Case study research in music education

Case studies are ubiquitous in music education. The purpose of this chapter is to a) address divergent definitions of case study; b) represent key dimensions of case studies drawn from these definitions in a diagram; c) relate this diagram to common criticisms and misconceptions surrounding case studies; d) apply resulting analytical insights to four select case studies drawn from music education journals; and e) propose avenues for improving the overall impact and utility of case studies within music education. Researchers are called to strive for rigor in design and analysis, keen attention to the analytic path used to draw inferences from the data, powerful writing that emphasizes the sophisticated interplay between cases and theoretical frameworks, and goodness of fit for investigating music teaching and learning.