Case Study Research in Educational Technology

Case study research is a research methodology that systematically investigates a social phenomenon in its naturalistic context through in-depth examination of a single or multiple critical incidents of the phenomenon. These critical incidents are also known as cases. Case study research is often considered as a type of qualitative inquiry as it deals with empirical evidence in primarily narrative forms, such as field notes, interview transcript, and documentation. It acknowledges the complex and contextualized nature of the social phenomenon under investigation and does not attempt to limit or control the contextual factors pertinent to the phenomenon. In order to examine a case in depth, a researcher usually spends a considerable amount of time at the case setting (e.g., classroom, online discussion forum) and employs a ...