To Case Study or Not to Case Study
- Slides: 30
To Case Study or Not to Case Study, That is the Question. COM 304 Research & Writing Methods Dr. Feigenbaum Week 5 A Valentine’s Day Themed Lecture
Lecture Summary 1. What is a case study? 2. Is a case study right for me? 3. How do I select a case study?
Performing a case study is like shining a spotlight on an individual person, group or object
“Case studies focus on one (or just a few) instances of a particular phenomenon. ” (p 52)
“[They provide] an indepth account of events, relationships, experiences or processes occurring in that particular instance. ” (p 52)
“[A case] can be based on things like an individual, an organization, an industry, a workplace, an educational programme, a policy or a country. ” (p 52)
A case study illuminates the general by looking at the particular.
Mass Study vs. Case Study
Mass Study vs. Case Study
Focus on a particular case
Register as a user and do participantobservation Conduct a visual and textual analysis of the website Interview a small sample of site users Create a questionnaire targeted at site users Gather background stats and available user data Register as a user and do ethnographic research
Multiple Methods help Magnify Processes, Relationships and Experiences
Is Case Study right for me?
“The case study approach works best when the researcher wants to investigate an issue in depth and provide an explanation that can cope with the complexity and subtlety of real life situations. ”
A Case Study is a serious commitment to an individual (unit of analysis).
Is Case Study right for me? • Do I want to be able to use and develop multiple methods? • Am I ready to focus and work on one thing in-depth? • Would I like to learn a lot about a specific example? • Can I deal with the complexities that will arise? • Will I get excited to discover the subtleties?
Choosing Mr. Right Case Study
Requires a conscious and deliberate choice. Should be based on specific attributes the researcher wants to investigate. Is NOT randomly selected. Needs to have clear and distinct boundaries. You must have explicit reasons why you’ve chosen this case.
Choosing a particular case
Typical Instance
Extreme Instance
Test-site for theory
Testing a Theory: People are most likely to be attracted to and enter a committed relationship with partners that are ethnically and culturally similar to themselves.
Test-site for theory
Test-site for theory (least likely instance)
Is this Case Study right for me? PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS A matter of convenience (Mr. Right now) Intrinsically Interesting (BFF) The study is part of commissioned research (arranged marriage) There are unique opportunities (gold digger)
Going from the particular to the general
From particular to general • Identify significant features on which comparison with others in the same set of examples can be made. • Show the case compares with others in the set of examples in terms of significant features.
How do you relate the case? 1. Physical attributes (style, representations, images, features) 2. Historical attributes (developments and changes) 3. Institution attributes (organizations, policies, procedures)
Case Study Speed Dating
- Sudden and violent but brief; fitful; intermittent
- Best case worst case average case
- Hershey's erp failure
- If you are not confused you're not paying attention
- Not dressy
- Attention is not not explanation
- Not too broad and not too narrow
- If negation
- Not too big not too small just right
- Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink
- Eyes that see and ears that hear
- Pp not not
- If you cannot measure it you cannot improve it
- We will not be moved you're standing with us
- Not a rustling leaf, not a bird in flight
- You can not not communicate
- Language
- Simon woke up early and is very sleepy now
- Difference between short case and long case
- Average case binary search
- Glennan building cwru
- Bubble sort algorithm pseudocode
- Bubble sort best case and worst case
- Bubble sort best case and worst case
- Triangle ambiguous case
- Mis case study of any company
- Yelp elite benefits
- Kf case study
- Whole foods case study
- Action research vs case study
- Volkswagen of america: managing it priorities