Abstract
Gary Thomas and Kevin Myers have published this anthology aggregating their earlier publications, which is evident from the repetition of anecdotes and terms throughout the book. But, it does not interfere with the flow or joy of reading through the history of scientific thoughts and the dichotomy of theory and phronesis. A case study has always sought credibility without much success in the academia. Although, renowned social scientists, namely, Eckstein, Merriam, Bassey, Stake, Flyvbjerg, and Yin have advocated the case study research for decades; questions are still raised about its validity. Questions arise since there is no definite structure to pursue a case study research. A greater concern is that it does not naturally allow for generalization, which is the basic tenet of any scientific method.
Thomas and Myers have handled these doubts with panache and allayed them with clinical precision. One of the biggest take-away messages of the book would be that a case study research is a research design framework and not a method to be followed only under specific conditions. The authors have done well to unveil the basic principles of any science, not by generalizing in any way rather by creating a tacit knowledge around the phenomena. The cases can be weaved into a usable theory over time. The examples of sciences as varied as psychology and astronomy bring the point home. The authors mention that the ‘craving for generality’ is a common disorder which should be set right. A case study research creates phronesis of a phenomenon, or simply put, a tacit knowledge and not a theory set in stone. Thomas and Myers have invoked Aristotle more than once by stating that phronesis and not theory generation should be the guiding principle of science. Each case adds to the body of tacit knowledge. This then essentially takes a social constructive view of epistemology rather than a neo-positivist one. This makes the book an essential read for the researchers exploring social constructivist view or the critical theorist perspective of a research.
The question whether individual cases set in a specific context are usable at all is answered by a quote from Stenhouse (1980), ‘…case study is the basis for generalization via the cumulation of data embedded in time.’ He further remarked that ‘Practice will improve when experience is systematically marshaled by history’, thus defining the usefulness of case research. The chapter on the typology of case studies gives a reader something tangible and classifies the types of cases into six categories. It then provides the reader with a set of thumb rules to structure a case study research which would be of great assistance to nascent researchers. These rules clear the air to a great extent and nip all the doubts in the bud. But a big critique of the book would be that for the first four chapters, the authors maintained that theory generation is not the purpose of a case study research. However, in the typology chapter, they sneak in theory-testing and theory-building as a purpose of a case study research, which confuses the reader. Thankfully, for a careful reader, the initial chapters demystify the theory and phrenology. If the first four chapters are an anthology of a case study research, then chapters five and six provide reasonably practical hands-on tools for the researchers. The classification of the ‘subject’ and ‘object’ of a case research is very insightful. The beginning of an inquiry of a phenomenon or the analytical framework would serve as an object of the research, or what the authors name as ‘explananas’. On the other hand, the particular case would turn up as the subject or the ‘explanandus’. The subject could be any of the three: key, outlier, or local. This leads a researcher to the purpose of inquiry—whether it is evaluative, explorative, instrumental, or intrinsic to the approach and the process. This whole framework is similar to any scientific research and yet it leaves a lot of room for wondering as to what would qualify as a subject and an object. Experience would suggest that a subject should be contemporary and relevant and the case study should unravel hitherto unknown causalities. The researcher’s capabilities and research ethics are critical to a case study research as in any other qualitative research. Otherwise, the case study research would not be able to stand a jury’s scrutiny.
The chapters are evidence of the wide applicability of case study research, which is not commensurable and to be stored in neat jars with labels on them. It establishes the case study research as not a reductionist and deterministic and which also does not make heuristics its ally. It is largely driven by the phenomenon and the intrinsic desire of the researcher.
The last chapter is an illustration so as to demonstrate all the aspects of a case study research in detail. One can liken it to an X-ray of a case study to accurately identify the anatomy of a case. This is a case written by one of the authors, Myers, and it is a befitting illustration of the structured method of a case research. Right from the choice of the subject and object for the study to the process chosen for the research, it is all well annotated alongside the case text. This makes it very easy to assimilate.
Overall, the book is a must-read for young researchers who are just finding their feet in humanities, especially qualitative research. It would lend confidence to qualitative researchers in a world which still values quantitative research.