the findings cannot necessarily be generalized to a larger community as it focuses on a limited number of cases. people sometime question on the evaluator's bias. The major disadvantage of case study is the subjectivity of information. it allows depth of insight into relationships and personal feelings the information can be effectively used in combination with other methods such as survey and observation and it can be tailored to a specific situation. finally, a case study can be exploratory- if a program has no clear set of outcomes, it can help identify performance measures or pose hypotheses for further evaluative work.Ĭase study has several advantages.

for descriptive purposes, a case study can be used to describe the real-life context where a program takes place. with an explanatory purpose, a case study is designed to test and explain causal links in real-life programs whose complexity cannot be captured by a survey. yin (1984) describes case studies as either explanatory, descriptive, or exploratory.

the evaluator captures the total scene of the situation. It can provide in depth information on a single unit, group or organization- through personal discussion, mutual interaction, observation, or review of existing documents. if the evaluator chooses to be involved in the activity, he or she may lose objectivity. if the group is aware of being observed, behavior may be affected- which is known as 'hawthorne effect.' different observers may not record events consistently. the evaluator has less control over the situation in a natural environment. This method has some limitations when one needs to gather information about people. the more structured the schedule, the easier to summarize and analyze data. it provides an opportunity to collect information directly about what is actually occurring within the natural settings. this method is useful to gather information about particular physical behaviors. crawford - back to table of contentsĪn observation schedule is typically a checklist or rating scale where the occurrences of particular, pre-identified events or features can be noted. Introduction to program evaluation -whole document- dr.

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