Five misunderstandings about case-study research
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This article examines five common misunderstandings about case-study research: (a) theoretical knowledge is more valuable than practical knowledge; (b) one cannot generalize from a single case, therefore, the single-case study cannot contribute to scientific development; (c) the case study is most useful for generating hypotheses, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building; (d) the case study contains a bias toward verification; and (e) it is often difficult to summarize specific case studies. This article explains and corrects these misunderstandings one by one and concludes with the Kuhnian insight that a scientific discipline without a large number of thoroughly executed case studies is a discipline without systematic production of exemplars, and a discipline without exemplars is an ineffective one. Social science may be strengthened by the execution of a greater number of good case studies.
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The triple initiative is considered a critical case in Flyvbjerg's sense, meaning the object of study will most likely show some of the characteristics of the outlined principles of participatory design.
“the triple initiative is considered a critical case in Flyvbjerg's (2006) sense of the word, meaning that the object of study will most likely show some of the characteristics of the outlined principles of participatory design.”
From Participatory design as concept and practice in the experimental museum: the case of the Workers Museum (2021) · cites this paper as Flyvbjerg, 2006
In “Strategies for Case Selection” (p. 14), Flyvbjerg says a critical case has strategic importance for a general problem and may be selected as a “most likely” case. But he describes such cases as capable of clearly confirming or falsifying a proposition; merely expecting to find some characteristics does not fully capture that sense of a critical case. The classification of the triple initiative is the citing authors’ own application. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA small number of carefully chosen cases can serve as powerful heuristics when the settings are unusually revelatory, extreme, or information-rich.
“In particular, a small number of carefully chosen cases can serve as powerful heuristics when the settings are unusually revelatory, extreme, or information-rich (Flyvbjerg, 2006).”
From The Groupfeel syndrome: a theory of a counterproductive group emotion (2026) · cites this paper as Flyvbjerg, 2006
While the size of a focus group may make findings less representative than a survey or less in-depth compared to individual interviews, it has the advantage of bringing out several distinct voices who together create a negotiated and varied narrative.
“While the size of a focus group may make findings less representative than a survey or less in-depth compared to individual interviews, it has the advantage of bringing out several distinct voices who together create a negotiated and varied narrative-a small sample or a case study may provide valuable qualitative information (Flyvbjerg, 2006).”
From Artificial intelligence literacy in libraries (2023) · cites this paper as Flyvbjerg, 2006
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“In particular, a small number of carefully chosen cases can serve as powerful heuristics when the settings are unusually revelatory, extreme, or information-rich (Flyvbjerg, 2006).”
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“Building on this observation, we approach Bluesky as a “critical case” to assess the potential of middleware in practice (Flyvbjerg, 2006, p. 229), investigating the implementation and capitalization of third-party editorial services on the platform.”
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- Authors
- Flyvbjerg, B.
- Affiliations
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Flyvbjerg, Bent
- ORCID
- Flyvbjerg, Bent
- Venue
- Qualitative Inquiry
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2006-04
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 219-245
- ISSN
- 1077-8004 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7565
- OpenAlex
- W2174253539
- Cited by
- 14,266
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1346 · 2025: 811 · 2024: 782 · 2023: 847 · 2022: 925 · 2021: 955 · 2020: 1088 · 2019: 1018 · 2018: 907 · 2017: 849 · 2016: 859 · 2015: 778 · 2014: 708 · 2013: 621 · 2012: 527
- FWCI
- 142.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- vbn.aau.dk
- Locations
- Qualitative Inquiry (publishedVersion)
- Sosiologisk tidsskrift (publishedVersion)
- SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) (University of Oxford) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Studia Socjologiczne
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
- Social Sciences › Education › Qualitative Research Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Methodology and Impact of Social Science Research
- Keywords
- case study research, single case study, generalizability, theory development, hypothesis generation, verification bias, exemplars, Kuhnian paradigm, scientific development, qualitative research methodology
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