Now in a Fourth Edition, this how-to guide is an excellent starting point for anyone looking to begin case study research. The authors--all professors teaching graduate students in education and other professions--provide the structure, detail, and guidance needed for beginning researchers to complete a systematic case study. Improvements for this edition include more practical and detailed guidance for conducting a literature review, a more efficient and easy-to-understand reorganization of the case study examples, and updated citations throughout the text. As with previous editions, this succinct handbook emphasizes learning how to do case study research--from the first step of deciding whether a case study is the way to go to the last step of verifying and confirming findings before disseminating them. It shows students how to determine an appropriate research design, conduct informative interviews, record observations, document analyses, delineate ways to confirm case study findings, describe methods for deriving meaning from data, and communicate findings. Book features include: (1) a straightforward introduction to the science of doing case study research; (2) a step-by-step approach that speaks directly to the novice investigator; (3) many concrete examples to illustrate key concepts; and (4) questions, illustrations, and activities to reinforce what has been learned. [For the third edition, see ED572667.]