Case studies have been increasingly applied in Social Sciences and especially in Business Administration. In this article we will discuss theoretical and methodological aspects highlighted in the case study literature and analyze 158 ENANPAD articles (2001-2004) as well as 4 national Business Administration Journals. One of the conclusions is that despite the fact that case studies are presented more thoroughly than superficially, the construction of theoretical models together with the comparison of other cases is presented in a limited way. Qualitative techniques stand out (more than 75%) and the isolated use of interviews has decreased compared with the combination of qualitative techniques. The increase of case studies nowadays makes it necessary to broaden the dialogue among researchers from different fields so that choosing and using this technique derive from the critical and conscious analysis of its limits and potentialities to produce knowledge, and internal triangulation (different data collection sources) as well as external triangulation (which demands clear explanation of the adopted methodological procedures) are taken into account.