Building on Case Analysis

Abstract

The preceding chapter has pointed to the utility, and some of the potential pitfalls, of case studies in comparative analysis. One of the major issues is that each case is only a case, and it is difficult to build any theoretical generalisations from the individual cases. Any one case may be conducted extremely well, and be very valid as a representation of the reality that it investigates. The problem may be that it is also very atypical of the population of similar cases, whether that population is within a single country or across a number of countries. The probability that a case is atypical is higher in comparative research, given that there is almost certainly more variance within the more diverse population of instances that are likely to be encountered, so the need to move beyond single cases is more important in this area of the discipline.