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Single and Multiple-Case Study

Designs IS493
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Single and Multiple-Case Study

Designs IS493
 ResearchStrategies
Basicoppositions
SurveyresearchversusCasestudy
quantitativeversusqualitative

Thewholegamut
Experiment
Survey
Archivalanalysis
Historicalresearch
Casestudy

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Designs IS493
 BasicConditions
Strategy TypeofQuestion Controlof Focuson
Behavioural Contemporary
Events Research

Experiment How,why Yes Yes

Survey Who,what,where, No Yes
howmany,how
much

ArchivalAnalysis Who,what,where, No Yes/No

howmany,how
much

History Howandwhy No No
Casestudy Howandwhy No Yes

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Designs IS493
 DrivingForces
Casestudy,Historyand SurveyandArchivalanalysis
Experiment
Establishtheoperationallink Establishtheincidenceor
betweenonesetofconditions prevalenceofanevent,
(causes)andtheireffects phenomenonorstateofaffairs
HowandWhyquestions What,WhoandWhere
Howmuch,Howmany
Causalities Frequencies,Correlations

Explainbydisclosingthe Describeoftenbyrecourseto
mechanismbywhichasetof quantitativerelations
relationhascometobeing

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Designs IS493
 Definition
Acasestudyisanempiricalinquirythat
investigatesacontemporaryphenomenonwithinits
reallifecontextespeciallywhen
Theboundariesbetweenphenomenonandcontext
cannotbedrawnclearlyorunambiguously.

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Designs IS493
 TheResearchLadder
ResearchStrategyversusResearchDesign
OneStrategy(i.e.CaseStudy)butVariousDesigns(i.e.
SingleorMultipleCaseStudyDesign)

Strategy
Design
DataCollection
DataAnalysis

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Designs IS493
 ResearchDesign(1)
ResearchDesign
Thelogicalsequencethatconnectstheempirical
datatoastudysinitialresearchquestionsand
conclusions
Designasawayofaddressingfourbasicsetsof
researchissues
Whatquestionstostudy
Whatdataarerelevant
Whatdatatocollect
Howtoanalysetheresults

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Designs IS493
 ResearchDesign(2)
TheResearchdesignisnotjustaworkplan
Asuccessfuldesignshouldprovideguidance
astohowtomatchempiricalevidencetothe
researchquestionsasked
Whatkindofevidenceisneededtoaddressthe
questionstheresearchraises?
Theresearchdesignthusaddressesalogical nota
logisticalproblem

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Designs IS493
 ComponentsofCaseStudy
ResearchDesign
AStudysQuestions
HowandWhy(strategy)

ThePropositionsoftheStudy

TheUnitofAnalysis

TheLogicalStepsLinkingDatatothePropositions

CriteriaforInterpretingtheFindings

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Designs IS493
 ThePropositionsoftheStudy
(1)
PropositionsProvideDirection
Wheretolookforrelevantevidence
Whatdatatocollect

TheDevelopmentofPropositionsisaKeytoa
SuccessfulCaseStudy
Propositionsarederivedfromtheoryorotherrelevant
research

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Designs IS493
 ThePropositionsoftheStudy
(2)
ExplorativeversusDescriptiveand
ExplanatoryCaseStudies
Exploratorybydefinitionlackthedevelopmentof
wellarticulatedpropositionsderivedfromtheory
and/orpriorresearch
Hunches,tentativestatements,andapurpose

Otherviews
Inductiveapproachestocasestudyresearch
downplay(ifnotreject)theroleoftheoryatan
earlystageofempiricalresearch

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Designs IS493
 UnitofAnalysis
IndividualsversusMoreInclusive
Phenomena,
e.g.Programmes,Decisions,Technologies,
Groups,Departments,Organizations,Regions,
Nations
TheSlipperyNatureoftheUnitofAnalysis
Studyinggroupsororganizationsinsteadof
programmesortechnologies
E.g.implementationofparticulartechnologiesasan
occasionforstudyinggroupanddecisionmaking
processes
Howaretechnologiestobestudied?

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Designs IS493
 LinkingDatato
Propositions
Howtoreducethevarietyofdatatothegeneral
abstractcharacteroftheoreticalpropositions?
Thematicblocks
Relationshipsbetweenevents
Patternmatching

CriteriaforInterpretingtheFindings

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Designs IS493
 TheRoleofTheoryinDesign
Work
CaseStudiesversusEthnographyand
GroundedTheory
TheKeyRoleofTheory
Anhypothetical(andprovisional)accountabout
whyacts,events,structureetc.arerelated
Descriptionversusexplanation
Theleveloftheorydevelopmentandthedesignof
thecasestudy

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Designs IS493
 GeneralizingfromCase
Study
Theoryisthelevelatwhichgeneralizationof
theresultswilloccur
AnalyticversusStatisticalGeneralization
TheTwoLevelsofInferenceDrawing
Casestudiesarenotsamplingpoints
Atheoryusedastemplatetowhichcomparethe
empiricalresultsofthecasestudy

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Designs IS493
 ResearchDesignQuality
ConstructValidity
Operationalisingconcepts

InternalValidity
Excludingalternativeexplanationsandspurious
relationships

ExternalValidity
Thedomaintowhichthefindingsofthestudycanbe
generalized

Reliability
Replicatingthestudybyprovidingdetailedaccountsof
datacollectionprocedures
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Designs IS493
 18

Single and Multiple-Case Study

Designs IS493
 CaseStudyDesigns
SingleversusMultipleCaseStudyResearch

Singlecasestudy
Adecisionpriortodatacollection
Identifying,delimitingthecaseanditscontext
Distinguishingbetweenthephenomenonstudied(the
case)anditscontext

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Designs IS493
 RationalesforChoosinga
SingleCase
Criticalcase
Acriticaltestforasignificanttheory
Extremeoruniquecase
Documentingtheprecisenatureofaphenomenonnot
wellunderstood
Representativeortypicalcase
Capturingtheconditionsofacommonplacesituation
Revelatorycase
Previouslynonaccessiblephenomenon
Longitudinalcase
Establishingchangeovertime,causalmechanisms,
patternsoftransition,etc

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Designs IS493
 HolisticandEmbedded
Designs
SingleCaseStudy
Studyingacaseinits
totality(holistic)
Studyingunitsorprocesses
orprojectswithinasingle
case(embedded)
MultipleCaseStudies
Studyingand
comparingcasesin
theirtotality(holistic)
Studyingvariousunits
withinidentifiable
cases(embedded)

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Designs IS493
 MultipleCaseStudy
Research
Design(MCSRD)
Evidencefrommorecasestudiesismore
compelling
Yet,amultiplecasestudydesignby
definitiondoesnotinvolvecritical,unusualor
revelatorycases.
TheReplicationLogicofMCSRD
Replicationcorroborates,qualifiesand/orextends
thefindingsofthefirstcase(s)
Multiplecasesasrepeatedexperiments

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Designs IS493
 Samplingversus
Replication
Sampling(survey)versusreplication
(experiment)logicsrevisited
Thecasestudydoesnotinvolvegeneralisingfrom
asampletopopulation
Casestudiesdonotestablishthefrequencyorprevalence
ofaphenomenonbutthemechanismsbywhichitis
broughttobeing,sustainedorchanged
Ifasamplinglogichadtobeappliedtoalltypesof
researchmanyimportanttopicscouldnotbe
empiricallyinvestigated

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Designs IS493
 ReplicationLogics
LiteralversusTheoreticalReplication
Predictingsimilar(literal)versuscontrasting
(theoretical)results
ATheoreticalFrameworkasaPrecondition
Makingthedecisionaboutwhichreplicationlogic
(literalortheoretical)tofollow
Generalizingtothetheory

TheoryDevelopmentandModification

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Designs IS493
 TheBasicStepsofthe
MCSRD
TheoryDevelopment
SelectionofCasesandDesignofDataCollection
Protocol
ConducttheEmpiricalInvestigation
WriteIndividualCaseReports
DrawCrossCaseConclusions
BringCrossCaseConclusionstoBearonthe
Theory
SummaryReport

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Designs IS493
 HybridRealities
RedesigningtheStudyontheBasisofEmpirical
EvidenceorOtherProblems
Redesigningtheempiricalinvestigation
Designorprotocol
Reconsideringthetheoreticalfoundationsofthestudy

HowManyCases?
ExploratoryResearchandtheLogicofReplication

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Designs IS493
 FurtherConsiderations
HolisticorEmbeddedMultipleCaseStudies
Issuesandproblems

MultipleCaseDesignstobePreferredoverSingle
CaseDesignsunlesstherearecompellingreasonsfor
asingle casestudydesign

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Designs IS493