Dympna Casey and Catherine Houghton explore the use of case studies with examples from their research

Increasingly, nurse researchers are using case studies to explore phenomena in healthcare practice. A key characteristic of case study research is its ability to allow researchers to focus on complex situations while taking the context of the situation into account. This paper explores the two predominant theoretical approaches to case study research with examples of their use in practice and offers the novice researcher an introduction and practical overview of this approach.