Case-oriented Research

Abstract

In case-oriented research investigators focus on interconnections among parts and aspects within each case and attempt to make sense of cases as singular, interpretable entities. The single case study is the most basic form of case-oriented research, but researchers may also conduct a series of case studies, each study building on the previous, or conduct simultaneous studies of several instances of the same phenomenon (as in comparative research). The key commonality of these different case-oriented approaches is that the researcher makes an effort to understand each case included in the study separately, as an interpretable entity. The distinctiveness of the case-oriented approach is most apparent when it is contrasted with variable-oriented research, where investigators focus on cross-case patterns and not on each case as a separate entity. The case-oriented approach is distinctive not only in its goals and logic, but also in its ‘practical aspects’—the procedures that case-oriented researchers use to work with evidence and represent what they have learned.