WHAT IS THE USE OF A SINGLE-CASE STUDY IN MANAGEMENT RESEARCH?

Autor: Fábio Luiz Mariotto, Pedro Pinto Zanni, Gustavo Hermínio Salati Marcondes de Moraes
Jazyk: English<br />Spanish; Castilian<br />Portuguese
Rok vydání: 2014
Předmět:
Zdroj: RAE: Revista de Administração de Empresas, Vol 54, Iss 4, Pp 358-369 (2014)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0034-7590
2178-938X
DOI: 10.1590/S0034-759020140402
Popis: The purpose of this article is to present a defense of the use of single case studies in management research. The defense is necessary because this type of research has been relegated to a secondary role, or even rejected, by many researchers, who consider it unscientific. Evidence of this low status is the fact that most reputable academic journals in management publish few articles based on single-case studies. In this paper, we examine in detail the objections to the use of such cases in management research. We show the efforts made by some researchers to answer these objections and we show quality criteria for research that are alternatives to the criteria used in the so-called “scientific method.” Our analysis suggests that a better understanding – by researchers with different methodological preferences – of the arguments for each particular use of the single-case study as a research method would allow a better dialogue between researchers and benefit management research as a whole.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals