Cousin, G. (2008) Case Study Research. In: Cousin, G. Researching Learning in Higher Education: An Introduction to Contemporary Methods and Approaches, pp.131-149. London: Routledge.

This research approach offers the opportunity to investigate issues where they occur (naturalistic settings) and to produce descriptive and analytical accounts that invite reader judgment about their plausibility. (Cousin, 2008, p.131)

Instances of “good” or “best practice” gathered for teaching or development purposes should not be confused with case study research. (Cousin, 2008, p.131)

Accounts of the former tend to offer a victory narrative through which the issue or problem is defined and the triumphant solution described. In contrast, case study research systematically explores a setting in order to generate understandings about it. (Cousin, 2008, pp.131-132)

As a form of naturalistic inquiry, case study research provides a holistic approach to the exploration of real life situations. It involves the gathering of data from a variety of sources and methods (e.g. observation and interviews) within a specific setting. (Cousin, 2008, p.132)

the research always takes place where the case naturally arises; it is research of an “instance in action.” The people in the case study are best described as “actors” (rather than subjects or informants) to capture this. (Cousin, 2008, p.132)

Case study research starts with a research curiosity about a particular case, asking what is going on with this person, institution, program, etc. (Cousin, 2008, p.132)

advises Stake, you must “place your best intellect into the thick of what is going on” (Stake, 2000: 445). Rigor from this viewpoint is achieved through thoughtful, scholarly engagement with empirical data. (Cousin, 2008, p.133)

1. Intrinsic case study This is where the researcher’s interest is in understanding the particularities of the case in hand. Intrinsic case study primarily aims to generalize within the case.
2. Instrumental case study This is where the researcher explores a case as an instance of a class (e.g. geography field trips) in order to shed light on an issue concerning the class: e.g. what is happening on this geography field trip that can tell us something about geography field trips in general? The next category, collective case study extends this kind of generalization.
3. Collective case study This is where researchers select more than one case of the class from which to generalize: e.g. what is happening on these field trips that can tell us something about field trips in general? (Cousin, 2008, p.133)

In Bassey’s (1998) view, the most appropriate aim for case study research is to make “fuzzy generalizations.” (Cousin, 2008, p.134)

Bassey suggests that we should tone down any talk of probability by using “may” rather than “will” (Cousin, 2008, p.135)

We take a particular case and come to know it well, not primarily as to how it is different from others but what it is, what it does. There is emphasis on uniqueness and that implies knowledge of others that the case is different from, but the first emphasis is on understanding the case itself. (Stake, 1995: 8) (Cousin, 2008, p.135)

it is this very attention to the depiction and analysis of the uniqueness of a case that allows for a form of generalization to be made, not by the researcher but by his readers (Cousin, 2008, p.135)

People can learn much that is general from single cases. They do that partly because they are familiar with other cases and they add this one in, thus making a slightly new group from which to generalize, a new opportunity to modify old generalizations. (Stake, 1995: 85) (Cousin, 2008, p.135)

A key aim of case study research be it intrinsic, instrumental or collective is to offer a wealth of readable detail and analysis, such that the reader can make a judgment about the case. (Cousin, 2008, p.136)

Enabling such naturalistic generalizations through skilful, thick descriptive, write-up is a key to successful case study research (Cousin, 2008, p.136)

Data source triangulation This involves exploring the effects of context; it is “an effort to see if what we are observing and reporting carries the same meaning when found under different circumstances” (Stake, 1995: 113). (Cousin, 2008, p.136)

Investigator triangulation This is where other researchers are asked to make similar observations or look at the same data to “support or undercut the original interpretation” (Stake, 1995: 113). (Cousin, 2008, p.136)

Theory triangulation This is where researchers from alternative theoretical viewpoints are asked to look at the same data to offer rival explanations. (Cousin, 2008, p.136)

Methodological triangulation This is what most people take to mean triangulation because it involves bringing different methods and data sources to bear on a provisional finding. Many see this aspect of triangulation as involving a mix of quantitative and qualitative data (often called “mixed method”) though the mix can be of any approach. (Cousin, 2008, p.137)

it is best to get others to look at your interpretations of the data, to watch what is happening across different contexts, to identify any tensions in diverse data sources and to offer any additional interpretations that arise. You can add to this process a degree of reflexivity about rival explanations to your analysis. (Cousin, 2008, p.137)

There is some overlap between the framework for case study research presented here and that of ethnographic field work. (Cousin, 2008, p.137)

case study research requires an engagement with a promising literature and available documents from the case to support the researcher’s bearings. This is not about undertaking a literature review before entering the setting, rather it concerns stimulating the formulation of research questions for the beginning of the study; it also concerns securing a continual engagement with theory throughout the empirical research process. (Cousin, 2008, p.138)

Yin (2002) suggests that case study research largely require “why and how” questions because they invite an investigation into meanings and explanations. (Cousin, 2008, p.138)

Stake (1995: 25) suggests that the researcher plans a number of “issue” questions that prompt “good thinking”; these might have a cause and effect nature (Cousin, 2008, p.138)

Or they might center on a problem or a puzzle (perhaps inspired by a reading of the literature) (Cousin, 2008, p.138)

Some questions lend themselves to the gathering of coded, numerical data because they concern variation, association and frequency (Cousin, 2008, p.139)

Most of the questions are likely to concern the setting itself but a few will relate to the researcher positioning (e.g. am I seeing things through the lens of my own experience?) and outside influences (e.g. are the aims of the programme primarily written for a quality assurance audience?). (Cousin, 2008, p.139)

Stake suggests that you are likely to have around ten to twenty questions at a first stab and that these will be reduced to three or four as you refine your focus. In doing so, bear in mind that you need to be confident that the questions can be answered in the research setting (Gillham, 2000: 16). Keep a note of the questions you formulate as you go through the research process. (Cousin, 2008, p.139)

Be prepared to modify your plans about what and how to collect as you enter the setting and discover both unexpected opportunities and blocks. (Cousin, 2008, p.139)

Denscombe (2007: 40) suggests four different kinds of cases, namely:

• Typical instance: a case that seems typical of others in other settings.
• Extreme instance: to explore how this might contrast with the typical. Test-site for theory: the case would be explored to see if it bears out an existing theory.
• Least-likely instance: this tests a theory by exploring whether it holds good in an unlikely setting.

One could add to this list Yin’s exemplary case which can “reflect strong, positive examples of the phenomenon of interest” (Yin, 1993: 12). (Cousin, 2008, p.140)

Ethical clearance will be important of course. Everyone within range of your study will need to know that you are exploring the case and a written summary of the research aims needs to be made available to them. The best way of securing consent is to involve subjects in your reflections and lines of inquiry throughout the research cycle. (Cousin, 2008, p.140)

The case is your unit of analysis so you need a clear definition: … in education research it can be a programme, a single institution (school, university), a course, an individual student, a group of students and so forth. (Cousin, 2008, p.140)

• Physical borders Are you researching the biology student experience within the confines of teaching and learning activities in the department? Will you include a field trip or a social activity within the case?
• Population Who are of concern to your case: anybody passing through the research site? Students? Academics? Cleaners?
• Range of activities Is your case limited to the students’ teaching and learning activities in seminars and lectures? Or will it extend to their “down time”?
• Time span Will you explore the students’ experiences over one semester? Will it involve specific slices of their day over this period? (Cousin, 2008, p.141)

“analysis” writes Stake, “is a matter of giving meaning to first impressions as well as to final compilations” (1995: 71). (Cousin, 2008, p.142)

This can be carried out during the reconnaissance phase though it will be ongoing involving any documents (e.g. minutes of meetings, programme documentation) for which you have consent to read. This can also include visual documents—photos, pictures, etc. (Cousin, 2008, p.142)

Where the interviews occur in a moment of happenstance, they are more likely to resemble conversations in which you take a gentle steer. For this reason—and those of economy—you are more likely to take notes than to tape record the event. (Cousin, 2008, p.142)

Key questions to ask for gathering critical incidents are:

1. Can you describe an episode that stood out in some way?
2. What happened? Where? When? Who was involved?
3. What part did you play in it? (active, bystander, etc.)
4. What did you make of the episode?
5. Might there be an alternative interpretation? (Cousin, 2008, pp.142-143)

Be aware of what is countable (e.g. repetitions, frequencies, absences, possible associations) and devise ways of recording this systematically. (Cousin, 2008, p.143)

the quantitative side of me looked for the emergence of meaning from the repetition of phenomena, the qualitative side of me looked for the emergence of meaning in the single instance. (Stake, 1995: 76) (Cousin, 2008, p.144)

Another possible source of patterns might be found in your record of conversations: are there thematic recurrences? … Can you give meaning to these frequencies? (Cousin, 2008, p.144)

If you are exploring a team or group interactivity among students, you might want to consider sociograms; these are graphic mappings of the social links people have. (Cousin, 2008, p.145)

If your case is a course or program, you might want to distribute a questionnaire to students to support your judgments about how they are experiencing their learning and the teaching. (Cousin, 2008, p.145)

Observation is undertaken either as a participant or detached observer. From an ethical viewpoint the observation is usually overt so that actors are aware of your research activities as far as is possible. (Cousin, 2008, p.145)

You might want to note down jokes told and responses to them; you might want to look out for what seems to prompt the anxieties or the delight of actors, how they work as a team, what kind of roles individuals appear to be taking up and so forth. (Cousin, 2008, p.146)

You will need to describe the environment: how is the room arranged? What is the age of the furniture? What have the students etched onto the desks? What notices are on the wall? Observations are recorded in field notes and your reflections and theorizing on them in a research diary. In describing the settings and actors’ relationships in your field notes, do not worry if you feel that you are “straying” into a literary genre because some case study research writing self-consciously blurs the boundaries between social science and literature (Geertz, 1983) (Cousin, 2008, p.146)

Photos, videos and drawings can all enrich both the analysis and the depiction of the case study. These can be used as a means of explication in their own right and/or as a way of prompting discussion and the development of interpretations. (Cousin, 2008, p.146)

Stake (1995: 85) cautions against accumulating a daunting data mountain, preferring to analyze and shed as he proceeds. (Cousin, 2008, p.147)

we can also think of the data as spread out rather than piled up; this might better suit the variety of case study data sources, the identification of alternative interpretations, anomalies and conflicting voices. (Cousin, 2008, p.147)

1. Are there some clear themes emerging?
2. Have you got something to claim in the way of fuzzy, petite or grand generalizations?
3. Can you offer good chunks of data to underpin your interpretations?
4. Are there evocative vignettes to write from observations?
5. Is there some interesting patterned data? What data does not fit the pattern? What might it be indicating?
6. How does this/these case studies relate to others? And to the theoretical field?
7. What gaps and puzzles remain? (Cousin, 2008, p.147)

In the initial stages you have formulated a defence for your case selection, the issues to be addressed, the boundaries and the supportive literature. About two-thirds of the writing will have been interwoven into the processes of data collection, data analysis and diary noting. (Cousin, 2008, pp.147-148)

writing up case study research but it needs to be interesting, compelling and convincing. In particular, it needs to draw in the reader, enabling him or her to vicariously experience the setting and thus to make “naturalistic generalizations.” Like ethnographers, case study researchers often rely on the notion of thick description (Geertz, 1973). Such description attempts to present layers of meaning (Cousin, 2008, p.148)

keep in mind that the reader needs to feel that they could “be there” so that they can share in the interpretation with you. (Cousin, 2008, p.148)