Distinguishing case study as a research method from case reports as a publication type
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2019.615Keywords:
Qualitative Research, Case Studies, Case Reports, Subject Headings, IndexingAbstract
The purpose of this editorial is to distinguish between case reports and case studies. In health, case reports are familiar ways of sharing events or efforts of intervening with single patients with previously unreported features. As a qualitative methodology, case study research encompasses a great deal more complexity than a typical case report and often incorporates multiple streams of data combined in creative ways. The depth and richness of case study description helps readers understand the case and whether findings might be applicable beyond that setting.References
Akers KG, Amos K. Publishing case studies in health sciences librarianship [editorial]. J Med Libr Assoc. 2017 Apr;105(2):115–8. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2017.212.
Creswell JW. Qualitative inquiry & research design: choosing among five approaches. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE; 2018.
Yin RK. Case study research: design and methods. 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE; 2009.
Creswell JW. Research design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 2014.
Yin RK. Case study research and applications: design and methods. 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; 2018.
Stake RE. The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications; 1995.
Merriam SB. Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; 1998.
Yazan B. Three approaches to case study methods in education: Yin, Merriam, and Stake. Qual Rep. 2015;20(2):134–52.
Bartlett L, Vavrus F. Rethinking case study research: a comparative approach. New York, NY: Routledge; 2017.
Walsh RW. Exploring the case study method as a tool for teaching public administration in a cross-national context: pedagogy in theory and practice. European Group of Public Administration Conference, International Institute of Administrative Sciences; 2006.
National Library of Medicine. Case reports: MeSH descriptor data 2018 [Internet]. The Library [cited 1 Sep 2018]. <https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D002363>.
National Library of Medicine. Organizational case studies: MeSH descriptor data 2018 [Internet]. The Library [cited 26 Oct 2018]. <https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui=D019982>.
American Psychological Association. APA databases methodology field values [Internet]. The Association; 2016 [cited 1 Sep 2018]. <http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/training/method-values.aspx>.
ERIC. Case studies [Internet]. ERIC [cited 1 Sep 2018]. <https://eric.ed.gov/?ti=Case+Studies>.
Janke R, Rush K. The academic librarian as co-investigator on an interprofessional primary research team: a case study. Health Inf Libr J. 2014;31(2):116–22.
Clairoux N, Desbiens S, Clar M, Dupont P, St. Jean M. Integrating information literacy in health sciences curricula: a case study from Québec. Health Inf Libr J. 2013;30(3):201–11.
Federer L. The librarian as research informationist: a case study. J Med Libr Assoc. 2013 Oct;101(4):298–302. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.101.4.011.
Medical Library Association. Journal of the Medical Library Association author guidelines: submission categories and format guidelines [Internet]. The Association [cited 1 Sep 2018]. <http://jmla.mlanet.org/ojs/jmla/about/submissions>.
Martin ER. Team effectiveness in academic medical libraries: a multiple case study. J Med Libr Assoc. 2006 Jul;94(3):271–8.
Hancock DR, Algozzine B. Doing case study research: a practical guide for beginning researchers. New York, NY: Teachers College Press; 2017.
