THE CASE-STUDY - ITS SYSTEMIC METATHEORY AND THE SOCIAL BEHAVIORAL-SCIENCES

Briefly maps the intellectual terrain of a generic system of enquiry - the metatheory of case study research. Draws a distinction between a generic research design and a methodology: the former is an overarching research plan, the latter refers to data-generating processes and cognitive procedures for discerning datal patterns. Methodology is an integral part of every generic research design. General systems theory informs the metatheory on the case under study. Describes the armamentarium of case study research: topical loci in case study research; researcher's a priori notions and values; ideology/epistemology interrelations; data-generating instruments and procedures; cognitive datalpattem processes and characteristics of case study discourse. Delineates the influences of the pragmatic unity of fact and value, the reciprocal relations between knowledge and practice, and the constraints of the researcher's intellectual vision and values. Presents the character and significance of the Heisenberg indeterminacy principle for the epistemology of the social/behavioural sciences.