Case Study as naturalistic

Case study in a common methodology used in educational research. Case study is usually considered a naturalistic form of research.

We enquire into an aspect of teaching and learning as it occurs in the usual classroom context. For example the case study is often of a real teacher working in their own school with their own class, as part of the normal timetable or other school activity. The case study may be of an innovation, where that innovation is introduced by the teacher as part of the normal process of trying out new approaches in teaching

"Case study work is naturalistic in three senses:

(1) It is as much a search for phenomena in the social world as it is an attempt to develop coherent theories about given social phenomena.

(2) It is a quest to articulate the (social) world by creating descriptions of particular (social) contexts.

(3) The 'objects' of case study work are 'given' situations. What is 'given' is a particular issue arising in a particular social situation or social context…In general, the case study worker cannot 'create' the situation he is to observe, nor can he artificially simplify it by manipulation of its context. He must study the situation as a whole." (Kemmis, 1980, p.107)

"The interventions of naturalistic research go beyond the theory-and value-ladenness of observation, however. Case study rarely proceeds by observation in the sense of merely watching: observation also entails such interventions as interviewing, recording and participation (which may amount to manipulation of conditions within the situation), let alone data analysis, interpretation, and selection of participants to observe or interview. In these respects case study (and naturalistic research in general) resembles other forms of research as interventive, not passive.” (Kemmis, 1980: 109.)

Kemmis, S. (1980). The Imagination of the Case and the Invention of the Study. In H. Simons (Ed.), Towards a Science of the Singular: Essays about Case Study in Educational Research and Evaluation (pp. 96-142). Norwich: Centre for Applied Research in Education, University of East Anglia.

"As a research strategy, the distinguishing characteristic of the case study is that it attempts to examine:

(a) a contemporary phenomenon in its real-life context, especially when

(b) the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. ...

These distinctions among type of evidence, data collection method, and research strategy are critical in defining case studies.

... all must cope with the essential problem that, because the context is part of the study, there will always be too many "variables" for the number of observations to be made, thus making standard experimental and survey designs irrelevant."  (Yin, 1981: 59)

Yin, R. K. (1981). The Case Study Crisis: Some Answers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26(1), 58-65.

According to Hamilton (1980: 78), case study “claims to be naturalistic and builds upon the analysis of real-life situations…rejects the technology of manipulation (i.e. randomisation, matching and replication) that is the defining attribute of experimental social research"

Hamilton, D. (1980). Some contrasting assumptions about case study research and survey analysis. In H. Simons (Ed.), Towards a Science of the Singular: Essays about Case Study in Educational Research and Evaluation (pp. 78-92). Norwich: Centre for Applied Research in Education, University of East Anglia.

Index of topics