case study

Definition of Case Study

(noun) A detailed and in-depth study of a single case, involving an event, group, individual, or organization.

Examples of Case Study

• An in-depth research project of male allies that try to prevent violence against women completed through interviews and surveys.
• Ethnographies:
  • Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum (1943) by William Foote Whyte (1914–2000)
  • Streetwise: Race, Class, and Change in an Urban Community (1990) by Elijah Anderson (born 1943)

Case Study Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: case stud·y

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /keɪs ˈstʌdi/
• British English – /keɪs ˈstʌdi/

Usage Notes

• Plural: case studies
• The term refers to both the subject and method of study.
• Case studies are often based on ethnographic research and conducted through participant observation, instead of aggregate data such as a sample of a population.
• Variant spelling: case-study
• Also called case report.

Additional Information

• Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “case” and “study” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Feagin, Joe R., Anthony M. Orum, and Gideon Sjoberg, eds. 1991. A Case for the Case Study. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
• Gerring, John. 2009. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Thomas, Gary. 2011. How to Do Your Case Study: A Guide for Students and Researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Related Terms

• cohort
• cohort study
• data
• generalizability
• longitudinal study
• qualitative research
• quantitative research
• reliability
• research
• study
• symbolic interactionism

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Works Consulted

Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.

Crooks, Robert, and Karla Baur. 2014. Our Sexuality. 12th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Marsh, Ian, and Mike Keating, eds. 2006. Sociology: Making Sense of Society. 3rd ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.

Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Cite the Definition of Case Study

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “case study.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/case-study/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

case study. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/case-study/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “case study.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/case-study/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“case study.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/case-study/>.