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Case Reports

Case Reports. How to avoid anecdotes Prof. Chuck Huff Research Methods with lab, 2014. Overview. What is a case Importance of theory importance of triangulating among data sources , Rival explanations challenge of generalizing from case studies . Administrivia

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Case Reports

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  1. Case Reports How to avoid anecdotes Prof. Chuck Huff Research Methods with lab, 2014

  2. Overview • What is a case • Importance of theory • importance of triangulating among data sources, • Rival explanations • challenge of generalizing from case studies. • Administrivia • Annotated bib due Oct 3(this Friday) at 11:59 PM. Upload it AND your timesheet to the your group’s Google drive folder • Lab Report due next Monday at 11:59 PM

  3. What is a case? • A systematic empirical inquiry • That is rich in detail • About a single thing (person, event, institution, etc.) • That takes process and context into account • It may be, but need not be, exploratory

  4. What kind of case? • Single vs multiple • Same vs different context • Uni-vocal or multi-vocal?

  5. How theory helps • It shapes what cases and contexts you choose • It focuses what you look at (case & context) • It limits what you look at

  6. How to collect data • Direct observation • Interviews • Archival records • Documents (e.g. email) • Participant observation • Can be both quantitative and qualitative

  7. Rival Explanations • Care about them • They need not be rival (exclusive), they can simply be alternative (additional) • Theory and local knowledge help here too. Therefore you need your literature review. • This requires a devil’s advocate approach early on in selection of cases and design of the data collection method.

  8. How to Generalize • Statistical generalization is about expected quantitative values in the population, with confidence limits • Analytical generalization is about using the theoretical framework and findings of the study to establish a logic/story that might be applicable to other situations. • Think creatively about the dimensions on which you want to generalize. • Courage and humility are required.

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