the sun” and that we sometimes continue to engage endlessly in debates that have been well rehearsed before.

Adams, T. (2012). Olympics 2012: Team GB falters but London shines bright on opening day.   Observer , July 29.

Bassey, M. ( 1999 ). Case study research in educational settings . Buckingham, England: Open University Press.

Google Scholar

Google Preview

Bellah, R. N. , Madsen, R. , Sullivan, W. M. , Swidler, A. , & Tipton, S. M. ( 1985 ). Habits of the heart . London, England: Harper & Row.

Blake, W. (1798–1809). Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds’s discourses. In G. Keynes (Ed.), ( 1957 ) Complete writings, “Discourse II,” Annotations to Sir Joshua Reynolds, Discourses (c. 1808) (pp. xvii–xcviii). London, England: Nonesuch Press.

Butler-Kisber, L. ( 2010 ). Qualitative inquiry: Thematic, narrative and arts-informed perspectives . London, England: Sage.

Cancienne, M. B. , & Snowber, C. N. ( 2003 ). Writing rhythm: Movement as method.   Qualitative Inquiry, 9, 237–253.

Caulley, D. N. ( 2008 ). Making qualitative research reports less boring: The techniques of writing creative nonfiction.   Qualitative Inquiry, 14, 424–449.

Chadderton, C. , & Torrance, H. ( 2011 ). Case study. In B. Somekh & C. Lewin (Eds.), Theory and methods in social research (2nd ed., pp. 53–60). London, England: Sage.

Clandinin, D. J. , & Connelly, F. M. ( 2000 ). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research . San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.

Collier, J., Jr . ( 1967 ). Visual anthropology: Photography as a research method . New York, NY: Holt, Reinhart, & Winston.

Denzin, N. K. , & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). ( 1994 ). Handbook of qualitative research . London, England: Sage.

Donmoyer, R. ( 1990 ). Generalization and the single case study. In E. W. Eisner & A. Peshkin (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education (pp. 175–200). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Donmoyer, R. ( 2008 ). Generalizability. In L. M. Givens (Ed.), The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative inquiry (Vol. 2, pp. 371–372). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Duke, S. ( 2007 ). A narrative case study evaluation of the role of the Nurse Consultant in palliative care (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Southampton, England.

Elliott, J. ( 2008 ). Dance mirrors: Embodying, actualizing and operationalizing a dance experience in a healthcare context (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Ulster, Belfast.

Evergreen, S. D. H. ( 2013 ). Presenting data effectively: Communicating your findings for maximum impact . London, England: Sage.

Evergreen, S. D. H. ( 2016 ). Effective data visualization: The right chart for the right data . London, England: Sage.

Fenner, P. ( 2011 ) Place, matter and meaning: Extending the relationship in psychological therapies.   Health & Place, 17, 851–857.

Fenner, P. ( 2017 ). Art therapy, places, flows, forces and becoming.   ATOL Art Therapy OnLine, 8, 1.

Flewitt, R. ( 2005 ). Is every child’s voice heard? Researching the different ways 3-year-old children communicate and make meaning at home and in a pre-school playgroup.   Early Years, 25, 207–222.

Flyvberg, B. ( 2006 ). Five misunderstandings about case-study research.   Qualitative Inquiry, 12, 219–245.

Frank. A. ( 1997 ). Enacting illness stories: When, what, why. In H. L. Nelson (Ed.), Stories and their limits (pp. 31–49). London, England: Routledge.

Funnell, S. C. , & Rogers, P. J. ( 2011 ) Effective use of theories of change and logic models . New York, NY: Wiley.

Gomm, R. , Hammersley, M. , & Foster, P. (Eds.). ( 2004 ). Case study method: Key issues, key texts . London, England: Sage.

Greene, J. C. ( 2000 ). Understanding social programs through evaluation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 981–999). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Greene, J. C. ( 2007 ). Mixing methods in social inquiry . San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.

Greene, J. C. , & Caracelli, V. J. ( 1997 ). Defining and describing the paradigm issue in mixed-method evaluation.   New Directions for Evaluation, 74, 5–17.

Greene, J. C. , Caracelli, V. J. , & Graham, W. F. ( 1989 ). Toward a conceptual framework for mixed-method evaluation designs.   Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 11, 255–274.

Greenhalgh, T. , & Worrall, J. G. ( 1997 ). From EBM to CSM: The evolution of context-sensitive medicine.   Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 3, 105–108.

Harrington, W. ( 2003 ). What journalism can offer ethnography.   Qualitative Inquiry, 9, 90–114.

Heron, J. ( 1992 ). Feeling and personhood . London, England: Sage.

Heron, J. ( 1999 ). The complete facilitator’s handbook . London, England: Kogan Page.

House, E. R. ( 1980 ). Evaluating with validity . London, England: Sage.

House, E. R. ( 1993 ). Professional evaluation: Social impact and political consequences . Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Kirkhart, K. (2013, April) Repositioning validity . Paper presented at the CREA Inaugural Conference, Chicago, IL.

Kushner, S. ( 2000 ). Personalizing evaluation . London, England: Sage.

Leavy, P. ( 2011 ). Oral history: Understanding qualitative research . Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Liamputtong, P. , & Rumbold, J. (Eds.). ( 2008 ). Knowing differently: Arts-based and collaborative research methods . New York, NY: Nova Science.

MacDonald, B. ( 1976 ). Evaluation and the control of education. In D. Tawney (Ed.), Curriculum evaluation today: Trends and implications (pp. 125–136). London, England: Macmillan.

MacDonald, B. ( 1977 ). The portrayal of persons as evaluation data. In N. Norris (Ed.), Safari 2: Theory in practice (pp. 50–67). Norwich: University of East Anglia, Centre for Applied Research in Education.

Matarasso, F. ( 2012 ). Where We Dream: West Bromich Operatic Society and the Fine Art of Musical Theatre, West Bromwich, England: Multistory.

Mazzei, L. A. ( 2003 ) Inhabited silences: In pursuit of a muffled subtext.   Qualitative Inquiry, 9, 355–368.

Mazzei, L. A. ( 2007 ). Inhabited silence in qualitative research: Putting poststructural theory to work . New York, NY: Lang.

Merriam, S. B. ( 1988 ). Case study research in education: A qualitative approach . San Francisco, CA: Jossey–Bass.

Mullen, C. A. , & Finley, S. (Eds.). ( 2003 ). Arts-based approaches to qualitative inquiry [Special Issue].   Qualitative Inquiry, 9, 165–329.

Okri, B. ( 1997 ). A way of being free . London, England: Phoenix.

Parlett, M. , & Hamilton, D. ( 1976 ). Evaluation as illumination: A new approach to the study of innovatory programmes. In G. Glass (Ed.), Evaluation studies review annual (Vol. I, pp. 140–157). Beverly Hills: CA: Sage. [First published in 1972 as Occasional Paper 9, Centre for Research in the Educational Sciences, University of Edinburgh.]

Plakoyiannaki, E. , & Stavraki, G. ( 2018 ). Collage visual data: Pathways to data analysis. In C. Cassell , A. L. Cunliffe , & G. Grandy (Eds.), Case management research methods: Vol. 2, Methods and challenges (ch. 19, pp. 313–328). London, England: Sage. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325404748_Collage_Visual_Data_Pathways_to_Data_Analysis .

Platt, J. ( 2007 ). Case study. In W. Outhwaite & S. P. Turner (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social science methodology (pp. 100–118). London, England: Sage.

Prosser, J. ( 2000 ). The moral maze of image ethics. In H. Simons & R. Usher (Eds.), Situated ethics in educational research (pp. 116–132). London, England: Routledge/Falmer.

Ragin, C. C. ( 1992 ). Cases of “What is a case?” In C. C. Ragin & H. S. Becker (Eds.), What is a case? Exploring the foundations of social inquiry (pp. 1–17). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Reynolds, S. S. (1908). A poor man’s house [eBook#26126]. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org

Richardson, L. ( 1994 ). Writing as a form of inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 516–529). London, England: Sage.

Rogers, P. ( 2017 ). Using logic models and theories of change in evaluation. Retrieved from https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/node/4902

Rugang, L. ( 2006 ). Chinese culture in globalisation: A multi-modal case study on visual discourse (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Southampton, England.

Seale, C. ( 1999 ). The quality of qualitative research . London, England: Sage.

Sewell, K. ( 2011 ). Researching sensitive issues: A critical appraisal of “draw and write” as a data collection technique in eliciting children’s perceptions.   International Journal of Research Methods in Education, 34, 175–191.

Shaw, I. , & Gould, N. ( 2001 ). Qualitative research in social work: Context and method . London, England: Sage.

Silverman, D. ( 2000 ). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook . London, England: Sage.

Silverman, D. (Ed.). ( 2004 ). Qualitative research: Theory, methods and practice (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage.

Simons, H. ( 1971 ). Innovation and the case study of schools.   Cambridge Journal of Education, 3, 118–123.

Simons, H. (Ed.). ( 1980 ). Towards a science of the singular: Essays about case study in educational research and evaluation . Occasional Papers No. 10. Norwich, England: Centre for Applied Research, University of East Anglia.

Simons, H. ( 1987 ). Getting to know schools in a democracy: The politics and process of evaluation . Lewes, England: Falmer Press.

Simons, H. ( 1996 ). The paradox of case study.   Cambridge Journal of Education, 26, 225–240.

Simons, H. ( 2000 ). Damned if you do, damned if you don’t: Ethical and political dilemmas in evaluation. In H. Simons & R. Usher (Eds.), Situated ethics in educational research (pp. 39–Falmer.

Simons, H. ( 2002 ). School self-evaluation in a democracy. In D. Nevo (Ed.), School-based evaluation: An international perspective . London, England: Sage.

Simons, H. ( 2006 ). Ethics and evaluation. In I. F. Shaw , J. C. Greene , & M. M. Mark (Eds.), The international handbook of evaluation (pp. 243–265). London, England: Sage.

Simons, H. ( 2007 ) Whose data is it anyway? Ethical issues in qualitative research.   The Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research , (Vol. 1, pp. 6–18). Malaysia: Qualitative Research Association of Malaysia (QRAM).

Simons, H. ( 2009 ). Case study research in practice . London, England: Sage.

Simons, H. (2010, May). Democratic evaluation: Theory and practice . Paper prepared for Virtual Evaluation Conference, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Simons, H. , Kushner, S. , Jones, K. , & James, D. ( 2003 ). From evidence-based practice to practice-based evidence: The idea of situated generalization.   Research Papers in Education: Policy and Practice, 18, 347–364.

Simons, H. , & McCormack, B. ( 2007 ). Integrating arts-based inquiry in evaluation methodology.   Qualitative Inquiry, 13, 292–311.

Smith, L. M. , & Pohland, P. A. ( 1974 ). Education, technology, and the rural highlands. In R. H. P. Kraft ., L. M. Smith ., P. A. Pohland ., C. J. Brauner , & C. Gjerde (Eds.), Four evaluation examples: Anthropological, economic, narrative and portrayal (pp. 5–54), AERA Monograph Series on Curriculum Evaluation 7. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally.

Sparkes, A. ( 2002 ). Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey . Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Press.

Sparkes, A. C. , & Douglas, K. ( 2007 ). Making the case for poetic representations: An example in action.   The Sport Psychologist, 21, 170–190.

Spouse, J. ( 2000 ). Talking pictures: Investigating personal knowledge though illuminating artwork.   Nursing Times Research Journal, 5, 253–261.

Stake, R. E. ( 1978 ). The case study method in social inquiry.   Educational Researcher, 7, 5–9.

Stake, R. E. ( 1995 ). The art of case study research . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Stake, R. E. ( 2006 ). Multiple Case Study Analysis. New York, NY: The Guildford Press

Stake, R. E. ( 2010 ). Qualitative research: Studying how things work . New York, NY: Guildford Press.

Stenhouse, L. ( 1978 ). Case study and case records: Towards a contemporary history of education.   British Educational Research Journal, 4, 21–39.

Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. (1998, 2003 ) Handbook of Mixed Methods in Social &. Behavioral Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage

Thomas, G. ( 2011 ). A typology for the case study in social science following a review of definition, discourse and structure.   Qualitative Inquiry, 17, 511–521.

Thomas, G. ( 2016 ). How to do your case study (2nd ed.). London, England: Sage.

Walker, R. ( 1993 ). Finding a silent voice for the researcher: Using photographs in evaluation and research. In M. Schratz (Ed.), Qualitative voices in educational research (pp. 72–92). Lewes, England: Falmer Press.

Wilson, E. G. ( 2008 ). Against happiness . New York, NY: Sarah Crichton Books.

Yin, R. K. ( 2004 ). Case study research: Design and methods . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Zucker, D. M. ( 2001 ). Using case study methodology in nursing research.   Qualitative Report, 6(2).

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• First Online: 14 December 2017

Cite this chapter

• Marta Strumińska-Kutra 4 &
• Izabela Koładkiewicz 5  

5800 Accesses

6 Citations

The main aim of the chapter is to discuss the case study method. We shall begin by confronting its definition. It is quite a challenge, as researchers representing various paradigms embark on this type of research project. These paradigms define the way we perceive the explored reality, our chances of understanding/cognizing it, and the acceptable research methods. As a consequence, not only is the case study subject to various definitions, but it is also employed to achieve manifold goals). Despite these differences, we can point out a number of characteristics that distinguish case study method; they shall be the focus of our discussion. As much as possible, we shall take into account the variety of perspectives in case study-based research, or recommend to readers the sources where they can find more detailed information on a particular issue. In this chapter, the presentation of premises and types of case studies will be followed by a manual, guiding readers in their endeavor to design their own research using the method discussed.

Author’s Note:

This chapter is substantially revised version of a chapter published in Jemielniak, D. ed. (2012) Badania jakościowe, PWN: Warszawa.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

The concept of strategy, as referred to by Robert Yin ( 2003a , b ), Norman Denzin and Yvonne Lincoln ( 2005 ), means research process design. Here, we shall use it interchangeably with two other terms: approach (Creswell 2007 ) and method. The latter is understood broadly as a set of directives and rules based on ontological and epistemological assumptions, indicating certain ways of conducting research. “Strategy ” and “method” are also referred to as synonyms of the case study methodology (Mills et al. 2010 ).

Even if the starting point of our research is interest in a particular case, we need to bolster our case with a theoretical framework, which will serve as a point of reference for research results.

We must remember that sampling should also involve documents, articles, posts on Internet fora, place and time of observation, and so on.

Here, “case” refers rather to a happening, an expression, or a statement that does not match the emerging pattern, and not to “case” understood as a bounded system/phenomenon.

In fact, the analysis is far less structured and multistage. It comprises abundant feedback and requires the researcher to revert to theoretical reflection; there are periods of “creative impotence” and the process is affected by the other publications read by researchers during the process.

Aaltio, I., & Heilmann, P. (2010). Case Study as a Methodological Approach. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (pp. 66–76). London: Sage.

Google Scholar  

Babbie, E. (2016). The Practice of Social Research (14th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Belz, F. M., & Binder, J. K. (2017). Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Convergent Process Model. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26 (1), 1–17.

Article   Google Scholar  

Burawoy, M. (1998). The Extended Case Method. Sociological Theory, 16 , 4–33.

Charmaz, K. (2005). Grounded Theory in the 21st Century. Application for Advancing Social Justice Studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 507–535). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis . London: Sage.

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Choosing Among Five Approaches . Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Davis, R. J. (2010). Case Study Database. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (pp. 79–80). London: Sage.

Denis, J.-L., Lamothe, L., & Ann, L. (2001). The Dynamics of Collective Leadership and Strategic Change in Pluralistic Organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 44 , 809–837.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Introduction. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 1–32). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Eisenhardt, K. M. (1991). Better Stories and Better Constructs. The Case for Rigor and Comparative Logic. The Academy of Management Review, 16 , 620–627.

Eisenhardt, K. M., & Graebner, M. E. (2007). Theory Building From Cases. Opportunities and Challenges. The Academy of Management Review, 50 , 25–32.

Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12 , 219–245.

Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline and Punish: The birth of the Prison . New York: Vintage.

Gawer, A., & Philipps, N. (2013). Institutional Work as Logics Shift: The Case of Intel’s Transformation to Platform Leader. Organization Studies, 34 , 1035–1071.

Gerring, J. (2004). What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for? American Political Science Review, 98 , 341–354.

Gerring, J. (2007). Case Study Research. Principles and Practices . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research . Chicago: Aldine.

Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (1992). Ethnography. Principles in Practice . London: Routledge.

Hassard, J., & Kelemen, M. (2010). Paradigm Plurality in Case Study Research. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (pp. 147–152). London: Sage.

Haverland, M., & Yanow, D. (2012). A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Public Administration Research Universe: Surviving Conversations on Methodologies and Methods. Public Administration Review, 72 , 401–408.

Hijmans, E., & Wester, F. (2010). Comparing Case Study with Other Methodologies. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (pp. 176–179). London: Sage.

Kostera, M. (2008). Współczesne koncepcje zarządzania . Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Zarządzania UW.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry . Beverly Hills: Sage.

Lipset, S. M., Trow, M. A., & Coleman, J. S. (1956). Union Democracy . Glencoe: Free Press.

Martin, J. A., & Eisenhardt, K. M. (2010). Rewiring: Cross-Business-Unit Collaborations in Multibusiness Organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 53 (2), 265–301.

Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative Research Design . Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Michels, R. (1915). Political Parties . New York: Hearst’s International Library.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook . London: Sage.

Mills, A. J., Durepos, G., & Wiebe, E. (Eds.). (2010). Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . London: Sage Publications.

Moriceau, J.-L. (2010). Generalizability. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (pp. 419–422). London: Sage.

Morse, J. M., & Richards, L. (2002). Readme First for a User’s Guide to Qualitative Methods . Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Rządca, R., & Strumińska-Kutra, M. (2016). Local Governance and Learning: In Search of a Conceptual Framework. Local Government Studies, 42 (6), 916–937. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2016.1223632 .

Seawright, J., & Gerring, J. (2008). Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research. A Menu of Qualitative and Quantitative Options. Political Research Quarterly, 61 , 294–308.

Sharma, B. (2010). Postpositivism. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Case Study Research (pp. 701–703). London: Sage.

Silverman, D. (2001). Interpreting Qualitative Data. Methods of Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

Silverman, D. (2005). Doing Qualitative Research. A Practical Handbook (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative Case Study. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (3rd ed., pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Stake, R. E., & Trumbull, D. J. (1982). Naturalistic Generalization. Review Journal of Philosophy and Social Science, 7 , 1–12.

Wadham, H., & Warren, R. C. (2014). Telling Organizational Tales: The Extended Case Method in Practice. Organizational Research Methods, 17 (1), 5–22.

Yin, R. K. (2003a). Case Study Research. Design and Methods . Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2003b). Applications of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2010). Case Study Protocol. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos, & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of Case Study Research (pp. 84–86). London: Sage.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

VID Specialized University, Oslo, Norway

Marta Strumińska-Kutra

Kozminski University, Warsaw, Poland

Izabela Koładkiewicz

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Teesside University Business School, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom

Malgorzata Ciesielska

Akademia Leona Koźmińskiego, Warsaw, Poland

Dariusz Jemielniak

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Strumińska-Kutra, M., Koładkiewicz, I. (2018). Case Study. In: Ciesielska, M., Jemielniak, D. (eds) Qualitative Methodologies in Organization Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65442-3_1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65442-3_1

Published : 14 December 2017

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-319-65441-6

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-65442-3

eBook Packages : Business and Management Business and Management (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management

ISSN : 1176-6093

Article publication date: 21 June 2011

Scapens, R.W. (2011), "The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook", Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management , Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 201-204. https://doi.org/10.1108/11766091111137582

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

This book aims to provide case‐study researchers with a step‐by‐step practical guide to “help them conduct the study with the required degree of rigour” (p. xi).

It seeks to “demonstrate that the case study is indeed a scientific method” (p. 104) and to show “the usefulness of the case method as one tool in the researcher's methodological arsenal” (p. 105). The individual chapters cover the various stages in conducting case‐study research, and each chapter sets out a number of practical steps which have to be taken by the researcher. The following are the eight stages/chapters and, in brackets, the number of steps in each stages:

Assessing appropriateness and usefulness (4).

Ensuring accuracy of results (21).

Preparation (6).

Selecting cases (4).

Collecting data (7).

Analyzing data (4).

Interpreting data (3).

Reporting results (4).

It is particularly noticeable that ensuring accuracy of results has by far the largest number of number of steps – 21 steps compared to seven or fewer steps in the other stages. This reflects Gagnon's concern to demonstrate the scientific rigour of case‐study research. In the forward, he explains that the book draws on his experience in conducting his own PhD research, which was closely supervised by three professors, one of whom was inclined towards quantitative research. Consequently, his research was underpinned by the principles and philosophy of quantitative research. This is clearly reflected in the approach taken in this book, which seeks to show that case‐study research is just as rigorous and scientific as quantitative research, and it can produce an objective and accurate representation of the observed reality.

There is no discussion of the methodological issues relating to the use of case‐study research methods. This is acknowledged in the forward, although Gagnon refers to them as philosophical or epistemological issues (p. xii), as he tends to use the terms methodology and method interchangeably – as is common in quantitative research. Although he starts (step 1.1) by trying to distance case and other qualitative research from the work of positivists, arguing that society is socially constructed, he nevertheless sees social reality as objective and independent of the researcher. So for Gagnon, the aim of case research is to accurately reflect that reality. At various points in the book the notion of interpretation is used – evidence is interpreted and the (objective) case findings have to be interpreted.

So although there is a distancing from positivist research (p. 1), the approach taken in this book retains an objective view of the social reality which is being researched; a view which is rather different to the subjective view of reality taken by many interpretive case researchers. This distinction between an objective and a subjective view of the social reality being researched – and especially its use in contrasting positivist and interpretive research – has its origins the taxonomy of Burrell and Morgan (1979) . Although there have been various developments in the so‐called “objective‐subjective debate”, and recently some discussion in relation to management accounting research ( Kakkuri‐Knuuttila et al. , 2008 ; Ahrens, 2008 ), this debate is not mentioned in the book. Nevertheless, it is clear that Gagnon is firmly in the objective camp. In a recent paper, Johnson et al. (2006, p. 138) provide a more contemporary classification of the different types of qualitative research. In their terms, the approach taken in this book could be described as neo‐empiricist – an approach which they characterise as “qualitative positivists”.

The approach taken in this handbook leaves case studies open to the criticisms that they are a small sample, and consequently difficult to generalise, and to arguments that case studies are most appropriate for exploratory research which can subsequently be generalised though quantitative research. Gagnon explains that this was the approach he used after completing his thesis (p. xi). The handbook only seems to recognise two types of case studies, namely exploratory and raw empirical case studies – the latter being used where “the researcher is interested in a subject without having formed any preconceived ideas about it” (p. 15) – which has echoes of Glaser and Strauss (1967) . However, limiting case studies to these two types ignores other potential types; in particular, explanatory case studies which are where interpretive case‐study research can make important contributions ( Ryan et al. , 2002 ).

This limited approach to case studies comes through in the practical steps which are recommended in the handbook, and especially in the discussion of reliability and validity. The suggested steps seem to be designed to keep very close to the notions of reliability and validity used in quantitative research. There is no mention of the recent discussion of “validity” in interpretive accounting research, which emphasises the importance of authenticity and credibility and their implications for writing up qualitative and case‐study research ( Lukka and Modell, 2010 ). Although the final stage of Gagnon's handbook makes some very general comments about reporting the results, it does not mention, for example, Baxter and Chua's (2008) paper in QRAM which discusses the importance of demonstrating authenticity, credibility and transferability in writing qualitative research.

Despite Gagnon's emphasis on traditional notions of reliability and validity the handbook provides some useful practical advice for all case‐study researchers. For example, case‐study research needs a very good research design; case‐study researchers must work hard to gain access to and acceptance in the research settings; a clear strategy is needed for data collection; the case researcher should create field notes (in a field notebook, or otherwise) to record all the thoughts, ideas, observations, etc. that would not otherwise be collected; and the vast amount of data that case‐study research can generate needs to be carefully managed. Furthermore, because of what Gagnon calls the “risk of mortality” (p. 54) (i.e. the risk that access to a research site may be lost – for instance, if the organisation goes bankrupt) it is crucial for some additional site(s) to be selected at the outset to ensure that the planned research can be completed. This is what I call “insurance cases” when talking to my own PhD students. Interestingly, Gagnon recognises the ethical issues involved in doing case studies – something which is not always mentioned by the more objectivist type of case‐study researchers. He emphasises that it is crucial to honour confidentiality agreements, to ensure data are stored securely and that commitments are met and promises kept.

There is an interesting discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of using computer methods in analysing data (in stage 6). However, the discussion of coding appears to be heavily influenced by grounded theory, and is clearly concerned with producing an accurate reflection of an objective reality. In addition, Gagnon's depiction of case analysis is overly focussed on content analysis – possibly because it is a quantitative type of technique. There is no reference to the other approaches available to qualitative researchers. For example, there is no mention of the various visualisation techniques set out in Miles and Huberman (1994) .

To summarise, Gagnon's book is particularly useful for case‐study researchers who see the reality they are researching as objective and researcher independent. However, this is a sub‐set of case‐study researchers. Although some of the practical guidance offered is relevant for other types of case‐study researchers, those who see multiple realities in the social actors and/or recognise the subjectivity of the research process might have difficulty with some of the steps in this handbook. Gagnon's aim to show that the case study is a scientific method, gives the handbook a focus on traditional (quantitatively inspired) notions rigour and validity, and a tendency to ignore (or at least marginalise) other types of case study research. For example, the focus on exploratory cases, which need to be supplemented by broad based quantitative research, overlooks the real potential of case study research which lies in explanatory cases. Furthermore, Gagnon is rather worried about participant research, as the researcher may play a role which is “not consistent with scientific method” (p. 42), and which may introduce researcher bias and thereby damage “the impartiality of the study” (p. 53). Leaving aside the philosophical question about whether any social science research, including quantitative research, can be impartial, this stance could severely limit the potential of case‐study research and it would rule out both the early work on the sociology of mass production and the recent calls for interventionist research. Clearly, there could be a problem where a researcher is trying to sell consulting services, but there is a long tradition of social researchers working within organisations that they are studying. Furthermore, if interpretive research is to be relevant for practice, researchers may have to work with organisations to introduce new ideas and new ways of analysing problems. Gagnon would seem to want to avoid all such research – as it would not be “impartial”.

Consequently, although there is some good practical advice for case study researchers in this handbook, some of the recommendations have to be treated cautiously, as it is a book which sees case‐study research in a very specific way. As mentioned earlier, in the Forward Gagnon explicitly recognises that the book does not take a position on the methodological debates surrounding the use of case studies as a research method, and he says that “The reader should therefore use and judge this handbook with these considerations in mind” (p. xii). This is very good advice – caveat emptor .

Ahrens , T. ( 2008 ), “ A comment on Marja‐Liisa Kakkuri‐Knuuttila ”, Accounting, Organizations and Society , Vol. 33 Nos 2/3 , pp. 291 ‐ 7 , Kari Lukka and Jaakko Kuorikoski.

Baxter , J. and Chua , W.F. ( 2008 ), “ The field researcher as author‐writer ”, Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management , Vol. 5 No. 2 , pp. 101 ‐ 21 .

Burrell , G. and Morgan , G. ( 1979 ), Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis , Heinneman , London .

Glaser , B.G. and Strauss , A.L. ( 1967 ), The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research , Aldine , New York, NY .

Johnson , P. , Buehring , A. , Cassell , C. and Symon , G. ( 2006 ), “ Evaluating qualitative management research: towards a contingent critieriology ”, International Journal of Management Reviews , Vol. 8 No. 3 , pp. 131 ‐ 56 .

Kakkuri‐Knuuttila , M.‐L. , Lukka , K. and Kuorikoski , J. ( 2008 ), “ Straddling between paradigms: a naturalistic philosophical case study on interpretive research in management accounting ”, Accounting, Organizations and Society , Vol. 33 Nos 2/3 , pp. 267 ‐ 91 .

Lukka , K. and Modell , S. ( 2010 ), “ Validation in interpretive management accounting research ”, Accounting, Organizations and Society , Vol. 35 , pp. 462 ‐ 77 .

Miles , M.B. and Huberman , A.M. ( 1994 ), Qualitative Data Analysis: A Source Book of New Methods , 2nd ed. , Sage , London .

Ryan , R.J. , Scapens , R.W. and Theobald , M. ( 2002 ), Research Methods and Methodology in Finance and Accounting , 2nd ed. , Thomson Learning , London .

Related articles

We’re listening — tell us what you think, something didn’t work….

Report bugs here

All feedback is valuable

Please share your general feedback

Join us on our journey

Platform update page.

Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

Questions & More Information

Answers to the most commonly asked questions here

Case Study Method In Research – A Comprehensive Guide

The case study method in research is a method that involves an in-depth examination of a particular situation or event, known as the “ case ,” in order to understand a complex phenomenon. The case study method is used in a variety of fields, including psychology, sociology, business , and education. It is often used to study a specific individual, group, or organization, and can involve both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis. The goal of the case study method is to provide a detailed, in-depth understanding of the case, which can then be used to generate new theories or test existing ones.

what is the history Case Study Method In Research?

The case study method in research has a long history, dating back to the early 20th century . The origins of the case study method can be traced back to the fields of psychology and sociology, where researchers such as Sigmund Freud , Carl Jung, and W.I. Thomas used the method to study individuals and groups.

In the 1920s and 1930s, a group of sociologists at the University of Chicago, including Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, began using the case study method to study the social and economic conditions of urban areas. They used the method to study the city of Chicago, and their work is considered to be some of the earliest examples of the use of the case study method in sociology.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the case study method was further developed by Harvard Business School, where it was used to study the management and organizational practices of businesses. The work of Harvard Business School professors such as Kenneth Andrews, Theodore Levitt, and Richard Nolan, helped to establish the case study method as a valuable tool for studying business and management.

In the following decades, the case study method in research has been widely used in fields such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, education, and political science, as well as in business, management, and law. Today, the case study method is considered one of the most versatile and widely used research methods in the social sciences.

How is Case Study Method in research different from other methodologies?

The case study method is different from other research methods in several ways:

• In-depth examination : The case study method focuses on a particular situation or event, and involves a deep and detailed examination of the case. This allows for a thorough understanding of the complexities and nuances of the case.
• Qualitative and quantitative data : Case studies often use a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the case.
• Flexibility : The case study method is flexible and can be adapted to various fields and research questions. It can be used to study individuals, groups, organizations, or even entire communities.
• Contextual understanding : The case study method is particularly useful in understanding the context in which a phenomenon occurs. It allows researchers to study a phenomenon in its natural setting, rather than in a controlled laboratory environment.
• Generalizability : Case studies are not designed to provide generalizable findings, but to provide an in-depth understanding of a specific case. The findings may not be applicable to other cases or situations.

It’s important to note that the case study method in research is not the only method of research and should be used in conjunction with other methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon.

How to conduct a Case Study Method in Research Design?

There are several steps involved in using the case study method in research. These include:

• Defining the research question : The first step in using the case study method is to define the research question that the study will address. This should be a clear and specific question that can be answered through the examination of a particular case.
• Selecting the case : After the research question has been defined, the next step is to select the case or cases that will be studied. The case should be relevant to the research question and should provide a rich source of data for the study.
• Designing the study : The study should be designed in such a way that it will provide the data needed to answer the research question. This may include the use of qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis.
• Collecting data : Once the study has been designed, data should be collected from the case or cases being studied. This may involve conducting interviews, observations, and document analysis, as well as gathering secondary data.
• Analyzing data : After the data has been collected, it should be analyzed in order to answer the research question. This may involve coding and categorizing the data, using techniques such as content analysis, discourse analysis, and statistical analysis.
• Drawing conclusions : After the data has been analyzed, conclusions should be drawn about the case or cases being studied. These conclusions should be based on the data collected and analyzed and should be related to the research question.
• Communicating the findings : The findings of the case study should be communicated to the relevant audience in a clear and concise manner, through a written report or presentation.

It’s important to note that case studies are not designed to provide generalizable findings but to provide an in-depth understanding of a specific case or case. The findings may not be applicable to other cases or situations.

What are the core elements of the Case Study Method in Research?

The core elements of the case study research methodology include:

• Selection of the case: This involves choosing the case or cases that will be studied. The case should be relevant to the research question and should provide a rich source of data for the study.
• Data collection : This involves gathering data from the case or cases being studied. This may involve using a variety of data collection methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis.
• Data analysis : This involves analyzing the data collected from the case or cases. The data should be analyzed in a way that allows the researcher to answer the research question.
• Contextualization : This involves understanding the case in its broader social, historical, and cultural context. It is important to understand the context in which the case occurs in order to fully understand the phenomenon being studied.
• Triangulation : This involves using multiple data sources and methods to enhance the credibility of the findings. By using different types of data and methods, the researcher can triangulate and cross-check the findings to increase the reliability of the study.
• Thick description : The researcher should provide a detailed and comprehensive description of the case, including the context, the process, and the outcome, in order to understand the complexity and uniqueness of the case.
• Theory building: The case study method in research should be used to generate new theories or to test existing ones.
• Reporting : Finally, the findings of the case study should be communicated to the relevant audience in a clear and concise manner, through a written report or presentation.

It’s important to note that case study research methodology is not a rigid process and may vary depending on the research question, the field of study, and the researcher’s approach.

How is the case study research method used in management education?

The case study method in research is widely used in management education to provide students with an in-depth understanding of real-world business situations and problems. This method is used to teach students how to analyze and solve complex business problems, and to develop critical thinking and decision-making skills.

There are several ways in which the case study research method is used in management education:

• Case studies as teaching tools : Case studies are used as teaching tools in management classrooms to provide students with a realistic understanding of the business world. Students read and analyze the case, and then discuss and debate the issues and problems presented in the case.
• Case analysis and problem-solving : Case studies are used to teach students how to analyze and solve complex business problems. Students are asked to identify the key issues and problems presented in the case and to develop and present solutions.
• Role-playing and simulation : Case studies are used in conjunction with role-playing and simulation exercises to provide students with hands-on experience in decision-making and problem-solving.
• Teamwork and collaboration : Case studies are often used to teach students the importance of teamwork and collaboration in business. Students work in teams to analyze and solve the problem presented in the case.
• Developing critical thinking : Case studies help students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students learn to think critically and evaluate different options and alternatives by analyzing real-world business situations.
• Integrating theory and practice : Case studies help students to see how the theories and concepts they learn in class can be applied to real-world business problems, thus integrating theoretical knowledge with practical skills.

It’s important to note that case studies are not the only teaching method in management education and should be used in conjunction with other methods to provide a comprehensive learning experience.

What are some limitations of the case study research methodology?

The case study research methodology has some limitations, which include:

• Generalizability : One of the main limitations of case study research is that the findings may not be generalizable to other cases or situations. The case study method is designed to provide an in-depth understanding of a specific case, and the findings may not be applicable to other cases or situations.
• Bias : The researcher’s own bias can influence the design, data collection, and interpretation of the case study. To minimize bias, r esearchers should use triangulation and multiple data sources, and be transparent about their own perspectives and assumptions.
• Lack of control : The case study method is conducted in a natural setting, which means that the researcher has limited control over the variables being studied. This can make it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
• Time-consuming: The case study method can be time-consuming, as it requires the collection and analysis of large amounts of data.
• Complexity : The case study method in research can be complex, as it requires the researcher to understand the case in its broader social, historical, and cultural context. This can be challenging, as the researcher needs to have a good understanding of the field and the case being studied.
• Data saturation : It can be difficult to determine when data collection is complete, and when data saturation has been reached. It is also possible that the researcher may miss important information.
• Ethical issues : The case study method in research raises ethical issues such as protecting the participants’ privacy and obtaining informed consent. The researcher should ensure that they follow ethical guidelines and obtain the necessary permissions.
• Data interpretation : The interpretation of data collected during a case study method in research can be subjective. This can be addressed by using multiple data sources and methods, as well as by involving multiple researchers in the analysis.

It’s important to keep in mind that every research method has its own limitations, and it’s important to be aware of them and to consider alternative methods if the limitations outweigh the benefits of the case study method.

We have solved more than 50 case study examples in our blog. Please refer to the solved case studies here

Samrat is a Delhi-based MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. He is a Strategy, AI, and Marketing Enthusiast and passionately writes about core and emerging topics in Management studies. Reach out to his LinkedIn for a discussion or follow his Quora Page