How fruitful is the case study research?

Abstract

This paper analyses the case study research methodology to answer the question about how fruitful is this method and whether or not it is worthy to be applied in social sciences. The case study method has been questioned and criticised along the history by some methodologists; others have defended it. The authors concluded that the case study method is generally criticized because it is arguably misunderstood. They recommend to researchers to follow a framework or prespecified procedures to avoid false hypotheses and generalize from relative and ambiguous conclusions.