Introduction
This work is to present the case study as a research approach, showing that its characterization is not an easy task, due primarily to its various approaches and applications. It shows its increasing importance as a research tool, exploring its roots, meanings and delineation as a study methodology. In order to demonstrate its application, this implies its most frequent advantages and constraints, stressing the important role played out by the researcher, who must be cautious about generalizations, striving constantly for medical rigor in the treating the topic.
The case study method is known as some sort of qualitative research (GOODE, 1962) and has been considered, regarding to Yin (1994, p. 10): "the weaker sibling of the methods of Community Sciences. But despite the weaknesses and constraints, the research study has had widely use not only in public research, but also as a modality research, with applications in a great many other areas or in disciplines which has a strong orientation to legal practice and administration, besides being used for the prep of theses and dissertations.
The main objective of this work is to provide the research study method as a study approach and also to consider issues relevant for the carry out like this, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages that needs to be considered in light of the varieties of problems and questions to be clarified.
Case review can accomplish lots of the same goals as other methods. For example, the case study can be exploratory (create new knowledge), constructive (solve some problem), or confirmatory (test a hypothesis with empirical facts). The research study can also use the most important (the researcher collects the info) or secondary (the researcher uses somebody else's data) way.
In the view of Yin, "the case study represents an empirical research that investigates a contemporary sensation within its real-life context, and includes a method comprehensive, with the reasoning of planning, gathering and data examination. Range from both single case studies as multiple, as well as quantitative techniques and qualitative research. (Yin 1994 p. 23), help us, he says, to comprehend and identify the case study method to other research strategies like the historical method and in-depth interview, the experimental method and review.
The method often is presented as being appropriate for exploratory research and particularly useful for hypothesis generation and this may have added to complicate the knowledge of what the analysis method conditions, how it was created and conducted. (Yin, 1994)
According to different authors, the case study has started in medical research and subconscious research, with evaluation at length of a person case that clarifies the dynamics and pathology of confirmed disease. With this process the assumption is that one can acquire understanding of the phenomenon examined from powerful exploration of a single case. Besides the medical and mental health, it became a significant ways of qualitative research in human and public sciences.
Advantages and Negatives of Case Study Research
Cast in a narrative format, descriptive circumstance studies can make sophisticated technology and technology jobs accessible and interesting to a non-scientist audience. The potential scope of the research study format is flexible and broad, ranging from short descriptive summaries to long, comprehensive accounts. Using a "storytelling" procedure, the evaluator may present the genesis of ideas, explore what occurred and just why, give an account of the individual side of your project, describe goals, explore task dynamics, check out particular phenomenon, and present final results in their difficulty without being at the mercy of the confines inherent generally in most other evaluation methods. The independence to gather multiple varieties of information makes the research study method useful for checking out ideas and making theories about program or project dynamics.
Despite its advantages, the case study method is typically thought to have several major limits as an analysis tool. Descriptive case studies are qualitative and unreliable. And, whether qualitative or quantitative, case studies typically relate with single assignments, or, at best, small clusters of projects, in a way that their results usually cannot be generalized to the complete portfolio of tasks.
Noting that distinguished scholars frequently use case study as a way of analysis, Yin, in his landmark booklet on circumstance studies, asks, "If the research study method has serious weaknesses, why do researchers continue to utilize it?" (Yin, 1994) On the list of possible explanations Yin considers are that individuals are not been trained in the use of other methods, or, for governmentally sponsored research, that the difficult permission procedures required for surveys and questionnaires have made their use "a bureaucratically hazardous affair, " leading research workers to the research study method, which is relatively unencumbered by constraints and requirements.
Identifying three types of circumstance studies " descriptive, exploratory, and explanatory, Yin argues that the case study method qualifies as a serious research tool. He claims, "Generally, case studies are the preferred strategy when 'how' or 'why' questions are being posed, when the investigator has little control over events, and when the focus is on the contemporary phenomenon within some real-life framework. " (Yin 1994 p. 1)
One of the biggest drawbacks to using the case study method has to do with external vs. interior validity. Using the research study method, the researcher often doesn't have control over certain parameters and occasions and, therefore, cannot control them as the researcher could in a lab experiment Therefore, the researcher using the case study method must be content that his/her conclusions may only be appropriate to similar situations. What the case study gains in internal validity, it loses in exterior validity.
Construct validity is especially problematic in case study research. It's been a way to obtain criticism because of potential investigator subjectivity. Yin suggested three remedies to counteract this: using multiple sources of evidence, establishing a string of data, and using a draft case study report assessed by key informants. Internal validity is a problem only in causal (explanatory) cases. This is usually a issue of "inferences" in the event studies, and can be handled using pattern-matching, which has been explained above. (Yin 1994)
External validity handles knowing whether the email address details are generalizable beyond the immediate case. Some of the criticism against case studies in this field relate with single-case studies. However, that criticism is directed at the statistical rather than the analytical generalization that is the basis of case studies. Stability is achieved in lots of ways in a case study. One of the most important methods is the introduction of the case study protocol.
The supplementary data is data recently gathered and registered by other researchers. There are several benefits and drawbacks to using secondary data for research purposes. One of the most important advantages is the fact a research can be built on past research using required experience and knowledge. In addition, supplementary data are usually much cheaper than principal data and incredibly often is readily provided. Furthermore, the collection of secondary data can be extremely rapid as a consequence to high-tech information accessibility and other marketing. However, the down sides of supplementary data are similarly very important and it must be gathered and used carefully. Generally such data have been considered during past research with a particular target and this may not link with other research. Therefore, the circumstances under which secondary data have been created should be evaluated in detail; usually it does not have any value whatsoever for further research (Zikmund, 2003). Whenever a researcher uses this type of data he/she should be aware of the time period these data refer to.
Another downside of extra data is the fact researchers sometimes give different explanations for the same problem making the estimation of the ultimate research end result confusing. In addition, there can be many other challenges when using supplementary data. The researcher has to know extensive information regarding the process which has produced the data, including the samples which may have been used and whether the process has taken all the required into account. In many cases, enough information is very difficult found or even impossible (Zikmund, 2003).
Quantitative data also has benefits and drawbacks. A major advantages is that it's numerous which is easily recognized. Furthermore, the results are subjective. Which means that if it is due to a large test, this effect can be generally applied and it is scientific. Another great advantage is that quantitative data is considered as reliable. This means that if the researcher repeats research following same process, he'll find the same results. A significant disadvantage of the kind of data is that they are narrow. In other words, it represents possible without providing any explanation for the effect. In ways, it gives picture of the symptoms and not the true problem.
Qualitative data also offers advantages and disadvantages. A major benefit is that produces more in-depth, detailed information. It stresses the importance of considering parameters in the natural environment in which they are located. Use subjective information and participant observation to spell it out the context, of natural setting, of the parameters in mind, as well as the relationship of different variables in context. A significant disadvantage of this kind of data is the fact that the very subjectivity of the inquiry contributes to difficulties in establishing the dependability and validity of the methods and information. It is very difficult to prevent or discover researcher induced bias. Its range is limited due to the in-depth, extensive data gathering strategies required.
In summary this work presents some dialogue of research study in conditions of its benefits and drawbacks. Case studies are considered valuable in research as they allow researchers to look at data at depth research. As an alternative to quantitative or qualitative research, circumstance studies can be a sensible solution when a large sample inhabitants is difficult to get. Although circumstance studies have various advantages, for the reason that they present data of real-life situations and they provide better understandings into the comprehensive behaviours of the subject areas appealing.
The research study method, like all research methods, is appropriate for some situations than others. When deciding to use this method of research, an investigator should retain in mind the problems and criticisms that are usually designed to the method involved and must take safety measures and care necessary to prevent them or decrease their repercussions. Nevertheless, the RESEARCH STUDY Method offers significant opportunities for the researcher; it could facilitate the study of many instances that wished to be investigated. This method, as well as qualitative methods is useful when the sensation being studied is large and sophisticated, where the body of knowledge is insufficient to aid the proposition of causal questions, and where in fact the phenomenon can't be studied beyond your context where it naturally occurs.
The researcher must use the selected data gathering tools systematically and properly in collecting the data and need to determine its object research, the type of research emphasis, control that the investigator has over genuine issues, and the give attention to contemporary phenomenon alternatively than historical and, following that, create a research process, limiting the universe to be researched. Throughout the design phase, research workers must ensure that the analysis is well produced to ensure construct validity, inner validity, exterior validity, and stability.
A common point among several creators (GOODE, 1962 and Yin, 1994) is a suggestion for great care and attention when the design phase, researchers must be sure that the study is well created to ensure build validity, inner validity, exterior validity, and trustworthiness. Like all research has advantages and limits of its program, and deserves the good care needed when the seek out generalizations. Research study method has always been criticised for its insufficient rigour and the trend for a researcher to have a biased interpretation of the data. But regardless of the criticisms, weaknesses and constraints, the case study has had trusted in every areas. However, its importance is undeniable as a musical instrument research and the analysis should be positioned in academic debate.
External validity demonstrates if results are generalizable beyond the immediate case or cases; the more modifications in places, people, and procedures a case study can withstand but still produce the same conclusions, the more exterior validity. Techniques such as cross-case examination and within-case examination along with literature review help ensure external validity. Reliability identifies the stability, exactness, and perfection of measurement. Exemplary research study design means that the steps used are well recorded and can be repeated with the same results again and again.
