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What Is a Case, and What Is a Case Study?

Hervé Dumez [email protected]View all authors and affiliations

Volume 127, Issue 1

https://doi.org/10.1177/0759106315582200

Abstract
References

Abstract

Abstract

Case study is a common methodology in the social sciences (management, psychology, science of education, political science, sociology). A lot of methodological papers have been dedicated to case study but, paradoxically, the question “what is a case?” has been less studied. Hence the fact that researchers conducting a case study are sometimes surprised by what they are experiencing. The paper deals with the problem: Why is a real case study more puzzling than expected, having read the literature on case study? We assume that the answer lies in a paradox: despite what is suggested by the double singular “case study”, a case study requires a comparative approach. This paper addresses the three fundamental issues one must tackle when doing a case study: What is my case a case of? What is the stuff that my case is made of? What can my case do? (or what do cases do?)

Résumé

Qu'est-ce qu'un cas et qu'est-ce qu'une étude cas ? L’étude de cas est largement pratiquée dans les sciences sociales (gestion, psychologie, sciences de l’éducation, science politique, sociologie). Beaucoup de travaux méthodologiques y ont été consacrés. Paradoxalement, la question de ce qu’est un cas a donné lieu à moins d’analyses, ce qui explique la surprise (et parfois le malaise) que rencontrent les chercheurs quand ils essaient de comprendre ce qui constitue leur cas. L’article montre que l’étude de cas repose sur un paradoxe et trois questions. Contrairement à ce que suggère l’expression étude de cas (généralement comprise comme étude d’un cas), cette méthodologie repose sur l’idée d’une analyse comparative. Les trois questions à se poser sont les suivantes. De quoi mon cas est-il le cas ? De quoi mon cas est-il composé ? Que doit faire mon cas ?

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