Case Studies
Why Does the Harvard Business School Use Case Studies?
Here is how you can profit from Case Studies
Case Studies are in-depth investigations of significant issues. The size of the church is not important, the significance of the issues is why the case is studied. Many business and law schools use the case study method:
- "Pioneered by the Harvard Business School, the case method opens windows to actual business situations. This learning by analogy compels participants to apply practical business lessons to their own company's challenges." (Six-Month Planning Guide, Executive Education, Harvard Business School, p. 4)
As you study church issues in XPastor's cases, you will learn by analogy. You will take home theological and managerial lessons to your own church.
When used in educational settings, case studies often leave the reader at a climax, forcing the reader to wrestle with the issues. The case itself rarely presents the solution to the issue, unless is it a multi-part case.
To prepare for discussing the case, consider the following:
- Carefully read the Introduction and the questions to be answered. Put yourself within the case and consider the problem as your own. What would you do?
- Skim the entire case, looking for significant issues. Then, carefully read the case material. Substantiate your position with facts and trends, policy and culture.
- Consider the principles from the case that can be applied to your own ministry.
Adequate preparation will enable you to productively engage in the small group discussion and ask significant questions in the large group sessions.
More on Using Case Studies
They work! They convey truth through a penetrating examination of each case of interest. Case studies give something that the ethereal world of academics can never give. Case studies present a real world example. It is as if they can be handled, touched, examined and questioned. Consider the following:
Asking questions and getting answers is a much harder task than it may seem at first. The spoken or written word has always a residue of ambiguity, no matter how carefully we word the questions and how carefully we report or code the answers. Yet interviewing is one of the most powerful ways in which we try to understand our fellow human beings.[1]
As the quote indicates, sorting out the different between truth, trends and trash can be challenging. But, interviewing people is powerful! Our case studies will feature a live presenter from each church of interest. Don't think you are getting the whole story? Is that "residue of ambiguity" too much for you? Then, ask the question in the large group setting. Let the Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, Associate Pastor or Governing Board member answer the question.
See if the case study church "feels real." Will it only work in their city? Why or why not? What are the cultural aspects that make their church succeed or fail?
Michael Patton comments on the in-depth nature of such a study:
he case study approach to qualitative analysis is a specific way of collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. The purpose is to gather comprehensive, systematic, and in-depth information about each case of interest. The starting point for case analysis, then, is making sure that the information for each case is as complete as possible.[2]
Crosthwaite adds: "An appropriate niche for case study methods is research situations which deal with contemporary events in which behaviour of the people or systems at the centre of the research problem cannot be manipulated."[3]
Great Methodology
The key to the XP-Seminar is the format. After each 40 minute presentation, discussion groups will break out to examine the stated topic with peers. This is an ideal opportunity to honestly evaluate an issue, to present a slice of your ministry, to get feedback from people in similar positions to your own.
The afternoon sessions have case studies of churches, skilled leaders will challenge you to discuss the topic. The case studies present models of ministry ...
- What new ideas can you take home from the case study?
- How will the discussion give you new insight into your church?
- Where can you grow as you interact with others in similar positions to your own?
You may disagree with 90% of what you hear. The other 10% may change your life and ministry.
[1] Andrea Fontana and James H. Frey, "The Interview: From Structures Questions to Negotiated Text," in Handbook of Qualitative Research, ed. Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc., 2000), 645.
[2] Michael Quinn Patton, Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd ed. (Newbury Park, California: SAGE Publications, 1990), 384.
[3] Jim Crosthwaite, Neil MacLeod, and Bill Malcolm, Case Studies: Theory and Practice in Natural Resource Management [A paper submitted for the Proceedings of the Australian Association for Social Research Conference, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. Archived on-line by The Institute of Land and Food Resources] (The University of Melbourne, February 1997, accessed 13 September 2003).
