Week 3 case studies

Question 1

what is a case study

Answer 1

single or small number of cases explored in depth. relies on multiple sources of evidence.

Question 2

types of cases.

Answer 2

single, multiple. cases can be individual, organisations, situations, countries.

Question 3

different types of case studies

Answer 3

-critical (test a theory)
-extreme/unique case
-representative
-revelatory
-longitudinal

Question 4

boundaries of case study

Answer 4

• boundaries define cases and keep research in focus. the goal is to understand boundaries of case and complexity of behaviour in bonded system.

Question 5

how can you limit a case

Answer 5

-time period
-social group, organisation, geographical area.
-evidence collected.

Question 6

when to use a case study

Answer 6

• to address how and why questions.
  -when there is little control over the events. -real life context.
  -in depth description of social phenomenon

Question 7

pros of case study

Answer 7

• detailed evidence.
• extreme cases

Question 8

cons of case studies

Answer 8

• limited grounds for reliability
• exposure to researcher change behaviour
• time intensive, potentially overwhelming to collect data

Question 9

quantitative data for case studies

Answer 9

• grades, survey responses

Question 10

qualitative data for case studies

Answer 10

focus groups, interviews

Question 11

thematic analysis

Answer 11

• process of identifying and interpreting key ideas/themes

Question 12

content analysis

Answer 12

-looking at presence of words and understand meaning in relationship to each other (frequency of words)
- looking for patterns to aid understanding of underlying phenomena
- rigorous categorisation and coding of data for analysis

Question 13

triangulating data

Answer 13

-comparison of at least 2 views of the same event. diverse perspectives add to fuller picture than one perspective alone.