השוואת שיטות

	חקר מקרה אינסטרומנטלי	מחקר פעולה	אתנוגרפיה
תחום	איכותני	מחקר איכותני	איכותני
משפחה	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
שנת המקור	1995	1946	c. 1922 (Malinowski's Argonauts of the Western Pacific)
הוגה השיטה	Robert E. Stake	Kurt Lewin; expanded by Kemmis, McTaggart, Reason & Bradbury	Bronisław Malinowski (modern ethnography); rooted in 19th-century anthropology
סוג	Qualitative research method	Method	Qualitative fieldwork tradition
מקור מכונן	Stake, R. E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-0803957671	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
כינויים	instrumental case research, theory-building case study, illustrative case study, issue-driven case study	Participatory Action Research, PAR, Collaborative Inquiry	Etnografi, participant observation, fieldwork, ethnographic research
קשורות	6	1	5
תקציר	Instrumental case study is a qualitative research design, formalised by Robert E. Stake (1995), in which a specific case is studied primarily to gain insight into an external issue or theoretical question — not because the case itself is intrinsically important. The case serves as an instrument for understanding something broader: a policy problem, a theoretical proposition, or a generalised phenomenon. One or several cases are selected because they are expected to illuminate the issue particularly well, and the researcher moves fluidly between the case and the issue throughout the study.	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.