Case study research: Prospects of a neglected approach to knowledge generation

Intellectual monopoly on the marketplace of ideas is often lamented. Fixati on on particular methods impedes market access of new ideas in economics. B roadening of the methodological basis of the discipline will increase the p robability of accomplishing research objectives. During the past decades, q ualitative research strategies have been increasingly neglected. Where rela ted disciplines aspire to an appropriate balance of quantitative and qualit ative approaches, this discussion is just beginning in agricultural economi cs. Qualitative approaches which seem fertile for agricultural economic researc h are case studies and participatory action research which have an independ ent tradition in the field, ethnography which is applied in rural sociology and organizational research, and grounded theory, ethnomethodology, and na turalistic research. Qualitative case study research serves as an example f or the possibilities, unanswered questions, and limitations of qualitative research. Case studies exist in different forms. With research, they are in use as me thods of analysis and reporting, or choice of the object of study. Although no standard procedure for case study research is available researchers agr ee on the importance of triangulation. Quality criteria for qualitative res earch are yet to be developed. A starting point are the traditional criteri a, internal and external validity, reliability, and objectivity Credibility , transferability, dependability, and confirmability are explained and disc ussed as substitutes. Case studies oriented to these criteria are a valuabl e complement to statistical and econometric analysis with the objective of problem-solving research, development of new theory or testing and qualifyi ng of existing theory.