meaning of case study pdf

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A case study is a research design that provides an in-depth description and analysis of a case.

Introduction

A case study is a specific type of research design that provides an in-depth description of a selected case(s) that is defined by space and time (Hancock and Algozzine 2006 ). Case studies are used in a variety of disciplines including medicine, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and business to investigate an issue using multiple sources of information (Creswell 2007 ). The topic under investigation in a case study can vary widely and can encompass an individual (e.g., a patient), a social group (e.g., book club), institutions (e.g., a hospital), or an event (e.g., Holocaust) (Hancock and Algozzine 2006 ). This chapter will provide a brief overview of the characteristics of a case study, the basic structure, and key details used to review the quality of a case study design.

Types and Utility of a Case Study

There are three distinct types of case study designs that can...

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Cassell, C., & Symon, G. (2004). Essential guide to qualitative methods in organizational research . Thousand Oaks/London: Sage.

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Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Hancock, D. R., & Algozzine, R. (2006). Doing case study research: A practical guide for beginning researchers . New York: Teachers College Press.

Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research . Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Thomas, G. (2016). How to do your case study (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2003a). Applications of case study research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Yin, R. K. (2003b). Case study research: design and methods (Vol. 5, 3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

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Graduate Program in Neuroscience, The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

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Tavares, T.P. (2018). Case Study. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1283-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1283-1

Received : 06 October 2017

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Online ISBN : 978-3-319-28099-8

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Methodology

• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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Impacts of distribution data on accurate species modeling: a case study of litsea auriculata (lauraceae).

1. Introduction

2.1. current distribution pattern of litsea auriculata, 2.2. spatial pattern and driving factors of potential distribution areas of various data, 2.3. pca analyses of different datasets of litsea auriculata under different climatic conditions, 2.4. distribution and conservation status of litsea auriculata under various climatic conditions using different datasets, 3. discussion, 3.1. importance of accurate and complete species distribution records for species distribution modeling, 3.2. potential distribution and conservation assessment based on accurate identification and complete distribution dataset of litsea auriculata, 4. materials and methods, 4.1. data collection and processing, 4.1.1. distribution data of litsea auriculata, 4.1.2. environment variable data, 4.2. potential distribution prediction based on maxent model, 4.3. calculating hotspots in protected areas, 5. conclusions, supplementary materials, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Tan, C.; Ferguson, D.K.; Yang, Y. Impacts of Distribution Data on Accurate Species Modeling: A Case Study of Litsea auriculata (Lauraceae). Plants 2024 , 13 , 2581. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13182581

Tan C, Ferguson DK, Yang Y. Impacts of Distribution Data on Accurate Species Modeling: A Case Study of Litsea auriculata (Lauraceae). Plants . 2024; 13(18):2581. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13182581

Tan, Chao, David Kay Ferguson, and Yong Yang. 2024. "Impacts of Distribution Data on Accurate Species Modeling: A Case Study of Litsea auriculata (Lauraceae)" Plants 13, no. 18: 2581. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13182581

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