Which of the following are the essential characteristics of the case study method?

A. Negatively oriented

B. Appreciation oriented

C. Particularistic

D. Descriptive

E. Inductive

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

A case study is a comprehensive examination of a single person, group, location, event, organisation, or phenomenon.

Key Points

• Case studies can be used to describe, compare, evaluate, and comprehend various elements of a study subject.
• Case studies are frequently employed in social, educational, clinical, and business research. 
• According to Welch et al (2011), the case study as a research method has been dominated mainly as a tool for inductive theory construction, which has limited its theoretical potential.
• A descriptive case study tells the account of a real-life issue that people or organisations faced and how they dealt with it.
• Case studies that are particularistic focus on a specific scenario, event, programme, or phenomenon.
•  It focuses attention on the ways in which certain groups of people deal with unique difficulties while taking a holistic view of the situation.

Therefore, C, D and E only are the correct options. 

Additional Information

• The majority of qualitative methods are employed in case study research, but quantitative approaches are occasionally used as well. 
• A case study can only represent a small number of people, making generalisation impossible.
•  It is a method that is subjective rather than objective.