What Is a Case?: Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry

The concept of the case is a basic feature of social science research and yet many questions about how a case should be defined, selected, and judged are far from settled. The contributors to this volume probe the nature of the case and the ways in which different understandings of the concept affect the conduct and the results of research. The contributions demonstrate that the work of any given researcher is often characterised by some hybrid of these basic approaches, and it is important to understand that most research involves multiple definitions and uses of cases, as both specific empirical phenomena and as general theoretical categories.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; 1. Cases of 'what is a case?' Charles C. Ragin; Part I. Cases Are Found: 2. Small Ns and community case studies Douglas Harper; 3. What do cases do? Some notes on activity in sociological analysis Andrew Abbott; Part II. Cases Are Objects: 4. Small Ns and big conclusions: an examination of the reasoning in comparative studies based on a small number of cases Stanley Lieberson; 5. Theory elaboration: the heuristics of case analysis Diane Vaughan; Part III. Cases Are Made: 6. Case studies: history or sociology? Michel Wieviorka; 7. Making theoretical cases John Walton; Part IV. Cases Are Conventions: 8. Cases on cases … of cases Jennifer Platt; 9. Cases are for identity, for explanation, or for control; Conclusion; 10. Cases, causes, conjunctures, stories and imagery Howard C. White.

Review :
"There is sociology of sociology here, many recountings of field adventures, tips on data collection and analysis, and discussions of substantive topics as diverse as crime, religion, gender, family, cities, social problems, and social movements...a good read." Contemporary Sociology "This is not a book to be missed. The issues raised and discussed insure it a wide readership for, I predict, many years. They pertain to the nature and use of cases by us all, whether we are researchers, theorists, or both." Anselm Strauss, University of California, San Francisco "...enormously stimulating and enlightening. The book will not only be a pure delight for comparative methodologists in the social sciences but also, more importantly, a rich source of useful insights and fresh perspectives for the much larger number of empirical comparative researchers." Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego "A must for anyone concerned with methods of inquiry in the social sciences...it raises a host of basic issues about empirical social science. The authors deal with these issues in a uniformly penetrating manner." Harry Eckstein, University of California, Irvine "[T]here is something of value in the book for almost anyone...What Is a Case? is a useful book, reflecting a new level of methodological/theoretical self-awareness and subtlety of the kind that will benefit the discipline." Alan Sica, American Journal of Sociology