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Qualitative Health Research
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Case Study Research: The View From Complexity Science

Ruth A. Anderson

Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Benjamin F. Crabtree

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick

David J. Steele

College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee

Reuben R. McDaniel, Jr.

McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin

Many wonder why there has been so little change in care quality despite substantial quality improvement efforts. Questioning why current approaches are not making true changes draws attention to the organization as a source of answers. The authors bring together the case study method and complexity science to suggest new ways to study health care organizations. The case study provides a method for studying systems. Complexity theory suggests that keys to understanding the system are contained in patterns of relationships and interactions among the system’s agents. They propose some of the "objects" of study that are implicated by complexity theory and discuss how studying these using case methods might provide useful maps of the system. They offer complexity theory, partnered with case study method, as a place to begin the daunting task of studying a system as an integrated whole.

Key Words: case study methods • research • complexity science • health care organizations

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 15, No. 5, 669-685 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732305275208
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