Case study research
Research Methods
Definition. Case study research is an in-depth empirical inquiry into a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when boundaries between phenomenon and context are unclear.
Explanation
Yin set out design, data collection and analysis principles for single and multiple case studies (Yin, 2018). In health management, case studies document processes such as a hospital’s accreditation journey in a developing country (Nguyen et al., 2025).
Related concepts
Qualitative research Theory building Mixed methods research Action research
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References
Nguyen, H. T., Vance, G. H., Hassell, L. A., Dinh, D. T., Nguyen, Q. N., Vu, P. T. T., & Truong, D. C. (2025). The accreditation journey for a hospital in the developing world. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 149 (7), 602–606. https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2024-0266-SA
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Sage.
Cite this entry: Kurutkan, M. N. (2026). Case study research. In The Health Topics glossary. https://healthtopic.org/glossary/case-study-research/