Level 5: Philosophy, Space and Place

 When should we use case studies? 267  The case study design process 268  Types of case study design 274  Data collection sources 277  Quality in case studies: validity and reliability 279  Analysing the evidence 282  Composing case study reports 286 Keywords  Case study design  Causal relationships  Multiple data sources  Unit of analysis  Converging evidence  Cross-case comparisons

special issue: the first-year experience, 2010

Scope this peer reviewed publication presents a selection of short papers on innovative approaches to research being pioneered by postgraduate and early career researchers at leeds Metropolitan University. It is an incubator journal meant for new writers, editors and reviewers with little or no publishing experience, and provided an opportunity to be mentored by more senior colleagues. the papers deal with research methodologies and are practice-based, reflective and pragmatic.

The case study is a research method which generally falls into the broader category of qualitative research. It is largely employed by an array of social sciences such as psychology, anthropology, education and health studies and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Even though the subjects of research, or ‘cases’, may differ between disciplines, there are certain strengths, weaknesses and limitations to case studies that can be summarised to provide a general overview of the method. In my essay, I will explore the characteristics of the case study and link them to examples of the previously documented cases. I will focus mainly on the fields of anthropology and STS as two disciplines that have made case studies their main research tool. In doing so I aim to demonstrate the ways that case studies can be a useful tool in a social scientist’s arsenal.

A case study is expected to capture the complexity of a single case, and the methodology which enables this has developed within the social sciences. Such methodology is applied not only in the social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics, but also in practice-oriented fields such as environmental studies, social work, education, and business studies. As we can see from the papers presented at this conference, case studies are very well represented. At least a third of the papers discuss some aspect of case study methodology.

Academia Letters, 2021

The origins of case study research are associated to the development of the sociology and anthropology as disciplines in United States in the 1900's to 1935's period, particularly at the University of Chicago. The sociologist Robert E. Park took the prominent role in this process and his influence lasted for almost 30 years and established the basis for the social sciences development and, beyond that, for the first conception of human ecology. Park coined the expression "human ecology" using several ideas and concepts such as symbiosis, invasion, succession, dominance, gradients of growth, superordination, and subordination from the science of natural ecology[1]. Since then, the history of case study research has been marked by periods of intense use and periods of disuse. Special emphasis can be put to the "criticism cycle" in this process, where the discussions on the credibility of the method raised some uncertainties in the scientific knowledge that came up because of its application. From the 1930s on, the rise of positivism had a growing influence on quantitative methods in sociology and researchers wanted solid general laws in social science in a similar of those regarding the physical sciences. The criticism assumed that a single case is incapable of providing a generalizing conclusion. The general trend was that by the 1950s, quantitative methods, in the form of survey research, had become dominant in sociology and case studies had become a minority and very criticized practice. The first important change in the scientific patterns represented by the positivism approach started in the 1950's at the Harvard Business School. They established case studies for students as a new training methodology and as mentioned by Boehrer[2] "the basic purpose of instituting the case method as a teaching strategy was "to transfer much of the responsibility

Although case study methods remain a controversial approach to data collection, they are widely recognised in many social science studies especially when in-depth explanations of a social behaviour are sought after. This article, therefore, discusses several aspects of case studies as a research method. These include the design and categories of case studies and how their robustness can be achieved. It also explores on the advantages and disadvantages of case study as a research method.

In this book, George and Bennett explain how research methods such as process tracing and comparative case studies are designed, carried out, and used as the basis for theory development in social science. They provide an invaluable research guide for any scholar interested in the case study approach. But the book is much more than an account of how to do case study research. The authors also offer a sophisticated discussion of the philosophy of science that will be useful to anyone interested in the place of case-study methods in broader debates about social science methodology, and they give a discerning analysis of policy-relevant theory that is sure to draw the attention of a research community increasingly concerned about the social and political relevance of modern social science. In scope, clarity, and erudition, this book sets a new standard not only in the analysis of case study methods, but also in the study of social science methods more broadly." " This book combines clear and concise instructions on how to do qualitative research with sophisticated but accessible epistemological reasons for that advice. The volume provides step-by-step templates on ways to design research, compare across cases, congruence test and process trace, and use typological theories. This guidance is illustrated with dozens of concrete examples. Almost no other methodology text comes close to matching the authors' top-to-bottom synthesis of philosophy of science and practical advice." " This landmark study offers to scholars of all methodological persuasions a philosophically informed, theoretically nuanced, and methodologically detailed treatment of case study analysis. With this book Alexander George and Andrew Bennett help all of us in improving our research, teaching, and disciplinary debates."

1995