Case Study is a method to deeply observe the characteristics of individual unit such as a person, a group or a community, in order to analyse various phenomena in relation to that unit of study. Ethnography is a method to explore the nature of a certain social phenomenon and it tends to use unstructured data.

1. Case Study
and
Ethnography
by: Dian Ndaru P.

2. Case Study
 A method to deeply observe the
characteristics of individual unit such as
a person, a group or a community, in
order to analyse various phenomena in
relation to that unit of study
 “The study of the instance in action
”Stenhouse (1999) states that the task of
case study is to produce reports of
experience and to offer evidence, not to
deal with generalisation.
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3. Case Study
 Empirical enquiry to investigate a
contemporary phenomenon in real-life
context, especially when the boundaries
between phenomenon and context are
not clearly evident (Yin, 2003)
 Case studies can be Qualitative or
Quantitative
 Qualitative case studies focuses on
experiential knowledge of a certain case
and closely related to the social and
political influence
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4. Types of
Case Study
 Intrinsic case study Stake (2005)
Undertaken because of researcher intrinsic
interests, and aims to get deep understanding of
a certain case.
 Instrumental case study
Provides a base to understand other issues.
Usually this case is a secondary interest of the
researcher and used to support other interest.
 Multiple or collective case study
Investigate whether there are similarities or
differences among the cases’ characteristics to
get better understanding of particular interests.
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5. Data
Collection
Method
 Observation
 Interview
 Questionnaire
 Opinionnaire
 Checklist
 Analysis of recorded data from news papers,
courts etc
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6. Characteristics
of a well
constructed
case study
 Holistic
 Context sensitive
 Comprehensive
 Systematic
 Layered
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7. Triangulation
 A process of using multiple perceptions to
clarify meaning, verifying the repeatability of
an observation or interpretation.
 This principle is necessary to avoid
misinterpretation.
 Triangulation can be achieved through
redundancy of data gathering and procedural
challenges to explanations.
Stake (2005)
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8. Stages in
conducting
case study
 Conceptualizations of the topic.
 Selecting and emphasize a particular
phenomenon, and deciding the research
questions.
 Collecting all the raw data from interviews,
observations or documents such as program
files or reports, articles, and proposals.
 Organising, classifying and editing the raw data
into an accessible file
 Formulates triangulation of observations and
develops interpretation.
 Selecting an alternative interpretation followed
by writing a report in holistic and systematic
forms.
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9. Strength
 It may offer larger details about a particular
phenomenon. For instance, it may include narrative
and a specific description about a particular activity,
personal relationship or a group interpretation.
 The readers of a case study may obtain naturalistic
generalizations from personal or vicarious
experience.
 i.e. people can share and understand others’ social
experience
 Case study provides a holistic interpretation and
always refers to a social context.
 Case study provides sufficient basal facts for
developing a suitable Hypothesis regarding the social
unit to be studied
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10. Limitations
 People may think that case study researchers
do not follow systematic procedures and may
have biased views that probably influence the
findings and the conclusion
 The researchers may not be able to cover all
issues and offer a scientific generalization
because they tend to have limited evidence,
not as many as quantitative research
 Costly method in terms of time and money
 Cause-Effect relationship is not established
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11. Limitations
 Case studies often rely on subjective data,
such as the participants’ statements or the
researchers’ observations, because most case
studies focus on human experiences.
Consequently, data will vary based on the
participant’s description, opinion, and feeling.
 To avoid subjectivity and to increase the
objectivity of data, a researcher should use
replicative, falsification and triangulating
methods.
Stake (2005)
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12. Ethnography
 Hammersley (2006) states that ethnography
is a study at first hand about what people do
and say in a particular context.
 Method to explore the nature of a certain
social phenomenon and it tends to use
unstructured data
 Ethnographies usually focus on a specific
culture its characteristics and all information
embedded in it.
 Ethnography originally came from
anthropology with aims to analyse human’s
ways of life (or culture) holistically,
relativistically and comparatively.
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13. Ethnography
 Is a method of field observation or
observation of behaviour in natural setting.
 Participant observation, conversation and
use of informants to study cultural and social
characteristics of primitive people, whose
numbers are small and who are
geographically and culturally isolated.
 Cultural anthropology/ Naturalistic inquiry
Ray and Mandal (2011)
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14. Data Collection
Method
 The ethnographic researchers obtain
information about certain socio-cultural
phenomena through the members of the
society or documents about those
phenomena.
 Observation and interview are two important
data collection methods, which are known as
ethnographic fieldwork.
 Using earlier written records, (ethno-historic
research)
 Portable audio & video recording devices may
rapidly provide large amounts of data and
support researcher in understanding the
phenomena of the study
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15. Characteristics
of
Ethnography
 Researcher creates social relationship with the
participants
 First-hand observation and participant observation
 Researchers should stay inside a community of
people being studied for a period of time
 Long-term involvement and observation are
considered necessary to understand the complexity
of people’s beliefs, attitudes and behaviours
 Ethnographers play important role as research
instrument
 Ethnography involves naturalistic observation
 Ethnography is an electric approach
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16. Characteristics
of
Ethnography
 Ethnographer can make modification to the
research questions, design and technique from the
beginning until the completion of the study.
(interactive-reactive approach)
 It is holistic study
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17. Strength
 Ethnographic fieldwork provides the best
opportunity to collect current, reliable, complete
and specific data to answer the relevant
 It is also considered as the best source of data for
comparative study and analysis.
 Ethnographer can participate in people’s daily
lives for an extended period of time, watching
what happens, listening to what is said, asking
questions, in fact collecting whatever data
available.
 The external validity of ethnographic study is
generally high
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18. Limitations
 It investigates only a few cases or one case
 Findings cannot be generalized to other social
contexts
 Selecting information that relevant to the topic of
study is depending on the researcher’s argument.
 Ethnographer need to make inferences only from
what participants do and say during interview
 The ethnographer or their informants may fail to
maintain neutrality
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19. Case Study
vs
Ethnography
Case Study
 It does not only depend on participant-observer
data but mainly uses interviews.
Ethnography
 It may require certain periods of time in the ‘field’
and emphasize details of observational evidence.
 The ethnographer may use an interview as an
additional technique to capture whole
participant’s perspective
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20. Case Study
vs
Ethnography
Case Study
 The cs researchers tend to follow ethnographic
methods by providing detailed observations about
reality and trying to avoid former commitment to any
theoretical frameworks
 It is strategy of assembling data and drawing
interpretation
Ethnography
 The ethnographers do not always produce case
studies. Moreover, the case study does not have to
present direct and detailed observations, but it can
be based on any quantitative or qualitative data
 As a practice is a method of collecting data
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21. Case Study
vs
Ethnography
 The central difference between ethnography and
case study lies in the study’s intention.
Ethnography is inward looking, aiming to uncover
the tacit knowledge of culture participants.
 Case study is outward looking, aiming to delineate
the nature of phenomena through detailed
investigation of individual cases and their contexts.
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22. Case Study
vs
Ethnography
 Naturalistic inquiry, or ethnography, has its roots
in anthropology and sociology and involves long-
term exposure to a setting or a group of people.
Extensive use of unstructured observations and
conversations, documented by detailed field notes
form the basis for this type of research.
 Purest form of qualitative research
 Case studies are the preferred strategy when ‘how’
or ‘why’ questions are being posed, when the
investigator has little control over events, and
when the focus is on a contemporary phenomenon
within some real-life context.
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23. Case Study
vs
Ethnography
 Ethnography is an art of describing a group or
culture, case study is an in depth analysis of a
particular instance, event, individual, or a group
 Ethnography requires participant observation as a
data collection method whereas it is not necessary
in a case study.
 Case study is outward looking while ethnography
is inward looking
 Ethnography takes a longer time than a case study.
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24. Similarities of
case study and
ethnography
 Non experimental or descriptive research methods
 Costly and time consuming
 In-depth studies
 Subjective biases from researcher
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25. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at @dianndaru
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