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AU - Flyvbjerg, B
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SN - 1077-8004
JO - Qualitative Inquiry
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Title: five misunderstandings about case-study research.
Abstract: This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (4) The case study contains a bias toward verification; and (5) It is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. The article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and that a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of more good case studies.
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Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research
B. Flyvbjerg
Apr 1, 2006
Influential Citations
Quality indicators
Qualitative Inquiry
Key Takeaway : Case-study research can contribute to scientific development and strengthen social science by addressing common misconceptions.
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.
Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research
Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research
- Institut for Bæredygtighed og Planlægning
Publikation : Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review
Adgang til dokumentet
- 10.1177/1077800405284363
- BF Qualitative Inquiry 2006 vol 12 no 2 April pp 219-245 Forlagets udgivne version, 125 KB
Fingeraftryk
- Case Study Nursing and Health Professions 100%
- Knowledge Social Sciences 33%
- Moral Concepts Social Sciences 33%
- Scientific Development Social Sciences 16%
- Social Sciences Social Sciences 16%
- Scientific Discipline Social Sciences 16%
- Theory Building Social Sciences 16%
- Bias Social Sciences 16%
Citationsformater
T1 - Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research
AU - Flyvbjerg, Bent
N2 - This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.
AB - This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.
U2 - 10.1177/1077800405284363
DO - 10.1177/1077800405284363
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1077-8004
JO - Qualitative Inquiry
JF - Qualitative Inquiry
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Five Misunderstandings about Case-Study Research
2006, Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.
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Case studies have been subjected to both positive attributes and negative criticisms. Accordingly, there has been a growing academic discussion and debate about the usability of the case study with regard to its reliability. It has been accused of being a less rigorous, undependable, and ungeneralizable research method. The condemnation has led scholars and professionals among the researcher community to raise viewpoints that represent different schools of thought. Each school demonstrated its perception regarding the debate, of course with some concern. Whereas a section of researchers or scholars encourages the method as a useful approach, the other emphasizes its argument based on, among other things, what they call ‘lack of reliability’ of the case study, particularly external validity – whether a study carried out in the approach could indeed be generalized.
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● Abstract This paper analyses the case study research methodology to answer the question about how fruitful is this method and whether or not it is worthy to be applied in social sciences. The case study method has been questioned and criticised along the history by some methodologists; others have defended it. The authors concluded that the case study method is generally criticized because it is arguably misunderstood. They recommend to researchers to follow a framework or pre-specified procedures to avoid false hypotheses and generalize from relative and ambiguous conclusions.
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Abstract: A Case Study is one of the most popular and widely used methods in social research. Though case studies primarily involve qualitative research techniques, they can also make use of quantitative methods, thus, providing a fascinating turf for the interplay of both qualitative and quantitative methods in carrying out a social research. This paper is an attempt to study and examine the primary attributes of a case-study method and its potential for generating authoritative knowledge. Some of the major dimensions of a case study being reviewed and dealt with in this paper include –a) the debates surrounding the enunciation of precise definitions and key characteristics of a case study method b) the types of researches where case studies can be most aptly employed c) the relative utility and merits/demerits of case studies vis-à-vis other methods of qualitative research d) the issues of reliability and validity of a case study method and e) the seemingly unending debate surrounding the role of a case study in effecting broader generalizations and its future promise. Keywords: case study protocol, generalization, reliability, replication, research design.
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Although case study methods remain a controversial approach to data collection, they are widely recognised in many social science studies especially when in-depth explanations of a social behaviour are sought after. This article, therefore, discusses several aspects of case studies as a research method. These include the design and categories of case studies and how their robustness can be achieved. It also explores on the advantages and disadvantages of case study as a research method.
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Case-study as a qualitative research is a strongly debatable research strategy among all academicians and particularly practitioners. Therefore, in order to provide some upto-date insights into this controversial issue, the current paper seeks to investigate and document some aspects of case-study research. In fact, after reviewing some literatures in order to define, clarify and classify case-study research, the paper tries to consider and trade-off this qualitative strategy from different philosophical perspectives and approaches. Then, by relying on some recently outstanding papers and other highly recognized written resources, the paper gets into the appropriateness of casestudy including Generalizability, Validity, Construct validity, Internal validity and Reliability. Next, the role of case-study to build a social theory is investigated that leads to preset a step-bystep process to achieve this visionary goal. At the end, a brief comparison between case-study, as a common representative of qualitative research, and survey, an indicator of opposite view, is done. This paper contributes to research method’s development used by scholars looking to establish a case research by improving the level of understanding regarding the discussed issues. Index Terms- case-study appropriateness, case-study classification, case-study approaches.
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This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing ...
Abstract. This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a ...
Flyvbjerg Misunderstandings about Case-Study Research101 one of the strongest proponents of this method. I eventually found, with the help of Campbell's later works (e.g., Campbell, 1975) and other works like them, that the problems with the conventional wisdom about case-study research can be summarized in five misunderstandings or ...
Abstract. This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical. knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most.
Misunderstanding 1: General, theoretical (context-independent) knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical (context-dependent) knowledge. Misunderstanding 2: One cannot generalize on the basis of an individual case; therefore, the case study cannot contribute to scientific development. Misunderstanding3 ...
studied than to the case study as a research method. Often it is not desirable to summarize and generalize case studies. Good studies should be read as narratives in their entirety. Read more in: Bent Flyvbjerg, 2006, "Five Misunderstandings About Case Study Research." Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, April, pp. 219-245.
When I first became interested in in-depth case-study research, I was trying to understand how power and rationality shape each other and form the urban environ ... Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245 ... Bent, Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research (2004). In Clive Seale, Giampietro Gobo, Jaber F. Gubrium, and David ...
Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 370-387. Flyvbjerg, B. / Five misunderstandings about case-study research. ... T1 - Five misunderstandings about case-study research. AU - Flyvbjerg, B. PY - 2006. Y1 - 2006. KW - Geen BTA classificatie.
Five misunderstandings about case-study research. I first became interested in in-depth case-study research, I was trying to understand how power and rationality shape each other and form the urban environments in which we live (Flyvbjerg, 1998). It was clear to me that in order to understand a complex issue like this, in-depth case-study ...
Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245 Number of pages: 27 Posted: 10 Mar 2013 Last Revised: 09 Oct 2013. ... This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study ...
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, while other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and ...
Abstract. This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for ...
E-Print: Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, April 2006, 219-245. This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore the single case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (3) The ...
The five misunderstandings constitute the conventional view, or orthodoxy, of the case study. As can be seen, theory, reliability, and validity are at issue: in other words, the very status of the case study as a research method. The five misunderstandings are corrected one by one in order to clear the ground for a use of case study research in ...
The following five misunderstandings about the case study systematically undermine the credibility and use of the method. The five misunderstandings constitute the conventional view, or orthodoxy, of the case study. ... Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245 ... Case-study as a qualitative research is a strongly debatable research ...
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (2) One cannot generalize from a single case ...
Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research. This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (1) Theoretical knowledge is more useful than practical knowledge ...
(DOI: 10.1177/1077800405284363) This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more ...
This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing ...
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In the revised Fourth Edition of the best selling text, John W. Creswell and new co author Cheryl N. Poth explore the philosophical underpinnings, history, and key elements of five qualitative inquiry approaches: narrative research, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, and case study. Preserving Creswell′s signature writing style, the authors compare the approaches and relate ...
Status. Udgivet - 2006. 10.1177/1077800405284363. BF Qualitative Inquiry 2006 vol 12 no 2 April pp 219-245 Forlagets udgivne version, 125 KB. Dyk ned i forskningsemnerne om 'Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research'. Sammen danner de et unikt fingeraftryk. Case Studies Social Sciences.
2006, Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 219-245. This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study ...