Tull, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1884-6904 and Dyson, Tom (2026) The extended case method: context-sensitive case research in military studies. In: Soeters, J., Shields, P.M. and Rietjens, S.J. (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies (second edition). London: Routledge. In: Soeters, Joseph, Shields, Patricia and Rietjens, Bas, (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies (2nd edition). Routledge - Taylor & Francis, London. (In Press)

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Abstract

Military research frequently treats context as background to be controlled rather than as an analytical object in its own right. This chapter argues that connecting micro-level practices to the macro-level structural forces shaping them is essential for understanding how military organisations actually work — and demonstrates the extended case method (ECM) as a systematic approach for doing so. We show the method in action through a study of organisational learning failure in the Netherlands Army's All-Sources Intelligence Fusion Unit (ASIFU) during the UN mission in Mali (2014–2017), drawing on 74 interviews conducted between 2013 and 2022. The chapter traces ECM's intellectual origins in the Manchester School of social anthropology, presents a six-phase analytical pathway for conducting ECM research, and positions the method against process tracing, experimental case study design, and multiple case theory-building approaches. We address ECM's practical demands, its compatibility with mixed methods designs, and the conditions under which it is — and is not — the right methodological choice.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Invited contribution. Contributer's agreement signed 4 September 2025. Chapter under editor review until June 2026.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	extended case method, lessons learned, case methodology, Burawoy, ASIFU
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) U Military Science > U Military Science (General) Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > ZA Information resources
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > School of Business, Operations and Strategy
Last Modified:	08 Jul 2026 14:05
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/52635

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