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Frequently asked question (FAQ)

1. What is a case study?
2. What is cross case analysis?
3. What is 4C?
4. What is tagging and how can it help me?
5. How is 4C different from computer assisted qualitative data analysis software and library search engines?
6. What are case categories?
7. Where do I start?
8. Where can I find instruction on how to use 4C?
9. How should I report problems?

Q1: What is a case study?

    There are numerous definitions of case studies suggesting that case study is a method, methodology, or a research design. Our working definition asserts that a case study is none of these. Case study can be viewed as a transparadigmatic and transdisciplinary heuristic that involves the careful delineation of the phenomena for which evidence is being collected (event, concept, program, process) (VanWynsberghe and Khan, 2007). As a heuristic device, case study results in the circumscription of the unit of analysis. It does so the researcher's detailed descriptions obtained from immersion in the context of the case, bounding of the case, and frequently engaging in an interplay between the case itself and the unit of analysis. A prototypical case study usually involves revealing an in-depth understanding of a case or a bounded system by thick description and analysis of an event, activity, process, or one or more individuals, that can lead to the discovery or construction of relationships, interpretations, perspectives, and fresh insight. Typically, case studies have at least the following seven properties as suggested by Khan (2007):

• Small n. The case study calls for an intensive and in-depth focus on the specific unit of analysis and generally requires a much smaller sample size than survey research (Gomm, Hammersley and Foster, 2000; Yin, 2003). Efforts to perform broad analyses with large numbers of participants may reduce effectiveness of case study as it may come at the expense of detailed description.
• Contextual detail. Case studies aim to give the reader a sense of being ther by providing a highly detailed, contextualized analysis of an instance in actio (MacDonald and Walker, 1977). The researcher in a careful delineation of the instance, defining it in general terms and teasing out its particularities
• Natural Settings. Case study researchers choose to systematically study situations where there is little control over behaviour, organization, or events (Yin, 2003). Case study is uniquely suitable for research in complex settings (Anderson et al., 2005) because it advances the concept that complex settings cannot be reduced to single cause and effect relationships.
• Boundedness. Case studies provide a detailed description of a specific temporal and spatial boundary (Merriam, 1988). Attending to place and time is to contextualize the structures and relationships that are of interest.
• Working hypotheses and lessons learned. Researchers can generate working hypotheses and learn new lessons based on what is uncovered during data collection and analysis in the case study (Eckstein, 2002; Lincoln and Guba, 2000). The entity or phenomenon under study emerges throughout the course of the study and it is this surfacing that can bring the study to a natural conclusion (Becker, 2000).
• Multiple data sources. The use of multiple sources of data are part of the development of converging lines of inquiry that facilitate triangulation and offer findings which are likely to be much more convincing and accurate (Yin, 2003).
• Extendability. Case studies can enrich and potentially transform a reader's understanding of a phenomenon by extending the reader's experience (Donmoyer, 1990). The case study researcher analyzes complex social interactions to uncover 'inseparable variables' that are elements of the phenomena (Yin, 2003). Instead of control and separation, the case study seeks to coalesce and articulate these relationships in context.

Anderson, R., Crabtree, B.F., Steele, D. J., and McDaniel, R.R. (2005). Case study research: The view from complexity science. Qualitative Health; Research, 15(5), 669-685.

Becker, H.S. (1990). Generalizing from case studies. In E. W. Eisner and A. Peshkin (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education: The continuing debate (pp. 233-242). New York: Teachers College Press.

Donmoyer, R. (1990). Generalizability and the single case study. In E. W. Eisner, and A. Peshkin (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education: The continuing debate (pp.175-200). New York: Teachers College Press.

Eckstein, H. (2000). Case study and theory in political science. In Gomm, R., Hammersley, M., and Foster, P. (Eds.), Case study method: Key issues, key texts (pp. 119-163). London: Sage Publications.

Gomm, R., Hammersley, M., and Foster, P. (2000). Case study method: Key issues, key texts. London: Sage Publications.

Khan, S. (2007). The case in case-based design of educational software: A methodological interrogation. Educational Technology Research and Development.

Lincoln, Y. and Guba, E. (2000). The only generalization is: There is no generalization. In R. Gomm, M. Hammersley, and P. Foster (Eds.), Case study method (pp. 27-44). London: Sage Publications.

 McDonald, B. and Walker, R. (1977). Case-study and the social philosophy of educational research. In Hamilton, D., Jenkins, D., King, C., MacDonald, B., and Parlett, M. (Eds.), Beyond the numbers game: A reader in educational evaluation (pp. 181-189). Basingstoke, London: Macmillan.

Merriam, S. B. (1988). Case study research in education: A qualitative approach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Yin, R. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

VanWynsberghe, R. and Khan, S. (2007, in press). Redefining case study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

 

Q2: What is cross-case analysis?

    Cross-case analysis examines the commonalities and difference in the events, activities, and processes of case studies. Cross-case analysis is undertaken to extend the investigator's experience beyond the single case by provoking her or his imagination, prompting new questions, seeking new dimensions, measuring alternatives, creating models, and constructing ideal types and utopias (Stretton, 1969; p.158). Another purpose of engaging in cross-case analysis is to enhance researchers' capacity to understand "how" relationships may exist among discrete cases, accumulate knowledge on the original case, refine or develop concepts (Ragin, 1997), and build or test theory further (Eckstein, 2002). Central questions for researchers interested in cross-case analysis tend to involve delineating the combination of factors that may have contributed to the outcome; explaining why one case is different or the same than the others, making sense of puzzling or unique findings, or further articulating the concepts or hypotheses or theories discovered or constructed from a case. Cross-case analysis is a valuable analytic technique for case study researchers because it allows researchers to compare cases from one or more school settings, communities, groups, or programs, thereby providing critical evidence to modify existing programs and policy (Khan and VanWynsberghe, 2007, in press).

Eckstein, H. (2002). Case study and theory in political science. In Gomm, R., Hammersley, M., & Foster, P. (Eds.), Case study method: Key issues, key texts (pp. 119-163). London: Sage Publications.

Ragin, C.C. (1997). Turning the tables: How case-oriented research challenges variable- oriented research. Comparative Social Research, 16, 27-42.

Stretton, H. (1969). The political sciences: General principles of selection in social science and history. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Khan, S. and VanWynsberghe, R. (2007, in press). Cultivating the under-mined: Knowledge mobilization through cross-case analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research.

 

Q3: What is 4C?

The 4C (Foresee) database has been developed to support cross case analysis of case study research that has been done in different settings or in different contexts. The purpose of engaging a collective activity of cross-case analysis is to enhance our understanding of relationships among discrete research projects .To achieve this using the power of digital instumentation 4C provides its members with a dynamic repository of case studies by utilizing the concept of social tagging. To read more about 4C go here

Q4: What is Tagging and how can it help me?

Tagging is a flexible way of organizing your information (e.g. case studies). Tagging allows you to personally categorize your information rather than relying on predefined categories created by designer of the systems. Tags are descriptive terms that can be assigned to case studies to describe them (eg. media, learning, science, sustainability, risk, style). You can assign as many tags as you like to a case study. Tagging can help you to find related and relevant information similar to coding data. Tagging not only facilitates personal organization of information by tags but also promotes social discovery and sharing of information. This can happen when a different member of the system use the same tags for related information. To learn more about social tagging systems such as 4C, the article on Folksonomy in Wikipedia is recommended.

Q5: How is 4C different from computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), and library search engines?

Researchers often utilize qualitative data analysis software (e.g. Nvivo, HyperResearch) to code their data, construct categories and create themes. The result of analyzing data using CAQDAS are coded material that is organized on an individual's computer. Cross-case analysis, if undertaken, is often done so by hand. A 4C member; however, is able to combine numerous case studies on a topic (e.g., classroom reform) or a field (urban sustainability) that is of direct interest to himself/herself or even other 4C members. The 4C member can utilize our database features to perform cross-case analysis. The 4C database will also gives the 4C members the added benefit of finding other researchers with similar interests. We believe 4C can serve as a foundation to establish dialog among researchers in a community and create a rich environment that facilitates discovering and sharing of case knowledge.

The 4C database can also be favourabley compared to other scholarly research library databases on health, education and public policy (e.g., ERIC, EDUDATA, CiteSeer, Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science, Canadian Education Fulltext, Pro-Quest Digital Dissertations, and The National Library of Canada) or other e-libraries where people post their work (eg. SSRN http://ssrn.com/ ). Existing library databases lack user-driven search terms and do not have effective ways of facilitating the comparison of case studies. Library searches are generally limited to metadata such as keyword, institution, author, subject words, do not adequately support locating meaningful case study research, nor facilitate cross case analyses. Moreover, traditional indexing methods are used to retrieve and analyze the research studies but these tools do not include research in progress, permit uploading and editing of data by the author, or involve researchers in building a community of users based on identifying and recommending research. The 4C database supports works in progress and allows further update of case studies. The 4C database allows researchers to add their perspective or comments to these case studies and share these perspectives with other researchers. The user-driven naming of relationships via tags increases the flexibility and extensibility of 4C databases by providing the researcher with the capacity to link cases using meaningful terms and search case studies by these terms ( Grudin, 1994; Guerrero & Fuller, 2001; Schachter, J, n.d.; Pahlevi & Kitagawa, 2003; Star, 1998; Yee, 2003). Finally, unlike library repositories, 4C allows different individuals to present and recommend selected case studies of interest on a common problem and facilitates collaboration between these individuals.

To the best of our knowledge, there is no currently available tool that supports in composite a collaboration amongst case study researchers or allows them to create communities of interest in which they can contribute case study data, discover and analyze existing case studies, perform cross-case analyses, recommend case studies to one another, and establish dialogue and discussion.

Q6: What are the case categories?

Title:

Title assigned by a case study contributor to the case study

Context:

The focus of the study is what this is "a case of" or what is the "heart" of the case. General information about where the case study took place, who was involved, including the role of the researcher may be included here.

Purpose (Significance):

The purpose is the overarching reason for this case study and from the submitter's point of view, why it might be important for others to learn about it.

Key concepts:

Key concepts are one or two word descriptors of a major topic that captures the case. Strategies for identifying key concepts include viewing keywords from libraries and journal articles. For example, a keyword might be "education", "classroom", "sustainability", "chronic illness", or "science". Keywords may overlap with tags.

Research methods:

Research methods are the ways that the researcher has conducted the case study. It encompasses how information is collected and/or interpreted by the researcher, and may include, for example, talking with another person, doing a survey or questionnaire, building a display, using qualitative data software. In these cases, the words interview, survey, questionnaire, matrix, and/or qualitative data software could be entered in the case category.

What was learned:

From the point of view of the researcher, the reader, and/or those involved in the study, what was learned are the central messages and key insights from the study.

Related studies:

These are a related work or body of work that is recommended or used by the researcher. It can include citation to  literature, reports, web sites, or other information sources.

Citation:

This is a citation to the case submitted.

 

Q7: Where do I start?

4C members can browse through the 4C case study archive to view cases 4C members have contributed and what they find interesting. To contribute a case study or create a personal library of your favorite case studies, you must first register.

Q8: Where I can find instruction on how to use 4C?

You can find a tutorial on how to use 4C here.

Q9: How should I report problems?

Please send questions, comments, bug reports, etc to "email address goes here". You can also visit the 4C developer log for 4C news and updates.