Case study and Ethnography

Case study and Ethnography research methods in extension education

1. Case Study
and
Ethnography

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.

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

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.
Case Study

5. Data Collection methods
Observation
Interview
 Questionnaire
Opinionnaire
Checklist
Analysis of recorded data from news papers, courts etc,
Case Study

6. Characteristics of a well
constructed case study
Case Study

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)
Case Study

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.
Case Study

9. Strengths
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
Case Study

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
Case Study

11. 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)
Case Study
Limitations

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.
Ethnography

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)
Ethnography

14. Data collection methods
 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
Ethnography

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
Ethnography

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
Ethnography

17. 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
Ethnography
Strengths

18.  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
Ethnography
Limitations

19. 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.
Case study v/s Ethnography

20. 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
Case study v/s Ethnography

21. 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.
Case study v/s Ethnography

22. 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. 
Case study v/s Ethnography

23. 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.
Case study v/s Ethnography

24. Similarities of case study and ethnography
Non experimental or descriptive research methods
Costly and time consuming
In-depth studies
Subjective biases from researcher
Case study & Ethnography