Once again Dyson and Genishi offer more great advice on effective methods for approaching and conducting a case study. Although the Research Design book that we read previously contains plenty of useful information for drafting research projects and papers (I found myself referencing it frequently while writing my research proposal for last week), On the Case provides examples that are particularly helpful to be because they demonstrate how to conduct research through example.

Chapter four of On the Case, "Gathering Particulars: Data Collection," offers more details on how to gather research for a case study and document it in a way that will be the most useful to researchers. Dyson and Genishi recommend that researchers always take field notes whenever possible because they are a "descriptive" way to "gather a few essentials of a case study: time, space, participants, activity" (63). Field notes enhance data collected through other means, such as audio and video recording, while assisting the researcher in remembering the details of context that might otherwise be forgotten, making them indispensable when the time comes to analyze data, especially if the case study took place over an extended period of time.

In chapter four, Dyson and Genishi also discuss the importance of the manner in which audio and video tapes are transcribed, a topic that had never crossed my mind before reading this chapter. The way that the data are presented should reflect who or what you are studying for ease of use, and field notes can be used to enhance transcripts by filling in details that might have been forgotten if they had not be documented at the time. They also recommend that researchers transcribe their own audio and video in a timely manner (which sounds like it could easily become a lot of work!) so that they will become better antiquated with it as they transcribe, killing the cliche two birds with one word processor.

Chapter five deals with finding meaning through the analysis of case study findings. This seems to involve readjusting the researchers lens mentioned in chapter one in order to discover the deeper meaning of the data collected and make assertions from these observations, Be reanalyzing the data repeatedly the researcher should (hopefully) be able to glean the major themes that recur and throughout interviews and observations and are interwoven to make an "analytic quilt" (100).

Dyson and Genishi also address when and how the researcher will know that data analysis is complete. Of course there is no concrete answer to this question, but I think we can reflect on the words of my Comp I instructor M. Herbert: "Start at the beginning, go to the end, and stop." One of the hallmarks of an excellent writer is to know when the story is finished. When the story we are writing someone else's, knowing when the story has become as complete and accurate as possible can be much more difficult. Dyson and Genishi offer advice on how to know when to say when: "Recurrence or repetition is often an indicator, as in the sense that we have seen a particular theme or category many times in varying contexts or with different participants." (110) Although the authors admit that a research project or paper may never truly be complete since there are always ideas or themes that could be explored, their advice on stopping when data analysis becomes repetitive seems to be a great method for knowing when to call the process "finished."