Case study research: A bibliography for composition and rhetoric


Rebecca Moore Howard
The Writing Program
Syracuse University



Please note: I'm increasingly using CiteULike and del.icio.us for my bibliographic work. (On both sites you'll need to click on tags of interest.) Browse what's on this page and then check out CiteULike, del.icio.us, CompPile, and the MLA International Bibliography (requires SU ID) for more. A list of all the static bibliographies that I've put online is here.


Please email suggestions, corrections, or additions.


Last updated 13 October 2006

Berkenkotter, Carol, Thomas N. Huckin, and John Ackerman. "Conventions, Conversations and the Writer: Case Study of a Student in a Rhetoric Ph.D. Program." Research in the Teaching of English 22 (February 1988): 9-44.

Briggs, Lynn Craigue, Sharon Kane, and Patricia Spencer Soper. "Considerations, Complications and Consequences of Practitioner Inquiry." Journal of Teaching Writing (Special issue, 1989): 151-64.

Casanave, Christine Pearson. "Looking Ahead to More Sociopolitically-Oriented Case Study Research in L2 Writing Scholarship: (But Should It Be Called "Post-Process"?)." Journal of Second Language Writing 12.1 (February 2003): 85-102.

Childers, Pamela B. "Bottom Up or Top Down: A Case Study of Two Secondary School Writing Centers." The Writing Center Director's Resource Book. Ed. Christina Murphy and Byron L. Stay. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006. 379-392.

Cooper, Charles R., Roger Cherry, Barbara Copley, Stefan Fleischer, Rita Pollard, and Michael Sartisky. "Studying the Writing Abilities of a University Freshman Class: Strategies from a Case Study." New Directions in Composition Research. Ed. Richard Beach and Lillian S. Bridwell. New York: Guilford, 1984. 19-52.

Gomm, Roger, Martyn Hammersley, and Peter Foster, eds. Case Study Method: Key Issues, Key Texts. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000.

Jacobs, Suzanne. "Composing the In-Class Essay: A Case Study of Rudy." College English 46 (1984): 34-46.

Kantor, Kenneth J. "Classroom Contexts and the Development of Writing Intuitions: An Ethnographic Case Study." New Directions in Composition Research. Ed. Richard Beach and Lillian S. Bridwell. New York: Guilford, 1984: 72-94.

Klaus, Carl H. "Research on Writing Courses: A Cautionary Essay." Freshman English News 11.1 (Spring 1982): 1-14.

LoPresti, Gene. "A Case Study of the Reading/Writing Models of a Basic Writing Student." Journal of Teaching Writing (Special issue, 1989): 205-26.

Merriam, Sharan B. Case Study Research in Education: A Qualitative Approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.

Newkirk, Thomas. "Anatomy of a Breakthrough: Case Study of a College Freshman Writer." New Directions in Composition Research. Ed. Richard Beach, et al. New York: Guilford, 1984. 131-49.

Nicola-McLaughlin, Andree, and Zala Chandler. "Urban Politics in the Higher Education of Black Women: A Case Study." Women and the Politics of Empowerment. Ed. Ann Bookman and Sandra Morgen. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1988. 180-201.

North, Stephen. "Designing a Case Study Method for Tutorials: A Prelude to Research." Rhetoric Review 4.1 (Sept. 1985).

North, Stephen M. "Writing in a Philosophy Class: Three Case Studies." Research in the Teaching of English 20 (1986): 225-62.

Odell, Lee. "The Classroom Teacher as Researcher." English Journal 65 (1976): 106-11.

Peled, Elana, Diana Hines, Michael John Martin, Anne Stafford, Brian Strang, Mary Winegarden, and Melanie Wise. "Same Struggle, Same Fight: A Case Study of University Students and Faculty United in Labor Activism." Moving a Mountain: Transforming the Role of Contingent Faculty in Composition Studies and Higher Education. Ed. Eileen E. Schell and Patricia Lambert Stock. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English, 2000. 233-244.

Pemberton, Michael A. "Working with Faculty Consultants in the Writing Center: Three Guidelines and a Case History." The Writing Center Director's Resource Book. Ed. Christina Murphy and Byron L. Stay. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2006. 403-416.

Sperling, Melanie. "I Want to Talk to Each of You: Collaboration and the Teacher-Student Writing Conference." Research in the Teaching of English 24 (October 1990): 279-21.

Sternglass, Marilyn S. "Writing Development as Seen Through Longitudinal Research: A Case Study Exemplar." Written Communication 10.2 (April 1993): 235-61.

Whitaker, Hugh Stephen. "A Case Study in Southern Justice: The Murder and Trial of Emmett Till." Rhetoric and Public Affairs 8.2 (2005).

Yin, R.K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2002.

Zaluda, Scott. "Student-Generated Case Studies: Crossing Genres and Cultures." Issues in Writing 6.2 (Spring/Summer 1994): 164-86.