The Case Study Crisis: Some Answers

Abstract

March 198 1, volume 26 In hisASQ article entitled Qualitative data as an attractive nuisance, Matthew Miles (1 979) has written a disarmingly candid rendition of the perils of qualitative analysis. Unfortunately, his candor in admitting the existence of these perils was matched by few suggestions for overcoming them. As a result, his article, based on a four-year study of six public schools, leaves the readerwith a sense that qualitative analysis-and its implicit companion, the case study cannot yet be regarded a rational, much less scientific venture.