The art of case study research

Robert E. Stake. (1995). Thousand Oaks, London and Delhi: Sage.

Stake divided case study into intrinsic and instrumental: intrinsic case study is carried out when the case holds unique intrinsic interest and researchers often do not have a choice for the case. Instrumental case study, on the other hand, is often performed to obtain a general understanding of a phenomenon or relationships within it beyond the particular case. Stake, however, acknowledge that case study is not opt for generalization, yet empathized that it allows refinement of understanding, labeling this "petite generalization" as opposed to "grand generalization" (p. 7). Thus, he argued, "The real business of case study is particularization, not generalization. . . . There is emphasis on uniqueness, . . . understanding the case itself" (p. 8).

Stake stated that the case itself matters to intrinsic case study whereas an issue matters more to instrumental case study. Stating issues appears to me stating a central research question by Creswell. Stake wrote that the issue can be stated as simple as "instructional role of the principal", but urged it to be more descriptive, perhaps in a causal way, such as "Is the accountability of the central office diminish the primary role of a principal in a local school?"

This issue statement leads to research design and conceptualization. He, then, suggested to come up with information and evaluative questions.

As id Clifford Geertz (1973) emphasized "thick description" in his ethnographic research, Stake stressed the importance of a researcher's interpretation as an integral part of qualitative research. Similar to thick description or multiple realities, he called experiential learning "natualistic generalization" (Sake & Trumbull, 1982). In the context of research, it implies a researcher's role, which is "not veridical representation so much as stimulation of further reflection, optimizing readers' opportunity to learn" (p. 42). As opposed to explicated generalizations, Stake's definition of naturalistic generalization stems from information recipients' perspective:

Naturalistic generalizations are conclusions arrived at through personal engagement in life's affairs or by vicarious experience so well constructed that the person feels as if it happened to themselves. (p. 85)

The importance of naturalistic generalization, Stake stated, is that it is embedded in the experience of the reader. [this process of generalization is empathetic such that readers come to understand the described issue by empathetical feeling. Then, does this mean that naturalistic generalization may exclude some readers who cannot have a similar background or experience?]

In order to help readers make naturalistic generalization, Stake argued, researchers need to provide them with "vicarious experience, " empathizing time, space, and person in the researchers' account. Specifically,

Our accounts need to be personal, describing the things of our sensory experiences, not failing to attend to the matters that personal curiosity dictates. A narrative account, a story, a chronological presentation, personalistic description, emphasis on time and place provide rich ingredients for vicatious experience. (pp. 86-87)

Subjectivity is not seen as a pitfall of qualitative research by Stake. Although qualitative researchers have routines for triangulation to validate their observations, Stake noted, such routines are used often to approximate those in quantitative research, yet there are no definite protocols to set subjective misunderstanding for a test.

Stake defined the roles of case researchers--as teacher, advocate, evaluator, biographer, interpreter, and theorist who uses "the uniqueness of the case to illustrate ways in which each case is likely to be complex, not what cases have in common" (p. 105).

Triangulation (107-120)
The protocols identified by Denzin in his book, The Research Act, Stake summarized data source triangulation, investigator triangulation, theory triangulation, and methodological triangulation. In addition to the triangulation, Stake empathized member checking, research subjects' feedback on research report drafts. With this respect, Stake (p. 116) wrote:

In long use of member checking, I typically get little back from the actor--not very satisfying byt entirely necessary. I often do not have all my facts straight and I need help. I impose upon the actors' time to do some of my work. The most frequent response of the actors to whom I have sent drafts is not to acknowledge that I have sent anything. Often, the account is routine, apparently not deserving a response. But sometimes I get a thorough reading, a mutually respectful argument, and suggestions for improvement. I think I can say that all my reports have been improved by member checking.

Writing the report (121-131)
Stake refuted story-telling as a form of a case study report. He also argued that traditional research report--statement of the problem, literature review, design, data gathering, analysis and conclusion is ill-fitting for a case study report, either. One thing he suggested here is using a vignette to serve the issue (problem) and assertion. (Read Harry Wolcott's (1990) Writing up qualitative research)