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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000003580986 | LB1028.25.G7 B37 1999 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
This book offers new insights into the case study as a tool of educational research and suggests how it can be a prime research strategy for developing educational theory which illuminates policy and enhances practice.
Several different kinds of educational case studies are identified, namely: theory-seeking, theory-testing, story-telling, picture-drawing, and evaluative case study and there are substantial examples of each of these. The book develops the author's recent advocacy of fuzzy generalization.
Readers are taken through the various stages in conducting case study research, including a helpful account of data collection and data analysis methods. Each stage is underpinned by the concepts of trustworthiness and respect for persons. Structured, narrative and descriptive approaches to writing case study reports are also discussed and the value of conducting an audit is considered.
This will be a valuable text for students undertaking Masters and Doctorates in Education as well as staff in University departments of education and teachers carrying out small scale research projects.
Author Notes
Michael Bassey is an Emeritus Professor of Education at Nottingham Trent University and Executive Secretary of the British Educational Research Association.
Table of Contents
| Series editor's preface | p. viii |
| Preface | p. xiii |
| Part I Reconstruction of educational case study | p. 1 |
| 1 Why educational case study should be reconstructed | p. 3 |
| My experience as an examiner of master's dissertations and doctoral theses | p. 5 |
| My experience of research in the public domain | p. 7 |
| My writing and thinking about research | p. 11 |
| A reconstruction of case study | p. 12 |
| 2 An example of a theory-seeking case study leading to fuzzy propositions | p. 14 |
| Theory in initial teacher education: some BEd students' perspectives on its utility in 1996 | p. 14 |
| 3 What is case study? | p. 22 |
| Towards a science of the singular | p. 22 |
| Descriptions of case study given by different writers | p. 23 |
| Types of case study described by various writers | p. 27 |
| How the problem of generalization is approached by different writers | p. 30 |
| Academic criticisms of case study | p. 34 |
| Endpiece | p. 35 |
| 4 Locating educational case study on the map of research in education | p. 37 |
| What is 'education'? | p. 37 |
| What is research? | p. 38 |
| What is educational research? | p. 38 |
| What is discipline research in educational settings? | p. 39 |
| What is empirical research, and what are its categories? | p. 40 |
| How do different beliefs in the nature of reality affect educational case study? | p. 42 |
| What are scientific, statistical and fuzzy generalizations? | p. 44 |
| What is a study of a singularity? | p. 47 |
| 5 How some case study research can be disseminated through fuzzy generalization and professional discourse | p. 48 |
| 'Do y instead of x and your pupils will learn more' | p. 48 |
| Research feeds discourse, which aids practice and policy | p. 49 |
| Fuzzy generalizations as sound bites from research | p. 51 |
| Examples of fuzzy generalizations | p. 53 |
| Putting research reports on the Internet | p. 54 |
| Endpiece | p. 55 |
| 6 Educational case study as a prime strategy for developing educational theory which illuminates educational policy and enhances educational practice | p. 57 |
| A conceptual reconstruction of educational case study | p. 57 |
| Rationale for the elements of the reconstruction | p. 59 |
| The categorization of case study in this reconstruction | p. 62 |
| 7 Methods of enquiry and the conduct of case study research | p. 65 |
| Introduction | p. 65 |
| Stages in conducting case study research | p. 65 |
| The ethics of research | p. 73 |
| Trustworthiness in case study research | p. 74 |
| Respect for persons in case study research | p. 77 |
| Archive, case record and case report | p. 79 |
| Data collection methods | p. 81 |
| Data analysis | p. 83 |
| Writing case reports | p. 84 |
| Audit certificate | p. 90 |
| Part II Examples of case studies | p. 93 |
| Preamble | p. 93 |
| 8 The Nottinghamshire Staff Development Project 1985-1987: a story-telling case study about an evaluation | p. 95 |
| Abstract | p. 95 |
| Introduction | p. 95 |
| Section 1 p. 97 | |
| Section 2 p. 110 | |
| 9 Classroom organization in primary schools: a story-telling case study about three theory-seeking case studies and a theory-testing survey | p. 116 |
| Abstract | p. 116 |
| Introduction | p. 116 |
| A day in Mrs M's classroom: a theory-seeking case study | p. 117 |
| A day in Mrs W's classroom: a theory-seeking case study | p. 126 |
| A day in Mr A's classroom: a theory-seeking case study | p. 140 |
| A theory of classroom organizational strategies | p. 151 |
| Endpiece | p. 156 |
| 10 What it is like to be a student on final teaching practice: a picture-drawing case study of fiction firmly based on fact | p. 158 |
| Abstract | p. 158 |
| Preamble | p. 158 |
| Introduction | p. 159 |
| How the findings were reported | p. 160 |
| Internal evidence of trustworthiness | p. 162 |
| External evidence of trustworthiness | p. 172 |
| Endpiece | p. 173 |
| References | p. 174 |
| Index | p. 177 |
