Final report on case studies: emerging trends, lessons and methodological issues

Case study as a research design means investigating a single or multiple instance(s) or setting(s) (i.e. a case) and its entire context to explain a phenomenon and its processes. This is achieved through detailed understanding, usually comprised of multiple sources of information. In this way, case studies attempt to provide as a complete an understanding of a (complex) phenomenon as possible.
Within the AEGIS project, survey and case study research are complementary. They are complementary in the sense that the former can provide more generalizable evidence on a phenomenon in terms of cross-sectional data, while the latter can provide more in-depth (qualitative) understanding on specific issues.
In systematically examining the case studies, however, this report goes beyond a typical single case study. Here we provide a synthesis of 86 case studies. Multiple case studies, following similar focus/analysis, provide opportunity to draw more generalizable results by distinguish common patterns of findings across cases. They also enable more in-depth understanding of specific variables and processes, given that the large number of case studies can be examined