How to Do Your Case Study

Gary Thomas is an emeritus professor of education at the University of Birmingham. His teaching and research have focused on inclusion, special education, and research methodology in education, with a particular focus on case study. He has conducted research funded by the AHRC, the ESRC, the Nuffield Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Department for Education, Barnardos, local authorities, and a range of other organisations. He has coedited the British Educational Research Journal and is currently an executive editor of Educational Review. He is author of many books, most recently Education: A Very Short Introduction published by Oxford University Press.

Stage I: Getting Your Bearings
Chapter 1: What is a case study?
Chapter 2: The case study and research design
Chapter 3: The whole is more than the sum of the parts: seeing a complete picture
Chapter 4: Rigour and quality in your case study: what’s important?
Chapter 5: Ethics
Stage II: Choosing a case and structuring your study
Chapter 6: Different kinds of case studies: selecting a subject for your case study
Chapter 7: Your purpose: thinking about the object of your study
Chapter 8: Your approach: theory testing or theory building; interpretation or illustration
Chapter 9: Your process: the shape, style and manner of your case study
Stage III: Collecting evidence, analysing and writing up
Chapter 10: Out in the field: some ways to collect data and evidence
Chapter 11: Analysis: a toolkit for analysing and thinking in case study
Chapter 12: Writing your study