Multiple Case Study Analysis

by Stake, Robert E.

• ISBN13: 9781593852481
• ISBN10: 1593852487
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-24
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Examining situational complexity is a vital part of social and behavioral science research. This engaging text provides an effective process for studying multiple cases--such as sets of teachers, staff development sessions, or clinics operating in different locations--within one complex program. The process also can be used to investigate broadly occurring phenomena without programmatic links, such as leadership or sibling rivalry. Readers learn to design, analyze, and report studies that balance common issues across the group of cases with the unique features and context of each case. Three actual case reports from a transnational early childhood program illustrate the author's approach, and helpful reproducible worksheets facilitate multicase recording and analysis.

Author Biography

Robert E. Stake, PhD, is a specialist in the evaluation of educational programs and case study methods. He is director of the Center for Instructional Research and Curriculum Evaluation at the University of Illinois. Dr. Stake is the author of [i]Quieting Reform: Social Science and Social Action in an Urban Youth Program[/i] (1986), a book on Charles Murray's evaluation of Cities-in-Schools, and three other books on research methods: [i]Evaluating the Arts in Education: A Responsive Approach[/i] (1975), [i]The Art of Case Study Research[/i] (1995), and [i]Standards-Based and Responsive Evaluation[/i] (2003).

Table of Contents

List of Worksheets, Figures, and Photographs	xxiii
Single Cases	1	(16)
Situation and Experience	2	(1)
A Technical View of a Case	3	(1)
The Quintain	4	(3)
The Case-Quintain Dilemma	7	(2)
The Research Questions	9	(1)
The Particular and the General	10	(2)
The Contexts	12	(2)
Making the Individual Case Report	14	(3)
Planning the Report	14	(3)
The Multicase Study	17	(22)
Staffing	18	(4)
Selecting Cases	22	(5)
Activity in Its Situation	27	(2)
Data Gathering across Cases	29	(4)
Triangulation within Cases	33	(6)
Cross-Case Analysis	39	(39)
Rationale	40	(1)
Reading the Collected Reports	41	(5)
Cross-Case Procedure	46	(2)
Expected Utility of Cases and Ordinariness of Situations	48	(2)
The Grounds for Assertions	50	(22)
Track I: Emphasizing Case Findings	50	(8)
Track II: Merging Case Findings	58	(6)
Track III: Providing Factors for Analysis	64	(8)
Cross-Case Assertions	72	(5)
Triangulation across Cases	77	(1)
The Report	78	(13)
Planning the Multicase Report	79	(3)
Comparing Cases	82	(2)
Advocacy	84	(4)
Generalization	88	(3)
The Step by Step Multicase Study Project	91	(18)
The Open Society Institute and the International Step by Step Association	92	(1)
The Step by Step Approach	93	(5)
Previous Step by Step Evaluations	98	(2)
Aims of the Step by Step Multicase Project	100	(1)
Developing Case Topics	100	(1)
Action Research	101	(1)
Themes for Cross-Case Analysis	102	(3)
The Teams and the Steering Group	105	(1)
Training the Case Researchers	106	(3)
Three Step by Step Case Studies	109	(218)
Addressing the Six Cross-Case Themes	110	(4)
The Experience of the Case Researchers and Mentors	114	(5)
The Ukraine Case Study	119	(74)
Inclusive Education: The Step by Step Program Influencing Children, Teachers, Parents, and State Policies in Ukraine	121	(1)
Svitlana Efimova
Natalia Sofiy
List of Characters	121	(1)
Liubchyk	122	(4)
Liubchyk's Teacher	126	(3)
Teacher Training in Lviv	129	(3)
A Press Conference in Lviv	132	(7)
Teacher Training in Kyiv	139	(7)
Teacher Training in Ukraine	146	(2)
Liubchyk	148	(1)
Observations by Ailsa Cregan, Mentor	149	(1)
Liubchyk's Mother	150	(3)
Shans, a Parent NGO	153	(1)
Interview with Mr. Volodymyr and Ms. Tamara	154	(4)
Board Meeting of the Center	158	(3)
National Context	161	(1)
Legislation	162	(1)
Treatment of Children with Disabilities	163	(5)
Interview with Victor Ogneviuk	168	(3)
Interview with Vyatcheslav Zasenko	171	(1)
The Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation	172	(1)
Brief History	173	(1)
Capacity of the Ukrainian Step by Step Foundation	174	(1)
The Ministry of Education and Science and Other Partners	175	(1)
Interview with Natalia Softy	176	(4)
Our Interpretation of Educational Policy	180	(2)
Our Interpretation of the Teacher Training	182	(5)
Our Interpretation of Inclusion	187	(4)
Liubchyk	191	(2)
The Slovakia Case Study	193	(48)
Impact of Step by Step at the Roma Settlement Jarovnice-Karice: Slovakia Community Resource Mobilization	195	(1)
Eva Koncokova
Jana Handzelova
Summary	195	(2)
The Community Center: Preparation for Inclusive Education	197	(6)
The Community Center: A Place for Lifelong Learning	201	(2)
The Community Center: A Place of Community Development	203	(1)
Civic Associations	204	(1)
Life in the Roma Settlement of Jarovnice	204	(6)
Education	205	(2)
Employment	207	(1)
The First Roma People in the Village	207	(1)
Religious Life in the Community	208	(1)
A Visit to the Parish Priest	209	(1)
Maria Lichvarova	210	(8)
Gaining Community Acceptance through the Children	211	(1)
The Pastoral Center	212	(1)
Home-Based Teaching	213	(5)
The Step by Step Program in Slovakia	218	(7)
Nadacia Skola dokoran---the Wide Open School Foundation	220	(5)
Special Primary Schools	225	(16)
The Special Primary School in Jarovnice	226	(3)
The Headmistress	229	(3)
Parent Participation	232	(1)
Whole-Language Strategies	233	(1)
Differentiated Instruction	234	(1)
The Teacher Assistants	235	(4)
Community Resource Mobilization	239	(2)
The Romania Case Study	241	(64)
The Romanian Case Study: Center for Educational and Professional Development, Step by Step Romania---Teacher Staff Development at the Tulcea Model Training Site	243	(1)
Catalina Ulrich
Summary	244	(1)
List of Characters	245	(1)
Glossary	246	(1)
Introduction and Historical/Political Background	246	(17)
Staff Development at the Tulcea MTS	246	(2)
The Growth of Step by Step Teacher Training in Romania	248	(2)
Teacher Training: The Engine of Educational Reform	250	(2)
The European Union and Romania	252	(2)
Traditional and Alternative Teacher Education	254	(2)
Professional Development from the Bottom Up: The General	256	(3)
Trainees' Expectations of Training	259	(2)
The Romanian Teacher-Training Network	261	(1)
Pluralism and Democracy	262	(1)
Teacher Training in MTS Kindergarten 3, Tulcea	263	(27)
Day One: Presenting the Step by Step Standards	263	(9)
Planning	272	(5)
Day Two: Step by Step Standards in Action	277	(7)
Parent Involvement	284	(6)
Alternatives and Partnerships	290	(5)
The Danube Delta: A Metaphor for Alternatives	290	(1)
The National Symposium in Targoviste	291	(4)
Mentoring	295	(5)
The Mentoring Experience	295	(2)
A Trainee in Galati	297	(3)
Reflection/Discussion	300	(5)
Step by Step Cross-Case Analysis: First Steps	305	(22)
References	327	(6)
Index	333	(8)
About the Author	341	(1)
Contributors	342