Rethinking Case Study Research

by Lesley Bartlett, Frances Vavrus

Comparative case studies are an effective qualitative tool for researching the impact of policy and practice in various fields of social research, including education. Developed in response to the inadequacy of traditional case study approaches, comparative case studies are highly effective because of their ability to synthesize information across time and space. In Rethinking Case Study A Comparative Approach , the authors describe, explain, and illustrate the horizontal, vertical, and transversal axes of comparative case studies in order to help readers develop their own comparative case study research designs. In six concise chapters, two experts employ geographically distinct case studies―from Tanzania to Guatemala to the U.S.―to show how this innovative approach applies to the operation of policy and practice across multiple social fields. With examples and activities from anthropology, development studies, and policy studies, this volume is written for researchers, especially graduate students, in the fields of education and the interpretive social sciences.

Genres: Education

140 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2016

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following up on the big names in case studies (namely Yin, Stake, and Merriam) this book begins by comparing and contrasting their methods with the type of case study they are pitching here: Comparative Case Studies (CCS). CCS takes a lot of the interpretive methods of Stake and Merriam but then continues to step forward and brings a critical theory lens to case studies. They consider three different "axes" of case study research: horizontal (or the strict comparing between cases), vertical (looking into the structures, powers, and institutions that affect those results), and transversal (looking back into history for how they might have developed). They also, as might be guessed from the name, focus on comparison between cases, which doesn't always happen in other case study methodologies. They also take away the "bounding" of a case by geography or time, which I feel would work better with some cases (e.g., more social science in nature and comparing between sites) than others (e.g. case studies of new technology in practice)

I do have a few disagreements such as how they equate a "case" and a "unit of analysis" (which they address as being somewhat controversial) and a couple of their interpretations of what the other case study researchers got wrong - first, I feel Yin's concepts of descriptive and exploratory studies can hold just as much weight in social science research as his explanatory studies. Second, they "disagree" with Stake and say that case studies do have the possibility for generalizability; however, I just read Stake's book (The Art of Case Study Research) and he allows for the basically same type of generalizability as the authors of this book put forward, which he calls naturalistic generalizability.

That said, beyond that it was a very addition with important inclusions into case study research. To fully understand the case in question, you should understand the history and the influences of institutions, so I'd say it's about a 4.5/5 read. It's quite readable too, once you know your case study authors - and the example case studies are useful.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

different approach to case study research that breaks from traditional concepts. I appreciated the historical, ontological, and epistemological contexts to situate comparative case studies as a qualitative research method. It's a bit dry, but it's also a book intended for research methods (meaning the dry quality does not detract from the importance of the content).

[Allie Porter · Rating 2 out of 5]

BYE GRAD SCHOOL IM OUTTA HERE