Table Of Content“Building on their groundbreaking and innovative comparative case study
approach developed over the past two decades, Frances Vavrus and Lesley
Bartlett offer another excellent contribution for education and social science
researchers. This volume weaves together 11 insightful chapters based on
research from around the globe—each followed bythought-provoking discus-
sionquestions—thatilluminatethekeymethodologicaldecisionsmadebythe
authorand the broader methodological insights for scholars seeking to design
theirownstudies.”
Dr. Monisha Bajaj, Professor of International & Multicultural Education,
University of San Francisco, USA
“Intimeslikethesewhenuncertaintyisthenewnormalandsocialsystemsare
becoming more complex and dynamic, the comparative case study (CCS)
approach is an innovative framework for the study of education. Lesley Bar-
tlett and Frances Vavrus have assembled 11 chapters that demonstrate the
utilityoftheCCSapproachandextenditsimplicationsacrossthethree–now
famous–axes:vertical,horizontal,andtransversal.Educationresearchersand
socialscientistsmorebroadlywillfindthiscollectioninspiringanduseful.”
Dr. Oren Pizmony-Levy, Associate Professor and Program Director, International
andComparativeEducationProgram,DepartmentofInternationaland
TransculturalStudies,TeachersCollege,ColumbiaUniversity,USA
Doing Comparative Case Studies
Doing Comparative Case Studies: New Designs and Directions extends the
comparative case study methodology established by Bartlett and Vavrus and
employed in many areas of social research, especially in education.
This volume unites a diverse, international group of education scholars
whose work exemplifies the affordances and constraints of the comparative
case study (CCS) approach and offers new theoretical and empirical direc-
tions for researchers. In 11 engaging chapters, experts in comparative edu-
cation, early childhood education, peace education, refugee education,
special education, and teacher education discuss their use of the CCS
approach to produce new ways of knowing and to address challenges of
multi-scalar and multi-sited research. The first section, Conceptualizing Cases
and Case Selection, emphasizes the importance of carefully selecting cases
during different phases of research while continuously reflecting on how
these choices influence the findings. The second section, Balancing Specificity
and Generalizability, addresses the challenge of balancing the need for rich,
deep data while including multiple sites. The third section, Enabling Proces-
sual Analysis across Sites and Scales, demonstrates the fit between the CCS
approach and qualitative research that unfolds over time and space. The
fourth section, Addressing the Transversal Axis, showcases research with a
strong temporal dimension. The fifth and final section, New Directions, sug-
gests inspiring and innovative methods.
Offeringrichmethodologicalexamplesandprovocativediscussionquestions,
thisvolumewillappealtoundergraduateandgraduatestudentsineducationand
research design courses, and to scholars and policymakers in diverse fields
seekingtodesignstudiesofcomplexphenomenaatdifferentsitesandscales.
Frances Vavrus is Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of
Minnesota.
Lesley Bartlett is Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational
Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Doing Comparative Case
Studies
New Designs and Directions
Edited by
Frances Vavrus and Lesley Bartlett
Coverimage:©GettyImages
Firstpublished2023
byRoutledge
4ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10158
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2023selectionandeditorialmatter,FrancesVavrusandLesleyBartlett;
individualchapters,thecontributors.
TherightofFrancesVavrusandLesleyBartletttobeidentifiedasthe
authorsoftheeditorialmaterial,andoftheauthorsfortheirindividual
chapters,hasbeenassertedinaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproduced
orutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,
nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,
orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin
writingfromthepublishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksor
registeredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanation
withoutintenttoinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Acatalogrecordhasbeenrequestedforthisbook
ISBN:978-1-032-10684-7(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-032-10688-5(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-003-21655-1(ebk)
DOI:10.4324/9781003216551
TypesetinGoudy
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
To our students with whom we have had the pleasure of learn-
ing as they carried out their own comparative case studies, and
to scholars everywhere who seek to “follow the inquiry” at the
heart of this approach.
Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xii
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction: Case Studies with a Comparative Sensibility 1
FRANCESVAVRUSANDLESLEYBARTLETT
SECTIONI
Conceptualizing Cases and Case Selection 17
1 Making Discipline Reform: A Comparative Case Study of
School Policymaking 19
ABIGAILJ.BENEKE
2 Meeting the Needs of Refugee Learners: A Comparative Case
Study of Lebanese and Syrian Teachers’ Approaches to
Educating Refugee Students in Lebanon 36
ELIZABETHF.ADELMAN
SECTIONII
Balancing Specificity and Generalizability 53
3 Language Policy and Early Grade Instruction in Nigeria: A
Comparative Case Study of Policy Awareness and
Implementation 55
OLAYINKAOLAGBEGI-ADEGBITE
4 The Promise of the Comparative Case Study Approach in
Understanding Educational Program Design and Change: Peace
Studies Programs in Kenyan Universities 71
MAURICESIKENYI
