The Case for Case Studies

This book seeks to narrow two gaps: first, between the widespread use of case studies and their frequently “loose” methodological moorings; and second, between the scholarly community advancing methodological frontiers in case study research and the users of case studies in development policy and practice. It draws on the contributors’ collective experience at this nexus, but the underlying issues are more broadly relevant to case study researchers and practitioners in all fields. How does one prepare a rigorous case study? When can causal inferences reasonably be drawn from a single case? When and how can policy-makers reasonably presume that a demonstrably successful intervention in one context might generate similarly impressive outcomes elsewhere, or if massively “scaled up”? No matter their different starting points – disciplinary base, epistemological orientation, sectoral specialization, or practical concerns – readers will find issues of significance for their own field, and others across the social sciences. This title is also available Open Access.

Jennifer Widner is Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University and Director of Innovations for Successful Societies. Her research focuses on government performance, democratization, and constitutional design. Much of her work uses qualitative process-tracing case studies focused on institutional change, implementation, and service delivery.

Michael Woolcock is Lead Social Scientist with the World Bank’s Development Research Group, and an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He is the coauthor of Contesting Development: Participatory Projects and Local Conflict Dynamics in Indonesia (2011) and Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action (2017).

Daniel Ortega Nieto is a Senior Public Sector Specialist at The World Bank. He assisted the Global Delivery Initiative and led a team developing DeCODE, an evidence-based system that helps anticipate delivery challenges. He was an advisor to the Mexican Government and holds degrees from the LSE and Georgetown University.