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The Problem(atization) of Case Studies

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Sunday, November 11, 2012 by




I am grappling with the theoretical and methodological problems in the conducting and evaluation of case studies as a research method. What exactly is a case study, when is it appropriate, and what can it tell us?  After reading these articles by Yin (1981) and Beaulieu et al (2007), I feel like cat trying to catch the light of a laser pointer, when I try to define and discuss the concept of the “case study”! I am hoping class tomorrow will shed some light on the articles by Yin and Beaulieu et al.  I am not sure that I completely followed their arguments.  It seems both articles are addressing the problematic nature and purpose of the case study, pointing at what they see as the hybrid nature of the case study and perhaps social sciences in general.  According to Yin (and Beaulieu et al?), case studies inhabit the liminal space between the specific and the generalizeable.  I like Yin’s comparison to the detective investigating a crime, attempting to link two (or more) specific, distinct incidents together by identifying a pattern, and then identifying the common variable (the one criminal).  Beaulieu et al define the problem of case studies as the conflict between the generalizing of cases through the structure of artificially constructed categories for comparing different cases and the specificity that case studies are used to prove.  They see a  “middle range” where this tension is acknowledged for every case study research project.  My initial reaction is one of frustration at the inevitable and neverending theoretical backflips that then become necessary every time a case study is conducted and presented.  It’s post-structuralism applied to case studies. I am excited AND frustrated!


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