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Case studies The term case study comes from medical research and refers to the intensive study of a single person having some disease. By understanding the single case fully, doctors, for example, are able to diagnose and treat other persons with similar symptoms more effectively. Psychologists adopted the tradition of case studies for research on personality and psychological disorders. From psychology, the method spread to other social sciences and to management studies. In social research, case study methods are used to conduct in-depth investigations of a single person, village or other community, a business organization, or some other entity. Case studies almost always are based on a multi-method of collecting data. Qualitative methods are generally used, mainly in the form of unstructured interviews and observation. Available data are always analyzed to the fullest extent possible. Surveys are frequently conducted as part of case studies. Results are generally expressed in narrative form, with rich, detailed descriptions of the essential features of the case being investigated. Using all available data, the investigator seeks to understand the case thoroughly, as an integrated whole. A number of Web sites provide addition information about the case study method and guidance for planning and conducting a case study. Case Studies, for example, examines case studies as a form of qualitative research; provides an introduction to case studies; discusses types of case study designs; and provides several examples of well documented case studies as a way of illustrating how data are collected and analyzed in a case study. Case studies can also be used in evaluation studies, the subject of the following chapter. For more information, we refer you to The Application of Case Study Evaluations, which briefly discusses six kinds of case studies. Although written for use in evaluation studies, the discussion has general value as well for understanding and appreciating the case study approach to research. Example The investigation by Harberer (1985) of women in an Arab Muslim village in northern Israel was a case study. Harberer selected a village that she thought would serve as an example of the ways women seek to influence decisions in an Arab village. She supplemented her qualitative data, derived from participant observation, informal interviews and the analysis of essays, with quantitative data from official records, structured interviews, and a vast amount of historical data. Her objective, which she amply fulfilled, was to provide a rich, detailed description and interpretation of the lives of women, how they regard themselves, and how they influence decisions in the household and at the village level. Analyzing data The findings of a case study usually evolve from successive analyses of data. Generally the investigator begins by describing each subsystem of the unit being studied as fully as possible. In a community case study, for example, the researcher would analyze data to describe the main community subsystems, such as functions of the marriage and kinship system, how the economic life of the community is organized and carried out; how the religious system functions; and how civil order is maintained. Descriptions usually evolve, becoming progressively more detailed and comprehensive over the course of the fieldwork. When gaps or contradictions are found in the data, the investigator seeks further data. Refinement continues until each major system or functional part of the unit is fully understood and described in detail. While this analysis is going on, the researcher looks for interrelationships among the parts of subsystems. In a community study, for instance, one may see that certain changes are occurring in both the marital and kinship systems and the economic system. At some point, the analysis would shift to analysis of relationships among changes in the marital and kinship system with changes in the economic system. The ultimate objective is to describe the case as a whole, showing how the parts of subsystems fit together, influence one another, or how they are changing. |