Defining Case Study Research

Defining case study research is both easy and problematic. It is problematic because the very essence of our approach of bringing together case study researchers from across the paradigmatic divides and across various disciplines means that any definition needs to be all encompassing. As you will find throughout the encyclopedia, definitions of case study vary across disciplines, especially according to the underlying philosophies (or paradigms) involved. On the other hand, there are common threads across all the entries that allowed us to make decisions about what was and was not an applicable entry on case study research. Thus, in the process of developing an all-inclusive work we constructed a particular view of what it is that constitutes case study.

Simply put, case study is a research strategy whose characteristics include

• a focus on the interrelationships that constitute the context of a specific entity (such as an organization, event, phenomenon, or person),
• analysis of the relationship between the contextual factors and the entity being studied, and
• the explicit purpose of using those insights (of the interactions between contextual relationships and the entity in question) to generate theory and/or contribute to extant theory.

Here we propose four noteworthy points concerning our description of the case study: First, and foremost, our definition, like all definitions, serves to limit the object of inquiry but hopefully in a way that is not too restrictive. Second, as such, our definition should be taken as a heuristic, or sensemaking device, for guiding, rather than dictating, your understanding of case study research. Nonetheless, in keeping with the philosophy of our approach, our definition—like all definitions—should be viewed as a social construction for making sense of the common threads across contributions. Our definition is not meant to be definitive nor authoritative to the exclusion of other equally valid definitions. Third, we have chosen to call case study a research strategy rather than a method or methodology. Method implies a research tool, such as surveys, interviews, or observations, and case [Page xxxiii]study cannot be reduced to a single method. Methodology can refer to the use of a particular method or methods and the theoretical framework that informs its use. To take the example of interviewing: Some researchers may use interviews as a method for finding out what people actually think about something, while poststructuralist researchers may use interviews to assess how powerful ideas in practice (e.g., employment equity, privatization, fitness) influence the way people think and treat something as knowledge. Case study can involve any combination of methodologies and methods and so is perhaps better described as a strategy to capture the decision making that goes into developing a particular case study. Fourth, we have linked our definition to the focus, form of analysis, and explicit purpose of the research strategy. In other words, a case consists of a focus on the link between a specific entity and its supposed contextual interrelationships, and on what the link can tell us about either the uniqueness of the case or its generalizability to comparable relationships.

How to Use the Encyclopedia of Case Study Research

The encyclopedia consists of 357 entries arranged in alphabetical order over two volumes. Each entry provides the reader with an overview of a specific topic or issue in case study research. In each entry, readers will first find a definition of the headword followed by a conceptual overview and discussion of key issues pertaining to that headword. Since we were particularly concerned with the doing of case study research, readers will typically find an application of the headword, either in terms of a direct description of “how to” or in the form of a description of an example of a case study that embodies the headword. The identification of a specific case study where the headword is applied is especially useful, since it grounds the headword in an actual case study and provides readers with a concrete example, which they can later consult as an additional reference material. Each entry concludes with a critical summary that reflectively raises additional issues of which practitioners of case study research should be aware. Finally, further insight into the headword is then provided through a list of cross-references to other relevant headwords in the encyclopedia and a list of references for further in-depth investigation.

The encyclopedia contains an entry titled Case Study as a Methodological Approach. Unlike other entries, which deal with specific aspects of case study research, this entry provides an overview of case study research. It does, however, share with all other entries an underlying philosophy that informs its approach and should be read in that vein.

An additional feature of the encyclopedia readers will find helpful is the Reader's Guide, located in the front matter of each volume. The Reader's Guide organizes all entries under nine thematic topics for easy reference. For example, readers may wish to turn first to an overview of case study research within their discipline. The Reader's Guide lists each discipline addressed under the heading of Academic Disciplines. Other categories include TheoreticalTraditions, Methodological Approaches, Types of Case Study Research, Case Study Research Design, Data Collection, Data Analysis, Theory Development and Contributions From Case Study Research, and Conceptual Issues. Each entry in the encyclopedia will be listed under at least one of these broad thematic headings.

At the end of the encyclopedia (in Volume 2) we have included a section called “The Fun and Value of Case Study Research.” Here we asked contributors to share their sense of the enjoyment as well as the value of case study research. The result is a selected group of five researchers who share their views of how case study research can be as meaningful and as much fun as it is rigorous and methodical. Our aim here is to provide a different way of “getting inside” the case study researcher's viewpoint. Linked to these contributions is a section called “Favorite Cases” where contributors share their opinions on the case studies that have influenced their own work and thinking. Here you will find an array of views and further information on the types of case studies that influence case study researchers. Our aim is to provide a different way of exposing readers to the importance of case study research and a guide to further reading.

Finally, we provide a list of case studies selected by many of the contributors and editors of the [Page xxxiv]encyclopedia. This allows readers to follow up on selected themes, to explore the work of contributors, and to gain a sense of the depth of expertise involved in the two-volume work, and provides another resource for further reading.

Acknowledgments

An encyclopedia encompassing such breadth and depth—breadth of disciplines, philosophical paradigms, and geographic situatedness of case studies, and depth of experience, knowledge, and insight into case study research—could not have been produced without the gracious and careful efforts of practitioners of case study research worldwide. We as an editorial team have been humbled by their commitment to the case study strategy, by their insight into doing case study research, and by their commitment to the people and issues that formed the focus of their own respective case studies. To all who contributed to the encyclopedia, we are especially grateful.

We are also particularly thankful for the outstanding (and this word is understated) contribution of our managing editor, Marion Weatherbee. Marion has brought exceptional organizational skills to this endeavor, freeing and focusing us as editors to do the work of editing.

We have also been blessed to work with a superb team at SAGE. James Brace-Thompson, who first proposed the encyclopedia to us, has been a constant source of support, encouragement, enthusiasm, and energy. Carole Maurer, our developmental editor, has worked closely with us to gauge our progress, helping us to find ways to continue to move forward in a timely fashion and assisting us with myriad questions and issues over the course of developing the encyclopedia. Our expressed thanks do not adequately convey our depth of appreciation for you. Finally, Laura Notton and Leticia Gutierrez have provided invaluable support through the Sage Reference Tracking System, which has made a logistical monster into a benign house cat.

In conclusion, we are grateful for our readers, both novice and seasoned researchers, who wish to learn about or further develop their abilities in case study research. It is because of you that this has been a labor of love.