Course Description
Case study as a research design. Topics are types of case studies, defining the case, site and sample selection, data collection methods, within-case and cross-case analysis, and writing case reports.
Athena Title
Case Study Research
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDHI 8530E, QUAL 8530E
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
1. Identify and explain the range of problems addressed by qualitative case study research. What is case study research? What are the different ways it is conceptualized? How does it define problems? What are its origins? 2. Reflect on your own presuppositions and subjectivities in regard to the educational research processes. 3. Specify the units of analysis examined in case study research and the nature of the explanations generated. What kinds of human phenomena does case study research examine? What goals does it attempt to achieve? 4. Identify the tasks and processes required to formulate appropriate case study research problems within educational settings, to design relevant research strategies for examining such problems, to select pertinent data sources, data collection methods, and data analysis methods, and to assess the results of such efforts. 5. Examine ethical dilemmas and issues related to the research process.
Topical Outline
1. Case studies as qualitative research 2. Collecting data in case studies 3. Conducting effective interviews 4. Being a careful observer 5. Mining data from documents 6. Analytic techniques and data management 7. Levels of analysis 8. Dealing with validity, reliability, and trustworthiness of data management 9. Dealing with ethics in case study research 10. Writing reports and case studies