IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/abg/anprac/v19y2015i21104.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Case study in public administration: a critical review of Brazilian scientific production

Author

Listed:
  • Mariana Guerra
  • Adalmir de Oliveira Gomes
  • Antônio Isidro da Silva Filho

Abstract

This paper presents a critical review of 47 articles published between 2006 and 2011 to identify how case studies have been applied in Brazilian research on public administration. In addition to their theoretical and methodological characteristics, four further specific topics of interest were addressed: (a) what is meant by case study; (b) the relationship between the phenomenon of interest and the case under investigation; (c) the possibility of replication; and (d) how the supposed method contributes towards the development of the field of public administration. The main inconsistencies found were: the methodological descriptions are confusing; the results are inconsistent compared with data gathering procedures and data analysis techniques; a lack of information about the number of interviewed individuals; and no descriptions of research variables. The results suggest the reviewed case studies present methodological inconsistencies and limitations, which undermine their scientific value and relevance to academic work in Brazil.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariana Guerra & Adalmir de Oliveira Gomes & Antônio Isidro da Silva Filho, 2015. "Case study in public administration: a critical review of Brazilian scientific production," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 19(2), pages 270-289.
    • Handle: RePEc:abg:anprac:v:19:y:2015:i:2:1104
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://rac.anpad.org.br/index.php/rac/article/view/1104/1100
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rac.anpad.org.br/index.php/rac/article/download/1104/1100
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dorothy Leonard-Barton, 1990. "A Dual Methodology for Case Studies: Synergistic Use of a Longitudinal Single Site with Replicated Multiple Sites," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 248-266, August.
    2. Wanda J. Orlikowski & Jack J. Baroudi, 1991. "Studying Information Technology in Organizations: Research Approaches and Assumptions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 1-28, March.
    3. Gerring, John, 2004. "What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(2), pages 341-354, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alexander Brem & Pierre Wolfram, 2017. "Organisation of new product development in Asia and Europe: results from Western multinationals R&D sites in Germany, India, and China," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 159-190, January.
    2. Tietze, Frank & Schiederig, Tim & Herstatt, Cornelius, 2011. "Firms' transition towards green product service system innovators," Working Papers 62, Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), Institute for Technology and Innovation Management.
    3. Greenhalgh, Trisha & Stones, Rob, 2010. "Theorising big IT programmes in healthcare: Strong structuration theory meets actor-network theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1285-1294, May.
    4. Reypens, Lina & Bacq, Sophie & Milanov, Hana, 2021. "Beyond bricolage: Early-stage technology venture resource mobilization in resource-scarce contexts," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(4).
    5. Re, Beatrice & Magnani, Giovanna, 2022. "Value co-creation in circular entrepreneurship: An exploratory study on born circular SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 189-207.
    6. Jessica Weber, 2023. "Coordination Challenges in Wind Energy Development: Lessons from Cross-Case Positive Planning Approaches to Avoid Multi-Level Governance ‘Free-Riding’," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-25, October.
    7. Hugo Consciência Silvestre, 2017. "Themed Issue: Cash Transfers and Microfinance," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(5), pages 703-720, September.
    8. Slawomir Czech & Magdalena Tusinska, 2016. "Economic growth, public debt and social spending. Should welfare state take the blame?," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 15(1), pages 33-45, March.
    9. Elbanna, Amany & Newman, Mike, 2022. "The bright side and the dark side of top management support in Digital Transformaion –A hermeneutical reading," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Michael Dougherty & Tricia Olsen, 2014. "Taking Terrain Literally: Grounding Local Adaptation to Corporate Social Responsibility in the Extractive Industries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(3), pages 423-434, February.
    11. Peter W. de Langen & Henrik Sornn-Friese & James Hallworth, 2020. "The Role of Port Development Companies in Transitioning the Port Business Ecosystem; The Case of Port of Amsterdam’s Circular Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, May.
    12. Kohtamäki, Marko & Einola, Suvi & Rabetino, Rodrigo, 2020. "Exploring servitization through the paradox lens: Coping practices in servitization," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    13. Aaltonen, Aleksi Ville & Alaimo, Cristina & Kallinikos, Jannis, 2021. "The making of data commodities: data analytics as an embedded process," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110296, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Andersson Fredrik O. & Ford Michael, 2017. "Entry Barriers and Nonprofit Founding Rates: An Examination of the Milwaukee Voucher School Population," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 71-90, January.
    15. Gustav Lidén, 2013. "What about theory? The consequences on a widened perspective of social theory," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 213-225, January.
    16. Pinar Ozcan & Filipe M. Santos, 2015. "The market that never was: Turf wars and failed alliances in mobile payments," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1486-1512, October.
    17. Nordine Benkeltoum, 2017. "Open source software adoption for safety-critical information systems design: the Thales case study [Adoption de l’open source pour la conception de systèmes d’information critiques : le cas Thales," Post-Print hal-04191308, HAL.
    18. Efpraxia D. Zamani & Nancy Pouloudi & George Giaglis & Jonathan Wareham, 2021. "Accommodating Practices During Episodes of Disillusionment with Mobile IT," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 453-475, April.
    19. Poteete, Amy R. & Ostrom, Elinor, 2008. "Fifteen Years of Empirical Research on Collective Action in Natural Resource Management: Struggling to Build Large-N Databases Based on Qualitative Research," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 176-195, January.
    20. Richard Ormerod, 2017. "Writing practitioner case studies to help behavioural OR researchers ground their theories: application of the mangle perspective," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(5), pages 507-520, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:abg:anprac:v:19:y:2015:i:2:1104. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Information Technology of ANPAD (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://anpad.org.br .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.