方法对比

	嵌入式案例研究	行动研究	案例研究	民族志
领域	质性	质性研究	质性	质性
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	1984–1995 (Yin's foundational editions; Stake 1995)	1946	1984 (seminal codification)	c. 1922 (Malinowski's Argonauts of the Western Pacific)
提出者	Robert K. Yin (systematic case study design); Robert E. Stake (naturalistic tradition)	Kurt Lewin; expanded by Kemmis, McTaggart, Reason & Bradbury	Robert K. Yin (systematised in Case Study Research, 1984)	Bronisław Malinowski (modern ethnography); rooted in 19th-century anthropology
类型	Qualitative research method	Method	Qualitative research design	Qualitative fieldwork tradition
开创性文献	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.	Yin, R.K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods (6th ed.). Sage. ISBN: 978-1506336169	Hammersley, M. & Atkinson, P. (2019). Ethnography: Principles in Practice (4th ed.). Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138504462
别名	embedded single-case design, multiple-unit case study, nested case study, embedded unit analysis	Participatory Action Research, PAR, Collaborative Inquiry	Vaka Çalışması (Case Study), case study design, case study methodology	Etnografi, participant observation, fieldwork, ethnographic research
相关	6	1	5	5
摘要	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.	Case study research is a qualitative research design that investigates a specific phenomenon, individual, group, organisation, or event in depth within its real-world context. Systematised by Robert K. Yin in 1984, it supports single-case and multiple-case designs and draws on multiple data sources — interviews, observation, documents, and artefacts — to build a rich, contextualised account of a bounded unit.	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.