Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Exploring the Theoretical Basis of the Case Study Method

According to Stake (2005), the case study is not a research methodology, but a study of a particular case, using any desirable/relevant research methods (as cited in Thomas, 2011). The case, which is studied, can be an institution, a project, a period, a person, an event, a decision, or any other system. However, this case must be an instance of some class of cases, identified by the researcher, which constitutes the study’s analytical framework (Thomas, 2011). Hence, it can be argued that Chagnon’s (1983) participant-observation study of an isolated South American tribe is a case study. After all, the particular case here is the culture and social structure of a particular tribal society. While tribal societies, peculiarities of their structures and cultures, and particular approaches to studying them, clearly form Chagnon’s (1983) analytical framework.

However, this is not the whole story. In fact, according to Yin (2014), case studies are appropriate for those instances where the research objective is to provide a comprehensive and in-depth description of a social phenomenon (as cited in Maul, 2015). But, what does this “social phenomenon” refer to? According to Yin (2014), there are no clear boundaries between this “social phenomenon” (which is to be explored by the case study) and its context (as cited in Maul, 2015); which isn’t very helpful. So, a different approach is in order.

Thomas’ (2011) literature review, on what defines a case in a case study, notes that a case can be a particular system, program, institution, project, or policy in a “real life” context. It also notes that cases are defined by boundaries around places and time periods (e.g. Germany after World War I). In addition, according to George and Bennett (2005), the studied case must be an instance of some class of cases, identified by the researcher (as cited in Thomas, 2011). And Thomas (2011) refers to this class of cases as a social phenomenon, which must comprise the study’s analytical framework. 

Hence, it appears that Yin’s (2014) “social phenomenon” is not the case to be researched by the case study, as may at first appear. Instead, it is simultaneously a class of cases, to which the case to be studied must belong, and an analytical framework of the study. However, it can still be argued that there are clear boundaries between most classes of cases/analytical frameworks and their contexts; if only because, otherwise they would not be identifiable.

References

Chagnon, N. A. (1983). Yanomamo: The fierce people (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case studies and theory development in the social sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Maul, J. (2015). Qualitative core designs: Sampling and evaluation of qualitative research. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.), GCU doctoral research: Foundations and theories. Retrieved from http://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/grand-canyon-university/2015/gcu-doctoral-research_foundations-and-theories_ebook_1e.php

Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.) (pp. 443–466). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Thomas, G. (2011). A typology for the case study in social science following a review of definition, discourse, and structure. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(6), 511-521. doi: 10.1177/1077800411409884

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.


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