The case study approach has been widely used in management studies and the social sciences more generally. However, there are still doubts about when and how case studies should be used. This paper aims to discuss this approach, its various uses and applications, in light of epistemological principles, as well as the criteria for rigor and validity.,This paper discusses the various concepts of case and case studies in the methods literature and addresses the different uses of cases in relation to epistemological principles and criteria for rigor and validity.,The use of this research approach can be based on several epistemologies, provided the researcher attends to the internal coherence between method and epistemology, or what the authors call “alignment.”,This study offers a number of implications for the practice of management research, as it shows how the case study approach does not commit the researcher to particular data collection or interpretation methods. Furthermore, the use of cases can be justified according to multiple epistemological orientations.

中文翻译：

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案例研究：开辟研究机会

案例研究方法已广泛用于管理研究和更普遍的社会科学。然而，对于何时以及如何使用案例研究仍然存在疑问。本文旨在根据认识论原则以及严谨性和有效性的标准来讨论这种方法及其各种用途和应用。本文讨论了方法文献中案例和案例研究的各种概念，并解决了不同的问题。案例的使用与认识论原则和严谨性和有效性标准有关。这种研究方法的使用可以基于几种认识论，前提是研究人员注意方法和认识论之间的内部一致性，或者作者所说的“对齐”。 ”，这项研究为管理研究的实践提供了许多启示，因为它表明案例研究方法不会让研究人员采用特定的数据收集或解释方法。此外，可以根据多种认识论方向来证明案例的使用是合理的。