Case Study Research in Educational Settings

Citation

Llanes, J.R. (2001), "Case Study Research in Educational Settings", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 187-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea.2001.39.2.187.2

It is unfortunate for social scientists that certain insights do not easily emerge until late in their careers. This is particularly true in the area of research method. It seems to require repeated applications of a method before a social scientist can fully grasp its limitations and fallacies. This book gives us the experience of a master at case methodology, Michael Bassey, Emeritus Professor of Education at Nottingham Trent University and Executive Secretary of the British Educational Research Association. Coming late in Bassey’s extensive career, it will help new social scientists gain those insights earlier than it took the author to achieve them. This book delivers what the backcover promises: “new insights into the case study as a tool of educational research.”

One of those valuable contributions, which can only emerge from experience facing the critics of the method, is the author’s suggestion on the validation of the theory‐seeking case study. In this type of case study, where external validity and replicability questions arise most often, Bassey introduces us to his idea for the simplification of the “Audit Certification” process first proposed over 15 years ago by Lincoln and Guba to remedy the same problem. Under the Bassey simplification, the validity of the case study is examined by a knowledgeable colleague, who is also privy to the data. The collegial review proceeds to answer questions about the study in areas such as the “claim to educational knowledge” the author makes, the appropriateness of the collection of data and the analysis and interpretation of data. This approach seems workable and has been part of my own qualitative research method for many years. The external review not only conforms the data to an objective standard but very often the external observer contributes to the interpretations made of the data and expands them. At the end of the review the external auditor/colleague makes the following certification: “In terms of evidence provided in this paper it is my professional judgement that the statement of empirical findings is based firmly on the data collected and that the enquiry has been conducted according to the ethical guidelines of respect for persons and respect for truth.”

Chapter 7 is a thorough primer for the would‐be case study researcher and will be very useful to students preparing to do dissertations using this method. His stages of design and conduct of the case study are very much on target, as are his comments on the writing of the report. Case study research seems simple to plan and conduct. There are fewer subjects to contend with, no need for complex validation procedures for instruments and no large‐scale data collection. Some of my students might choose to propose it as a way to avoid the required Advanced Statistics courses I would prescribe should a quantitative method be suggested. Yet the process of analyzing and writing these findings in a report has caused some researchers to abandon the data and just change careers. Bassey brings us a step‐by‐step approach, which can only facilitate the process of planning for a case study, by anticipating and accounting for the daunting tasks that lie after data collection.

The author’s concept of “fuzzy generalization” as “a method of delivering findings” is enlarged in this book and applied to each element of analysis and reporting discussed. Bassey defines “fuzzy generalization” as "the kind of statement which makes no absolute claim to knowledge, but hedges its claim with uncertainties." He gives us an example:

It arises when the empirical finding of a piece of research, such as

In this case it has been found that

is turned into a qualified general statement like this

In some cases it may be found that.

Bassey relates this concept to fuzzy logic, a system for extracting meaningful findings from imprecise measurements. Here I disagree with Bassey. Fuzzy Logic is part of mathematical set theory, developed by Lofti Zadeh at UC Berkeley in the early 1970s. Fuzzy logic has been used as a feedback loop for controlling machines (for example, the automatic focusing in cameras), as well as in social science research (for example, questionnaires and observational instruments used in jury selection).

Fuzzy logic makes imprecise measurements precise enough to be quantitatively analyzed and numerically reported. Bassey’s concept relates to fuzzy logic, in my opinion, only in the use of the adjective fuzzy, and is more closely related to the by now accepted nomenclature for publishing the latest estimate in time‐series economic data, pioneered by, among others, the magazine The Economist. The Economist will report only that, for example, “Unemployment may have risen 0.01 during last month.” a statement that accurately transmits the idea that these are preliminary statistics, which may have to be adjusted later.

Bassey suggests that these fuzzy generalizations, when used to deliver findings from research, “is not just introducing an element of uncertainty. It is not an admission of frailty in the way that the research was conducted. It is a firm reminder that there are many variables which determine whether learning takes place.” Here I agree completely. Skepticism which does not turn you into a Pyrrho, does propel you to learn more about the phenomena in either an effort to reduce the level of uncertainty, or differently, to increase holistic understanding. This is very useful thinking for educational professionals whose generalizable set of findings which apply all the time to all populations are rare if non‐existent.

Finally I would suggest to readers of this journal that along with R.K. Yin’s Case Study Research: Design and Methods and R.E. Stake’s The Art of Case Study Research this book is an essential part of the understanding a researcher requires when facing the deceptively simple but devilishly complex undertaking of case study research.