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Other authors have raised somewhat different issues regarding the perceived weaknesses of case study, though they could also be seen as the same issues approached in different ways, or concerns faced by specialised forms of case study.

Mahoney (2000), a political scientist, focuses on the issue of causal inference, i.e. how we infer what is causing something to happen. He discusses three strategies of causal inference in what he calls small-n analysis (i.e. studies of small numbers of cases):

 nominal comparison in cross-case analysis (which ‘entails the use of categories that are mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive’, p. 390)

 ordinal comparison in cross-case analysis (which ‘entails rank ordering cases into three or more categories based on the degree to which a given phenomenon is present’, p. 399)

 within-case analysis.

The third of these strategies – which, unlike the first two, can be applied to single case studies – is broken down into three sub-strategies:

The most general type of within-case analysis is pattern matching, a procedure in which the analyst assesses cross-case associations in the light of multiple within-case hypotheses. An important subtype of this procedure is process chasing, a technique in which the analyst attempts to locate the causal mechanisms linking a hypothesized explanatory variable to an outcome. Finally, a third technique – causal narrative – combines cross-case analysis and within-case analysis by comparing cases in terms of highly disaggregated sequences of processes and events that lead to outcomes. (p. 409, emphasis in original)

Noting that the application of these strategies can lead to rather different conclusions being drawn, he argues for greater care in selecting and applying them.

Elliott and Lukes (2008) consider the ethnographic case study (the combination of case study with ethnography as a research design is discussed further in Chapter 6) in the context of policy-making. They stress the importance of this context, arguing that ‘questions about the level of confidence or warrant that can be placed in different sorts of research evidence and findings cannot be answered independently of forming a view about the appropriateness of the policy culture that shapes political decision-making’ (p. 87). Or, in other words, the research design needs to be agreed between the different parties in the light of their beliefs and plans for using the research findings.

As these authors indicate, there are likely to be specific issues about the use of case study designs that are particular to their applications in given disciplines or sub-disciplines, or for certain sorts of projects. As with generalisation, validity and reliability, the case study researcher needs to be aware of, and respond to, these issues.