On Michael Bassey's Concept of the Fuzzy Generalisation

Abstract

This article is a response to Michael Bassey's argument that case study research, and educational and social research generally, ought to be aimed at producing 'fuzzy' generalisations and predictions. His characterisation of these is examined against the background of the other types of generalisation he discusses. The conclusion reached is that what he has identified is not a distinct type of generalisation but a mode of formulation that ought to be employed in all predictions for practical use derived from scientific generalisations.