Page 12 - Case Lab Summary

“..the case study is many things. It is systematic story-telling; it is a

way of writing (or talking) about seeing; it is a tool for teaching; it

is a philosophy for approaching research; it is a technique for

researching; it is a reason (or an excuse) for taking seriously

investigations into vague, blurred or fuzzy topics; it is a rigorous

vehicle which sits comfortably and equally alongside more

quantitative research; and I could go on.”

This is augmented by the view that

“ rather than using large samples and following a rigid

protocol to examine a limited number of variables, case study

methods involve an in-depth, longitudinal examination of a

single instance or event: a case. They provide a systematic

way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing

information, and reporting the results. As a result the

researcher may gain a sharpened understanding of why the

instance happened as it did, and what might become

important to look at more extensively in future research.

Case studies lend themselves to both generating and testing

hypotheses (Flyvbjerg, 2006).”

The case study and the case method hold a tremendous

potential for bringing life, reality, credibility and utility to the

pedagogic process. Moreover, when linked to Managed

Learning Environments (MLE) and Virtual Learning