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Chapter 2 - Building Blocks of Case Study Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2023

Lakshmi Balachandran Nair ,
Michael Gibbert  and
Bareerah Hafeez Hoorani
Lakshmi Balachandran Nair
Affiliation:
Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, Italy
Michael Gibbert
Affiliation:
Università della Svizzera Italiana, Switzerland
Bareerah Hafeez Hoorani
Affiliation:
Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Management Research, The Netherlands
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Summary

In this chapter, we discuss the fundamentals of case study research. First of all, we discuss the research functions underlying research questions (i.e. exploratory and explanatory). Different types of explanatory research questions catering to the research functions are discussed next. Depending on the focal variable, these questions are termed X-centered (focusing on the independent variable X), Y-centered (focusing on the dependent variable Y), and X&Y centered (focusing on X and Y). The importance of the context (Z) is discussed afterwards. The logical reasonings underpinning case study research (i.e. induction, deduction, and abduction) are also discussed. The chapter also addresses some common (mis)conceptions regarding the research functions, research questions, research context, and logical reasoning.

Keywords

ExplanatoryExploratoryIndependent variable (X)Dependent variable (Y)Context (Z)InductionDeductionAbduction
Type
Chapter
Information
Combining Case Study Designs for Theory Building
A New Sourcebook for Rigorous Social Science Researchers
 , pp. 10 - 30
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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