A topic in research methodology
A case study is an enquiry into one specific instance among many. Sometimes the case is selected because it is the specific case we wish to know about. There is something special about that case that makes it worth investigating. Such cases are described as intrinsic cases. However, often a case is selected for study because it is considered to represent the wider class of possible cases. The case is an extrinsic case study, as we study it less for its own value, but for its value in telling us something about the wider class of such cases. This is potentially problematic, as case study recognises the idiosyncratic nature of cases and so a case study is not readily generalisable.
“The use of case study is to understand something else…instrumental to accomplishing something other than understanding this particular teacher [or…]”
Stake, 1995: p.3
“Sometimes (instrumental) cases are chosen because they are considered reasonably typical of a class of instances, where the complexity of what is being studied suggests more can be learnt by detailed exploration of an instant than surveying a representative sample..”
Taber, 2014
Sources cited:
- Stake, R. E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.
- Taber, K. S. (2014). Methodological issues in science education research: a perspective from the philosophy of science. In M. R. Matthews (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching (Vol. 3, pp. 1839-1893). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
My introduction to educational research:
Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.
