CASE STUDIESa group of widowed women as an ‘‘unexpected
community’’ is an important example of this focus,
as is Jennie Keith’s (1977) analysis of the social
construction of community in a retirement facility
in France. Another approach to case-study re-
search is Jaber Gubrium’s (1993) analysis of the
life stories told to him by a group of elderly
nursing home residents. Equally significant are
recent case studies of communities of young peo-
ple, particularly of communities organized around
shared interests in popular culture. A useful exam-
ple is Sarah Thornton’s (1996) case study of dance
clubs and raves in London. Thornton’s analysis
extends traditional analysis of communities as sub-
cultures by showing how this community was cre-
ated and is maintained through the actions of (not
so youthful) members of the London mass media.
A related change has been case studies of
experiential communities. That is, social groups
that share common social experiences, but not a
common territory. For example, Richard Majors
and Janet Mancini Billson (1992) analyze African-
American males as a racial and gender community
that is organized around shared practical prob-
lems and strategies for managing them. Using a
semiotic perspective, Dick Hedbridge (1979) also
analyzes an experiential community in using sever-
al case studies to show how young people form a
subculture that is organized around the expres-
sion of cultural styles, which symbolically resist
dominant forces in society. Another focus in this
literature is on the distinctive life experiences of
members of gay and lesbian communities. A nota-
ble example is Carol A. B. Warren’s (1974) case
study of a gay community in which she raises some
important questions about the labeling perspec-
tive. Thus, both Warren’s and Hedbridge’s re-
search show how case studies contribute to theo-
retical development in sociology.
A different, but complementary, use of the
case-study research strategy is auto-ethnography.
These are case studies conducted within and about
one’s own group. The researcher acts as both a
sociologist seeking information about a communi-
ty, and as a subject of the research. A groundbreaking
auto-ethnography is David Hayano’s (1982) study
of professional card players. This case study pro-
vides readers with distinctive access to, and in-
sights into, the experiences of professional card
players. Two other notable auto-ethnographies
are Helen Rose Fuchs Ebaugh’s (1977) case study
of her own and others’ exit from the social role of
Roman Catholic nun, and Thomas Schmid’s and
Richard S. Jones’s (1991) analysis of Jones’s and
other inmates’ adaptations to prison life.Auto-ethnographers’ concern for taking ac-
count of their own and others’ experiences is
extended in another trend in sociological case-
studies research. This trend focuses on emotions
as a basic and important aspect of social life.
Many case studies done by sociologists of emo-
tions deal with other persons’ emotional experi-
ences (Hochschild 1983; Katz 1988). Other soci-
ologists, however, adopt a more auto-ethnographic
strategy by treating their own lives and feelings as
topics for sociological analysis. The sociologist’s
feelings become the case or part of the case under
study. An important example of the latter ap-
proach to case studies is David Karp’s (1996) dis-
cussion of his own experiences with depression,
and his linking of them to the emotional experi-
ences reported by other members of this commu-
nity of sufferers.In addition to the changes discussed above,
three other changes in case-studies research war-
rant special notice. They are the emergence of
radical case studies, a focus on reality construc-
tion, and concern for the politics and poetics of
writing case studies.RADICAL CASE STUDIESWhile early sociological case studies were some-
times associated with reformist movements, they
were seldom intended to advance politically radi-
cal causes or to build radical social theory. This
orientation may be contrasted with that of radical
journalists of the same era (such as Upton Sinclair)
who used case studies to highlight social problems
and raise questions about the legitimacy of capital-
ism. Radical sociologists have begun to use case
studies to develop their sociological goals. One
source for radical case studies is Marxist sociolo-
gists concerned with the ways in which worker-
management relations are organized in work set-
tings, how social classes are perpetuated, and how
capitalism is justified.Marxist sociologists use their case studies to
challenge more conservative case studies that, from
the radicals’ standpoint, do not take adequate
account of the ways in which persons’ everyday