Chapter 17 Case study research
Suggested Activities
1. The website experiment resources.com provides an overview of many of the topics covered
2. For Chapter 17 content, one of the best strategies to facilitate student understanding is to
expose the class to case studies. Some recent examples that my students have enjoyed are
referenced below. The Woodruff and Schallert (2008) represents the cases of student athletes
and the motivational conflicts that they experience. Self-determination theory served as a
theoretical grounding point for the study. The Saracho (2008) article addresses findings from
examining a literacy program for fathers. To work through the steps in designing a case
study, one strategy would be to select one of the articles and to step through the research
questions and the methods used in the study. The methodologies used in these cases provide
elements to support Chapter 17. Students can also work in pairs or small groups by topic area
with an alternative case study. The questions below are general enough for alternative
articles.
1. Define or describe the bounded system that is the focus of this case study.
2. What are the research questions of the study? What is the unit of analysis?
3. Is this a single or multiple case study? How do you know?
4. What were the data sources?
5. How were the data analyzed?
6. Discuss one theme from the case.
3. Colorado State University maintains a site on writing. This site is a valuable resource for your
students generally, but the site also has specific sections that address types of research and writing
various types of research. The website includes a lot of information to support Chapter 17
Chapter 17 Test Items
1. Which of the following is a typical characteristic of case study research?
a. Case studies are generally more quantitative than qualitative.
b. External validity is a critical component of case study research.
c. Case studies focus on a bounded system.
d. Case studies often employ modeling statistical procedures.
• 2. Which of the following represents a topic most suitable for study using case study
methodologies?
a. Do students in Germany experience different motivational orientations than students
in the United States?
b. How is the NCLB legislation changing teacher education at Adaptive University?
c. Are there differences in teacher preparation between Japan and the United States?
d. Is there a relationship between NCLB legislation and teacher stress?
• 3. Which of the following represents a topic most suitable for study using case study
methodologies?
a. Is the role of the academy decreasing as a result of online universities?
b. How does an enrolled student navigate her curriculum and degree process at an
online university?
c. What are the differences in the types of students that traditional and online
universities attract?
d. Is degree completion higher at online universities versus traditional universities
among low ability students?
• 4. Val decides to study one district as a case in her study of teacher professional
development opportunities and outcomes. Of the following, which is a primary data
source for her study?
a. Students’ standardized test scores
b. The district’s operating budget
c. Demographic data of the school’s students and personnel
d. Interviews with teachers in the district
5. Which of the following is the statement most consistent with your textbook’s perspective
of case study research?
a. Case studies are generally considered a type of quantitative research
b. Case studies focus on mixed methods designs.
c. Case studies only include qualitative data.
d. Case studies are generally considered a type of qualitative research.
6. Case study research is most appropriate under which of the following conditions?
a. The researcher is interested in a product as an outcome.
b. The researcher is interested in process.
c. The researcher is interested in external validity.
d. The researcher is a paid consultant to study a context.
7. Case studies are referred to as particularistic. This definition assumes which of the
following characteristics?
a. Case studies are focused on describing particular phenomenon.
b. Case studies are focused on a interviewing a particular person.
c. Case studies are focused on relationships within a particular society.
d. Case studies are focused on predicting particular phenomenon.
8. Which of the following refers specifically to the product of a case study?
a. Brief
b. Narrative
c. Report
d. Case
• 9. Which of the following represents an appropriate application of a case study?
a. Jared wants to study how a school board weighs the options of a new bond proposal.
b. Jorge studies the relationship between interest in science and game playing time in
multi-user computer games.
c. Janey wants to use a large extant database to study family relationships.
d. Jillian surveys how superintendents prioritize qualifications when making hiring
decisions.
• 10. Which of the following represents an appropriate application of a case study?
a. Ned seeks to determine the variables that best predict university retention.
b. Nala interviews teachers about their role in effective university student retention.
c. Neal surveys students about the factors that they feel contribute to university
retention
d. Nairobi studies the efforts of Shaw College in retaining students.
• 11. Which of the following represents the most appropriate application of case study
research?
a. Donna studies how teachers use narrative stories in their content area teaching
b. Lisa studies how middle school science teachers present Nanotechnology.
c. Chris studies how a four-year Liberal Arts school developed an MBA program.
d. Roger explores the experiences of authors as they publish through publishing houses.
• 12. Which of the following illustrates the most viable case study research problem?
a. Marina examines the experiences of new educated immigrants from Brazil
b. Jeff tests differences in overall achievement between those exposed to a rich arts
curriculum and those not exposed to the curriculum
c. Katrina explores the relationships among perceived leadership characteristics and
faculty satisfaction
d. Priya describes how a start-up IT business gained market share
• 13. Nate conducted a study with the purpose of describing the role of teachers’
collective efficacy in work climate. He examined four schools in the Philadelphia City
school district. Nate’s case study can best be described as which of the following?
a. Multi-site case study
b. Unique-site case study
c. Cross-site case study
d. Matrix case study
• 14. Of the following, which is the best example of a comparative case study?
a. Josh compares the results of two studies conducted on the outcomes of environmental
education programs.
b. Maricella compares the experiences of two different families as they cope with
medical decisions related to their newborn children.
c. Kenya compares the self-reported family dynamics between male and female single-
parent families
d. Nadia examines the differences between student writing outcomes between those
provided personal laptops in school and those who are not provided laptops
15. Which of the following is a strategy for cross-site analysis?
a. Coordinate concept matrix
b. Cross-site analytic matrix
c. Unordered meta-matrix
d. Multi-dimensional site matrix
16. The type of cross-site analysis tool used specifically to examine chronology as an
organizing variable is referred to as
a. Multi-dimensional site matrix
b. Site-ordered descriptive matrix
c. Site-ordered predictor matrix
d. Time-ordered meta-matrix
• 17. Jamal needs a cross-site analysis tool to assist him in creating master charts.
Which of the following would best serve his purpose?
a. Unordered meta-matrix
b. Site-ordered predictor-outcome matrix
c. Multi-dimensional site matrix
d. Site-ordered meta-matrix
▪ 18. James is interested in describing some plausible cause and effect relations within
his case study data. Which of the following will James find most useful in his quest to
describe these data?
a. Scatterplot
b. Time-ordered matrix
c. Site-ordered effects matrix
d. Cross-site matrix
19. The tool used in cross-site analysis designed to assist the researcher in seeing differences
across cases is best described as a
a. site-ordered descriptive matrix.
b. cross-site analytic matrix
c. time-ordered matrix.
d. causal model matrix.
20. Which of the following is the most common form of sampling in case study
research?
a. Random
b. Convenience
c. Purposive
d. Cluster
21. Of the following, which is the most accurate statement regarding sample selection in case
study research?
a. The available sample defines the unit of analysis.
b. The researcher selects the unit of analysis.
c. The client defines the unit of analysis.
d. The unit of analysis is determined by the context.
• 22. Ruth is conducting a case study of typical ways of working in a College
Registrar’s office. Of the following, which is appropriate practice for Ruth as she selects
participants for her study?
a. Ruth should select all workers as participants for her identified case.
b. Ruth should screen potential participants and include only those who can contribute
to her understanding.
c. Ruth should screen potential participants and include those with a strong perspective.
d. Ruth should allow the administrator in the office to select the participants given their
individual roles in the context.
23. To state that a case study is heuristic means that
a. it represents a strategy employed by scholars.
b. it relies on participant knowledge.
c. it shares something new about the phenomenon.
d. it supports a priori hypotheses.
24. When a researcher explores whether the participant has the necessary knowledge to
inform the case this is referred to as
a. screening.
b. pilot testing.
c. pre testing.
d. microethology.
• 25. George is employing a case study methodology to examine the role of principals
in increasing inter-staff communication. As he starts to work with his case study
participants, he realizes two of the three are unwilling to talk to him about the principal.
Which of the following strategies might George have employed to combat this situation?
a. Pilot testing
b. Screening
c. Sifting
d. Fact checking
Chapter 17 Answers