Multiple Case Study Analysis

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.

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 Quieting Reform: Social Science and Social Action in an Urban Youth Program (1986), a book on Charles Murray's evaluation of Cities-in-Schools, and three other books on research methods: Evaluating the Arts in Education: A Responsive Approach (1975), The Art of Case Study Research (1995), and Standards-Based and Responsive Evaluation (2003).