26/04/2023

Case Studies
**Group 1**
1. Nguyễn Thị Nam Phương
2. Nguyễn Thành Tâm
3. Đoàn Thị Nhung
4. Vũ Thị Hải Ngọc
5. Trần Thị Phương Quỳnh
6. Lê Thị Bảo Ngọc
 04
Lifelong Happiness
Procedure to OR Divorce???
WIN Case Studies’ 03 12 Conclusion

HEART Marriage
8 Sampling

02 9 Data
10 Writing up a case study
11 What makes a good case
Engagement study researcher?
01 4 Generalization
5 Reliability and Validity
Acquaintance 6 Planning a case study
7 Design & Methodology
1 Definition
2 Types
3 Advantages & Disadvantages
IAcquaintanc
e
1 Definition
2 Types
3 Advantages & Disadvantages
1
Definition
1 Definition:
What is a Case Study?

“Any research in social science is a case.”

 ‘What distinguishes a case study from other forms of research?’
 Definition

1. A ‘contested terrain’:
- a specific instance that is frequently designed to illustrate a
more general principle (Nisbet and Watt, 1984, p. 72).
- ‘the study of an instance in action’ (Adelman et al.,1980)
- ‘detailed examination of a small sample’ (Tight, 2010,p. 337)
2. A single instance of a bounded system (Creswell (1994, p. 12))
- a child, a clique, a class, a school, a community,
3. The boundary line between the phenomenon and its context is
blurred.
- a ‘Russian doll’ approach: meso- and macro-contextual levels
4. A case study approach to a ‘variable’ approach:
- the case is the heart of the study.
 What constitutes a “case”?
- a bounded unit.
- case studies; social group studies; studies of organizations & institutions;
studies of events, roles & relationships.
- an individual, a group, an organization, a community or a nation
- ‘almost anything can serve as a case’,
Researchers must make clear what their unit of analysis is, what is the
level of analysis, what constitutes the ‘case’, and what their boundaries are
in case study research.
 2
Types of case
study
2. Types:

1. determined by purposes: ‘discovery-led’ purposes and ‘theoryled’

purposes (Denscombe,2014,p. 57)
2. determined by outcomes: exploratory, descriptive, explanatory
(Yin ,2009)
3. determined by domain: ethnographic, historical, psychological and
sociological (Merriam), intrinsic case studies, instrumental case studies,
multiple/collective case studies
3
Advantages
&
Disadvantage
s
3. Advantages (6): Source: Adapted from Adelman et al. (1980)

1. ‘strong in reality’: down-to-earth & attention-holding

2. allow generalizations
3. recognize the complexity & ‘embeddedness’ of social truths,
discrepancies, or conflicts between the viewpoints
4. an archive of descriptive material sufficiently rich, varied &
complex
5. ‘a step to action’
6. a more publicly accessible form, serving multiple audiences
3. Disadvantages (3): Source: Adapted from Nisbet and Watt (1984)

1. The results may not be generalizable except where other

readers/researchers see their application.
2. Not easily open to cross-checking, hence they may be selective,
biased, personal & subjective.
3. Prone to problems of observer bias, despite attempts made to
address reflexivity.
 II
Engagement
4 Generalization
5 Reliability and Validity
6 Planning a case study
7 Design & Methodology
 4
Generalization
4. Generalization

1. Each case study contributes to the expansion & generalization of theory

(Yin, 2009, p. 15).
 help reserachers to understand other similar cases, phenomena or
situations.
2. Generalization from sample to population is simply irrelevant,
inappropriate & inapplicable to case studies (Yin, 2009, p. 43).
3. Case studies can help to generalize to a broader theory which can be
tested in one or more empirical cases (Yin, 2009, p. 38-9)
 Generalization can take various forms:
 from the single instance to the class of instances that it represents;
 from features of the single case to a multiplicity of classes with the
same features;
 from the single features of part of the case to the whole of that case;
 from a single case to a theoretical extension or theoretical
generalization.
 5
Reliability &
Validity
5. Reliability & Validity:

Case study still follow the rules of validity & reliability.

 construct validity
 internal validity
 external validity
 concurrent validity
 ecological validity
 reliability
 avoidance of bias
 6
Planning
a case study
6 Planning a case study:

Several issues must be taken into consideration:

 The particular circumstances of the case
 The conduct of the study
 The consequences of the research (for all parties)
 7
Design &
Methodology
7 Design & Methodology:

Four main case study designs:

 The single-case design
 The embedded single-case
 The multiple-case design
 The embedded multiple-case
(Yin, 2009, pp. 46ff.)
Observation in case study

There are 2 principal types of observation:

1. participant observation
2. non-participant observation.
 III
Marriage
19.8 Sampling
19.9 Data
19.10 Writing up a case study
19.11 What makes a good case study
researcher?
8
Sampling
8. Sampling:

1. Sampling:
- The participants
- The kind of case study (a typical case, a representative case, a critical case,
an extreme case, a deviant case, an outlier, intensity sampling, maximum
variation sampling, homogeneous sampling, reputational case sampling,
revelatory case sampling, theoretical sampling, opportunistic sampling etc.)
 2. The choice of the case study & its participants:
- A critical case study: possesses all (or most) of the characteristics or
features that one is investigating
- An extreme & unique case: ‘if it can work here it will work anywhere’
9
Data
9. Data in case studies:

1. Types of data: “eclectic”

- documents
- archival records
- interviews
- direct observation
- participant observation
- physical artefacts
 2. Two main kinds of collection:
- the actual data gathered, recorded and organized by entry.
- the researcher’s ongoing analysis, report, comments & narrative on the data.
 3. Ways of Grouping & Organizing data

 matrices & arrays of data;  networks of relationships & causes

 patterns, themes & configurations; or linked events;
 narratives;  chronologies & causal sequences;
 data displays;  time series & critical events;
 flowcharts;  key issues & subordinate issues;
 within-site & cross-site analyses;  explanations;
 cause & effect diagrams and  tabulations;
chains;  grounded theory.
10
Writing up a
Case study
10 Writing up a Case study:

 Follow “twin criteria”: ‘fitness for purpose’ & ‘fitness for audience’
 Six forms of organizing the writing-up of a case study:
1. Suspense structure
2. Narrative report
3. Comparative structure
4. Chronological structure
5. Theory-generating structure
6. Unsequenced structure
  Two main parts of a case study:
1. The data reporting: Rival explanations
2. The analysis/interpretation/ explanation
 11
What makes a good
case study
researcher?
11. What makes a Good Case Study Researcher?

- an effective questioner, listener, prober

- adaptability
- be versed in methods of data collection
- the ability to collate & synthesize data, make inferences & interpretations
- how to test inferences & conclusions
- how to report multiple perspectives
- be ethical
- to have the knowledge & research expertise
- to have appropriate characteristics
 IV
Lifelong Happiness
or Divorce??
19.12 Conclusion
Question Time
???
Thanks for your
listening