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Understanding Case Studies: Tools, Methodology, and Their Role in Research

This text explores the purpose and methodology of case studies in research, defining their role in distinguishing between rival hypotheses. It outlines various research tools such as controlled experiments, surveys, and archival analysis. Insights from scholars like Yin emphasize the importance of context and multiple evidence sources in case studies. The document discusses the parts of a good case study, including propositions, units of analysis, and the criteria for interpreting findings. Understanding case studies is crucial in fields like social sciences, medicine, and law.

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Understanding Case Studies: Tools, Methodology, and Their Role in Research

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  1. Case Studies Pat McGee

  2. Why Research? • To distinguish between rival plausible hypotheses. [Campbell 1994] • To attack proposed scientific theories. [Popper +++]

  3. Research Tools • Controlled experiments on population samples. • Survey • Archival Analysis • History • Case Study

  4. Applicability of Tools [after Yin 1994]

  5. vs. Rival Theories • Controlled experiments: requires theory to know what to control. • Randomized experiment: Renders unstated rival theories implausible by statistics. • Case study: Requires explicit theories in order to define models.

  6. What is a Case Study? • 'Case Study' is ambiguous. • Teaching case study: B-school. • Record keeping case study: medicine, law. • Research case study: many social sciences.

  7. Research Case Study • Purpose: distinguish between rival plausible hypotheses • Evidence: • Documents • Artifacts • Direct observation • Interviewing • Participant observation

  8. Yin's Definition • “1. A case study is an empirical inquiry that • “investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when • “the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident.”

  9. Yin's Definition • “2. The case study inquiry • “copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points, and as one results • “relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another results • “benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis.”

  10. Parts of good case study – Yin • Question: Why did X happen? • Propositions: X happened because of A, B, and C. • Unit of analysis: person, team, company, etc. • Logic linking data to propositions: What effects do data points D, E, and F have on X? • Criteria for interpreting findings: How do you know?

  11. Parts of a good case study – McGee • Data

  12. Validity • [Copy Yin fig 2.3]

  13. External Validity • A case study is not a data point. Saying “you can't generalize from a single case” misses the point. • A single case study is analogous to a single experiment. Each either supports or refutes a theory.

  14. Types of case studies

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