Historical and Case Study Designs
Chapter
Syllabus topic 7, "Preparation of the Research Design"
Pages 468 to 470 of 543
In one line
A historical design plans a study of the past and a case study design plans a study of one unit in depth, and both need their decisions made in advance just as a survey does, though students commonly treat both as though they needed no plan at all.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: the historical research design structures an investigation into past events, requiring decisions in advance about the period, the sources to be consulted, the criteria by which their authenticity and reliability will be judged, and the treatment of gaps in the record; the case study design structures an intensive investigation of a single unit, requiring decisions about the selection of the unit, the sources to be used, the period of observation, and the boundary of the case.
The historical design
What must be decided in advance.
The period. Exactly, with the reason for its ends. Not the history of legal aid but the period from the insertion of Article 39A in 1976 to the commencement of the Act on 9 November 1995, because that is the interval in which a right existed without machinery, chapter 550.
The sources. Which archives, which official series, which reports, which contemporary writing. Chapter 890's list.
The criteria of authenticity and reliability, which is the historical design's distinctive requirement. External criticism asks whether a document is what it purports to be; internal criticism asks whether its contents can be relied on, given who wrote it, when, for whom and with what interest.
How gaps will be handled. Missing records are normal, and the design should say in advance that absence will be reported rather than filled by inference. This book does exactly that at chapter 70, where the Fourteenth Report itself could not be obtained and is used only as the 184th reproduces it.
And the order of work, because historical sources are scattered and a plan of which archive first saves months.
What it cannot decide in advance. What it will find, since the record may not contain the answer, and a historical design must be prepared for the finding that the question cannot be answered from the surviving material, which is itself worth reporting.
The case study design
What must be decided in advance.
The unit and the basis of its selection. Typical, extreme, critical or convenient, stated openly, chapter 980.
The boundary of the case. Where does the unit end? A case study of one legal services clinic includes the volunteer and the deputed lawyer; does it include the District Authority above it, or the panchayat that supplies the room? Deciding in advance prevents the study expanding until it cannot be finished.
Historical and Case Study Designs
The sources. Records, interviews, observation, documents, and the legal materials, chapter 980.
The period of observation.
The chronology, since most case studies concern a sequence.
And the protection of the unit, chapter 1400, which must be settled before anybody is approached, because consent obtained after the fact is not consent.
What it cannot decide in advance. Which of the many facts about the unit will turn out to matter, which is why the design must permit recording more than seems necessary.
What the two designs share
Neither can generalise. A historical study is about that period and a case study about that unit, chapter 1050.
Both depend on the researcher's judgment at every step, which is why both must be documented in detail: the reader's only route to checking the work is the researcher's own record, chapter 870.
Both produce depth rather than breadth.
And both are excellent for generating hypotheses that a descriptive design can then test on many units, chapter 1220.
Combining them with other designs
Historical plus descriptive. Establish how a rule came to be, then measure how it now operates. Module I of this book does the first and recommends the second, chapters 60 and 990.
Case study plus survey. One unit in depth to find out what happens, then a survey to find out how common it is. Chapter 980's worked example ends by generating exactly the hypothesis a survey should test.
And case study plus case study. A small number of contrasting units, chosen for the contrast: one clinic that works and one that does not. This is a comparative case design, it is within a student's reach, and it produces explanations that a single case cannot.
A worked example of each
A historical design. Question: how did the duty to inform an accused of the right to legal services come into existence? Period: 1976 to 1986, from Article 39A to Suk Das, chapter 630. Sources: the judgments in sequence, read in full text; the reports of the committees of 1973, 1977 and CILAS, chapter 550; and the Act as passed in 1987 with its amendment history. Criteria: judgments are authoritative as to what they held and are evidence, not proof, of what was happening. Gaps: the committee reports themselves may not be obtainable, and where they are not, the study will rely on later accounts and say so.
A case study design. Unit: one legal services clinic attached to a law college, selected as typical of the district's college clinics rather than as exemplary, and the basis stated. Boundary: the clinic, its volunteer, its deputed lawyer, its students and its users; not the District Authority. Sources: the register under regulation 20, chapter 600; interviews with the volunteer, the lawyer, three students and five users; observation on six days; and the college's own records of assessment. Period: one academic term. Protection: the clinic is identified by district and type and not by name; users are not named; and consent is obtained before each interview.
Historical and Case Study Designs
Both designs fit on one page, and writing them is what turns an intention into a study.
Quick revision
The historical design decides in advance: the period, with reasons for its ends; the sources; the criteria of external criticism, whether a document is what it purports to be, and internal criticism, whether its contents can be relied on; the treatment of gaps, which are reported rather than filled by inference; and the order of work.
The case study design decides in advance: the unit and the basis of its selection; the boundary of the case; the sources; the period; the chronology; and the protection of the unit, settled before anybody is approached.
Both: cannot generalise; depend on the researcher's judgment so must be documented in detail; produce depth; and are excellent for generating hypotheses.
Combinations: historical then descriptive; case study then survey; and contrasting case studies, which produce explanations a single case cannot.
Test yourself
1. What are external and internal criticism, and to which design do they belong? They belong to the historical design. External criticism asks whether a document is genuinely what it purports to be. Internal criticism asks whether its contents can be relied on, having regard to who wrote it, when, for whom and with what interest.
2. Name four things a case study design must settle in advance. The unit and the stated basis of its selection, whether typical, extreme, critical or convenient; the boundary of the case, so that it does not expand until it cannot be finished; the sources and the period of observation; and the protection of the unit, since consent obtained after the fact is not consent.
3. How should a historical design treat gaps in the record? By deciding in advance that absence will be reported rather than filled by inference, and by being prepared for the finding that the question cannot be answered from the surviving material, which is itself worth reporting.
4. Give two ways of combining these designs with others. Historical followed by descriptive, establishing how a rule came to be and then measuring how it now operates; and a case study followed by a survey, using one unit in depth to discover what happens and then testing on many units how common it is.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.