مقایسهٔ روش‌ها

	مطالعه موردی تو در تو	پژوهش عملیاتی	قوم‌نگاری
حوزه	کیفی	پژوهش کیفی	کیفی
خانواده	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
سال پیدایش	1984–1995 (Yin's foundational editions; Stake 1995)	1946	c. 1922 (Malinowski's Argonauts of the Western Pacific)
پدیدآور	Robert K. Yin (systematic case study design); Robert E. Stake (naturalistic tradition)	Kurt Lewin; expanded by Kemmis, McTaggart, Reason & Bradbury	Bronisław Malinowski (modern ethnography); rooted in 19th-century anthropology
نوع	Qualitative research method	Method	Qualitative fieldwork tradition
منبع بنیادین	Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods (6th ed.). Sage. ISBN: 978-1506336169	Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34–46.	Hammersley, M. & Atkinson, P. (2019). Ethnography: Principles in Practice (4th ed.). Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138504462
نام‌های دیگر	embedded single-case design, multiple-unit case study, nested case study, embedded unit analysis	Participatory Action Research, PAR, Collaborative Inquiry	Etnografi, participant observation, fieldwork, ethnographic research
مرتبط	6	1	5
خلاصه	An embedded case study is a case study design in which one or more units of analysis are nested within a single overarching case. Rather than treating the case as a single, holistic entity, the researcher deliberately examines multiple sub-units — such as departments within an organisation, classrooms within a school, or programmes within a hospital — to build a richer, more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon under study. Formalised by Robert K. Yin, the design is contrasted with the holistic single-case study and with multi-case (multiple-case) designs.	Action research is a collaborative research methodology in which researchers work with practitioners and community members to investigate a problem, implement change, and evaluate outcomes, cycling through reflection, action, and learning. Developed by Kurt Lewin (1946), action research bridges research and practice, aiming simultaneously to produce knowledge and practical improvement.	Ethnography is a qualitative research tradition in which a researcher immerses themselves in a social group or community over an extended period — typically three to six months or longer — to study its culture, values, and behaviours in their natural setting. Originating in social and cultural anthropology, and consolidated as a rigorous method by Bronisław Malinowski in the early twentieth century, ethnography produces rich, contextualised accounts of how people live, work, and make meaning together.