Merriam, Sharan B. (1998) Qualitative research and case
study applications in education. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
xi+275 pp.
ISBN 0-78791009-0 $24.95
Reviewed by Laura M. Burgis
Arizona State University
June 11, 1998
Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in
Education is the
second edition of Case Study Research in Education
(Merriam, 1988). The
focus of this new book is qualitative research in general
with an emphasis on
applications to case studies.
The first edition was widely used as an introductory
text covering data collection
techniques, data analysis, reporting validity, reliability
and ethics. While included in the
second edition, this content is expanded to include
different types of qualitative
research, and how to design a qualitative study.
Several publications on qualitative research have
appeared in the last ten years,
but resources specific to case study methods are still
limited. Due to confusion about
what a case study is and how it can be differentiated from
other types of qualitative
research, Merriam emphasizes this methodology. The intended
audience includes
teachers, researchers and graduate students in education
who are interested in
conducting a qualitative study. The organization of this
text is intended to reflect the
process of conducting a qualitative research investigation.
Overall, this is a practical volume which offers the
reader an understanding of the
process for conducting a case study. After an introduction
to definitions, basic
principles, methodologies, and strategies, this book
provides step-by-step recipes for
defining the research problem, identifying subjects of
study, outlining data collection
techniques and problems, approaches to data analysis, uses
of technology, and
communication of results.
Part One is a discussion of the nature of qualitative
research. Chapter One begins
this discussion with a review of philosophical foundations,
including: the post-positivist
position (quantitative research), the Ericksonian-
Interpretivist position (qualitative
symbolic interactionist research), as well as the critical
theorist approach (qualitative
research) of empowerment Chapter Two focuses on the role
of the researcher, and the
attributes of noteworthy qualitative researchers. In
Chapter Three, five types of
qualitative research commonly found in education are
introduced: generic,
ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory and case study.
Part Two covers collecting qualitative data. The
interview process, observation
and documentation are all explored, emphasizing their
applications for case study.
Strategies and helpful hints are given and illustrated with
examples. Strengths and
limitations are also discussed.
Part Three includes analysis and reporting of
qualitative data. The mechanics of
data collection techniques, how to manage data, approaches
to analysis, and reporting
the findings are described in step-by-step detail. One
chapter is devoted entirely to
various data analysis strategies, including ethnographic
analysis, narrative analysis,
phenomenological analysis, analytic induction and the
constant comparative method of
Glaser and Strauss. Other chapters discuss the uses of
various software packages,
including: The Ethnograph, QUALPRO, and NUDIST. The last
chapters of Part Three
cover organization and management of the voluminous data
typical of qualitative case
studies. Finally, reporting methods are described, and the
strengths and limitations are
discussed.
This book focuses primarily on the technical aspects of
methods and procedures
of case study methodology. The author has created a
resource which serves as a very
general introduction to the process of case study but lacks
fundamentals necessary for
a stand-alone resource for the case study approach.
In Section One, Merriam covers two standard paradigms
(postpositivist and
interpretive) yet does not discuss the strengths or
limitations of either. Nevertheless,
Section One is an excellent introduction to qualitative
research and is useful for the
beginner to assess attributes of a good qualitative
researcher in themselves. This
reflective excercise helps the reader to determine if they
are suited for qualitative
research, based on the readers's understanding of his/her
own personal world view and
interests. Each chapter of Section One concludes with
articulate summaries.
In Part Two, Merriam carefully demonstrates how to
approach some of the major
issues of case study research including how to select the
case that is most likely to
result in maximum data collection, how to generalize what
is learned from one case to
another, and how to interpret what is learned. She does
this with plausible examples
drawing from her research of adult education. The author
clearly differentiates between
quantitative and qualitative approaches to case study,
coding, sorting and triangulation.
In Chapter Seven, Merriam describes her approach to
interviewing, observation, and
document analysis. In addition to fieldwork, she also
demonstrates coding of data,
linking categories and concepts, and building theory.
Merriam is also thorough in her
explanation of internal and external validity, and
reliability. The particulars of selecting
units of analysis and establishing rival hypothesis are
omitted in Chapter Nine, which
instead focuses on developing categories, organizing data,
and classification schemes.
Part Three focuses on how to analyze and report
findings. Merriam provides a
specific step-by-step outline of the written report, and
explains how to disseminate
results. The only disappointment in Part Three is the lack
of recommendations in the
discussion of software and limitations. The reader is left
only knowing there is a
plethora of products without insight to what works best
with what. Given the number of
technological advances and products designed specifically
for qualitative analysis, this
area deserves more thorough emphasis, particularly
considering this intended
audience.
Competing books, such as Glesne & Peshkin’s Becoming
Qualitative
Researchers (1992), give more detailed step-by-step
explanation, despite the fact
that their text does not focus on case study methodology.
Yin’s Case Study
Research (1994) and Applications of Case Study
Research (1993) are
more successful books specific to case study research
because they provide students
and researchers with extensive applications of actual case
study research (rather than
paragraph summary examples) as well as discussions of how
case study research can
be applied to broad areas of inquiry. Most importantly,
Yin integrates theoretical
concerns into case studies, showing how theory can shape
the study. Merriam’s book
lacks this theoretical orientation. Merriam fails to link
or contrast her ideas to the
existing literature, though a bibliography is provided.
None of these reaches the depths
that Stake reached in The Art of Case Study
Research.
What also seems to be missing in the text is context;
the author omits historical
perspectives such as traditions of case study research from
the Chicago School of
Sociology, or the anthropological case studies of
Malinowski, both to be considered
landmarks in the evolution of case study. (See J. Hamel’s
Case Study Methods
(1993); for example, where one gains an understanding
of the origins of qualitative
social science research, its development, and changes over
time, which did not include
multiple case study or multiple researcher or group
researcher positions.
This was suprising, given the common practice of these
approaches in case study, and
the attention the field gives to these approaches overall.
The strength of Merriam's text lies in its simplicity
for the beginning researcher. As
a pedagogical instrument, it serves as a useful
introduction to case study despite
lacking both a thoeretical framework and connection to the
research literature. For
students, supplementing materials would thus be necessary
With this proviso,
instructors should consider it for introductory courses in
qualitative research methods.
It will enhance qualitative study to hear first hand, the
seasoned practitioner's approach
to case study.
References
Glesne, C. & Peshkin A. (1992) Becoming qualitative
researchers, an
introduction. White Plains, New York: Longman.
Hamel, J. (1993). Case study methods. Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications
Merriam, S.B. (1992). Qualitative research in
education. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass Inc.
Stake, R.E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research.
Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE Publications.
Yin, R. (1994). Case study research. (second
edition). Thousand Oaks, CA:
SAGE Publications.
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