Case Study Research: design and methods.
Gegevens
Geschreven door Max Herold.
Hits: 93131
Een zeer uitgebreide samenvatting van Robert K. Yin's boek "Research: design and methods." 4-th
edition, 2009.
A very extensive summary of Robert K. Yin’s famous book "Case Study Research: design and
methods." 4-th edition, 2009. Advise: Read the book first before this summary.
Yin distinguishes the following activities when doing a case study research:
1. Plan
2. Design
3. Prepare (and share your preparation)
4. Collect (sometimes going back to Design when collecting data)
5. Analyse
6. Share
Chapter 1: How to Know Whether and When to Use Case Studies as a Research Method
Your goal is to design good case studies and to collect, present and analyse data fairly. A further
goal is tob ring the case study to closure by writing a compelling report or book. Important is to
follow a rigorous methodological path. Equally important is a dedication to formal and explicit
procedures when doing your research. Also be aware of tha fact that different social science
research methods fill different needs and situations for investigating social topics.
A case study is relevant the more your research questions seek to explain some present
circumstances: how and why some social phenomenon works or if your research questions require an
“in-depth” sedcription of some social phenomenon. The focus is non understanding these social
phenomenons.
A common misinterpretation is that the various research methods should be arrayed hierarchically.
Many social scientist still believe that case studies are only appropriate for the descriptive phase,
that surveys and histories are appropriate for the descriptive phase, and that experiments are the
only way for doing explanatory or causal inquiries. So case studies are only a preliminary research
method and can not be used to describe or test propositions.
This hierarchical view, however, may be questioned. Some of the best and most famous case
studies have been explanatory case studies (f.i. Street Corner Society by Williman F. Whyte).
When to use each method?
Method Form of Research Requires Control of Focusses on
Question Behaviour Events? Contemporary Events?
Experiment how, why? yes Yes
Survey Who, what, where, how no Yes
many, how much?
Archival Analysis who, what, where, how no Yes/no
many, how much
History how, why? no No
Case Study How, why? no Yes
If research focusses on what questions, either of two positions arises.
- Explanatory for example what can be learned from a study from a start of startup business?
Gegevens
Geschreven door Max Herold.
Hits: 93131
Een zeer uitgebreide samenvatting van Robert K. Yin's boek "Research: design and methods." 4-th
edition, 2009.
A very extensive summary of Robert K. Yin’s famous book "Case Study Research: design and
methods." 4-th edition, 2009. Advise: Read the book first before this summary.
Yin distinguishes the following activities when doing a case study research:
1. Plan
2. Design
3. Prepare (and share your preparation)
4. Collect (sometimes going back to Design when collecting data)
5. Analyse
6. Share
Chapter 1: How to Know Whether and When to Use Case Studies as a Research Method
Your goal is to design good case studies and to collect, present and analyse data fairly. A further
goal is tob ring the case study to closure by writing a compelling report or book. Important is to
follow a rigorous methodological path. Equally important is a dedication to formal and explicit
procedures when doing your research. Also be aware of tha fact that different social science
research methods fill different needs and situations for investigating social topics.
A case study is relevant the more your research questions seek to explain some present
circumstances: how and why some social phenomenon works or if your research questions require an
“in-depth” sedcription of some social phenomenon. The focus is non understanding these social
phenomenons.
A common misinterpretation is that the various research methods should be arrayed hierarchically.
Many social scientist still believe that case studies are only appropriate for the descriptive phase,
that surveys and histories are appropriate for the descriptive phase, and that experiments are the
only way for doing explanatory or causal inquiries. So case studies are only a preliminary research
method and can not be used to describe or test propositions.
This hierarchical view, however, may be questioned. Some of the best and most famous case
studies have been explanatory case studies (f.i. Street Corner Society by Williman F. Whyte).
When to use each method?
Method Form of Research Requires Control of Focusses on
Question Behaviour Events? Contemporary Events?
Experiment how, why? yes Yes
Survey Who, what, where, how no Yes
many, how much?
Archival Analysis who, what, where, how no Yes/no
many, how much
History how, why? no No
Case Study How, why? no Yes
If research focusses on what questions, either of two positions arises.
- Explanatory for example what can be learned from a study from a start of startup business?
