The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 381-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Social Scientific

This article reviews classic and contemporary case study research in law and social science. Taking as its starting point that legal scholars engaged in case studies generally have a set of questions distinct from those using other research approaches, the essay offers a detailed discussion of three primary contributions of case studies in legal scholarship: theory building, concept formation, and processes/mechanisms. The essay describes the role of case studies in social scientific work and their express value to legal scholars, and offers specific descriptions from classic and contemporary works.

Developing Organisational Stories through Grounded Theory Data Analysis

2012 ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Elayne Coakes ◽  
Anthony Elliman
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Case Research

This article provides a concrete example of a technique or tool that may improve intensive case research and understanding, especially when considering explanatory case study research. It is argued that researchers must work hard and be creative to provide robust methodological tools so that their work is accepted in the Information Systems field (in particular), as it is traditionally skeptical about qualitative studies. This paper argues that story-telling grounded in the data through the use of the Grounded Theory methodology and its associated methods provide a way of identifying the causal conditions in any case where the underlying dynamics for any type of organisational change are unknown. Although this research and method of presentation is relevant to the IS field, it has applications in any social science research where it is necessary to present the causal conditions for the phenomena under study.

Developing Organisational Stories Through Grounded Theory Data Analysis

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elayne Coakes ◽  
Anthony Elliman
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Case Research

This article provides a concrete example of a technique or tool that may improve intensive case research and understanding, especially when considering explanatory case study research. It is argued that researchers must work hard and be creative to provide robust methodological tools so that their work is accepted in the Information Systems field (in particular), as it is traditionally skeptical about qualitative studies. This paper argues that story-telling grounded in the data through the use of the Grounded Theory methodology and its associated methods provide a way of identifying the causal conditions in any case where the underlying dynamics for any type of organisational change are unknown. Although this research and method of presentation is relevant to the IS field, it has applications in any social science research where it is necessary to present the causal conditions for the phenomena under study.

How much would you like to pay? Trust, reciprocity and prosocial motivations in El trato

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J León ◽  
José A Noguera ◽  
Jordi Tena-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
External Validity ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Trust Game ◽  
Sales Strategy ◽  
Pay What You Want ◽  
Natural Settings

Prosocial motivations and reciprocity are becoming increasingly important in social-science research. While laboratory experiments have challenged the assumption of universal selfishness, the external validity of these results has not been sufficiently tested in natural settings. In this article we examine the role of prosocial motivations and reciprocity in a Pay What You Want (PWYW) sales strategy, in which consumers voluntarily decide how much to pay for a product or service. This article empirically analyses the only PWYW example in Spain to date: the El trato (‘The deal’) campaign launched by the travel company Atrápalo, which offered different holiday packages under PWYW conditions in July 2009. Our analysis shows that, although the majority of the customers did not behave in a purely self-interested manner, they nonetheless did so in a much higher proportion than observed in similar studies. We present different hypotheses about the mechanisms that may explain these findings. Specifically, we highlight the role of two plausible explanations: the framing of the campaign and the attribution of ‘hidden’ preferences to Atrápalo by its customers, which undermined the interpretation of El trato as a trust game.

scholarly journals The role of administrative data in the big data revolution in social science research

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxanne Connelly ◽  
Christopher J. Playford ◽  
Vernon Gayle ◽  
Chris Dibben
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research

scholarly journals Can We Generalize from Case Studies?

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Ceteris Paribus ◽  
Large N ◽  
Climate Change Politics ◽  
The Comparative Study

This article considers the role of generalization in comparative case studies, using as exemplars the contributions to this special issue on climate change politics. As a research practice, generalization is a logical argument for extending one’s claims beyond the data, positing a connection between events that were studied and those that were not. No methodological tradition is exempt from the requirement to demonstrate a compelling logic of generalization. The article presents a taxonomy of the logics of generalization underlying diverse research methodologies, which often go unstated and unexamined. I introduce the concept of resonance groups, which provide a causeway for cross-system generalization from single case studies. Overall the results suggest that in the comparative study of complex political systems, case study research is, ceteris paribus, on par with large-N research with respect to generalizability.

scholarly journals Erasing the Social from Social Science: The Intellectual Costs of Boundary-Work and the Canadian Institute of Health Research

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katelin E. Albert
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Canadian Institute ◽  
The Social

In 2009, Canadian social science research funding underwent a transition. Social science health-research was shifted from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), an agency previously dominated by natural and medical science. This paper examines the role of health-research funding structures in legitimizing and/or delimiting what counts as ‘good’ social science health research. Engaging Gieryn’s (1983) notion of ‘boundary-work’ and interviews with qualitative social science graduate students, it investigates how applicants developed proposals for CIHR. Findings show that despite claiming to be interdisciplinary, the practical mechanisms through which CIHR funding is distributed reinforce rigid boundaries of what counts as legitimate health research. These boundaries are reinforced by applicants who felt pressure to prioritize what they perceived was what funders wanted (accommodating natural-science research culture), resulting in erased, elided, and disguised social science theories and methods common for ‘good social science.’

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