VL3

• In business, the case is very often a firm or organization even if the subject matter is not.

• The difference to ethnography is that case study normally does not involve participant observation or fieldwork.

• Case study research is per se philosophically neutral.

• Teaching cases: used to illustrate and exemplify a theory or particular point

  • Case-based teaching: we use real-life examples to bring theory to life

• Research cases: used as empirical evidence to convince others of the (in-)applicability of particular theory or proposition

  • To describe: systematically a previously unknown or emergent phenomenon within the real-life setting in which it occurs.

  • To explore: to discuss patterns and linkages in a poorly understood or emergent phenomenon.

  • To explain: to develop, evaluate, or compare theoretical explanations or predictions about a phenomenon.

• The selection of subsequent cases in addition to an initial/primary case.

• Different logics exist for replication:

  • Snowball sampling logics: selection of cases occurs throughout the project when there is a need for another case to develop certain insights further, depending on what is already known.

  • Literal replication logic: A mechanism to build credibility: additional cases that are similar to the original case are identified so that the additional cases can validate earlier findings in a new setting

  • Theoretical sampling logic: additional cases are selected based on specific theoretical expectations (e.g., conditions where we would expect similar patterns to occur or conditions where we would expect certain patterns not to occur).

• Embedded design means that there is more than one unit of analysis in a study of one or several cases related to the same object of investigation.

  • allows a researcher to define an appropriate set of subunits and thereby add to the sensitivity of the investigation

• Holistic designs characterize case studies that investigate a phenomenon on a more global level.

  • advantageous either when no logical subunits can be identified or when the theory itself is of a holistic nature.

“Theoretical saturation“ is a term used to describe the situation that no new insights, concepts or ideas are being found during data analysis. It signals a point to stop collecting and analysing data (i.e., nothing new emerges any more).