case study is useful to understand the problem of why and how. the most common methods are single case study and camparative case study. now i face a problem caused by the data unavalibility. i have collected relatively rich materials of one case, which is not enough to do deep,longitudinal case study. and some related cases which are less detailed. my strategy: on the one hand, i will continue to collect data. on the other hand, i try to find more appropriate method.
i wonder whether there is a case study method wich based on core case and peripheral(subsidiary) cases.
thank you !
You have basically answered your own question. The problem with a case study is that it does not allow for a comparison against the counterfactual. In other words, there is no control group or alternative treatment (exposure) for which to compare against. Thus, this single case may represent an aberrant case, or finding. Individual studies may be useful for identifying issues that "may warrant further study" on a larger cohort, but by themselves, they do not provide any comparative information.
Your next step will be to collect data on several cases with similar characteristics and then determine if your findings from this single case still hold. This may be used as a precursor to a more elaborate prospective study to maximize internal validity.
The perspective of other holders -of-condition REGARDING your core- case could open new avenues of results for your data pool.
I agree with Ariel. Further, I don't see any reason why you need to fill in all the details on what are currently your peripheral cases. Instead, you could use your main case study to specify the key elements that you need from each of the other cases, in order to make the most effective comparisons.
Of course, as Faranack point out, collecting that additional data may lead you in new directions, once you see how the larger set of cases compare to each other.
I broadly agree with the above three answers, but their can be another dimension to your question. if your research question is not answer by a single case, then you can use a comparative case-study, or multiple case-study (which ever fits your research design after revisions). moreover, for generalization from a core case to other cases see Tsang, (2013, Academy of Management review; Pikkari et al, 2008; the same journal; stake, 1980; among others.
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