case study evidence from the lit

"Although case studies have been used by anthropologists, psychoanalysts and many others as a method of exploration preliminary to theory development, the characteristics of the method are usually more suited to expansionist than reductionist pursuits. Theory building is the search for essences, pervasive and determining ingredients, and the makings of laws. The case study, however, proliferates rather than narrows. One is left with more to pay attention to rather than less. The case study attends to the idiosyncratic more than to the pervasive. The fact that it has been useful in theory building does not mean that that is its best use.

Its best use appears to me to be for adding to existing experience and humanistic understanding. Its characteristics match the ‘readiness’ people have for added experience. As Von Wright and others stressed, intentionality and empathy are central to the comprehension of social problems, but so also is information that is holistic and episodic. The discourse of persons struggling to increase their understanding of social matters features and solicits these qualities. And these qualities match nicely the characteristics of the case study." 

Stake, R. (2009). 1 THE CASE STUDY METHOD IN SOCIAL INQUIRY. In R. Gomm, M. Hammersley, & P. Foster (Eds.), Case Study Method. (pp. 18-27). London, England: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: http://dx.doi.org.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/10.4135/9780857024367.d5