9.4.

8 CASE STUDY METHOD

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community. Typically
data
are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods (e.g. observations &
interviews). The case study research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e.
the
patient’s personal history). The case study method often involves simply observing what happens to,
or reconstructing ‘the case history’ of a single participant or group of individuals (such as a school
class or a specific social group), i.e. the idiographic approach. Case studies allow a researcher to
investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible if they were trying to deal with a large
number of research participants (nomothetic approach) with the aim of ‘averaging’.
The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data collection
and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies such as qualitative techniques
(unstructured interviews, participant observation, diaries), personal notes (e.g. letters,
photographs,
notes) or official document (e.g. case notes, clinical notes, appraisal reports). The data collected can
be analyzed using different theories (e.g. grounded theory, interpretative phenomenological
analysis,
text interpretation (e.g. thematic coding) etc. All the approaches mentioned here use preconceived
categories in the analysis and they are ideographic in their approach, i.e. they focus on the
individual
case without reference to a comparison group.
Case studies are widely used in psychology and amongst the best known were the ones carried out
by
Sigmund Freud. He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an
attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses. Freud’s most famous case
studies include ‘Little Hans’ (1909a) and ‘The Rat Man’ (1909b). Even today case histories are one of
the main methods of investigation in abnormal psychology and psychiatry. For students of these
disciplines they can give a vivid insight into what those who suffer from mental illness often have to
endure. Case studies are often conducted in clinical medicine and involve collecting and reporting
descriptive information about a particular person or specific environment, such as a school. In
psychology, case studies are often confined to the study of a particular individual. The information
is mainly biographical and relates to events in the individual’s past (i.e. retrospective), as well as to
significant events which are currently occurring in his or her everyday life. In order to produce a
fairly detailed and comprehensive profile of the person, the psychologist may use various types of
accessible data, such as medical records, employer’s reports, school reports or psychological test
results. The interview is also an extremely effective procedure for obtaining information about an
individual, and it may be used to collect comments from the person’s friends, parents, employer,
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work mates and others who have a good knowledge of the person, as well as to obtain facts from
the
person him or herself.
In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject’s life and history is analyzed to seek patterns
and causes for behavior. The hope is that learning gained from studying one case can be generalized
to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective and it is difficult to
generalize results to a larger population.
Characteristics of Case Study Method
Case study research is not sampling research. Selecting cases must be done so as to maximize
what can be learned in the period of time available for the study.
The unit of analysis is a critical factor in the case study. It is typically a system of action rather
than an individual or group of individuals. Case studies tend to be selective, focusing on one or
two issues that are fundamental to understanding the system being examined.
Case studies are multi-perspectives analyses. This means that the researcher considers not just
the voice and perspective of the actors, but also of the relevant groups of actors and the
interaction between them. This one aspect is a salient point in the characteristic that case
studies possess. They give a voice to the powerless and voiceless.
Case study is known as a triangulated research strategy. Snow and Anderson (1991) asserted
that triangulation can occur with data, investigators, theories, and even methodologies. Stake
(1995) stated that the protocols that are used to ensure accuracy and alternative explanations
are called triangulation. The need for triangulation arises from the ethical need to confirm the
validity of the processes. In case studies, this could be done by using multiple sources of data
(Yin, 1984). The problem in case studies is to establish meaning rather than location. Denzin
(1984) identified four types of triangulation: Data source triangulation, when the researcher
looks for the data to remain the same in different contexts; Investigator triangulation, when
several investigators examine the same phenomenon; Theory triangulation, when investigators
with different viewpoints interpret the same results; and Methodological triangulation, when one
approach is followed by another, to increase confidence in the interpretation.
Characteristics of the case study method in legal research can be described shortly as follows -
Any researcher can hold research into one single or more social unit such as a person, family,
society and so on for the accomplishment of the aim of his/her study under this method. He/she
can hold comprehensive and intensive study in different aspects of the unit so selected. Under
this method, he/she can give the weight and consideration towards all the aspects of a person,
group or society so selected for study. All aspects can be deeply and intensively studied.
Any researcher does not only hold the study to find out how many crimes have been committed
by a man but also deeply hold study into causes that forces or abets him to commit such crimes.
In this example, one of the main objectives of the researcher could be to give suggestion to
referring the criminals.
Under this method, any researcher can endeavor to know the relationship of causal factors
interlinked.
Under this method, all the related aspects of the unit, which is in subject to study, can be
directly or indirectly studied.
Case study method helps to find out the useful data and enables to generalize the knowledge
also.
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The main characteristics of the case study method includes continuing, completeness, validity,
and data as it deals with the life of social unit or units or society as whole.
Application of Case Study Model
Yin (1994) presented at least four applications for a case study model.
To…
explain complex causal links in real-life interventions;
describe the real-life context in which the intervention has occurred;
describe the intervention itself; and
explore those situations in which the intervention being evaluated has no clear set of outcomes.
Sources of Information in Case Study
There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather
information about an individual or group. The six major sources that have been identified by
researchers (Yin, 1994; Stake, 1995) are –
Direct Observation: This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting. While
an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.
Interviews: One of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An
interview can involve structured survey-type questions, or more open-ended questions.
Documents: Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc.
Archival Records: Census records, survey records, name lists, etc.
Physical Artifacts: Tools, objects, instruments and other artifacts often observed during a direct
observation of the subject.
Participant Observation: Involves the researcher actually serving as a participant in events and
observing the actions and outcomes.
Category of Case Study
There are several categories of case study.
Prospective: A type of case study in which an individual or group of people is observed in order to
determine outcomes. For example, a group of individuals might be watched over an extended period
of time to observe the progression of a particular disease.
Retrospective: A type of case study that involves looking at historical information. For example,
researchers might start with an outcome, such as a disease, and then backwards at information
about the individuals life to determine risk factors that may have contributed to the onset of the
illness.
Explanatory: Explanatory case studies examine the data closely both at a surface and deep level in
order to explain the phenomena in the data. On the basis of the data, the researcher may then
form
a theory and set to test this theory (McDonough and McDonough, 1997). Furthermore, explanatory
cases are also deployed for causal studies where pattern-matching can be used to investigate
certain phenomena in very complex and multivariate cases. Yin and Moore (1987) note that these
complex and multivariate cases can be explained by three rival theories - a knowledge-driven
theory,
a problem-solving theory, and a social-interaction theory. The knowledge-driven theory stipulates
that eventual commercial products are the results of ideas and discoveries from basic research.
Similar notions can be said for the problem-solving theory. However, in this theory, products are
derived from external sources rather than from research. The social-interaction theory, on the
other hand, suggests that overlapping professional network causes researchers and users to
communicate frequently with each other.
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Exploratory: A case study that is sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research.
This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and
hypotheses. A pilot study is considered an example of an exploratory case study (Yin, 1984;
McDonough and McDonough, 1997) and is crucial in determining the protocol that will be used.
Descriptive: Descriptive case studies set to describe the natural phenomena which occur within the
data in question. The goal set by the researcher is to describe the data as they occur. McDonough
and McDonough (1997) suggest that descriptive case studies may be in a narrative form. An
example
of a descriptive case study is the journalistic description of the Watergate scandal by two
reporters (Yin, 1984). The challenge of a descriptive case study is that the researcher must begin
with a descriptive theory to support the description of the phenomenon or story. If this fails there
is the possibility that the description lacks rigor and that problems may occur during the project.
Intrinsic: A type of case study in which the researcher has a personal interest in the case.
Collective: Involves studying a group of cases.
Instrumental: Occurs when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than
what
is initially obvious to observers.
According to McDonough and McDonough (1997) other categories include interpretive and
evaluative
case studies. Through interpretive case studies, the researcher aims to interpret the data by
developing conceptual categories, supporting or challenging the assumptions made regarding them.
In
evaluative case studies, the researcher goes further by adding their judgment to the phenomena
found in the data.
Intrinsic - when the researcher has an interest in the case; Instrumental - when the case is used to
understand more than what is obvious to the observer; Collective - when a group of cases is studied.
Exploratory cases are sometimes considered as a prelude to social research. Explanatory case
studies may be used for doing causal investigations. Descriptive cases require a descriptive theory
to be developed before starting the project. In all of the above types of case studies, there can be
single-case or multiple-case applications.
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Procedure of Case Study Method
In short, for the case study, the researchers recommend the above procedures in study –
Design the case study protocol
Determine the required skills
Develop and review the protocol
Conduct the case study
Prepare for data collection
Distribute questionnaire
Conduct interview
Analyze case study evidence
Analytic strategy
Develop conclusions, recommendations, and implications based on the evidence.
Each section begins with the procedures recommended in the literature, followed by the application
of the recommended procedure in the study.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Case Studies
A good case study should always make clear which information is factual description and which is
inference or the opinion of the researcher. The strengths of case studies are - Provides detailed
(rich qualitative) information; Provides insight for further research; Permitting investigation of
otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.
Merits of case study method can be described briefly as follows -
The case study helps to study and understand the human nature and conducts very intensively.
As a result, any researcher can formulate a valid hypothesis.
Any researcher can get actual and exemplary records of experience that may be useful as
guidelines to others life as this method carries out intensive study of all aspects of a unit or a
problem selected for research.
This case study method is very useful in sampling as it efficiently and orderly classifies the
units selected for research based on data and information so collected.
Under the case study, any researcher can undertake one or more research method(s) under the
existing circumstances. S/he can use various methods as interviews, questionnaires, report,
sampling and similar other methods.
As this method emphasizes historical analysis, this method is taken as a means of knowing and
understanding the past life of a social unit. That is why; it can suggest the possible measures to
be taken for having improvements in present life by the lesson of past life. In other words, it is
said that the old is gold and morning show the day.
Under this case study method, any researcher can find out new helpful things as it holds
perfect study of sociological materials that can represent real image of experience.
Under this case study method, any research may increase his/her analytical ability and skill of
the study of practical experiences.
This method makes possible the study, to bring positive changes in the society. As this method
holds overall study of life of a social unit, the researcher can know and understand the changes
occurred in our society and can suggest to make corrections in human behavior for the welfare,
as well.
As this case study method holds study of all aspects of a social unit, terms of past, present and
future time, it gives the matured knowledge that could also be useful to his/her personal and
public life.
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This case study method is also taken as indispensable and significant as regards to taking
decision on many management issues. Case data are also very useful for diagnosis and thereby of
practical case issues. It can be taken as an example to be followed in future.
Case studies can help us generate new ideas (that might be tested by other methods). They are an
important way of illustrating theories and can help show how different aspects of a person's life
are
related to each other. The method is therefore important for a holistic point of view. Despite its
merits as referred to in above, demerits of the case study method can be described shortly as
follows –
This case study method is a very vague process. There is no mechanism to control researcher.
Generalization is almost impossible to a larger similar population.
Under this case study method, letters and other documents can be used. A write up is generally
prepared to impress and give undue influence to personal matters. It always depends on the
personal feeling and thought. As a result, the study of the researcher may be worthless and
meaningless by virtue of possible occurrence of distortion.
Under this case study method, there is no limitation of study. The researcher always finds
difficulties in deciding when s/he should stop to collect data for his/her study. He/she may find
all things to be pertinent.
This case study method is always based on several assumptions. However, sometimes, they may
not be realistic. Under such circumstances, such data should be tested.
Under this case study method, the result is drawn up on the basis of all post experiences.
Collection of much data and information may lead to confusion to find out pertinent and specific
information.
This case study method is based on comparison with the post life. However, human value,
attitude, behavior, reactions, circumstance are very wide and differ with each other. It is
difficult to compare from one another.
This case study method always collects post information and data of the society. However, there
is no system of checking. Difficult to replicate.
This case study method is time consuming, expensive and complex.
9.4.9 DIARIES METHOD
A diary is a type of self-administered questionnaire often used to record frequent or
contemporaneous events or experiences. In diary surveys, respondents are given the
selfadministered
form and asked to fill in the required information when events occur (event-based
diaries) or at specified times or time intervals (time-based diaries). Data from diary studies can be
used to make cross-sectional comparisons across people, track an individual over time, or study
processes within individuals or families. The main advantages of diary methods are that they allow
events to be recorded in their natural setting and, in theory, minimize the delay between the event
and the time it is recorded. Diaries are used in a variety of domains. These include studies of
expenditure, nutrition, time use, travel, media exposure, health, and mental health. Diary studies in
user research are a longitudinal technique used in anthropology, psychology, and ‘User Experience’
research, primarily to capture data from participants as they live through certain experiences.
There are two types of diary studies –
Elicitation studies, where participants capture media that are then used as prompts for
discussion in interviews. The method is a way to trigger the participant’s memory.
Feedback studies, where participants answer predefined questions about events. This is a way of
getting immediate answers from the participants.
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Using Diaries in Research
Biographers, historians and literary scholars have long considered diary documents to be of major
importance for telling history. More recently, sociologists have taken seriously the idea of using
personal documents to construct pictures of social reality from the actors’ perspective. In contrast
to these ‘journal’ type of accounts, diaries are used as research instruments to collect detailed
information about behavior, events and other aspects of individuals’ daily lives.
Self-completion diaries have a number of advantages over other data collections methods. First,
diaries can provide a reliable alternative to the traditional interview method for events that are
difficult to recall accurately or that are easily forgotten. Second, like other self-completion
methods, diaries can help to overcome the problems associated with collecting sensitive information
by personal interview. Finally, they can be used to supplement interview data to provide a rich
source of information on respondents’ behavior and experiences on a daily basis. Two other major
areas where diaries are often used are consumer expenditure and transport planning research. For
example, the UK Family Expenditure Survey (OPCS) uses diaries to collect data for the National
Accounts and to provide weights for the Retail Price Index. In the National Travel Survey (OPCS)
respondents record information about all journeys made over a specified time period in a diary.
Other topics covered using diary methods are social networks, health, illness and associated
behavior, diet and nutrition, social work and other areas of social policy, clinical psychology and
family therapy, crime behavior, alcohol consumption and drug usage, and sexual behavior. Diaries are
also increasingly being used in market research. Diary surveys often use a personal interview to
collect additional background information about the household and sometimes about behavior or
events of interest that the diary will not capture. A placing interview is important for explaining
the
diary keeping procedures to the respondent and a concluding interview may be used to check on the
completeness of the recorded entries. Often retrospective estimates of the behavior occurring
over the diary period are collected at the final interview.
Diary Design and Format
Diaries may be open format, allowing respondents to record activities and events in their own
words,
or they can be highly structured where all activities are pre-categorized. An obvious advantage of
the free format is that it allows for greater opportunity to recode and analyze the data. However,
the labor intensive work required to prepare and make sense of the data may render it unrealistic
for projects lacking time and resources, or where the sample is large. Although the design of a
diary
will depend on the detailed requirement of the topic under study, there are certain design aspects
which are common to most. Below are a set of guidelines recommended for anyone thinking about
designing a diary.
An A4 booklet of about 5 to 20 pages is desirable, depending on the nature of the diary.
The inside cover page should contain a clear set of instructions on how to complete the diary.
This should stress the importance of recording events as soon as possible after they occur and
how the respondent should try not to let the diary keeping influence their behavior.
Depending on how long a period the diary will cover, each page denoting either a week, a day of
the week or a 24 hour period or less. Pages should be clearly ruled up as a calendar with
prominent headings and enough space to enter all the desired information (such as what the
respondent was doing, at what time, where, who with and how they felt at the time, and so on).
Checklists of the items, events or behavior to help jog the diary keeper’s memory should be
printed somewhere fairly prominent. Very long lists should be avoided since they may be offputting
and confusing to respondents. For a structured time budget diary, an exhaustive list of
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all possible relevant activities should be listed together with the appropriate codes. Where more
than one type of activity is to be entered, that is, primary and secondary (or background)
activities, guidance should be given on how to deal with competing or multiple activities.
There should be an explanation of what is meant by the unit of observation, such as a ‘session’,
an ‘event’ or a ‘fixed time block’. Where respondents are given more freedom in naming their
activities and the activities are to be coded later, it is important to give strict guidelines on
what type of behavior to include, what definitely to exclude and the level of detail required.
Time budget diaries without fixed time blocks should include columns for start and finish times
for activities.
Appropriate terminology or lists of activities should be designed to meet the needs of the
sample under study, and if necessary, different versions of the diary should be used for
different groups.
Following the diary pages it is useful to include a simple set of questions for the respondent to
complete, asking, among other things, whether the diary keeping period was atypical in any way
compared to usual daily life. It is also good practice to include a page at the end asking for the
respondents' own comments and clarifications of any peculiarities relating to their entries. Even
if these remarks will not be systematically analyzed, they may prove helpful at the editing or
coding stage.
Data Quality and Response Rates: In addition to the types of errors encountered in all survey
methods, diaries are especially prone to errors arising from respondent conditioning, incomplete
recording of information and under-reporting, inadequate recall, insufficient cooperation and sample
selection bias.
Diary keeping period: The period over which a diary is to be kept needs to be long enough to
capture
the behavior or events of interest without jeopardizing successful completion by imposing an overly
burdensome task. For collecting time-use data, anything from one to three day diaries may be used.
Household expenditure surveys usually place diaries on specific days to ensure an even coverage
across the week and distribute their field work over the year to ensure seasonal variation in
earnings and spending is captured.
Reporting errors: In household expenditure surveys it is routinely found that the first day and
first
week of diary keeping shows higher reporting of expenditure than the following days. This is also
observed for other types of behavior and the effects are generally termed ‘first day effects’. They
may be due to respondents changing their behavior as a result of keeping the diary (conditioning),
or
becoming less conscientious than when they started the diary. Recall errors may also extend to
‘tomorrow’ diaries. Respondents often write down their entries at the end of a day and only a small
minority are diligent diary keepers who carry their diary with them at all times. Expenditure
surveys
find that an intermediate visit from an interviewer during the diary keeping period helps preserve
‘good’ diary keeping to the end of the period.
Literacy: All methods that involve self-completion of information demand that the respondent has
a
reasonable standard of literacy. Thus the diary sample and the data may be biased towards the
population of competent diary keepers.
Participation: The best response rates for diary surveys are achieved when diary keepers are
recruited on a face-to-face basis, rather than by post. Personal collection of diaries also allows any
problems in the completed diary to be sorted out on the spot. Success may also depend on the
quality of interviewing staff who should be highly motivated, competent and well-briefed. Appealing
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to respondent’s altruistic nature, reassuring them of confidentiality and offering incentives are
thought to influence co-operation in diary surveys.
Coding, Editing and Processing: The amount of work required to process a diary depends largely on
how structured it is. For many large scale diary surveys, part of the editing and coding process is
done by the interviewer while still in the field. Following this is an intensive editing procedure which
includes checking entries against information collected in the personal interview. For unstructured
diaries, involving coding of verbatim entries, the processing can be very labor intensive, in much the
same way as it is for processing qualitative interview transcripts. Using highly trained coders and a
rigorous unambiguous coding scheme is very important particularly where there is no clear
demarcation of events or behavior in the diary entries. Clearly, a well designed diary with a
coherent
pre-coding system should cut down on the degree of editing and coding.
Relative Cost of Diary Surveys: The diary method is generally more expensive than the personal
interview, and personal placement and pick-up visits are more costly than postal administration. If
the diary is unstructured, intensive editing and coding will push up the costs. However, these costs
must be balanced against the superiority of the diary method in obtaining more accurate data,
particularly where the recall method gives poor results.
Computer Software for Processing and Analysis: Although computer assisted methods may help to
reduce the amount of manual preparatory work, there are few packages and most of them are
custom built to suit the specifics of a particular project. Time-budget researchers are probably the
most advanced group of users of machine readable diary data and the structure of these data
allows
them to use traditional statistical packages for analysis. More recently, methods of analysis based
on algorithms for searching for patterns of behavior in diary data are being used (Coxon 1991).
Software development is certainly an area which merits future attention. For textual diaries,
qualitative software packages such as the ‘Ethnograph’ can be used to code them in the same way as
interview transcripts (Fielding & Lee 1991).
Archiving Diary Data: In spite of the abundance of data derived from diary surveys across a wide
range of disciplines, little is available to other researchers for secondary analysis (further analysis
of data already collected). This is perhaps not surprising given that the budget for many diary
surveys does not extend to systematic processing of the data. Many diary surveys are small scale
investigative studies that have been carried out with very specific aims in mind. For these less
structured diaries, for which a common coding scheme is neither feasible, nor possibly desirable, an
answer to public access is to deposit the original survey documents in an archive. This kind of data
bank gives the researcher access to original diary documents allowing them to make use of the data
in ways to suit their own research strategy. However, the ethics of making personal documents
public (even if in the limited academic sense) have to be considered.
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Advantages and Criticism of Diary Studies
Advantages of diary studies are numerous. They allow –
collecting longitudinal and temporal information;
reporting events and experiences in context;
determining the antecedents, correlates and consequences of daily experiences.
The criticism of diary studies are as - diary studies might generate inaccurate recall, especially if
using the elicitation type of diary studies, because of the use of memory triggers, like for example
taking a photo and then write about it later. There is low control, low participation and there is a
risk of disturbing the action. In feedback studies there is also low control, and it can be troubling
and disturbing to write everything down.