Perspective—The Infeasibility of Invariant Laws in Management Studies: A Reflective Dialogue in Defense of Case Studies

Abstract

The author questions the possibility of establishing invariant laws for social phenomena and presents an argument for the case study method. Despite the many alleged advantages of the case study method, its validity remains in doubt. Various concepts and techniques have been developed to make the method rigorous enough to meet the stringent criteria of nomothetical social science, but it often fails to meet two of them: (1) reliability and replicability, and (2) external validity. Those two criteria can be met only when social researchers find an invariant law. The author examines whether those two criteria are really necessary and attempts to clarify the conditions under which they are relevant, that is, the conditions under which an invariant law can be discovered in social phenomena. He argues that the conditions are so stringent that the search for an invariant law should not be the main objective of management studies, and he contends that reliability/replicability and external validity are irrelevant not only for the case study, but for any method of management studies. Without those two criteria, the validity of the case study can be forcefully reasserted. The author concludes by suggesting that serious consideration be given to whether the objective of management studies should be changed from a search for invariant laws of practical use to the encouragement of reflective dialogue in society.

What Is the Use of a Single-Case Study in Management Research?

“…Despite these arguments justifying the use of case studies, to a positivist, single or multiple case studies would typically be acceptable only for providing inputs in the preliminary stages of developing a new theory, when the relevant variables are still being explored (Cassel, Symon, Buehring, & Johnson, 2006;Eisenhardt, 1989;Numagami, 1998;Platt, 2007).…”

“…Thus, it is important to have in mind that while case studies can make use of quantitative data, the major emphasis is the study of phenomena within their contexts (Numagami, 1998;Platt, 2007;Pettigrew, 1973 as cited in Gibbert, Ruigrok, & Wicki, 2008). In contrast to laboratory experiments in which the phenomena are isolated from their environment, case studies emphasize the context within which the phenomenon is embedded (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007;Numagami, 1998;Platt, 2007;Yin, 1994). Platt (2007) points out that clinical psychologists like Freud, for example, followed the medical tradition of using single-case studies to generate theory.…”

“…Numagami (1998) provides an example of this kind of reasoning. He objects to the normal-science requirement of reliability and generalizability of research findings in social sciences by questioning the possibility of establishing invariant laws for social phenomena.…”

“…Numagami (1998) contends that reliability and generalizability (external validity) are relevant criteria only if the researcher is searching for an invariant and universal law. In fact, meeting these criteria would be impossible without an invariant law over time (Numagami, 1998). The applicability of these criteria to management studies depends, therefore, on one's accepting the existence of invariant laws in the field of management.…”

“…The applicability of these criteria to management studies depends, therefore, on one's accepting the existence of invariant laws in the field of management. Numagami (1998) cites authors who have recently attacked the premise of the existence of universal laws in social (especially management) phenomena, such as G. Sjoberg, N. Williams, T.R. Vaughan, and A.F.…”