Case Study Research in Practice explores the theory and practice of case study research. Helen Simons draws on her extensive experience of teaching and conducting case study to provide a comprehensive and practical account of how to design, conduct and communicate case study research. It addresses questions often raised by students and common misconceptions about case research. In four sections the book covers
- Rationale, concept and design of case study research
- Methods, ethics and reflexivity in case study
- Interpreting, analyzing and reporting the case
- Generalizing and theorizing in case study research
Rich with 'tales from the field' and summary memos as an aide-memoire to future action, the book provides fresh insights and challenges for researchers to guide their practice of case study research.
This is an ideal text for those studying and conducting case study research in education, health and social care, and related social science disciplines.
Helen Simons is Professor Emeritus of Education University of Southampton
Table of Contents:
PART ONE: GETTING STARTED
Evolution and Concept of Case Study Research
Planning, Designing, Gaining Access
Listen, Look, Document: Methods in Case Study Research
PART TWO: IN THE FIELD
Who Are They? Studying Others
Who Are We? Studying Our ′Self ′
Whose Data Are They? Ethics in Case Study Research
Mid-term Letter
PART THREE: MAKING SENSE
Begin at the Beginning: Analysis and Interpretation
From Data to Story: Examples in Practice
PART FOUR: TELLING THE STORY
Start at Any Point: Reporting and Writing
Dispelling Myths in Case Study Research
About the Author :
Helen Simons is Professor Emeritus of Education and Evaluation, University of Southampton
Review :
′This is a particularly useful book for educational research students, for researchers looking to use case study methods for the first time, or for those about to teach a course on case study methods...For a book on research methodology, this is also a remarkably lively read. A case study is like great art, to adapt Simons′ quote from MacDonald and Walker, in which ′content and intent emerge in form′. As such, Simons has written a manual for creating great art in educational research′ -
Teacher Development
′Practical and immensely helpful… With its highly readable style, it is well suited to the needs of research students. Throughout it addresses the practicalities at a level that connects immediately to thorny issues in relation to the quality of the data, the quality of the analysis: in short the quality of the research′ - Jane Payler, University of Winchester
′…unravelling the complexity of ′the case′…makes this kind of research very challenging. This book provides a practical and reflective approach to doing case study research and will be a valuable resource for students, supervisors and researchers′ - Professor Brendan McCormack, University of Ulster
′From soundings of the depths of her experience in art, teaching, cinema, program evaluation and policy study, Helen Simons brings counsel to the making of case studies. She locates… particularization and situated generalization centrally in qualitative inquiry, an inquiry that reckons with story telling and contested meaning as much as with the functional relationships of social science′- Professor Robert E. Stake, University of Illinois′
′This book prompts readers and researchers to consider ways in which the robustness of their work can be improved. It is the clarity with which this is achieved and the encouragement it provides to readers that are the real strengths of this book′ - Nurse Researcher
