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Thursday, March 14, 2013

Designing Case Studies

Most people consider case studies to be easier to do than other research. That assumption is not necessarily so. Case studies can be either single or multiple-case designs.
A Single Case
Single cases are usually used to confirm or challenge a theory, or to tell the story of a unique or extreme case.[1] Single-case studies are also ideal for studying unique situations. They can be of individuals or organizations like a local church. Single-cases need to be designed carefully to avoid misrepresentation and to maximize the investigator's access to the evidence. Each individual case study needs to consist of a "whole" study, in which facts are gathered from various sources and conclusions drawn on those facts.
Multiple Cases
Protocols are essential in a multiple-case study, and desirable in a single-case study. Yin presented the protocol as a major component in asserting the reliability of the case study research. A typical protocol should have the following elements:
  • An overview of the case study (objectives, issues, topics being investigated)
  • Field procedures (credentials, access to sites, and sources of information)
  • Case study questions (specific questions that must be kept in mind during data collection)
  • A guide for case study report (outline, format for the narrative)[2]     
Stake identified at least six possible sources of evidence in case studies:
  • Documents
  • Archival records
  • Interviews
  • Direct observation
  • Participant-observation
  • Physical artifacts[3]     
Documents could be letters, memoranda, agendas, administrative documents, newspaper articles, or any document that is germane to the investigation. The documents serve to verify the evidence from other sources. They are communications between parties in the study.
Archival documents can be service records, organizational records, lists of names, survey data, board minutes, and other such records. You have to be careful.  Even if the records are quantitative, they might still not be accurate.
Interviews are one of the most important sources of case study information. Several forms of interviews are possible: Open-ended, Focused, and Structured. An open-ended interview, where respondents are asked to comment about certain events, is essential when the case study is an individual, or when opinion is necessary.
Interviews may also corroborate evidence obtained from other sources. Try to avoid becoming dependent on a single informant, and seek the same data from other sources to verify its authenticity.
Focused interviews are used in situations where respondent are usually answering set questions. They are often used to confirm data collected from another source.
The structured interview or a survey, is used to gather data in cases such as neighborhood studies. We deal with survey in another module.
Direct observation is used when casual data needs to be collected or behavior needs to be recorded. This technique provides additional information for the case study. The reliability is enhanced when you have more than one observer. Direct observation must be done unobtrusively.
In participant-observation the researcher becomes an active participant in the events being studied. This often occurs in studies of neighborhoods or groups. The technique provides some unusual opportunities for collecting data, but could also alter the course of events, which might not be helpful.
Physical artifacts can be tools, instruments, or some other physical evidence that may be collected during the study. The researcher’s perspective may be broadened as a result.
It is important to note that not all sources are relevant for all case studies. Each case will present its own opportunities for data collection.
Analyzing Case Study Evidence
This part of the case study methodology is the least developed and the most difficult. Some researchers have suggested that if the study were more conducive to statistical analysis, it would be easier and more acceptable. However, not all case studies can be reduced to statistics alone. Miles and Huberman suggested analytic techniques like placing the evidence in a matrix of categories, creating flowcharts or data displays, tabulating the frequency of different events, using means, variances and cross tabulations to examine the relationships between variables, and other such techniques to facilitate analysis.[4]
The case study is a valuable method of research, with distinctive characteristics that make it ideal for many types of investigations. It can also be used in combination with other methods. Its reliability should make it more widely used, once its features are better understood by potential researchers.
A common criticism of case study method is its dependency on a single case exploration making it difficult to reach a generalized conclusion. Yin considered case methodology ‘microscopic’ because of the limited sampling cases.
However, setting the parameters and objectives of the research are far more important in case study method than a big sample size. Researchers continue to deploy the case study method particularly in studies of real-life situations governing social issues and problems.
The use of case studies, in a broader way, may require greater interview skills, and be too time-intensive for the kind of research the Church can do. However, the methodology can be of great help if we wish to study individuals in circumstances you wish to understand better, community problems, or even the local church.
If you wish to use your church as a case study, go back to the first days of its existence. Read board meeting minutes and annual reports, interview older church members and newer members, compile the church statistics, and use the other six elements mentioned by Stake. Analyze each facet of the study and compare and contrast them. See if there are any unifying themes that emerge to give you an understanding of the culture of that particular local church. Potentially, it also has many uses in assessing various issues in the church.


[1] Yin, R. (1993). Applications of Case Study Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing.
[2] Ibid. p. 64.
[3] Stake, R. (1995). The Art of Case Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
[4] Miles, Matthew B., & A. Michael Huberman. Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd ed. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing, 1994.

 

 

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