The Case Study Paradox
Case studies have existed as long as recorded history. Much of what is known about the empirical world has been produced by case study research, and many of the classics in a long range of disciplines are case studies, including in psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, education, economics, political science, management, geography, biology, and medical science. Half of all articles in the top political science journals use case studies, for instance. But there is a paradox here, as argued by Oxford professor Bent Flyvbjerg. At the same time that case studies are extensively used and have produced canonical works, one may observe that the case study is generally held in low regard, or is simply ignored, within the academy. Statistics on courses offered in universities confirm this. It has been argued that the case study paradox exists because the case study is widely misunderstood as a research method. Flyvbjerg argues that by clearing the misunderstandings about the case study, the case study paradox may be resolved.
Read more about this topic: Case Study
Famous quotes containing the words case, study and/or paradox:
“Instructing in cures, therapists always recommend that each case be individualized. If this advice is followed, one becomes persuaded that those means recommended in textbooks as the best, means perfectly appropriate for the template case, turn out to be completely unsuitable in individual cases.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (18601904)
“lf, presume not to God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Placd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great.”
—Alexander Pope (16881744)
“The paradox of education is precisely thisthat as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.”
—James Baldwin (19241987)