Case Study Research y Design and Methods by Robert K.

Yin
An Overview y By Don Murphy Cohort 7

Social Science Research Choices

Case Study Experiments Surveys Histories Analysis of Archival Information

Case Study
Preferred Strategy when:
how or why questions are being posed Investigator has little control over events The focus is on a contemporary phenomenon within some real-life context

Explanatory Case studies Exploratory Case studies p y Descriptive Case Studies

Why Case Studies?

Need arises out of desire to understand complex social phenomena Allows investigators to retain the holistic ll h h l and meaningful characteristics of real-life events

When to use each research tool tool

Determined by:
The type of research question posed
Who, What, Where, How, Why , , , , y

The extent of control an investigator has over actual behavioral events The degree of focus on contemporary as opposed to historical events

Concerns about Case Studies

Lack of rigor | Sloppy work Provide little basis for scientific g generalization Take too long and result in massive, unreadable documents

Definition
The essence of a case study, the central study tendency among all types of case study, it that it tries to illuminate a decision or set of decisions; why they were taken, how they were implemented, and with what h l d d h h result.

Technical Definition
A case study is an empirical inquiry
Investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries , p y between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident Involves more variables of interest than data points Relies on multiple sources of evidence data needs to converge in a triangulating fashion

Designing Case Studies

Research Design: The logic that links the data to g g be collected to the initial questions of study
logical plan of getting from here (initial set of questions) to there (answers)

Case study designs need to maximize four conditions related to design quality: g q y
Construct validity Internal validity External validity E t l lidit reliability

Four Tests
Construct Validity establishing correct y g operational measures for the concepts being studied Internal V lidit establishing a causal I t l Validity t bli hi l relationship External Validity establishing a domain to which a studys findings can be generalized Reliability demonstrating that th a ty m n trat ng the operations of a study can be repeated with the same results

Components of Research Design R s h D si n

Study's questions

its propositions, if iti any Components

criteria for interpreting int p tin the findings

its units of analysis

logic linking data to the propositions

Components: Overview
1. 1 Study questions how and why how why 2. Study propositions directs attention to

something that should be examined within m g m the scope of study 3. Unit of analysis i.e. clinical patients, y p , political leaders, events, entities 4. Linking data to propositions g p p 5. Criteria of interpreting a studys findings no precise way of doing this yet

Theory
Theory development is essential in the design phase of case studies Provides simple blueprint for your study mp p f y y Takes time and may be difficult Review the literature Types of theories: Individual, Group, Organizational, Societal rgan zat na , c ta

Case Study Designs

Single-case Single case (holistic) designs Type 1 Single-case (embedded) designs Type 2 g g yp Multiple-case (holistic) designs Type 3 Multiple-case (embedded) designs Type4

Single vs Multiple
Single:
1) testing a well-formulated theory 2) testing an extreme or unique case (clinical psych) 3) representative or typical case (typical urban neighborhood) 4) revelatory case (Tallys Corner about single group of men i poor inner-city) i l f in i it ) 5) longitudinal case (how things change over time)

Single vs. Multiple vs

Multiple:
Common Example: Study of school innovations (new curricula, rearranged g school schedules, or new educational technology) in which individual schools adopt some innovation Each school is the subject innovation. of an individual case study, but the study as a whole covers several schools and in this way uses a multiple-case design.

Logic of Multiple-Case Studies Multiple Case

Each case must be carefully selected so that it either: Predicts similar results literal replication p

(or) Predicts contrasting results by not predictable reasons theoretical replication d bl h l l

Holistic vs Embedded
Within a single cases, attention is given to cases a subunit of subunits. Em Embedded Examples: E mp
a case study about a hospital may include outcomes about the clinical services and staff employed by the hospital Single case about a public program that involves l in l s large numbers of funded projects n mb s f f nd d p j ts (the embedded units)

Preparing for Data Collection

Case study investigator: Desired Skills y g
Well-trained and experienced

Training and Preparation

Goal: To become senior investigators Seminars facilitate this

Case Study Protocol

Contains the instrument as well as the procedures and general rules to be followed in using the protocol t l Increases the reliability of case study research and is intended to guide the investigator g g

Pilot Case Study

Used as final preparation for data collection Helps to refine your data collection plans p f y p with respect to both the content of the data and the procedures to be followed Inquiry may be much broader and less focused than the ultimate data collection plan l

Collecting the Evidence

Documents, Documents archival records, interviews records interviews, direct observation, participantobservation, and physical artifacts p y Three principles:
Using multiple, not single, sources of g p g evidence Creating a case study database Maintaining a chain of evidence

More on Case Studies Studies

Robert K Yin Case Study Research