On the seminar we discussed what differs a case study from “ordinary” researches. It was very difficult to understand the differences. But case studies are examining real-life phenomena, and can for example be real problem from companies or industries, or even solving crimes. At the moment I’m taking a management course where we had four different cases all from different companies. It could include questions (to answer) such as how to: market a product, choose tactics, prioritise growth options etc. Combining my knowledge from these cases with the theory I read in this course helped me to understand cases a bit more in-depth.
Leif Dahlberg explained that a case study can also examine a problem or area which “definition” did not exist before. He quoted Kant and said “one is blind without definition”. He explained what a case study is, with an example: a couple of years ago the diagnosis ADHD did not exist (this doesn’t mean that the disease didn’t exist it was just not “discovered”). Therefore making a case study on ADHD could help establish the definition. And it is also a case in the sense that it is taking a real life phenomena that did not really exist before - that is the diagnosis of ADHD.
The object of a case is something that exist in real life, and not something that the study can structure or generate. However, the case study does not need to research something that is new today, it can be an area that was renewed several years ago, even hundreds of years ago.
Case studies can generate theories. However, Eisenhardt claims complexity in form of more cases (more than three) is needed so that the theories should be legit. And if there is more than three cases it is also easier to see tendencies. The challenge on the other hand, is that is it usual to generate too much information from case studies and that it is difficult to compile this.
I also learned today that a case study usually contains several different methodologies.
Hi Stephanie!
SvaraRaderaI just wanted to add that I enjoyed the three points of a case study that we discussed during the seminar (and that I have written about in my post);
- It’s something that exists in the real life with a natural limitation.
- It uses different methods.
- It’s something inductive - no starting hypotheses and drags conclusions of experience.
You are explaining the two first points but I also think the third point is important, and something that (at least) helped me to understand what a case study is. That it shouldn't have a starting hypothesis that you want to try, but rather let the experiences from the study determine the result.
Great work as usual! :)
I have not yet attended this themes seminar, but it sound very interesting what Dahlberg told you about ADHD, and how it was “discovered”. Did he say something about how the participants who participated in that study were chosen? Did they cherry pick participants that had special characteristics?
SvaraRaderaIt was very interesting!
RaderaNo he didn't go in-depth in describing a specific case study about ADHD it was more of an example of what a case study is. Leif also said that even though ADHD today is an accepted term (and getting an ADHD diagnosis), in the future it might disappear (that is no longer seen as a "condition") or turn into more complex terms (like dividing up ADHD since there are different types of it) .
I think this is very interesting since it means that "things" (diseases, politics, science etc) that is accepted today may not be considered legit in the future. That means that the "truth" today may change in the future. I never really thought of science developing in that kind of way, but I suppose it is correct.
Hope it made som kind of sense! Thanks for your comment!
And thank you for your answer! I find what you write about how like diseases etc change during time is quite interesting. I think it shows how little we really know about the brain, because we realize through time that we should make other categorizations of mental diseases. I mean, a broken arm is always a broken arm, while a psychic disease/state don’t necessary are categorized as the same disease or condition 10 years later and in that way it is more like politics etc.
RaderaI think that the case of the discovering of ADHD is a great way of showing how case studies can help to come up with a definition. A case study generates a lot of different variables that is necessary to establish a real world definition.
SvaraRaderaI think that you wrote a great reflection here! One thing that I think was a bit unclear on the seminar was that Leif talked about that "case study" can both be a method and a definition. Did you understand that?
SvaraRaderaHi, interesting post. Before the seminar I thought I understood what a case study is but I realized during the seminar that was not right. I agree with you to differentiate a case study research from another kind of research is not trivial especially since I'm not particularly used to make such a distinction when I read an article or a paper. Conduct a case study have many advantages like you mention, however I agree with you that one of the biggest challenges you have is to compile and analyse thehuge amount of data being handled. Good job!
SvaraRaderaIsaac Rondon