Is case study research a social science substitute for scientific experimentation?
• Aren’t case studies unscientific because they cannot be replicated? It is true that a later researcher using case methods will of necessity be studying a different case, if only because he or she comes later, and therefore may come to different conclusions. Similarly, in experimental and quasi-experimental research the subjects will differ, meaning relationships may differ. What makes research replicable in either case study or experimental research is not the units of analysis but whether the research has been theory-driven. If the case researcher has developed and tested a model of hypothesized relationships, then a future case researcher can replicate the initial case study simply by selecting cases on the basis of the same theories, then testing the theories through pattern matching. If pattern matching fails to uphold theories supported by the first case researcher, the second case researcher may engage in explanation building, as discussed above, to put forward a new model. • A
