Case Research in Public Management

Introduction; Cases as Applied Research; Case Research: Qualitative or Quantitative?; Objectives for the Book; Acknowledgments; Part I. The What and How of Case Research; 1. What Is Case Research?; The History of Case Research; The Meaning of Case Research; The Case in Public Administration Research; Teaching Cases; When a Case Study Is Not Case Research; Public Administration Examples; Four Primary Challenges; The Focus of Case Research; The Question of Causality in Case Research; Case Research as Interpretive Research; Causation in Social Science Research; Logical Causation; Cases and Causal Inference; An Answer to the Causation Question?; Summary. 2. When to Do Case Research and How to Pick Cases; Why Researchers Chose the Case Research Approach; Developing Theory from Cases; Testing Theories That Already Exist; Identifying a Previous Condition; Establishing the Importance of Contributing Conditions; Establishing the Importance of the Case to Other Examples; How and Why Researchers Pick the Cases They Study; Choosing Comparable Cases; Choosing Cases with Variability; Choosing Cases with Variation across Subgroups; Summary; 3. The Range of Case Research Designs; Classes of Case Research; Explanatory Case Research; An Explanatory Case Example; Explanatory Cases on Additional Topics; Interpretive Case Research; Principles of Interpretive Case Research; An Interpretive Case Example; Critical Case Research; Structural Themes in Critical Research; A Critical Research Case Example; Reliability and Validity Issues in Case Research; Internal Validity; External Validity; Reliability; Summary; 4. Single Case Research Designs; Labels in Case Research; Case Research in the Administrative Sciences; Significance of Single Case Research; Four Problem Areas; Scientific Theory Requirements; The Scale and Scope of Single Case Research; Intrinsic Case Studies; Examples of Intrinsic Case Studies; Instrumental Case Studies; An Example of an Instrumental Case Study; Collective Case Studies; A Two-Level Case Classification System; Holistic Single Case Designs; Holistic Multicase Designs; Embedded Single Case Designs; Embedded Multicase Designs; Factors Affecting the Design Decision; Summary; 5. Multicase Research Designs; Transforming Readers into Participants; Some Advantages and Disadvantages of the Multicase Method; Three Categories of Multicase Research; Comparative Multicase Designs; The Comparative Method Defined; An International Comparative Case; Comparing Benchmarking Projects; Interpretive Multicase Designs; An Interpretive Multicase Example; A City/County Multicase Interpretive Study; Longitudinal Multicase Designs; Longitudinal Multicase Research Examples; Summary; 6. Getting Started in Single and Multicase Research; The Single Case Research Process; Define the Reason for Doing the Case Study; Select the Unit to Be Studied; Define the Role of the Researcher; Introduce the Project to the Study Unit; Establish the Case Unit Qualifications; Gather the Case Data; Prepare an Integrative Summary. Write a Final Report; The Multicase Research Process; Frame the Research Question; Select Cases to Include in the Study; Define Key Constructs and Units of Analysis; Collect the Data; Analyze and Interpret the Data; Prepare and Present a Report of the Findings; Summary; 7. Meta-Analysis Designs and Processes; The Focus of Meta-Analysis; Advantages and Disadvantages of Meta-Analysis; Some Disadvantages of Meta-analysis; Getting Started with a Meta-Case Analysis; Problem Formulation; Criteria for Selecting Cases; Standardizing the Points for Analysis; Standardizing the Analysis Procedure; Selecting a Coding Scheme; Describe the Statistical Processes Used; Analyze the Data and Write the Report; Document Analysis in Meta-Designs: Hermeneutic Analysis; Analysis and the "Act of Explaining"; Analysis Using the Meta-Analytic Schedule; A Meta-Analysis of Transformational Change Cases; Meta-Analysis in the 21st Century; Summary; 8. Collecting and Analyzing Case Data; Ethnographic Research Approaches; Ethnographic Data Collection Methods; Types of Ethnographic Research; Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethnographic Methods; Case Research as Fieldwork; Collecting Case Data by Observation; Forms of Observation Research; Advantages and Disadvantages of Observation; Collecting Data by Interviews; The Art of Interviewing; Purposes for Interviewing; Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews; Getting Beneath the Surface in Interviewing; Taking Notes or Recording the Interview; The Interviewing Process; Summary; 9. Document Analysis Methods; Categories of Written Record Data Analysis; The Episodic or the Running Record; The Literature Review Analysis Process; Case Research with Archival Data; Content Analysis in Case Research; Advantages and Disadvantages of Content Analysis; When to Use Content Analysis; Computer Analysis of Textual Data; Summary; 10. The Case Research Report; Universal Recommendations for Case Reports; Three Steps of Report Writing; Five Key Elements of Case Research Reports; Establishing a Point of View for the Case Report; Sample Points of View; Components in a Case Report; The Title; The Abstract (or Executive Summary); The Introduction; Review of the Literature; Methodology; Review: Methods and Data Differences; The Findings Section; Conclusions and/or Recommendations Section; References (Bibliography). Appendix or Appendices; Style and Format in Case Research Writing; Case Reporting Guidelines at PPMR; Introduce the Case; Establish the Background of the Problem or Situation; Report Your Findings; Describe Your Analysis and Conclusions; Summary; Part II. Case Research in Public Management; 11. Case Research in Public Policy and Management; Themes in Policy Case Research; How Policy Shapes Government Services; Short- and Long-term Implications; A Global Policy Single-Case Example; A Multicase Policy Example; Research Focus in Public Policy and Management; The Courts and Public Policy; A Case Study of Failure in Policy Implementation; A Three-Case Analysis of Public Management Reform; Summary; Note; 12. Case Research in Performance Management; Improving Government Services; What to Improve: Efficiency or Effectiveness?; Benchmarking for Process Improvement; The Innovation Groups Project Case; The IMCA Project Case; North Carolina Local Government Project Case; Results Assessment; Measuring Performance for Performance Improvement; A Problem Metric in Florida; Decentralization Programs in Government; Collaborating Through Networks; A Community of Interest Case; Communities of Practice; Collaborating Through Partnerships; Other Drivers of Administrative Reform; Greater Democratization in the Workforce; Other Humanization-Related Reforms; Summary; 13. Case Research in Sustainable Government; Declining Faith in Science to Achieve Sustainability; Assessing Development Sustainability; A Sustainability Assessment Application Case; The Human Side of Sustainability; Sustainability in State and Local Governments; Three Forces Pressuring Governments; Some Possible Solutions; International Sustainability Case Research; Government Agency and Sustainable Development in Denmark; Water Sustainability Management in China; The Case of Urban Sustainability in Vienna, Austria; Summary; 14. Case Research in Technology Management; Cases on Technology in Government; Early Examples; Wireless Technology for the City of Philadelphia; When Technology Fails; Removing Discretion in the Netherlands; Measuring the Impact of Technology on Performance; Summary; 15. Case Research in National Security Issues; Delivering DHS Programs; Partnerships and Coordination; DHS Grants to State, Local, and Tribal Governments; State Coordination; Homeland Security at the State and Local Level; A Case on Problems with Security Grants; Semi-Annual Surveys. The Homeland Security Alert System; The Color-Coded Warning System; Three Major Weaknesses; International Security Case Research; Fighting the New Wave of Terrorism; A Case of Security Threat in Latvia; Expediency or Appeasement; Russian Baltics Strategy; Conclusions; Summary; 16. Case Research in Emergency and Disaster Management; A Theory of Disaster and Emergency Management; FEMA

Biography

David E. McNabb, Pacific Lutheran University professor emeritus, is the author of two comprehensive research methods texts, both of which are now in their second edition. The first edition of his Research Methods in Public Administration and Nonprofit Organizations was awarded the 2004 John Grenzebach Research Award for Research in Philanthropy. He continues to teach at colleges and universities in the United States and internationally. He has been an adjunct professor in the master’s degree program in Public Administration at The Evergreen State College (TESC) in Olympia, Washington, the European master’s degree program of the University of Maryland–University College, and an adjunct professor at the University of Washington–Tacoma. He is currently teaching at a branch campus of Olympic College, Bremerton, Washington.