premise: Design features Site selection depends on program diversity, cannot be used with highly diverse programs; best, worst, representative, typical, or cluster bases appropriate; must keep number of cases manageable or risk becoming minisurvey, can use survey before or after to check generalizability or mix survey with concurrent case studies selected for special purposes; data rely on observation and structured materials, often combine qualitative and quantitative data; analysis uses varying degrees of formalization around emergent or predetermined themes; reports are usually thematic and describe site differences and explain these; variation in degree of integration of data across sites and of findings from different methods
hypothesis: Site selection is completely arbitrary, and no information is necessary before the process is completed.