The concept of the case is a basic feature of social science research and yet many questions about how a case should be defined, how cases should be selected and what the criteria are for a good case or set of cases are far from settled. Are cases pre-existing phenomena that need only be identified by the researcher before analysis can begin? Or are cases constructed during the course of research, only after analysis has revealed which features should be considered defining characteristics? Will cases be selected randomly from the total pool of available cases? Or will cases be chosen because of their unique qualities? These questions and many others are addressed by the contributors to this volume as they probe the nature of the case and the ways in which different understandings of what a case is affect the conduct and the results of research. The contributors find a good deal of common ground, and yet they also express strikingly different views on many key points. As Ragin argues and the contributions demonstrate, the work of any given researcher is often characterized by some hybrid of these basic approaches, and it is important to understand that most research involves multiple definitions and uses of cases, as both specific empirical phenomena and as general theoretical categories.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"There is sociology of sociology here, many recountings of field adventures, tips on data collection and analysis, and discussions of substantive topics as diverse as crime, religion, gender, family, cities, social problems, and social movements...a good read." Contemporary Sociology
"This is not a book to be missed. The issues raised and discussed insure it a wide readership for, I predict, many years. They pertain to the nature and use of cases by us all, whether we are researchers, theorists, or both." Anselm Strauss, University of California, San Francisco
"...enormously stimulating and enlightening. The book will not only be a pure delight for comparative methodologists in the social sciences but also, more importantly, a rich source of useful insights and fresh perspectives for the much larger number of empirical comparative researchers." Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego
"A must for anyone concerned with methods of inquiry in the social sciences...it raises a host of basic issues about empirical social science. The authors deal with these issues in a uniformly penetrating manner." Harry Eckstein, University of California, Irvine
"[T]here is something of value in the book for almost anyone....What Is a Case? is a useful book, reflecting a new level of methodological/theoretical self-awareness and subtlety of the kind that will benefit the discipline." Alan Sica, American Journal of Sociology
"This is not a book to be missed. The issues raised and discussed insure it a wide readership for, I predict, many years. They pertain to the nature and use of cases by us all, whether we are researchers, theorists, or both." Anselm Strauss, University of California, San Francisco
"...enormously stimulating and enlightening. The book will not only be a pure delight for comparative methodologists in the social sciences but also, more importantly, a rich source of useful insights and fresh perspectives for the much larger number of empirical comparative researchers." Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego
"A must for anyone concerned with methods of inquiry in the social sciences...it raises a host of basic issues about empirical social science. The authors deal with these issues in a uniformly penetrating manner." Harry Eckstein, University of California, Irvine
"[T]here is something of value in the book for almost anyone....What Is a Case? is a useful book, reflecting a new level of methodological/theoretical self-awareness and subtlety of the kind that will benefit the discipline." Alan Sica, American Journal of Sociology
Book Description
Contributors probe the nature of the case and the ways in which different understandings of it affect conduct and research in resolving unsettled questions as to how the case should be defined or selected.
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Inside This Book
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This chapter's broad concern is with the ways cases are used in practice to build arguments, and how this relates to conventional methodological imperatives. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
organizational misconduct, violative behavior, empirical units, theory elaboration, analytical induction, microlevel data, narrative steps, narrative sentences, typological distinctions, autonomous workers, ethnographic case study, universal narratives, political engineering Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, University of Chicago Press, American Journal of Sociology, Free Press, Owens Valley, Street Corner Society, University of California Press, Harvard University Press, American Sociological Review, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, The People's Choice, Columbia University, The Jack-Roller, World War, Englewood Cliffs, Jennifer Platt, Princeton University Press, Reprinted Chicago, Academic Press, Douglas Harper, Erie County, Italian Slum, Los Angeles, Morris Rosenberg New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
This chapter's broad concern is with the ways cases are used in practice to build arguments, and how this relates to conventional methodological imperatives. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
organizational misconduct, violative behavior, empirical units, theory elaboration, analytical induction, microlevel data, narrative steps, narrative sentences, typological distinctions, autonomous workers, ethnographic case study, universal narratives, political engineering Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, University of Chicago Press, American Journal of Sociology, Free Press, Owens Valley, Street Corner Society, University of California Press, Harvard University Press, American Sociological Review, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, The People's Choice, Columbia University, The Jack-Roller, World War, Englewood Cliffs, Jennifer Platt, Princeton University Press, Reprinted Chicago, Academic Press, Douglas Harper, Erie County, Italian Slum, Los Angeles, Morris Rosenberg New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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6
books
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- The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies by Charles C. Ragin on 6 pages
- Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum by William Foote Whyte on 5 pages
- Western Times and Water Wars: State, Culture, and Rebellion in California (Centennial Book) by John Walton in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and page 137
- Social Mobility and Class Structure in Modern Britain by John H. Goldthorpe on page 37, page 46, and page 51
- Identity and Control: A Structural Theory of Social Action by Harrison C. White in Front Matter, and page 104
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- The Transformation of the Student Career: University Study in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden (RoutledgeFalmer Studies in Higher Education) by Michael Nugent in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Qualitative Research in IS: Issues and Trends by Eileen M. Trauth on page 188
- Strategic Management of the Health Care Supply Chain by Eugene S. Schneller in Back Matter
- Grounded Theory in Management Research (SAGE series in Management Research) by Karen Locke in Back Matter
- Grounded Theory in Management Research (SAGE series in Management Research) by Karen Locke in Back Matter
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