CASE STUDY Yulizar

Santi Erliana
WHAT IS CASE STUDY
 a type of ethnographic research study that focuses on a single unit, such as one
individual, one group, one organization, or one program. (Ary, et al., 2012)
 a design of inquiry found in many fields, especially evaluation, in which the
researcher develops an in-depth analysis of a case, often a program, event,
activity, process, or one or more individuals. Cases are bounded by time and
activity, and researchers collect detailed information using a variety of data
collection procedures over a sustained period of time (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2009,
2012).
 a detailed examination of one setting, or a single subject, a single depository of
documents, or one particular event (Merriam, 1988, Yin, 1989; Stake, 1994)
 case study approach is particularly valuable when the researcher has little control
over events.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CASE STUDY #1
 particularistic (focused on a particular phenomenon,
situation, or event),
 descriptive (providing as an end result a thick rich
description), and
 heuristic (focused on providing new insights).
CHARACTERISTICS OF CASE STUDY #2
a case study focuses on a single unit to produce an in-depth description that is rich
and holistic.
Unit is a single occurrence of something that the researcher is interested in examining.
(individual, a group, a site, a class, a policy, a program, a process, an institution, or
a community)
The unit of analysis determines whether the study is a case study or a different form
of qualitative research
Case studies are anchored in real life and can provide rich detailed accounts of
phenomena
The case study permits an in-depth examination of factors that explain the present
status and that may influence change over time
CASE STUDY ADDRESSES SIX PARADOX
 reject the subject– object dichotomy, regarding all participants equally
 recognize the contribution that a genuine creative encounter can make to new forms
of understanding education
 regard different ways of seeing as new ways of knowing
 approximate the ways of the artist
 free the mind of traditional analysis
 embrace these paradoxes, with an overriding interest in people.
Simons (1996)
THREE SITUATIONS LEAD TO CASE STUDY USE
1. the kind of research question that a study is trying to address (e.g., Shavelson
& Towne, 2002, pp. 99–106).
 a descriptive question—“What is happening or has happened?”
 explanatory question—“How or why did something happen?”
2. the phenomenon to investigate is within its real-world context which lead to the
collection of data in natural settings, NOT relying on “derived” data (Bromley,
1986, p. 23)
 How and why a high school principal had done an especially good job
 The dynamics of a successful (or unsuccessful) collective bargaining
negotiation with severe consequences (e.g., a teachers’ strike)
 Everyday life in a special residential school
3. the purpose of conducting the research is for conducting evaluations.
Authoritative sources such as the U.S. Government Accountability Office (1990)
and others (e.g., Yin, 1992, 1994, 1997) have documented the many
evaluation applications of the case study method
RESEARCH QUESTION OF CASE STUDIES
“What are the characteristics of this
particular entity, phenomenon, person, or
setting?”
PURPOSE OF CASE STUDY
 to arrive at a detailed description and understanding of the entity (the “case”). In
addition, a case study can result in data from which generalizations to theory are possible.
(Donald Ary et al.)
 to answer descriptive questions (what happened) or attempt to explain why something
happened by looking at a process
 to determine why an individual behaves as he or she does and not merely to record
behavior. Case studies often provide an opportunity for an investigator to develop insight
into basic aspects of human behavior. The intensive probing characteristic of this technique
may lead to the discovery of previously unsuspected relationships.
 to portray ‘what it is like’ to be in a particular situation, to catch the close up reality and
‘thick description’ (Geertz 1973b) of participants’ lived experiences of, thoughts about and
feelings for a situation
HALLMARKS OF CASE STUDY
o It is concerned with a rich and vivid description of events relevant to the case.
o It provides a chronological narrative of events relevant to the case.
o It blends a description of events with the analysis of them.
o It focuses on individual actors or groups of actors, and seeks to understand their
perceptions of events.
o It highlights specific events that are relevant to the case.
o The researcher is integrally involved in the case.
o An attempt is made to portray the richness of the case in writing up the report.
(Hitchcock and Hughes, 1995:317)
TYPE OF CASE STUDY #1
conducted to understand a particular case that
may be unusual, unique, or different in some
way

intrinsic case study

the researcher selects the case because it
represents some other issue under investigation
Donald Ary et instrumental case and the researcher believes this particular
al. study case can help provide insights or help to
understand that issue.

uses several cases selected to further understand

collective case
and investigate a phenomenon, population, or
study
general condition. The researcher believes that
the phenomenon is not idiosyncratic to a single
unit and studying multiple units can provide
better illumination.
TYPE OF CASE STUDY #2
Historical These studies concentrate on a particular
Organizational Case organization over time, tracing the
Studies organization's development

In these studies the major data-gathering technique is

participant observation (supplemented with formal
Bogdan & Observational Case and informal interviews and review of documents) and
Biklen Studies the focus of the study is on a particular organization
(school, rehabilitation center) or some aspect of the
organization

In this form of case study, the researcher

conducts extensive interviews with one person
Life History
for the purpose of collecting a first-person
narrative (Helling, 1988).
TYPE OF CASE STUDY #3
as a pilot to other studies or
exploratory
research questions

Yin (1984) descriptive providing narrative accounts

explanatory testing theories

TYPE OF CASE STUDY #4
ethnographic case
single in-depth study
study

action research case

study
Stenhouse
(1985)
evaluative case
study

educational case
study
TYPE OF CASE STUDY #5

narrative account

descriptive

developing conceptual categories inductively in

Merriam (1988) interpretative order to examine initial assumptions

evaluative explaining and judging

TYPE OF CASE STUDY #6

an individual case study

a social group study

Robson (2002)

studies of
organizations and institutions

studies of events,
roles and relationships
 INTRINSIC CASE STUDY
• Researcher interested in understanding a specific individual or situation

• Why?

• Goal = understand the case in all its parts

• Exploratory Research
 Instrumental Case Study
• Researcher interested in understanding something more than just a particular case

• Studies the case only as a means to some larger goal

• Goal = global

• Draws conclusions that apply beyond a particular case

 Multiple or Collective Case Study
• Researcher studies multiple cases at the same time

• Overall study
DATA COLLECTION
 gathered systematically and rigorously
 include multiple sources of data collected over time.
 employ multiple methods of data collection and do not rely on a single
technique  testing, interviewing, observation, review of documents and artifacts,
and other methods may be used.
 The distinction is that whatever techniques are used, all are focused on a single
phenomenon or entity (the case) and attempt to collect information that can
help understand or interpret the focus of the study.
 The investigator gathers data about the subject’s present state, past experiences,
environment, and how these factors relate to one another
DATA PRESENTATION
Case Studies use personal documents for wider theoretical purposes such as the
verification and/or the generation of theory.
PROCESS OF DATA ANALYSIS
 Data analysis in qualitative research will proceed hand-in-hand with other parts of
developing the qualitative study, namely, the data collection and the write-up of findings.
 Due to dense and rich data, in data analysis researchers need to “winnow” the data (Guest,
MacQueen, & Namey, 2012), a process of focusing in on some of the data and
disregarding other parts of it
 Specify HOW to organize, sort, and search for information in text or image databases
whether to use a qualitative computer data analysis program to assist in analyzing the data
(or whether to hand code the data)
 Give a detailed description of the setting or individuals, followed by analysis of the data
for themes or issues (see Stake, 1995; Wolcott, 1994). A complete description of the data
analysis in a proposal, when the inquirer is using one of these strategies, would be to first
describe the general process of analysis followed by the specific steps within the strategy.
GENERAL STEPS IN DATA ANALYSIS
1. Organize and prepare the data for analysis.
2. Read or look at all the data
3. Start coding all of the data
4. Use the coding process to generate a description of the setting or people as well
as categories or themes for analysis
5. Advance how the description and themes will be represented in the qualitative
narrative.
6. making an interpretation in qualitative research of the findings or results.
(Cresswell, 2014 )
8 PRIMARY DATA VALIDITY STRATEGIES
1. Triangulate different data sources of information by examining evidence from the sources and
using it to build a coherent justification for themes
2. Use member checking to determine the accuracy of the qualitative findings through taking the
final report or specific descriptions or themes back to participants and determining
whether these participants feel that they are accurate
3. Use a rich, thick description to convey the findings.
4. Clarify the bias the researcher brings to the study.
5. present negative or discrepant information that runs counter to the themes.
6. Spend prolonged time in the field
7. Use peer debriefing to enhance the accuracy of the account.
8. Use an external auditor to review the entire project
(Cresswell, 2014)
DATA RELIABILITY PROCEDURES
Yin (2009)
1. document the 1.
procedures of the case
studies and to document
as many of the steps of 2.
the procedures as
possible.
2. setting up a detailed
case study protocol and 3.
database, so that others
can follow the
procedures
4.
Gibbs (2007) Cresswell (2014)
Check transcripts to make sure that they 1. Mention several
do not contain obvious mistakes made procedures be in a
during transcription. proposal
Make sure that there is not a drift in the 2. find another person
definition of codes, a shift in the who can cross-check
meaning of the codes during the their codes for what is
process of coding. called intercoder
For team research, coordinate the agreement (or cross-
communication among the coders by checking) (also see
regular documented meetings and by Guest et al., 2012).
sharing the analysis
Cross-check codes developed by
different researchers by comparing
results that are independently derived
GUIDELINE FOR WRITING CASE STUDIES
The writing should strive to be informal and to capture informality.
As far as possible the writing should report facts except in those sections where
interpretation, evaluation and inference are made explicit.
In drafting the report it is more advisable to opt for over-inclusion rather than under-
inclusion.
The ethical conventions of report writing must be honoured, e.g. anonymity, non-
traceability.
The case study writer should make clear the data that give rise to the report, so the
readers have a means of checking back for reliability and validity and inferences.
A fixed completion date should be specified.
Lincoln and Guba (1985: 365–6)
BENEFIT OF CASE STUDY
it seeks to understand the whole case in the totality of the environment. Not only the
present actions of an individual but also his or her past, environment, emotions, and thoughts
can be probed (Ary et al., )
provide the thick descriptions that are useful in ethnographic research, and can catch and
portray to the reader what it is like to be involved in the situation.
can establish cause and effect, that they observe effects in real contexts, recognizing that
context is a powerful determinant of both causes and effects
provides a unique example of real people in real situations, enabling readers to understand
ideas more clearly than simply by presenting them with abstract theories or principles. (Cohen,
p. 214).
can enable readers to understand how ideas and abstract principles can fit together (Nisbet
and Watt 1984: 72– 3)
Case studies opt for analytic rather than statistical generalization, that is they develop a
theory which can help researchers to understand other similar cases, phenomena or situations
(Robson, 2002: 183)
POSSIBLE ADVANTAGE OF CASE STUDIES

adapted from Adelman et al. 1980

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF CASE STUDIES

Nisbet and Watt 1984

PROS AND CONS OF CASE STUDY APPROACH
Pros Cons
Narrative - the beauty and power of To the critics, case study is not a method. There are not
a case study is in the specific details recognized procedures for data analysis in case studies which
and the particular story it tells. often rely on narrative means of presenting data
Rich picture – a case study can Generalization is not possible from single case studies
provide depth but not necessarily
breadth.
Contextual information can be It is difficult to combine data from multiple case studies,
included, giving a holistic picture that although case studies can be compared.
broadens our understanding
- Case studies are time consuming
- To make sense of case studies it is necessary to
understand the specific circumstances, time and space in
which the activity took place.

McCree & Daykin, 2000

 CASE EXAMPLES

 Student who has trouble learning to read

 English Language Teaching Education classroom

 Private School

 Life Knowledge Curriculum project

1. Use of Foreign Films in Cultivating Intercultural Communicative Competence in ELT—A Case Study

2. Understanding Teachers’ Integration of Moodle in EFL Classrooms: A Case Study

3. The Impact of International Proficiency Tests on Language Teaching and Motivation: A Case Study
REFERENCES
Creswell, (2014), Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches 4th edition, Los Angles: Sage Publication
Cohen, Louis, Lawrence Manion et.al (2014), Research Method in Education, Sixth
Edition, New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group
Donald Ary, et.al (2014)