Enhancing the quality of case studies in health services research.
OBJECTIVE
To provide guidance on improving the quality of case studies in health services research.


METHODS
Secondary data, drawing from previous case study research.


METHODS
Guidance is provided to two audiences: potential case study investigators (eight items) and reviewers of case study proposals (four additional items).


RESULTS
The guidance demonstrates that many operational steps can be undertaken to improve the quality of case studies. These steps have been a hallmark of high-quality case studies in related fields but have not necessarily been practiced in health services research.


CONCLUSIONS
Given higher-quality case studies, the case study method can become a valuable tool for health services research.
Yin
R K
RK
COSMOS Corporation, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design