ABSTRACT
The critical friend could help only by talking the situation through with the researcher. Additional metaphors related to the role of critical friending were 'priest' or 'confessor', a supportive third party when internal relationships in the study became difficult or were the source of guilt feelings. There is one part of the critical friend role as originally conceived which just doesn't seem to be 'on' in practice. The criterion the case worker must meet is the production of a case record useful to – that is, accessible to critical assessment by – other scholars. 'The case study is an interpretive presentation and discussion of the case, resting upon, quoting and citing the case record for its justification'. Both critical friends and case study investigators were well aware of the usual string of questions brought to bear on case studies as methodology-questions of subjectivity, sources of bias and selective perception, problems about validation or verification of interpretations, representativeness, and so on.
