Case Study Research in Practice

'This is a particularly useful book for educational research students, for researchers looking to use case study methods for the first time, or for those about to teach a course on case study methods...For a book on research methodology, this is also a remarkably lively read. A case study is like great art, to adapt Simons' quote from MacDonald and Walker, in which 'content and intent emerge in form'. As such, Simons has written a manual for creating great art in educational research' -
Teacher Development

'Practical and immensely helpful… With its highly readable style, it is well suited to the needs of research students. Throughout it addresses the practicalities at a level that connects immediately to thorny issues in relation to the quality of the data, the quality of the analysis: in short the quality of the research' - Jane Payler, University of Winchester

'…unravelling the complexity of 'the case'…makes this kind of research very challenging. This book provides a practical and reflective approach to doing case study research and will be a valuable resource for students, supervisors and researchers' - Professor Brendan McCormack, University of Ulster

'From soundings of the depths of her experience in art, teaching, cinema, program evaluation and policy study, Helen Simons brings counsel to the making of case studies. She locates… particularization and situated generalization centrally in qualitative inquiry, an inquiry that reckons with story telling and contested meaning as much as with the functional relationships of social science'- Professor Robert E. Stake, University of Illinois'

'This book prompts readers and researchers to consider ways in which the robustness of their work can be improved. It is the clarity with which this is achieved and the encouragement it provides to readers that are the real strengths of this book' - Nurse Researcher

The text book is very essential for medical and health care students who are interested and would like to conduct single or multiple case study research. The text book will guide students and support their thinking of planning and designing case studies. Methods of case studies well explored. The design of case studies in the field of practice give an overview to students on the variation of designs. The book will help and support students to be able to analyse and make sense of the analysis and how to interpret the findings. Finally it will guide students during the writing process of their research. The disadvantage of the book is that it is not designed for medical and health care students, however it can be tailored to answer their needs.

Examples not relevant enough to be recommended as supplemental source for business students.

a good up to date defining view of case study rsch

Case Study Research in Practice
Helen Simons
2009
London: Sage Publications Ltd.
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The problem with Case Study is that it is too subjective, not generalizable and therefore of no use to anyone interested in developing policy. It is self-indulgence on the part of the researcher who has every opportunity of using the Case Report as a shield for promoting a personal agenda. Add to this the admission, early in the text, that, “There is no right way to do case study research” and the sceptic could be excused for dismissing the subject of this helpful book as an irrelevance.
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Yet, in this enjoyable and accessible account, Helen Simons manages to persuade the reader that case study is a worthwhile approach to a deeper understanding of certain aspects of practice. In fact, it may be a more appropriate way of understanding and expressing a ‘lived experience’ than any randomised controlled trial within the scientific paradigm.
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Her stated intention throughout is to provide support for students who are considering case study; “to strengthen their argument” if they choose this approach. This she achieves in a format that is clear and a style that is both personal and scholarly. Its tone is neither strident, nor ‘evangelical’; neither self-justifying nor defensive. Simons offers the advice of a willing, experienced and sympathetic supervisor, who often addresses the reader directly, in what is essentially a practical guide to the subject.
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Scattered through the text are detailed examples, some over a page long, that illustrate important issues. There are also twenty ‘memos’ or bullet-pointed comments and instructions that provide a checklist on how to plan, execute and write (and even how to think!) case study.
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Additionally there is a bibliography of over two hundred references, though their inclusion doesn’t interrupt the flow of the text. Concluding each chapter is a small list of books and articles for ‘further reading’ – with a short summary of the strengths and relevance of each.
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Finally, Simons directly addresses the charges levelled at case study (above). She provides persuasive responses with the quiet self-confidence of someone who has carefully considered the subject.
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This book is ideal for the adult learner, at postgraduate level, who is relatively new to the subject and who wishes to understand what case study has to offer as a research approach. It is likely that more detailed information would be needed with respect to some of the more commonly used methods within case study (e.g. interviewing). Other than such technical issues, this book, combined with a knowledgeable supervisor, would be all that was required to perform case study, albeit the student is likely to be surprised by the discipline required of them, despite the helpful warnings the book contains.
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Clive Weston
Reader in Clinical Medicine
Swansea University

I have recommended this as one of two essential texts for the course.

I see this book as an excellent way of filling a pretty major gap in the case study aspect of the masters' research seminar. This is down to the range of case-issues Simons deals with so lucidly.

A useful highly practical text that is recommended to those students who are considering adopting a case study research design and has been valued, in particular, by those who have gone on to employ this approach in their main research project.

An excellent guide for those undertaking case study research. Logically presented and clearly discussed

A useful text that students could use to support their methodology.