I really like the idea of using case studies. I see them as a starting point for beginning to search for answers to broad questions. It seems like a good way to begin figuring out what is going on in a specific situation. I think that case studies have a local/contextual quality that makes them unique from other types of methods. I guess this is what makes the case study more generalizable and a contextual.
I think of the a case study as an initial study on a subject, like looking at a small piece of an iceberg, rather than the whole. Case studies yield answers to initial questions that help the researcher focus on a plan for further study.
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Are you seeing case study as generalizable or not? I think the kinds of questions that come up are generalizable and can lead to larger studies that can be generalizable, but case studies generally are seen as context-bound. I agree though that they are really helpful in identifying larger issues and themes for future study.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, Bonnie. I think case studies really help us to see a very specific case that may lead to broader quests. I think there's a real power to that.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Robin - accidentally said "Bonnie" for some reason, I think I'm on hers, but it's your's. So sorry.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad I could enter the blog post without actually having to say anything...LOL. I think case studies definitely help us find our larger questions, but as I've contemplated this further in reading what each of you have posted, I wonder if a case study may exist just to explore the larger picture of a specific group without leading into something larger. In some ways I wonder if by suggesting that case studies lead into larger questions then we are somehow relegating them to a more insignificant place? I think we could see them as significant in and of themselves without the larger quest. I don't know...just a random thought. :)
ReplyDeleteI think the case study is already delimited since the researcher selects the entity, but the questions that emerge might be researched generally and depending upon the method used, the results of that research might be generalizable. The context is definitely circumscribed by the study.
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