CASE STUDIES
            *        widely employed across all of the social sciences.
            *        the most frequently used of the six traditions of inquiry
            *        case study research has been published throughout the history of
                      Communicative Disorders.
            *        an investigation may be classified as a case study when the focus is on a specific
                      "object" as a case, whether it is a person, a topic, a location, or an event.
                          --  Smith, Gould, Marsh and Nichols focused on a child with ADHD (person),
                          --  Damico and Augustine (1995) focused on the process of labeling children
                               as  ADHD (event).
            *        designation of an investigation as a case study is sometimes confusing.
                          --   While it is possible to separate case studies that are experimental and
                                quasi-experimental in nature from those that are designated as
                                 qualitative case studies, the separation of qualitative case studies from
                                 biographical study and from ethnographic study is more difficult.
                          --    because a case study is defined by a focus on individual cases rather
                                 than on the methods of inquiry used.
                          --    methodologies employed in ethnography, grounded theory and
                                 other traditions are often used in this tradition as well.
            *        to more clearly differentiate case studies four factors should be considered:
                         1.    the object of inquiry should be specific enough to be easily
                                distinguished from other similar phenomena
                         2.    it should be bounded in such a way that it can be studied separately
                         3.    it should not have a particularly long chronological frame
                         4.    it is possible that something of value can be learned from the
                                investigation of this single case
            *        it is important to recognize that case study research can be used for
                      several reasons.
            *        Regardless of whether the case is simple or complex, once the object of
                      inquiry is identified:
                        –      the data can be collected and analyzed with the intention of
                                learning specifics about this instance (an intrinsic case study)
                        –      using this case to provide insight into a more general issue or
                                refinement of a theory (instrumental case study)
                        --     this case may be combined with other cases to inquire into a more
                                general phenomenon (collective case study).

HISTORICAL METHODOLOGY
            *        necessary to discuss because of the descriptive and interpretive nature
                      of qualitative research.
            *        since the "thick description" of various social and cultural phenomena is
                      often an aim of qualitative researchers, many social phenomena must
                      be considered in an historical context.
            *        history is more than the passage of events; it has relevance for the present
                      since historically constructed contexts and meaning become the raw
                      materials for new cultural creation (Edel).
            *        past cultural meanings also set conceptual and operational limits on what
                      groups can use to construct new social and cultural contexts and phenomena.
                      ---   the American "behaviorist Zeitgeist" of the first half of the 20th Century
                              gave rise to a number of limitations on how linguists and applied
                              linguists conceptualize language and how our discipline has attempted
                              to assess language ability.
            *        historical research is frequently required and this demands attention to
                      historical methodology.
         Methodology
            *        similar to the other traditions of inquiry, it uses a set of discovery procedures
                      that are applied in a systematic and defensible manner.
            *        since the study of history is an interpretive exercise, this methodology is
                      designed to guard against bias in data collection and analysis.
                       –     researcher should start with a fairly open question or topic to pursue
                       --     the data to be used depend upon the question to be answered
                               (Tuchman, 1994).
                       --    once a topic (albeit fairly open) is determined, the researcher employs
                              data collection procedures to analyze primary (i.e., historical data of
                              the period under investigation) and secondary (i.e., books and articles
                              written by historians and social scientists about the topic) sources
                       --    attempts to discern important patterns of thought and practice that
                              might emerge from the historical context.
            *        such patterns are important because they reflect on the actual intellectual
                      and practical contexts within which individuals made assumptions and
                      structured their behaviors.
            *        as these data are collected, the topic of interest may become more focused
                      and may even shift in directions that were not anticipated.
            *        some form of verification should be applied to ensure the reliability and
                      validity of the conclusions derived from the historical analysis.
                       –       variations of qualitative strategies such as the comparative method
                                and triangulation are frequently employed for this purpose
            *        results of historical analysis may be varied.
                       --       A researcher may create a grand narrative and synthesis that is wide
                                 in scope and that has profound implications (Marx' Das Kapital)
                       --       may establish a better understanding of an issue for their own
                                 purposes (e.g., Prutting, 1983).
                      In either case, the result of applying historical methodology as a method of
                      inquiry should be a more contextualized and deeper understanding of the
                      phenomenon of  interest.

Posible titles for your "life studies assignment"

Ashton-Warner, S. (1963).  Teacher.  New York: Simon & Schuster.
Blaise, C. (2000).  Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the creation of standard time.
          New York: Pantheon Books
Burnett, D.G. (2001).  A trial by Jury.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Fadiman, A. (1997).  The spirit catches you and you fall down.  A Hmong child, her
          American doctors, and the collision of two cultures.  New York: The Noonday Press.
Gleick, J. (1992).  Genius: the life and science of Richard Feynman.  New York:
          Pantheon Books
Hersch, P. (1998).  A tribe apart.  A journey into the heart of American adolescence.  New
          York: Ballantine Books.
Kidder, T. (1989).  Among Schoolchildren.  New York: Avon Books.
Kidder, T. (1993).  Old Friends.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Kozol. J. (1975).  The night is dark and I am far from home.  New York: Touchstone Books
Lewis, O. (1961).  The children of Sanchez.  New York: Random House.
Manning, P. (1992).  Erving Goffman and modern sociology.  Stanford, CA: Stanford
           University Press.
Pipher, M. (1994).  Reviving Ophelia: Saving the selves of adolescent girls.  New
           York: Ballantine Books
Silverman, D. (1998).  Harvey Sacks: Social science and conversation analysis.
           NewYork: Oxford University Press.
 Spradley, T.S. & Spradley, J.P. (1978).  Deaf like me.  Washington, DC: Gallaudet University.
Tuchman, B.W. (1962).  The Guns of August.  New York: Ballantine Books
Tuchman, B.W. (1978).  A distant mirror: the calamitous 14th century.  New York:
           Ballantine Books
Turkel, S. (197 ).  Working.