parts of an case study

How to Write a Case Study - All You Wanted to Know

What do you study in your college? If you are a psychology, sociology, or anthropology student, we bet you might be familiar with what a case study is. This research method is used to study a certain person, group, or situation. In this guide from our dissertation writing service , you will learn how to write a case study professionally, from researching to citing sources properly. Also, we will explore different types of case studies and show you examples — so that you won’t have any other questions left.

What Is a Case Study?

A case study is a subcategory of research design which investigates problems and offers solutions. Case studies can range from academic research studies to corporate promotional tools trying to sell an idea—their scope is quite vast.

What Is the Difference Between a Research Paper and a Case Study?

While research papers turn the reader’s attention to a certain problem, case studies go even further. Case study guidelines require students to pay attention to details, examining issues closely and in-depth using different research methods. For example, case studies may be used to examine court cases if you study Law, or a patient's health history if you study Medicine. Case studies are also used in Marketing, which are thorough, empirically supported analysis of a good or service's performance. Well-designed case studies can be valuable for prospective customers as they can identify and solve the potential customers pain point.

Case studies involve a lot of storytelling – they usually examine particular cases for a person or a group of people. This method of research is very helpful, as it is very practical and can give a lot of hands-on information. Most commonly, the length of the case study is about 500-900 words, which is much less than the length of an average research paper.

The structure of a case study is very similar to storytelling. It has a protagonist or main character, which in your case is actually a problem you are trying to solve. You can use the system of 3 Acts to make it a compelling story. It should have an introduction, rising action, a climax where transformation occurs, falling action, and a solution.

Here is a rough formula for you to use in your case study:

Problem (Act I): > Solution (Act II) > Result (Act III) > Conclusion.

Types of Case Studies

The purpose of a case study is to provide detailed reports on an event, an institution, a place, future customers, or pretty much anything. There are a few common types of case study, but the type depends on the topic. The following are the most common domains where case studies are needed:

• Historical case studies are great to learn from. Historical events have a multitude of source info offering different perspectives. There are always modern parallels where these perspectives can be applied, compared, and thoroughly analyzed.
• Problem-oriented case studies are usually used for solving problems. These are often assigned as theoretical situations where you need to immerse yourself in the situation to examine it. Imagine you’re working for a startup and you’ve just noticed a significant flaw in your product’s design. Before taking it to the senior manager, you want to do a comprehensive study on the issue and provide solutions. On a greater scale, problem-oriented case studies are a vital part of relevant socio-economic discussions.
• Cumulative case studies collect information and offer comparisons. In business, case studies are often used to tell people about the value of a product.
• Critical case studies explore the causes and effects of a certain case.
• Illustrative case studies describe certain events, investigating outcomes and lessons learned.

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Case Study Format

The case study format is typically made up of eight parts:

• Executive Summary. Explain what you will examine in the case study. Write an overview of the field you’re researching. Make a thesis statement and sum up the results of your observation in a maximum of 2 sentences.
• Background. Provide background information and the most relevant facts. Isolate the issues.
• Case Evaluation. Isolate the sections of the study you want to focus on. In it, explain why something is working or is not working.
• Proposed Solutions. Offer realistic ways to solve what isn’t working or how to improve its current condition. Explain why these solutions work by offering testable evidence.
• Conclusion. Summarize the main points from the case evaluations and proposed solutions. 6. Recommendations. Talk about the strategy that you should choose. Explain why this choice is the most appropriate.
• Implementation. Explain how to put the specific strategies into action.
• References. Provide all the citations.

How to Write a Case Study

Let's discover how to write a case study.

Setting Up the Research

When writing a case study, remember that research should always come first. Reading many different sources and analyzing other points of view will help you come up with more creative solutions. You can also conduct an actual interview to thoroughly investigate the customer story that you'll need for your case study. Including all of the necessary research, writing a case study may take some time. The research process involves doing the following:

• Define your objective. Explain the reason why you’re presenting your subject. Figure out where you will feature your case study; whether it is written, on video, shown as an infographic, streamed as a podcast, etc.
• Determine who will be the right candidate for your case study. Get permission, quotes, and other features that will make your case study effective. Get in touch with your candidate to see if they approve of being part of your work. Study that candidate’s situation and note down what caused it.
• Identify which various consequences could result from the situation. Follow these guidelines on how to start a case study: surf the net to find some general information you might find useful.
• Make a list of credible sources and examine them. Seek out important facts and highlight problems. Always write down your ideas and make sure to brainstorm.
• Focus on several key issues – why they exist, and how they impact your research subject. Think of several unique solutions. Draw from class discussions, readings, and personal experience. When writing a case study, focus on the best solution and explore it in depth. After having all your research in place, writing a case study will be easy. You may first want to check the rubric and criteria of your assignment for the correct case study structure.

Read Also: ' WHAT IS A CREDIBLE SOURCES ?'

Although your instructor might be looking at slightly different criteria, every case study rubric essentially has the same standards. Your professor will want you to exhibit 8 different outcomes:

• Correctly identify the concepts, theories, and practices in the discipline.
• Identify the relevant theories and principles associated with the particular study.
• Evaluate legal and ethical principles and apply them to your decision-making.
• Recognize the global importance and contribution of your case.
• Construct a coherent summary and explanation of the study.
• Demonstrate analytical and critical-thinking skills.
• Explain the interrelationships between the environment and nature.
• Integrate theory and practice of the discipline within the analysis.

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Case Study Outline

Let's look at the structure of an outline based on the issue of the alcoholic addiction of 30 people.

Introduction

• Statement of the issue: Alcoholism is a disease rather than a weakness of character.
• Presentation of the problem: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there.
• Explanation of the terms: In the past, alcoholism was commonly referred to as alcohol dependence or alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is now the more severe stage of this addiction in the disorder spectrum.
• Hypotheses: Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs.
• Importance of your story: How the information you present can help people with their addictions.
• Background of the story: Include an explanation of why you chose this topic.
• Presentation of analysis and data: Describe the criteria for choosing 30 candidates, the structure of the interview, and the outcomes.
• Strong argument 1: ex. X% of candidates dealing with anxiety and depression...
• Strong argument 2: ex. X amount of people started drinking by their mid-teens.
• Strong argument 3: ex. X% of respondents’ parents had issues with alcohol.
• Concluding statement: I have researched if alcoholism is a disease and found out that…
• Recommendations: Ways and actions for preventing alcohol use.

Writing a Case Study Draft

After you’ve done your case study research and written the outline, it’s time to focus on the draft. In a draft, you have to develop and write your case study by using: the data which you collected throughout the research, interviews, and the analysis processes that were undertaken. Follow these rules for the draft:

📝 Step	📌 Description
1. Draft Structure	🖋️ Your draft should contain at least 4 sections: an introduction; a body where you should include background information, an explanation of why you decided to do this case study, and a presentation of your main findings; a conclusion where you present data; and references.
2. Introduction	📚 In the introduction, you should set the pace very clearly. You can even raise a question or quote someone you interviewed in the research phase. It must provide adequate background information on the topic. The background may include analyses of previous studies on your topic. Include the aim of your case here as well. Think of it as a thesis statement. The aim must describe the purpose of your work—presenting the issues that you want to tackle. Include background information, such as photos or videos you used when doing the research.
3. Research Process	🔍 Describe your unique research process, whether it was through interviews, observations, academic journals, etc. The next point includes providing the results of your research. Tell the audience what you found out. Why is this important, and what could be learned from it? Discuss the real implications of the problem and its significance in the world.
4. Quotes and Data	💬 Include quotes and data (such as findings, percentages, and awards). This will add a personal touch and better credibility to the case you present. Explain what results you find during your interviews in regards to the problem and how it developed. Also, write about solutions which have already been proposed by other people who have already written about this case.
5. Offer Solutions	💡 At the end of your case study, you should offer possible solutions, but don’t worry about solving them yourself.

Use Data to Illustrate Key Points in Your Case Study

Even though your case study is a story, it should be based on evidence. Use as much data as possible to illustrate your point. Without the right data, your case study may appear weak and the readers may not be able to relate to your issue as much as they should. Let's see the examples from essay writing service :

‍ With data: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there. Without data: A lot of people suffer from alcoholism in the United States.

Try to include as many credible sources as possible. You may have terms or sources that could be hard for other cultures to understand. If this is the case, you should include them in the appendix or Notes for the Instructor or Professor.

Finalizing the Draft: Checklist

After you finish drafting your case study, polish it up by answering these ‘ask yourself’ questions and think about how to end your case study:

• Check that you follow the correct case study format, also in regards to text formatting.
• Check that your work is consistent with its referencing and citation style.
• Micro-editing — check for grammar and spelling issues.
• Macro-editing — does ‘the big picture’ come across to the reader? Is there enough raw data, such as real-life examples or personal experiences? Have you made your data collection process completely transparent? Does your analysis provide a clear conclusion, allowing for further research and practice?

Problems to avoid:

• Overgeneralization – Do not go into further research that deviates from the main problem.
• Failure to Document Limitations – Just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study, you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis.
• Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications – Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings.

How to Create a Title Page and Cite a Case Study

Let's see how to create an awesome title page.

Your title page depends on the prescribed citation format. The title page should include:

• A title that attracts some attention and describes your study
• The title should have the words “case study” in it
• The title should range between 5-9 words in length
• Your name and contact information
• Your finished paper should be only 500 to 1,500 words in length.With this type of assignment, write effectively and avoid fluff

Here is a template for the APA and MLA format title page:

There are some cases when you need to cite someone else's study in your own one – therefore, you need to master how to cite a case study. A case study is like a research paper when it comes to citations. You can cite it like you cite a book, depending on what style you need.

Citation Example in MLA ‍ Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing, 2008. Print.

Citation Example in APA ‍ Hill, L., Khanna, T., & Stecker, E. A. (2008). HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing.

Citation Example in Chicago Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies.

Case Study Examples

To give you an idea of a professional case study example, we gathered and linked some below.

Eastman Kodak Case Study

Case Study Example: Audi Trains Mexican Autoworkers in Germany

To conclude, a case study is one of the best methods of getting an overview of what happened to a person, a group, or a situation in practice. It allows you to have an in-depth glance at the real-life problems that businesses, healthcare industry, criminal justice, etc. may face. This insight helps us look at such situations in a different light. This is because we see scenarios that we otherwise would not, without necessarily being there. If you need custom essays , try our research paper writing services .

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Crafting a case study is not easy. You might want to write one of high quality, but you don’t have the time or expertise. If you’re having trouble with your case study, help with essay request - we'll help. EssayPro writers have read and written countless case studies and are experts in endless disciplines. Request essay writing, editing, or proofreading assistance from our custom case study writing service , and all of your worries will be gone.

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What Is A Case Study?

How to cite a case study in apa, how to write a case study.

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Methodology

• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

Case study examples

Research question	Case study
What are the ecological effects of wolf reintroduction?	Case study of wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park
How do populist politicians use narratives about history to gain support?	Case studies of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and US president Donald Trump
How can teachers implement active learning strategies in mixed-level classrooms?	Case study of a local school that promotes active learning
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of wind farms for rural communities?	Case studies of three rural wind farm development projects in different parts of the country
How are viral marketing strategies changing the relationship between companies and consumers?	Case study of the iPhone X marketing campaign
How do experiences of work in the gig economy differ by gender, race and age?	Case studies of Deliveroo and Uber drivers in London

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

• Introduction and overview
• What is qualitative research?
• What is qualitative data?
• Examples of qualitative data
• Qualitative vs. quantitative research
• Mixed methods
• Qualitative research preparation
• Theoretical perspective
• Theoretical framework
• Literature reviews

Research question

• Conceptual framework
• Conceptual vs. theoretical framework

Data collection

• Qualitative research methods
• Focus groups
• Observational research

What is a case study?

Applications for case study research, what is a good case study, process of case study design, benefits and limitations of case studies.

• Ethnographical research
• Ethical considerations
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Power dynamics
• Reflexivity

Case studies

Case studies are essential to qualitative research , offering a lens through which researchers can investigate complex phenomena within their real-life contexts. This chapter explores the concept, purpose, applications, examples, and types of case studies and provides guidance on how to conduct case study research effectively.

Whereas quantitative methods look at phenomena at scale, case study research looks at a concept or phenomenon in considerable detail. While analyzing a single case can help understand one perspective regarding the object of research inquiry, analyzing multiple cases can help obtain a more holistic sense of the topic or issue. Let's provide a basic definition of a case study, then explore its characteristics and role in the qualitative research process.

Definition of a case study

A case study in qualitative research is a strategy of inquiry that involves an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon within its real-world context. It provides researchers with the opportunity to acquire an in-depth understanding of intricate details that might not be as apparent or accessible through other methods of research. The specific case or cases being studied can be a single person, group, or organization – demarcating what constitutes a relevant case worth studying depends on the researcher and their research question .

Among qualitative research methods , a case study relies on multiple sources of evidence, such as documents, artifacts, interviews , or observations , to present a complete and nuanced understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The objective is to illuminate the readers' understanding of the phenomenon beyond its abstract statistical or theoretical explanations.

Characteristics of case studies

Case studies typically possess a number of distinct characteristics that set them apart from other research methods. These characteristics include a focus on holistic description and explanation, flexibility in the design and data collection methods, reliance on multiple sources of evidence, and emphasis on the context in which the phenomenon occurs.

Furthermore, case studies can often involve a longitudinal examination of the case, meaning they study the case over a period of time. These characteristics allow case studies to yield comprehensive, in-depth, and richly contextualized insights about the phenomenon of interest.

The role of case studies in research

Case studies hold a unique position in the broader landscape of research methods aimed at theory development. They are instrumental when the primary research interest is to gain an intensive, detailed understanding of a phenomenon in its real-life context.

In addition, case studies can serve different purposes within research - they can be used for exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory purposes, depending on the research question and objectives. This flexibility and depth make case studies a valuable tool in the toolkit of qualitative researchers.

Remember, a well-conducted case study can offer a rich, insightful contribution to both academic and practical knowledge through theory development or theory verification, thus enhancing our understanding of complex phenomena in their real-world contexts.

What is the purpose of a case study?

Case study research aims for a more comprehensive understanding of phenomena, requiring various research methods to gather information for qualitative analysis . Ultimately, a case study can allow the researcher to gain insight into a particular object of inquiry and develop a theoretical framework relevant to the research inquiry.

Why use case studies in qualitative research?

Using case studies as a research strategy depends mainly on the nature of the research question and the researcher's access to the data.

Conducting case study research provides a level of detail and contextual richness that other research methods might not offer. They are beneficial when there's a need to understand complex social phenomena within their natural contexts.

The explanatory, exploratory, and descriptive roles of case studies

Case studies can take on various roles depending on the research objectives. They can be exploratory when the research aims to discover new phenomena or define new research questions; they are descriptive when the objective is to depict a phenomenon within its context in a detailed manner; and they can be explanatory if the goal is to understand specific relationships within the studied context. Thus, the versatility of case studies allows researchers to approach their topic from different angles, offering multiple ways to uncover and interpret the data .

The impact of case studies on knowledge development

Case studies play a significant role in knowledge development across various disciplines. Analysis of cases provides an avenue for researchers to explore phenomena within their context based on the collected data.

This can result in the production of rich, practical insights that can be instrumental in both theory-building and practice. Case studies allow researchers to delve into the intricacies and complexities of real-life situations, uncovering insights that might otherwise remain hidden.

Types of case studies

In qualitative research , a case study is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on the nature of the research question and the specific objectives of the study, researchers might choose to use different types of case studies. These types differ in their focus, methodology, and the level of detail they provide about the phenomenon under investigation.

Understanding these types is crucial for selecting the most appropriate approach for your research project and effectively achieving your research goals. Let's briefly look at the main types of case studies.

Exploratory case studies

Exploratory case studies are typically conducted to develop a theory or framework around an understudied phenomenon. They can also serve as a precursor to a larger-scale research project. Exploratory case studies are useful when a researcher wants to identify the key issues or questions which can spur more extensive study or be used to develop propositions for further research. These case studies are characterized by flexibility, allowing researchers to explore various aspects of a phenomenon as they emerge, which can also form the foundation for subsequent studies.

Descriptive case studies

Descriptive case studies aim to provide a complete and accurate representation of a phenomenon or event within its context. These case studies are often based on an established theoretical framework, which guides how data is collected and analyzed. The researcher is concerned with describing the phenomenon in detail, as it occurs naturally, without trying to influence or manipulate it.

Explanatory case studies

Explanatory case studies are focused on explanation - they seek to clarify how or why certain phenomena occur. Often used in complex, real-life situations, they can be particularly valuable in clarifying causal relationships among concepts and understanding the interplay between different factors within a specific context.

Intrinsic, instrumental, and collective case studies

These three categories of case studies focus on the nature and purpose of the study. An intrinsic case study is conducted when a researcher has an inherent interest in the case itself. Instrumental case studies are employed when the case is used to provide insight into a particular issue or phenomenon. A collective case study, on the other hand, involves studying multiple cases simultaneously to investigate some general phenomena.

Each type of case study serves a different purpose and has its own strengths and challenges. The selection of the type should be guided by the research question and objectives, as well as the context and constraints of the research.

The flexibility, depth, and contextual richness offered by case studies make this approach an excellent research method for various fields of study. They enable researchers to investigate real-world phenomena within their specific contexts, capturing nuances that other research methods might miss. Across numerous fields, case studies provide valuable insights into complex issues.

Critical information systems research

Case studies provide a detailed understanding of the role and impact of information systems in different contexts. They offer a platform to explore how information systems are designed, implemented, and used and how they interact with various social, economic, and political factors. Case studies in this field often focus on examining the intricate relationship between technology, organizational processes, and user behavior, helping to uncover insights that can inform better system design and implementation.

Health research

Health research is another field where case studies are highly valuable. They offer a way to explore patient experiences, healthcare delivery processes, and the impact of various interventions in a real-world context.

Case studies can provide a deep understanding of a patient's journey, giving insights into the intricacies of disease progression, treatment effects, and the psychosocial aspects of health and illness.

Asthma research studies

Specifically within medical research, studies on asthma often employ case studies to explore the individual and environmental factors that influence asthma development, management, and outcomes. A case study can provide rich, detailed data about individual patients' experiences, from the triggers and symptoms they experience to the effectiveness of various management strategies. This can be crucial for developing patient-centered asthma care approaches.

Other fields

Apart from the fields mentioned, case studies are also extensively used in business and management research, education research, and political sciences, among many others. They provide an opportunity to delve into the intricacies of real-world situations, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of various phenomena.

Case studies, with their depth and contextual focus, offer unique insights across these varied fields. They allow researchers to illuminate the complexities of real-life situations, contributing to both theory and practice.

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Understanding the key elements of case study design is crucial for conducting rigorous and impactful case study research. A well-structured design guides the researcher through the process, ensuring that the study is methodologically sound and its findings are reliable and valid. The main elements of case study design include the research question , propositions, units of analysis, and the logic linking the data to the propositions.

The research question is the foundation of any research study. A good research question guides the direction of the study and informs the selection of the case, the methods of collecting data, and the analysis techniques. A well-formulated research question in case study research is typically clear, focused, and complex enough to merit further detailed examination of the relevant case(s).

Propositions

Propositions, though not necessary in every case study, provide a direction by stating what we might expect to find in the data collected. They guide how data is collected and analyzed by helping researchers focus on specific aspects of the case. They are particularly important in explanatory case studies, which seek to understand the relationships among concepts within the studied phenomenon.

Units of analysis

The unit of analysis refers to the case, or the main entity or entities that are being analyzed in the study. In case study research, the unit of analysis can be an individual, a group, an organization, a decision, an event, or even a time period. It's crucial to clearly define the unit of analysis, as it shapes the qualitative data analysis process by allowing the researcher to analyze a particular case and synthesize analysis across multiple case studies to draw conclusions.

Argumentation

This refers to the inferential model that allows researchers to draw conclusions from the data. The researcher needs to ensure that there is a clear link between the data, the propositions (if any), and the conclusions drawn. This argumentation is what enables the researcher to make valid and credible inferences about the phenomenon under study.

Understanding and carefully considering these elements in the design phase of a case study can significantly enhance the quality of the research. It can help ensure that the study is methodologically sound and its findings contribute meaningful insights about the case.

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Conducting a case study involves several steps, from defining the research question and selecting the case to collecting and analyzing data . This section outlines these key stages, providing a practical guide on how to conduct case study research.

Defining the research question

The first step in case study research is defining a clear, focused research question. This question should guide the entire research process, from case selection to analysis. It's crucial to ensure that the research question is suitable for a case study approach. Typically, such questions are exploratory or descriptive in nature and focus on understanding a phenomenon within its real-life context.

Selecting and defining the case

The selection of the case should be based on the research question and the objectives of the study. It involves choosing a unique example or a set of examples that provide rich, in-depth data about the phenomenon under investigation. After selecting the case, it's crucial to define it clearly, setting the boundaries of the case, including the time period and the specific context.

Previous research can help guide the case study design. When considering a case study, an example of a case could be taken from previous case study research and used to define cases in a new research inquiry. Considering recently published examples can help understand how to select and define cases effectively.

Developing a detailed case study protocol

A case study protocol outlines the procedures and general rules to be followed during the case study. This includes the data collection methods to be used, the sources of data, and the procedures for analysis. Having a detailed case study protocol ensures consistency and reliability in the study.

The protocol should also consider how to work with the people involved in the research context to grant the research team access to collecting data. As mentioned in previous sections of this guide, establishing rapport is an essential component of qualitative research as it shapes the overall potential for collecting and analyzing data.

Collecting data

Gathering data in case study research often involves multiple sources of evidence, including documents, archival records, interviews, observations, and physical artifacts. This allows for a comprehensive understanding of the case. The process for gathering data should be systematic and carefully documented to ensure the reliability and validity of the study.

Analyzing and interpreting data

The next step is analyzing the data. This involves organizing the data , categorizing it into themes or patterns , and interpreting these patterns to answer the research question. The analysis might also involve comparing the findings with prior research or theoretical propositions.

Writing the case study report

The final step is writing the case study report . This should provide a detailed description of the case, the data, the analysis process, and the findings. The report should be clear, organized, and carefully written to ensure that the reader can understand the case and the conclusions drawn from it.

Each of these steps is crucial in ensuring that the case study research is rigorous, reliable, and provides valuable insights about the case.

The type, depth, and quality of data in your study can significantly influence the validity and utility of the study. In case study research, data is usually collected from multiple sources to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the case. This section will outline the various methods of collecting data used in case study research and discuss considerations for ensuring the quality of the data.

Interviews are a common method of gathering data in case study research. They can provide rich, in-depth data about the perspectives, experiences, and interpretations of the individuals involved in the case. Interviews can be structured , semi-structured , or unstructured , depending on the research question and the degree of flexibility needed.

Observations

Observations involve the researcher observing the case in its natural setting, providing first-hand information about the case and its context. Observations can provide data that might not be revealed in interviews or documents, such as non-verbal cues or contextual information.

Documents and artifacts

Documents and archival records provide a valuable source of data in case study research. They can include reports, letters, memos, meeting minutes, email correspondence, and various public and private documents related to the case.

These records can provide historical context, corroborate evidence from other sources, and offer insights into the case that might not be apparent from interviews or observations.

Physical artifacts refer to any physical evidence related to the case, such as tools, products, or physical environments. These artifacts can provide tangible insights into the case, complementing the data gathered from other sources.

Ensuring the quality of data collection

Determining the quality of data in case study research requires careful planning and execution. It's crucial to ensure that the data is reliable, accurate, and relevant to the research question. This involves selecting appropriate methods of collecting data, properly training interviewers or observers, and systematically recording and storing the data. It also includes considering ethical issues related to collecting and handling data, such as obtaining informed consent and ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the participants.

Data analysis

Analyzing case study research involves making sense of the rich, detailed data to answer the research question. This process can be challenging due to the volume and complexity of case study data. However, a systematic and rigorous approach to analysis can ensure that the findings are credible and meaningful. This section outlines the main steps and considerations in analyzing data in case study research.

Organizing the data

The first step in the analysis is organizing the data. This involves sorting the data into manageable sections, often according to the data source or the theme. This step can also involve transcribing interviews, digitizing physical artifacts, or organizing observational data.

Categorizing and coding the data

Once the data is organized, the next step is to categorize or code the data. This involves identifying common themes, patterns, or concepts in the data and assigning codes to relevant data segments. Coding can be done manually or with the help of software tools, and in either case, qualitative analysis software can greatly facilitate the entire coding process. Coding helps to reduce the data to a set of themes or categories that can be more easily analyzed.

Identifying patterns and themes

After coding the data, the researcher looks for patterns or themes in the coded data. This involves comparing and contrasting the codes and looking for relationships or patterns among them. The identified patterns and themes should help answer the research question.

Interpreting the data

Once patterns and themes have been identified, the next step is to interpret these findings. This involves explaining what the patterns or themes mean in the context of the research question and the case. This interpretation should be grounded in the data, but it can also involve drawing on theoretical concepts or prior research.

Verification of the data

The last step in the analysis is verification. This involves checking the accuracy and consistency of the analysis process and confirming that the findings are supported by the data. This can involve re-checking the original data, checking the consistency of codes, or seeking feedback from research participants or peers.

Like any research method , case study research has its strengths and limitations. Researchers must be aware of these, as they can influence the design, conduct, and interpretation of the study.

Understanding the strengths and limitations of case study research can also guide researchers in deciding whether this approach is suitable for their research question . This section outlines some of the key strengths and limitations of case study research.

Benefits include the following:

• Rich, detailed data: One of the main strengths of case study research is that it can generate rich, detailed data about the case. This can provide a deep understanding of the case and its context, which can be valuable in exploring complex phenomena.
• Flexibility: Case study research is flexible in terms of design , data collection , and analysis . A sufficient degree of flexibility allows the researcher to adapt the study according to the case and the emerging findings.
• Real-world context: Case study research involves studying the case in its real-world context, which can provide valuable insights into the interplay between the case and its context.
• Multiple sources of evidence: Case study research often involves collecting data from multiple sources , which can enhance the robustness and validity of the findings.

On the other hand, researchers should consider the following limitations:

• Generalizability: A common criticism of case study research is that its findings might not be generalizable to other cases due to the specificity and uniqueness of each case.
• Time and resource intensive: Case study research can be time and resource intensive due to the depth of the investigation and the amount of collected data.
• Complexity of analysis: The rich, detailed data generated in case study research can make analyzing the data challenging.
• Subjectivity: Given the nature of case study research, there may be a higher degree of subjectivity in interpreting the data , so researchers need to reflect on this and transparently convey to audiences how the research was conducted.

Being aware of these strengths and limitations can help researchers design and conduct case study research effectively and interpret and report the findings appropriately.

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How to Write a Case Study

A case study is an in-depth analysis of a specific situation, person, event, phenomenon, time,  place, or company. They look at various elements of the situation including history, trends,  specific outcomes, cause and effect, etc. 

A case study can either be part of a larger research assignment as one of the methodologies used or be a standalone assignment. You can include several case studies in the same paper or focus on just one case. Multiple case studies are useful when comparing different elements of a research question and trying to find similarities or analyzing the reasons where outcomes are different. 

Since the goal of a case study is to get an in-depth understanding of a specific situation, it is perfect for unique cases which may not have a lot of experimental or theoretical data. But this also makes it a very subjective method of analysis, one that cannot be generalized to fit larger groups of data. Case studies are often used in the initial stages of studying a new situation and can help come up with research questions and hypotheses for future studies. 

Don't worry if that all sounds complicated,  by the end of this article you will know not only how to write a case study assignment in college, but how to write a good case study for a scientific publication!

What is a Case Study?

A case study is one of the best ways of analyzing a unique phenomenon. It's particularly useful when the research question cannot be studied in a lab or through quantitative methods. Case studies are used in the social sciences, business, medicine, social work, and government reports. It is tough to have a case study definition because there are five main types of case studies. 

Explanatory 

An explanatory case study explores the cause of a specific event or tries to explain why something happens. These are most often used to analyze events rather than people or groups. 

Exploratory

An exploratory case study is most often used to develop in-depth research questions. They are often precursors to large-scale research about a new topic. The goal of this kind of case study is to find new pieces of information that will help develop hypotheses to be tested in the future. 

Multiple, Collective, or Cumulative

This kind of case study collects information from pre-existing case studies to develop a general theory. This saves time and money, as well as allows researchers to go over pre-existing data to either make generalizations or find differences in previous outcomes. 

An intrinsic case study is a case study where the subject of the study is of particular interest and is the subject of analysis rather than a general theory. This kind of study is useful when looking at a very specific case. 

Instrumental

Instrumental case studies are used to uncover the relationship between two things, or when the focus is not on the subjects, but on the underlying phenomena. 

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Steps for Writing a Case Study

If you're tasked with writing a case study paper, it's important to begin by developing a strong research question and topic. This can be a daunting task, but there are resources available to help. Consider reaching out to custom writing services or admission essay writer for assistance in developing your research question and selecting a topic.

Once you have your topic and research question, it's time to begin the process of writing your case study paper. This can be a time-consuming and challenging process, but you don't have to go it alone. If you're feeling overwhelmed, consider hiring a coursework writing service or a " write my paper for me " service to help you complete your assignment.

When writing your case study paper, it's important to follow the proper format and structure. Your paper should include an introduction, background information, a description of the case, analysis of the case, and a conclusion. If you're unsure about how to structure your paper, don't hesitate to reach out for help from a do my essay for me service or a professional writer.

By working with custom writing services or professional writers, you can ensure that your case study paper is well-written, properly formatted, and meets all of your professor's requirements. Don't let the stress of writing a case study paper get in the way of your academic success - get the help you need today and watch your grades soar!

Step 1. Choosing a specific case

Once you have your research questions you are ready to think about what specific case answers those questions best. First, think about the different types of case studies and figure out which one is most applicable in your situation. Next, think about the kinds of questions that you want to find answers to, or the kinds of questions you want to uncover. Ask yourself

• Is the case you are interested in unique with the potential to uncover new kinds of information?
• Does the case you are interested in allow exploring a pre-existing idea or theory more in-depth?
• Does the case you are interested in have a conclusion or insight that is opposite or different from pre-existing ideas about the subject?
• Does the case you are interested in have the potential to solve a problem?
• Is the point of your case to come up with new hypotheses for future research?

As long as you think about these questions, you should be able to come up with a case that will both answer your research questions as well as provide relevant information.

Step 2. The literature review

Before jumping into collecting your data and running your experiments or interviews you should familiarize yourself with the pre-existing theoretical framework. Not only will this help you devise your data accumulation methodology, but it will also give you information to help describe and analyze your case. Some case studies may not have an extensive amount of pre-existing theories to go over, but doing a literature review is always going to be beneficial. 

Go over your lecture notes and textbook to see which theories are relevant to your case. Ask your friends, professors, and experts in the field for advice on what to research. Once you have a general idea of what topics to look into, use library resources and the internet to familiarize yourself with theories that may apply to your case and previous case study examples that are similar to yours. Looking into a similar example of a case study will make sure that you don't repeat research that has already happened, help you understand how to do a case study, give you guidance about how you should collect your data, and give you a case study template. 

Step 3. Collecting data

Data collection methodologies for a case study are usually qualitative rather than quantitative.  You can employ methods such as interviews and focus groups to collect specific or new types of data, or you can look at primary and secondary sources like journals, newspapers, online publications, etc. to collect information. 

Data collection for case studies can seem difficult because there is no specific goal that you are trying to reach. The goal is to collect as much relevant information as possible and develop your conclusions based on the data. Try to organize your data either thematically, chronologically, or in whatever way that makes the most sense to you. This will help when analyzing and describing while writing a case study in the next step.

Step 4. Writing the paper 

It's finally time to learn how to write a case study essay! Writing a case study is a complicated process because it does not follow the standard five-paragraph model of essay writing. The next section dives deep into actually writing a case study.

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How to Format a Case Study

A case study can be structured in a few different ways depending on the type of case study and the subject being analyzed. You can go over some examples of case studies, but in general, there are five sections in a case study outline; introduction, literature review, method, discussion, and conclusion. Let's go over each section in a case study format in depth. 

Introduction 

The first few sentences of the case study should present the question you are answering or the case you are exploring interestingly so that you grab the reader's interest. Give some background information about the topic you are looking into and some details about the case you are going to present highlighting how the two are related. Make sure you mention why the research question is important and why the case you have chosen enhances information about that topic. Write a brief summary of your literature review, highlighting important theories or previous case studies that you plan to build upon. Finally, end your introduction with the potential ways that your case study can be used in the future. 

Literature Review

Your first body paragraph should go over the literature review. The goal of this section is to present information to the reader that allows them to understand the current state of research in a given topic as well as help them understand why your case study is important. 

If there is a lot of research about your topic, summarize the main findings of that research and explain why the case you’re exploring expands information about the topic. Present case studies examples that answer similar research questions using a different research methodology and explain why your methodology is beneficial. Talk about the main theories that are related to your topic giving brief descriptions of each one as well as talking about why these theories are important to your case study. 

By the end of your literature review section, the reader should have theoretical knowledge of your topic and be familiar with what kind of research has already happened. Most importantly, they should know how your case study fills a knowledge gap, enhances knowledge by analyzing a problem differently, or shows new directions for further research. 

This is the section where you present your case. Start by explaining why you chose your particular case and how it relates to the larger research question. Then explain why you chose the specific research method you did.  

Give all the important background details of your case. If your case is about a specific person, spend some time going over the person’s history and the specific incident or situation you are looking into. If your case is about an event or situation, give background information about the company, time, pre-existing theoretical frameworks, or literature. 

If you have run a focus group or conducted interviews, give the details of how you chose your participants, why you chose specific questions, and then the answers and data that you gathered.

Essentially the goal of this section is to present the new information that you have discovered. 

The discussion section combines your findings with the case study analysis. This is where you draw conclusions based on your research and connect them to your research question. Start this paragraph by restating your research questions and thesis. Briefly go over why you chose your case and how it relates to the topic, then present your findings. 

State your main finding and explain why it is important. If it is surprising, connect it to existing literature and explain why it is surprising. If it enhances the understanding of a specific topic, explain how it differs from the results of previous case studies. Do this for any other important results from your case study. Remember to explain why each one is important and how the results can be generalized beyond just your specific case study. 

Compare your case study to previous case studies done on similar topics. If the findings of your case study are different from the findings of previous similar case studies, explain why this is so. For example, this could be because of different research methodologies, different target audiences, generational changes, or you could have uncovered a new way of thinking about a problem. By comparing your case study to pre-existing case studies you can show either how you have answered a question raised previously, or how your case study findings can prompt future research. 

Towards the end of your discussion section, you should consider alternative explanations for your case study findings. Because case studies often look into not well-understood areas of research or are about very specific cases, the findings can be interpreted subjectively. Go over other possible interpretations of your findings to show that you have deeply considered your results. 

In most academic papers, the limitations of your study and avenues for possible research are included in the conclusion, but for a case study, they are important sections of the main discussion. While acknowledging the limitations of your study, you get a chance to explain why those limitations may not apply to your case. Use this as an opportunity to explain why certain questions could not be answered by your case study. This is also why suggesting avenues for further research make sense here. Make suggestions for research based on the limitations of your study or surprising results in your findings. 

The main goal of your conclusion is to explain why your case study and its findings are important. Repeat your research question and thesis and state your main findings clearly. Give a brief overview of the most important pre-existing case studies or theories related to your case and explain how your findings have expanded on that information. Finally, explain how your case studies and findings can contribute to further research. 

Whether it’s how to write a student case study, how to write a business case study, how to write a case study analysis, you now know how to make a case study! Writing a good case study can be challenging because it requires both a literature review as well as original research. Case studies are often used in the business world for marketing, in the social sciences for psychology, sociology, and anthropology, as well as in medicine. So, learning to write a case study is important! If you need help with writing a case study, the experts at Studyfy are always eager to lend a hand. 

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11 Case research

Case research—also called case study—is a method of intensively studying a phenomenon over time within its natural setting in one or a few sites. Multiple methods of data collection, such as interviews, observations, pre-recorded documents, and secondary data, may be employed and inferences about the phenomenon of interest tend to be rich, detailed, and contextualised. Case research can be employed in a positivist manner for the purpose of theory testing or in an interpretive manner for theory building. This method is more popular in business research than in other social science disciplines.

Case research has several unique strengths over competing research methods such as experiments and survey research. First, case research can be used for either theory building or theory testing, while positivist methods can be used for theory testing only. In interpretive case research, the constructs of interest need not be known in advance, but may emerge from the data as the research progresses. Second, the research questions can be modified during the research process if the original questions are found to be less relevant or salient. This is not possible in any positivist method after the data is collected. Third, case research can help derive richer, more contextualised, and more authentic interpretation of the phenomenon of interest than most other research methods by virtue of its ability to capture a rich array of contextual data. Fourth, the phenomenon of interest can be studied from the perspectives of multiple participants and using multiple levels of analysis (e.g., individual and organisational).

At the same time, case research also has some inherent weaknesses. Because it involves no experimental control, internal validity of inferences remain weak. Of course, this is a common problem for all research methods except experiments. However, as described later, the problem of controls may be addressed in case research using ‘natural controls’. Second, the quality of inferences derived from case research depends heavily on the integrative powers of the researcher. An experienced researcher may see concepts and patterns in case data that a novice researcher may miss. Hence, the findings are sometimes criticised as being subjective. Finally, because the inferences are heavily contextualised, it may be difficult to generalise inferences from case research to other contexts or other organisations.

It is important to recognise that case research is different from case descriptions such as Harvard case studies discussed in business classes. While case descriptions typically describe an organisational problem in rich detail with the goal of stimulating classroom discussion and critical thinking among students, or analysing how well an organisation handled a specific problem, case research is a formal research technique that involves a scientific method to derive explanations of organisational phenomena.

Case research is a difficult research method that requires advanced research skills on the part of the researcher, and is therefore often prone to error. Benbasat, Goldstein and Mead (1987) [1] describe five problems frequently encountered in case research studies. First, many case research studies start without specific research questions, and therefore end up without having any specific answers or insightful inferences. Second, case sites are often chosen based on access and convenience, rather than based on the fit with the research questions, and are therefore cannot adequately address the research questions of interest. Third, researchers often do not validate or triangulate data collected using multiple means, which may lead to biased interpretation based on responses from biased interviewees. Fourth, many studies provide very little details on how data was collected (e.g., what interview questions were used, which documents were examined, the organisational positions of each interviewee, etc.) or analysed, which may raise doubts about the reliability of the inferences. Finally, despite its strength as a longitudinal research method, many case research studies do not follow through a phenomenon in a longitudinal manner, and hence present only a cross-sectional and limited view of organisational processes and phenomena that are temporal in nature.

Key decisions in case research

Several key decisions must be made by a researcher when considering a case research method. First, is this the right method for the research questions being studied? The case research method is particularly appropriate for exploratory studies, for discovering relevant constructs in areas where theory building is in the formative stages, for studies where the experiences of participants and context of actions are critical, and for studies aimed at understanding complex, temporal processes (why and how) rather than factors or causes (what). This method is well-suited for studying complex organisational processes that involve multiple participants and interacting sequences of events, such as organisational change and large-scale technology implementation projects.

Second, what is the appropriate unit of analysis for a case research study? Since case research can simultaneously examine multiple units of analyses, the researcher must decide whether she wishes to study a phenomenon at the individual, group, or organisational level or at multiple levels. For instance, a study of group decision-making or group work may combine individual-level constructs such as individual participation in group activities with group-level constructs, such as group cohesion and group leadership, to derive richer understanding than can be achieved from a single level of analysis.

Third, should the researcher employ a single-case or multiple-case design? The single-case design is more appropriate at the outset of theory generation, if the situation is unique or extreme, if it is revelatory (i.e., the situation was previously inaccessible for scientific investigation), or if it represents a critical or contrary case for testing a well-formulated theory. The multiple-case design is more appropriate for theory testing, for establishing generalisability of inferences, and for developing richer and more nuanced interpretations of a phenomenon. Yin (1984) [2] recommends the use of multiple case sites with replication logic, viewing each case site as similar to one experimental study, and following rules of scientific rigor similar to that used in positivist research.

Fourth, what sites should be chosen for case research? Given the contextualised nature of inferences derived from case research, site selection is a particularly critical issue because selecting the wrong site may lead to the wrong inferences. If the goal of the research is to test theories or examine generalisability of inferences, then dissimilar case sites should be selected to increase variance in observations. For instance, if the goal of the research is to understand the process of technology implementation in firms, a mix of large, mid-sized, and small firms should be selected to examine whether the technology implementation process differs with firm size. Site selection should not be opportunistic or based on convenience, but rather based on the fit with research questions though a process called ‘theoretical sampling’.

Fifth, what techniques of data collection should be used in case research? Although interview (either open-ended/unstructured or focused/structured) is by far the most popular data collection technique for case research, interview data can be supplemented or corroborated with other techniques such as direct observation (e.g., attending executive meetings, briefings, and planning sessions), documentation (e.g., internal reports, presentations, and memoranda, as well as external accounts such as newspaper reports), archival records (e.g., organisational charts, financial records, etc.), and physical artefacts (e.g., devices, outputs, tools). Furthermore, the researcher should triangulate or validate observed data by comparing responses between interviewees.

Conducting case research

Most case research studies tend to be interpretive in nature. Interpretive case research is an inductive technique where evidence collected from one or more case sites is systematically analysed and synthesised to allow concepts and patterns to emerge for the purpose of building new theories or expanding existing ones. Eisenhardt (1989) [3] proposed a ‘roadmap’ for building theories from case research—a slightly modified version of which is described below. For positivist case research, some of the following stages may need to be rearranged or modified, however sampling, data collection, and data analytic techniques should generally remain the same.

Define research questions. Like any other scientific research, case research must also start with defining research questions that are theoretically and practically interesting, and identifying some intuitive expectations about possible answers to those research questions or preliminary constructs to guide initial case design. In positivist case research, the preliminary constructs are based on theory, while no such theories or hypotheses should be considered ex ante in interpretive research. These research questions and constructs may be changed in interpretive case research later on, if needed, but not in positivist case research.

Select case sites. The researcher should use a process of ‘theoretical sampling’—not random sampling—to identify case sites. In this approach, case sites are chosen based on theoretical rather than statistical considerations—for instance, to replicate previous cases, to extend preliminary theories, or to fill theoretical categories or polar types. Care should be taken to ensure that the selected sites fit the nature of research questions, minimise extraneous variance or noise due to firm size, industry effects, and so forth, and maximise variance in the dependent variables of interest. For instance, if the goal of the research is to examine how some firms innovate better than others, the researcher should select firms of similar size within the same industry to reduce industry or size effects, and select some more innovative and some less innovative firms to increase variation in firm innovation. Instead of cold-calling or writing to a potential site, it is better to contact someone at executive level inside each firm who has the authority to approve the project, or someone who can identify a person of authority. During initial conversations, the researcher should describe the nature and purpose of the project, any potential benefits to the case site, how the collected data will be used, the people involved in data collection (other researchers, research assistants, etc.), desired interviewees, and the amount of time, effort, and expense required of the sponsoring organisation. The researcher must also assure confidentiality, privacy, and anonymity of both the firm and the individual respondents.

Create instruments and protocols. Since the primary mode of data collection in case research is interviews, an interview protocol should be designed to guide the interview process. This is essentially a list of questions to be asked. Questions may be open-ended (unstructured) or closed-ended (structured) or a combination of both. The interview protocol must be strictly followed, and the interviewer must not change the order of questions or skip any question during the interview process, although some deviations are allowed to probe further into a respondent’s comments if they are ambiguous or interesting. The interviewer must maintain a neutral tone, and not lead respondents in any specific direction—for example, by agreeing or disagreeing with any response. More detailed interviewing techniques are discussed in the chapter on surveys. In addition, additional sources of data—such as internal documents and memorandums, annual reports, financial statements, newspaper articles, and direct observations—should be sought to supplement and validate interview data.

Select respondents. Select interview respondents at different organisational levels, departments, and positions to obtain divergent perspectives on the phenomenon of interest. A random sampling of interviewees is most preferable, however a snowball sample is acceptable, as long as a diversity of perspectives is represented in the sample. Interviewees must be selected based on their personal involvement with the phenomenon under investigation and their ability and willingness to answer the researcher’s questions accurately and adequately, and not based on convenience or access.

Start data collection . It is usually a good idea to electronically record interviews for future reference. However, such recording must only be done with the interviewee’s consent. Even when interviews are being recorded, the interviewer should take notes to capture important comments or critical observations, behavioural responses (e.g., the respondent’s body language), and the researcher’s personal impressions about the respondent and his/her comments. After each interview is completed, the entire interview should be transcribed verbatim into a text document for analysis.

Conduct within-case data analysis. Data analysis may follow or overlap with data collection. Overlapping data collection and analysis has the advantage of adjusting the data collection process based on themes emerging from data analysis, or to further probe into these themes. Data analysis is done in two stages. In the first stage (within-case analysis), the researcher should examine emergent concepts separately at each case site and patterns between these concepts to generate an initial theory of the problem of interest. The researcher can use interview data subjectively to ‘make sense’ of the research problem in conjunction with using his/her personal observations or experience at the case site. Alternatively, a coding strategy such as Glaser and Strauss’ (1967) [4] grounded theory approach, using techniques such as open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, may be used to derive a chain of evidence and inferences. These techniques are discussed in detail in a later chapter. Homegrown techniques, such as graphical representation of data (e.g., network diagram) or sequence analysis (for longitudinal data) may also be used. Note that there is no predefined way of analysing the various types of case data, and the data analytic techniques can be modified to fit the nature of the research project.

Conduct cross-case analysis. Multi-site case research requires cross-case analysis as the second stage of data analysis. In such analysis, the researcher should look for similar concepts and patterns between different case sites, ignoring contextual differences that may lead to idiosyncratic conclusions. Such patterns may be used for validating the initial theory, or for refining it—by adding or dropping concepts and relationships—to develop a more inclusive and generalisable theory. This analysis may take several forms. For instance, the researcher may select categories (e.g., firm size, industry, etc.) and look for within-group similarities and between-group differences (e.g., high versus low performers, innovators versus laggards). Alternatively, they can compare firms in a pairwise manner listing similarities and differences across pairs of firms.

Build and test hypotheses. Tenative hypotheses are constructed based on emergent concepts and themes that are generalisable across case sites. These hypotheses should be compared iteratively with observed evidence to see if they fit the observed data, and if not, the constructs or relationships should be refined. Also the researcher should compare the emergent constructs and hypotheses with those reported in the prior literature to make a case for their internal validity and generalisability. Conflicting findings must not be rejected, but rather reconciled using creative thinking to generate greater insight into the emergent theory. When further iterations between theory and data yield no new insights or changes in the existing theory, ‘theoretical saturation’ is reached and the theory building process is complete.

Write case research report. In writing the report, the researcher should describe very clearly the detailed process used for sampling, data collection, data analysis, and hypotheses development, so that readers can independently assess the reasonableness, strength, and consistency of the reported inferences. A high level of clarity in research methods is needed to ensure that the findings are not biased by the researcher’s preconceptions.

Interpretive case research exemplar

Perhaps the best way to learn about interpretive case research is to examine an illustrative example. One such example is Eisenhardt’s (1989) [5] study of how executives make decisions in high-velocity environments (HVE). Readers are advised to read the original paper published in Academy of Management Journal before reading the synopsis in this chapter. In this study, Eisenhardt examined how executive teams in some HVE firms make fast decisions, while those in other firms cannot, and whether faster decisions improve or worsen firm performance in such environments. HVE was defined as one where demand, competition, and technology changes so rapidly and discontinuously that the information available is often inaccurate, unavailable or obsolete. The implicit assumptions were thatit is hard to make fast decisions with inadequate information in HVE, and fast decisions may not be efficient and may result in poor firm performance.

Reviewing the prior literature on executive decision-making, Eisenhardt found several patterns, although none of these patterns were specific to high-velocity environments. The literature suggested that in the interest of expediency, firms that make faster decisions obtain input from fewer sources, consider fewer alternatives, make limited analysis, restrict user participation in decision-making, centralise decision-making authority, and have limited internal conflicts. However, Eisenhardt contended that these views may not necessarily explain how decision makers make decisions in high-velocity environments, where decisions must be made quickly and with incomplete information, while maintaining high decision quality.

To examine this phenomenon, Eisenhardt conducted an inductive study of eight firms in the personal computing industry. The personal computing industry was undergoing dramatic changes in technology with the introduction of the UNIX operating system, RISC architecture, and 64KB random access memory in the 1980s, increased competition with the entry of IBM into the personal computing business, and growing customer demand with double-digit demand growth, and therefore fit the profile of the high-velocity environment. This was a multiple case design with replication logic, where each case was expected to confirm or disconfirm inferences from other cases. Case sites were selected based on their access and proximity to the researcher, however, all of these firms operated in the high-velocity personal computing industry in California’s Silicon Valley area. The collocation of firms in the same industry and the same area ruled out any ‘noise’ or variance in dependent variables (decision speed or performance) attributable to industry or geographic differences.

The study employed an embedded design with multiple levels of analysis: decision (comparing multiple strategic decisions within each firm), executive teams (comparing different teams responsible for strategic decisions), and the firm (overall firm performance). Data was collected from five sources:

Initial interviews with Chief Executive Officers . CEOs were asked questions about their firm’s competitive strategy, distinctive competencies, major competitors, performance, and recent/ongoing major strategic decisions. Based on these interviews, several strategic decisions were selected in each firm for further investigation. Four criteria were used to select decisions: the decisions must involve the firm’s strategic positioning, the decisions must have high stakes, the decisions must involve multiple functions, and the decisions must be representative of strategic decision-making process in that firm.

Interviews with divisional heads . Each divisional head was asked sixteen open-ended questions, ranging from their firm’s competitive strategy, functional strategy, top management team members, frequency and nature of interaction with team, typical decision-making processes, how each of the decisions were made, and how long it took them to make those decisions. Interviews lasted between one and a half and two hours, and sometimes extended to four hours. To focus on facts and actual events rather than respondents’ perceptions or interpretations, a ‘courtroom’ style questioning was employed, such as ‘When did this happen?’, ‘What did you do?’, etc. Interviews were conducted by two people, and the data was validated by cross-checking facts and impressions made by the interviewer and notetaker. All interview data was recorded, however notes were also taken during each interview, which ended with the interviewer’s overall impressions. Using a ‘24-hour rule’, detailed field notes were completed within 24 hours of the interview, so that some data or impressions were not lost to recall.

Questionnaires . Executive team members at each firm were asked tocomplete a survey questionnaire that captured quantitative data on the extent of conflict and power distribution in their firm.

Secondary data . Industry reports and internal documents such as demographics of the executive teams responsible for strategic decisions, financial performance of firms, and so forth, were examined.

Personal observation . Lastly, the researcher attended a one-day strategy session and a weekly executive meeting at two firms in her sample.

Data analysis involved a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative data on conflict and power were analysed for patterns across firms/decisions. Qualitative interview data was combined into decision climate profiles, using profile traits (e.g., impatience) mentioned by more than one executive. For within-case analysis, decision stories were created for each strategic decision by combining executive accounts of the key decision events into a timeline. For cross-case analysis, pairs of firms were compared for similarities and differences, categorised along variables of interest such as decision speed and firm performance. Based on these analyses, tentative constructs and propositions were derived inductively from each decision story within firm categories. Each decision case was revisited to confirm the proposed relationships. The inferred propositions were compared with findings from the existing literature to examine differences, and to generate new insights from the case findings. Finally, the validated propositions were synthesised into an inductive theory of strategic decision-making by firms in high-velocity environments.

Inferences derived from this multiple case research contradicted several decision-making patterns expected from the existing literature. First, fast decision-makers in high-velocity environments used more information, and not less information as suggested by the previous literature. However, these decision-makers used more real-time information—an insight not available from prior research—which helped them identify and respond to problems, opportunities, and changing circumstances faster. Second, fast decision-makers examined more—not fewer—alternatives. However, they considered these multiple alternatives in a simultaneous manner, while slower decision-makers examined fewer alternatives in a sequential manner. Third, fast decision-makers did not centralise decision-making or restrict inputs from others as the literature suggested. Rather, these firms used a two-tiered decision process in which experienced counsellors were asked for inputs in the first stage, followed by a rapid comparison and decision selection in the second stage. Fourth, fast decision-makers did not have less conflict—as expected from the literature—but employed better conflict resolution techniques to reduce conflict and improve decision-making speed. Finally, fast decision-makers exhibited superior firm performance by virtue of their built-in cognitive, emotional, and political processes that led to rapid closure of major decisions.

Positivist case research exemplar

Case research can also be used in a positivist manner to test theories or hypotheses. Such studies are rare, but Markus (1983) [6] provides an exemplary illustration in her study of technology implementation at the pseudonymous Golden Triangle Company (GTC). The goal of this study was to understand why a newly implemented financial information system (FIS)—intended to improve the productivity and performance of accountants at GTC—was supported by accountants at GTC’s corporate headquarters, but resisted by divisional accountants at GTC branches. Given the uniqueness of the phenomenon of interest, this was a single-case research study.

To explore the reasons behind user resistance of FIS, Markus posited three alternative explanations:

System-determined theory : The resistance was caused by factors related to an inadequate system, such as its technical deficiencies, poor ergonomic design, or lack of user friendliness.

People-determined theory : The resistance was caused by factors internal to users, such as the accountants’ cognitive styles or personality traits that were incompatible with using the system.

Interaction theory : The resistance was not caused not by factors intrinsic to the system or the people, but by the interaction between the two set of factors. Specifically, interaction theory suggested that the FIS engendered a redistribution of intra-organisational power, and accountants who lost organisational status, relevance, or power as a result of FIS implementation resisted the system while those gaining power favoured it.

In order to test the three theories, Markus predicted alternative outcomes expected from each theoretical explanation and analysed the extent to which those predictions matched with her observations at GTC. For instance, the system-determined theory suggested that since user resistance was caused by an inadequate system, fixing the technical problems of the system would eliminate resistance. The computer running the FIS system was subsequently upgraded with a more powerful operating system, online processing (from initial batch processing, which delayed immediate processing of accounting information), and a simplified software for new account creation by managers. One year after these changes were made, the resistant users were still resisting the system and felt that it should be replaced. Hence, the system-determined theory was rejected.

The people-determined theory predicted that replacing individual resistors or co-opting them with less resistant users would reduce their resistance toward the FIS. Subsequently, GTC started a job rotation and mobility policy, moving accountants in and out of the resistant divisions, but resistance not only persisted, but in some cases increased. In one instance, an accountant who was one of the system’s designers and advocates when he worked for corporate accounting started resisting the system after he was moved to the divisional controller’s office. Failure to realise the predictions of the people-determined theory led to the rejection of this theory.

Finally, the interaction theory predicted that neither changing the system nor the people (i.e., user education or job rotation policies) would reduce resistance until the power imbalance and redistribution from the pre-implementation phase was addressed. Before FIS implementation, divisional accountants at GTC felt that they owned all accounting data related to their divisional operations. They maintained this data in thick, manual ledger books, controlled others’ access to the data, and could reconcile unusual accounting events before releasing those reports. Corporate accountants relied heavily on divisional accountants for access to the divisional data for corporate reporting and consolidation. Because the FIS system automatically collected all data at the source and consolidated it into a single corporate database, it obviated the need for divisional accountants, loosened their control and autonomy over their division’s accounting data, and making their job somewhat irrelevant. Corporate accountants could now query the database and access divisional data directly without going through the divisional accountants, analyse and compare the performance of individual divisions, and report unusual patterns and activities to the executive committee, resulting in further erosion of the divisions’ power. Though Markus did not empirically test this theory, her observations about the redistribution of organisational power, coupled with the rejection of the two alternative theories, led to the justification of interaction theory.

Comparisons with traditional research

Positivist case research, aimed at hypotheses testing, is often criticised by natural science researchers as lacking in controlled observations, controlled deductions, replicability, and generalisability of findings—the traditional principles of positivist research. However, these criticisms can be overcome through appropriate case research designs. For instance, the problem of controlled observations refers to the difficulty of obtaining experimental or statistical control in case research. However, case researchers can compensate for such lack of controls by employing ’natural controls’. This natural control in Markus’ (1983) study was the corporate accountant who was one of the system advocates initially, but started resisting it once he moved to the controlling division. In this instance, the change in his behaviour may be attributed to his new divisional position. However, such natural controls cannot be anticipated in advance, and case researchers may overlook them unless they are proactively looking for such controls. Incidentally, natural controls are also used in natural science disciplines such as astronomy, geology, and human biology—for example, waiting for comets to pass close enough to the earth in order to make inferences about comets and their composition.

Third, the problem of replicability refers to the difficulty of observing the same phenomenon considering the uniqueness and idiosyncrasy of a given case site. However, using Markus’ three theories as an illustration, a different researcher can test the same theories at a different case site, where three different predictions may emerge based on the idiosyncratic nature of the new case site, and the three resulting predictions may be tested accordingly. In other words, it is possible to replicate the inferences of case research, even if the case research site or context may not be replicable.

Fourth, case research tends to examine unique and non-replicable phenomena that may not be generalised to other settings. Generalisability in natural sciences is established through additional studies. Likewise, additional case studies conducted in different contexts with different predictions can establish generalisability of findings if such findings are observed to be consistent across studies.

Lastly, British philosopher Karl Popper described four requirements of scientific theories: theories should be falsifiable, they should be logically consistent, they should have adequate predictive ability, and they should provide better explanation than rival theories. In case research, the first three requirements can be improved by increasing the degrees of freedom of observed findings—for example, by increasing the number of case sites, the number of alternative predictions, and the number of levels of analysis examined. This was accomplished in Markus’ study by examining the behaviour of multiple groups (divisional accountants and corporate accountants) and providing multiple (three) rival explanations. Popper’s fourth condition was accomplished in this study when one hypothesis was found to match observed evidence better than the two rival hypotheses.

• Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D. K., & Mead, M. (1987). The case research strategy in studies of information systems. MIS Quarterly , 11(3), 369–386. ↵
• Yin, R. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods . London: Sage Publications. ↵
• Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case research. Academy of Management Review , 14(4), 532–550 ↵
• Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research . New York: Aldine Pub Co. ↵
• Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. Academy of Management Journal , 32(3), 543–576. ↵
• Markus, M. L. (1983). Power, politics and MIS implementations. Communications of the ACM , 26(6), 430–444. ↵

Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices (Revised edition) Copyright © 2019 by Anol Bhattacherjee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Book contents

• Frontmatter
• Acknowledgments
• Case Study Research
• 1 The Conundrum of the Case Study
• PART I THINKING ABOUT CASE STUDIES
• 2 What Is a Case Study?
• 3 What Is a Case Study Good For?
• PART II DOING CASE STUDIES
• Subject Index

2 - What Is a Case Study?

The Problem of Definition

from PART I - THINKING ABOUT CASE STUDIES

The key term of this book is, admittedly, a definitional morass. To refer to a work as a “case study” might mean: (a) that its method is qualitative, small-N, (b) that the research is holistic, thick (a more or less comprehensive examination of a phenomenon), (c) that it utilizes a particular type of evidence (e.g., ethnographic, clinical, nonexperimental, non-survey-based, participant-observation, process-tracing, historical, textual, or field research), (d) that its method of evidence gathering is naturalistic (a “real-life context”), (e) that the topic is diffuse (case and context are difficult to distinguish), (f) that it employs triangulation (“multiple sources of evidence”), (g) that the research investigates the properties of a single observation, or (h) that the research investigates the properties of a single phenomenon, instance, or example.

Evidently, researchers have many things in mind when they talk about case study research. Confusion is compounded by the existence of a large number of near-synonyms – single unit, single subject, single case, N=1, case-based, case-control, case history, case method, case record, case work, within-case, clinical research, and so forth. As a result of this profusion of terms and meanings, proponents and opponents of the case study marshal a wide range of arguments but do not seem any closer to agreement than when this debate was first broached several decades ago. Jennifer Platt notes that “much case study theorizing has been conceptually confused, because too many different themes have been packed into the idea ‘case study.’”

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• What Is a Case Study?
• John Gerring , Boston University
• Book: Case Study Research
• Online publication: 05 June 2012
• Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803123.004

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• Frequently asked questions

How to write the middle or “process” part of your case study

UX case studies are all about the work you’ve done and how you progressed from an initial problem statement to the delivery of a finalized product. Describing a process instead of just a collection of visuals is the key difference between a UX portfolio case study and a Visual Design portfolio. You need to show the “road” you took to reach your destination, having decided on, and kept to, the best route. So, we want a story to flow that represents this journey. Now, we will explore the tips and tricks you can use to show your process, alongside your case study visuals, so recruiters can see how organized and resourceful, among other attributes, you are.

If you take a simple exercise in searching Google for “UX case study tips”, you will encounter many articles with quotes from UX professionals and recruiters about what your case studies should look like. It’s very easy to see that they all converge on the same advice: A UX case study is a story , one that describes the process of the discoveries that you made while tackling a UX challenge.

For the story to be told, your case study can’t just be a series of photos, design artifacts or screen grabs. These may mean a lot to you, but they don’t reveal very much to anyone who wasn’t part of your project. UX recruiters are primarily interested in your way of thinking : How did you decide that this was the right approach to solving a challenge? Why is this design detail like this and not like something else? How did you work to decide between the possible alternatives? How did you involve users in the process? How did you carry out your evaluations? Quite simply, a flat visual can’t answer these questions.

“Having a really strong portfolio where you can talk through your whole process , not just showing research, user flows , wireframes, etc, but turning it into a story for example why you moved onto each part of the process so a hiring manager can really get inside your thought process.” Tom Cotterill, UX Recruiter at Source LF

What content should I put in a UX case study’s process section?

The trick to storytelling in UX case studies is to use a combination of visuals and text. In fact, remember that text here is probably more important than visuals, in the sense that all the crucial information is something you should describe textually , with visuals adding support, impact and credibility to your textual descriptions of the process. This doesn’t mean that you should focus more on the text than on the visuals – both are equally important. However, if you are to build a good UX case study, you should understand the distinct role that text and visuals play in bringing the story to life.

Just like every story, UX case studies unfold along a timeline – a series of events that lead to the final product. Therefore, you can lay out your story sequentially, as if it were a number of steps, with each step taking you closer to the end deliverable. Laying out the story in steps doesn’t just help you put events in a logical order for the recruiter to follow; it also highlights that you have an understanding of a methodological process, such as Design Thinking . So, you might take the core elements of Design Thinking as the steps that you need to outline in the case study.

You might argue here that Design Thinking is not a linear process, and you would be right to say so. However, the case study can’t be structured effectively when the reader has to skip back and forth between phases of development. To solve the problem, you could state at the start that UX projects don’t follow a linear methodology, but for the purposes of the case study, you will describe the various work done during different phases in a linear structure (and outline what that structure will be).

Author/Copyright holder: Teo Yu Siang and Interaction Design Foundation. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Structure your case study sections linearly to show the work you did in each of the phases of the Design Thinking process. Start with Empathy , then Define, then Ideate, then Prototype, and then finally move on to the Test, or evaluation, phase. You can throw in bits of evaluation in every other step, too – for example, during the ideation phase, how did you evaluate alternatives to select which one to take forward?

When writing down the things you did during the process, remember the “why” question which will pop up in the recruiter’s head while reading your case study. Why did you do this? Your text has to be written with this question in mind: I did this (great, but why?) , because I needed to solve a problem (here is your answer) . Thus, you can write sentences like the following: “To build empathy at the start of the project, I carried out interviews with 20 users ”, or “ To decide between design alternatives, I conducted heuristic evaluations of all possible designs ”.

To strengthen the “I did this” part, you can now begin to use visuals. For example, if you carried out a co-design session with some users, a simple photo of your users sitting around a table, with Post-its, markers, sheets of paper, etc., adds veracity to your statement – hey, they really did do this . It also adds confidence in your skills – hey, it looks as if they truly know how to do this properly .

You can also use visuals to strengthen the “why” part. For example, if you had many alternative designs to choose from, showing a few of these alternatives adds veracity to the level of challenge that you addressed – hey, they really had to work hard on deciding which alternative is best – and also confidence in your skills – hey, they must be very imaginative and are not shy about exploring all the possibilities!

What types of visuals should you include in your UX case study?

It’s hard to give a definitive answer to this question. You should exercise judgment and show the design artifacts and UX deliverables that you think best represent your skills and work. However, you may want to consider the 11 most commonly created and shared UX deliverables, according to Page Laubheimer, a researcher at the Norman Nielsen Group (2015).

Alongside these, you may want to include photos of your work-in-progress, of your users and participants, and even yourself or your team at work. For this reason, remember to document everything and capture as much of the process as you are going through it, during an actual project.

Examples of good practice in combining text and visuals

Hopefully, you are beginning to see how text and visuals work hand in hand to deliver the story and give a convincing impression of you as a talented UX professional. Let’s now explore some creative ways in which you can put text and visuals side by side to build your case study. Remember that how you do this is, in terms of layout and visual presentation, entirely up to you. It’s only important that you not forget to answer the what, why and how-did-you-do-it questions.

Copyright holder: Paula J. Young, paulajyoung.com. Copyright terms and license: All rights reserved (fair use). Img Src

In this example, the UX designer discusses how they created empathy with the users by developing personas . In the text, a summary of the personas is given. An accompanying visual shows how one of the persona deliverables looks. There is no need to put in all three personas – the recruiter isn’t interested in the project specifics, but is in seeing you following process and employing your rationale (explained in the first sentence). One visual is enough to show that you are capable of producing good UX deliverables.

In this example, the UX designer briefly describes the user testing methodology and some of the key findings. The accompanying visual is very powerful: Here, the designer demonstrates that they are capable of thinking outside of the box (excuse the pun!) so as to develop imaginative ways to test a product’s usability .

Copyright holder: Robert Sens, Behance.net. Copyright terms and license: All rights reserved (fair use). Img Src

In this example, the designer describes their process during the ideation phase. Not many details are given, but that’s OK – the focus is always on showing that you employed a certain strategy for a valid reason. The accompanying graphic doesn’t provide any further information about the project, but its power is in demonstrating that the designer is methodical and skilled in working through the ideation process described in the text.

Copyright holder: Justin Edmund, jedmund.com. Copyright terms and license: All rights reserved (fair use). Img Src

In this example, the designer discusses the prototyping phase and demonstrates their skill in producing low-fidelity paper wireframes. Note how the wireframes are annotated: this helps the recruiter see that the designer is clearly thinking about the interface elements, their function and why they are laid out the way they are. Again, this demonstrates critical thinking, rather than just taking up space in the case study.

Writing tips for UX case studies

Now that we have seen how text and visuals can work hand in hand to help you explain your process and thinking, let’s look at some writing tips that will help you get the most out of your text.

Get to the point

Don’t waffle on with text. Be direct, keep your sentences short, and go straight to the point. Instead of getting carried away with long sentences like “ The empathy-building phase is important because it allows the generation of requirements. During that phase I started off with a set of casual interviews… ”—simply say this: “ To build empathy with users, I started off with a set of casual interviews. This resulted in a preliminary set of requirements. ”

Get personal

Remember that even though you need to acknowledge team work, you must also highlight what you did, so get personal. Instead of saying, “ We worked together to produce a set of wireframes ”, say, “ As part of the team effort to produce wireframes, I created designs for functions XYZ ”.

Remember the what, why, how

Actually, the previous example was only partial advice. Remember to include the what, why and how! Better yet, write: “ Building on the requirements arising from customer journey maps , the team created wireframes to explore design alternatives. I created three alternative designs for functions XYZ ”.

Use plain language

Don’t overcomplicate your text with esoteric jargon related to the project. Focus on the process and explain it as simply as you can. Not everyone who reads your case study will be a UX person – sometimes, managers or developers might be part of the interviewing team. Keep it human and you will keep it real.

Use active voice instead of passive

You might have some text like “ wireframe mockups were created in the ideation phase ”. Passive voice does indeed have a purpose (to put the subject of a sentence in the spotlight when it can’t do anything as an entity), but it has a nasty habit of sometimes making things appear quite vague (in the previous example, just who were these mockups created by?) and is more difficult to read and process than active voice. Instead, you could improve the clarity by writing in the active voice, like so: “ I created wireframe mockups in the ideation phase. ”

Use UX keywords

Remember – your recruiters probably won’t spend more than a couple of minutes looking through your portfolio (especially if they have lots of applications to review). For this reason, make sure that UX keywords, especially deliverables appropriate to each phase of the process in your case study, are things you use and highlight clearly. Since recruiters will probably skim through rather than read your text, having the right keywords in place ensures that your case study will catch their eye, and hopefully convince them that it’s worth a second look.

The Take Away

While you are undertaking a UX project, remember to capture as much of the process as possible by taking photos, scanning documents and saving files. When the time comes to write the middle part of a UX case study about this project, all of this material will come in handy. Writing the middle part of your UX case study requires a significant investment of time and attention. You must carefully pick the elements of work which you believe you should highlight. You need to weave a story and show, using an appropriate combination of text and visuals, how you understand and are able to apply a methodological approach to your work, like Design Thinking. It’s important that every sentence you write and every visual you include have a direct impact in answering the perennial questions in the recruiters’ heads: What, why and how?

References & Where to Learn More

Copyright holder: janeb13, pixabay.com. Copyright terms and license: CC0

Drugay, A. (2017). How to create a UX writing portfolio .

Motivate Design (2016). How to craft a top-notch UX case study .

Mederos, B. (2015). The foundation of a great UX portfolio .

Daukaeva, K. (2016). How to write a good UX case study .

Laubheimer, P. (2015). Which UX deliverables are most commonly created and shared?

UX For the Masses (2017). How to bring your UX work to life with compelling case studies .

How to Create a UX Portfolio

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The historical origin and strategy of case study research dates back many years in applied and natural sciences. Its roots are traceable to life sciences such as criminology, medicine, and psychology. In this regard, the case study method is recognized and widely used in social science, especially in political and cultural studies and sociology, and educational research.

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Case Study Research

Baxter, P., & Jack, S. (2008). Qualitative case study methodology: Study design and implementation for novice researchers. The Qualitative Report, 13 (4), 544–559. http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR13-4/baxter.pdf

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Additional Readings

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Sage.

Harland, T. (2014). Learning about case study methodology to research higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 33 (6), 1113–1122. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2014.911253

Pan, S., & Tan, B. (2011). Demystifying case research: A structured-pragmatic-situational (SPS) approach to conducting case studies. Information and Organization, 21 , 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2011.07.001

Tsang, E. (2013). Case study methodology: Causal explanation, contextualization and theorizing. Journal of International Management, 19 , 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2012.08.004

Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications: Designs and methods (6th ed.). Sage.

Zarnadze, S., Zarnadze, I., Baramidze, L., Sikharulidze, Z., Tabidze, D., & Bakradze, T. (2018). Problem based and case study methodology in medical education. European Scientific Journal, 120–128. https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2018.c5p9

Online Resources

Case Study Research. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPB3Q9cXmvs

Planning a Case Study. Part 2 of 3 on Case Studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1JetXkFAr4

Qualitative analysis of interview data: A step-by-step guide for coding/indexing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRL4PF2u9XA

Qualitative Case Study. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhvdC4vDjts

Replication or Single Cases. Part 3 of 3 on Case Studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5CYZRyOlys

Types of Case Study. Part 1 of 3 on Case Studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQfoq7c4UE4

What is case study and how to conduct case study research. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kynoEFQNEq8

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Ndame, T. (2023). Case Study. In: Okoko, J.M., Tunison, S., Walker, K.D. (eds) Varieties of Qualitative Research Methods. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04394-9_11

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What Is a Case Study? Definition, Examples, Types & Methods

What is the definition of a case study.

A case study is typically a research paper to generate an in-depth and multi-faced understanding of any complicated issue in a life scenario. It is a well-written research design that is very commonly used in a wide range of disciplines.

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Also Read:  A Complete Guide to Writing an Effective Case Study

Case Study Examples

• Marketing case study examples: Case studies in marketing are written to show your success, and you must always prominently showcase your buoyant suits. You can use bright, bold colours with many contesting fonts, shapes, and simple icons to highlight your case study.
• You need to highlight your big win on the 2nd page with a bright orange colour with highlighted circles.
• Make the essential data stand out exceptionally to track your prospective customers.
• Marketing all the critical data is very important in your marketing case study.

Use a straightforward and crystal clear layout of the case study.

• Using a straightforward layout in any case study is very effective. For example, keeping a spotless white background and drawing slim lines helps to separate these sections in a specific way for formatting the case study.
• Making the information clear helps draw attention to the results and helps to improve the accessibility of the design.
• The case study examples must sit nicely with more extended reports and a consistent layout.

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Casestudyhelp.com is the right place that can help you.

What Are the Types of Case Studies?

Case studies can be categorized into several types based on their focus and purpose. Here are some common types of case studies:

• Collective Case Studies : These types of case studies involve investigating any group of individuals. Here, the researchers need to study a group of people in a specific setting or any community. Ex: Psychologists must explore how access to the resources in any society can affect people’s mental wellness.
• Descriptive Case Studies: These involve starting with any descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the gathered information is compared to the preexisting approaches.
• Explanatory Case Studies: These types of case studies are primarily used to conduct any casual investigation. Here, the researchers are more interested in looking for the factors that caused specific results.
• Exploratory Case Studies : These case studies are conducted when researchers want to explore a new or relatively unexplored topic. They are more open-ended and aim to generate hypotheses and ideas for further research.
• Instrumental Case Studies : These case studies are selected because they provide insights into a broader issue or theory. The case is used as a means to investigate a more general phenomenon.
• Intrinsic Case Studies : In these case studies, the case itself is of particular interest due to its uniqueness or rarity. The goal is not to generalize findings to a larger population but to understand the specific case deeply.
• Pilot Case Studies : Pilot case studies are conducted as a preliminary investigation before launching a larger study. They help researchers refine their research questions, methods, and procedures.
• Problem-Oriented Case Studies : These case studies focus on solving a specific problem or addressing a particular issue. Researchers aim to provide practical solutions based on their analysis of the case.
• Ethnographic Case Studies : Ethnographic case studies involve immersing the researcher in the subject’s environment to gain an in-depth cultural understanding. This is often used in anthropology and sociology.
• Longitudinal Case Studies : Longitudinal studies involve observing and analyzing a case over an extended period of time. This allows researchers to track changes, developments, and trends that occur over time.
• Comparative Case Studies : Comparative case studies involve comparing two or more cases to draw similarities, differences, and patterns between them. This type of study is often used to test hypotheses or theories.
• Critical Instance Case Studies : Critical instance cases are chosen because they represent a crucial or pivotal event that can provide insights into a larger issue or theory.

Each type of case study serves a different purpose and is designed to answer specific research questions. Researchers choose the type of case study that best aligns with their objectives and the nature of the phenomenon they are investigating.

Also, Check Out –  Why Is Everyone Talking About Case Study Help?

What Are the Methods of a Case Study?

A   case study research   is a qualitative research design. It is often used in the social sciences since it involves observing the cases or subjects in their settings with the most minor interference from the researcher.

In the case study method, the researchers pose a definite question raging any individual or group for testing their hypotheses or theories. This is done by gathering data from the interviews with the essential data.

Case study research is a perfect way to understand the nuances of any matter often neglected in quantitative research methods. A case study is distinct from any other qualitative study in the following ways:

• Focused on the effect of any set of circumstances in any group or any individual
• It mostly begins with any specific question regarding one or more cases
• It usually focuses on the individual accounts and its experiences

The primary features of case study research methods are as follows:

• The case study methods   must involve the researcher asking a few questions of one person or a small group of people who are known as the respondents for testing the survey.
• The case study in the research mythology might apply triangulation to collect data. It is then analyzed and interpreted to form a hypothesis to be tested through further research or validated by other researchers.
• Concepts are defined using objective language with references to the Preconceived Notions. These individuals may have about them. A researcher sets out to discover by asking any specific question on how people think about their findings.
• The case study method needs a clear concept and theory to guide the processes. A well-organized research question is fundamental while conducting any case study since its results depend on it. The best approach for answering the research questions is challenging the preexisting theories, assumptions or hypotheses.

Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies

The benefits of case studies are as follows:

• Case studies give many details to be collected and will be easily obtained by the other research designs. The collected data is mostly richer than that can be funded via different experimental methods.
• Case studies are primarily conducted on the rare cases where more extensive samples of similar participants are unavailable.
• Within certain case studies, scientific experiments can also be conducted.
• The case studies can also help the experimenters adapt the ideas and produce novel hypotheses for later testing.

Disadvantages of Case Studies

• One of the main criticisms in case studies is that the collected data cannot necessarily be generated for any broader population. This can lead to data being collected over any case study that is only sometimes relevant or useful.
• Some of the case studies still need to be scientific. Many scientists used case studies for conducting several experiments, the results of which were only sometimes very successful.
• Case studies are primarily based on one person, so it can be only one experimenter who is collecting the data. This can lead to a bias in data collection that can influence the results in frequent designs.
• Drawing any definite cause or effect from many case studies is sometimes challenging.

Importance of Case Study

• A case study is a particular research h method involving an up-close and in-depth investigation of any subject, and it is related to a contextual position. These are produced by following a research form. The case study helps in bringing the understanding of any complex issue. This can extend experience or add strength to the already existing knowledge via the previous research. The contextual analysis revolves around a small number of events or situations.
• Researchers have used case studies for an extended period, and they have been successfully applied in various disciplines like social sciences.

Writing the best case study paper on any subject is a challenging task. Thus, you will always need the best service provider in this regard. The  CaseStudyHelp.com   is the top choice for you.

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Law School 101: Tips on How to Effectively Write Case Digests

By: Archiebald Faller Capila

Aside from the common works of memorizing codal provisions, understanding legal doctrines, and reading the annotations of legal luminaries, there are still some tasks in law school that law students need to finish.

Among the additional works required to be submitted are the written or type-written case digests in different subjects. Most, if not all professors, require their students to submit specific sets of digests in order to improve the memory of those writing them. It is a proven fact that retention is better if and when students write what they are reading. Accordingly, professors see this as a tool in order to help their students learn more about various topics.

Case digests have been in law school since time immemorial. They have been said to be additional tasks for law students so that the latter may have a better understanding of the landmark cases which explain several laws and doctrines our legal system has adopted. While some law students see this as a task without a point, law professors from all over the country beg to disagree. For professors of the law, case digests must be submitted in order to inculcate discipline to law students—a character which is eventually carried out in practice.

However, most law students have a hard time writing them. Not only because some cases are kilometric in nature, but also because understanding such text-heavy materials is a different kind of burden. In several interviews with some students of the law, they see case digests as assignments that only give additional burden in the study. However, some law students believe that these case digests help them better understand an assigned case and even help them craft a good understanding of the facts, issues, and decision of an important cause. Accordingly, according to them, they better understand a case if it is them who crafted the digest and if it is them who fully discussed a case for a specific subject.

But, as mentioned, writing a case digests is not for everyone. In line with our advocacy to help students in several aspects of the study of law, we compiled some tips which would help you finish such a daunting task. In order to write an effective case digest, Barrista Solutions came up with a shortlist of tips on how to help law students write an effective case digest. Take a look at the steps on how to ease the burden of finishing the said task.

Know the syllabus first

Cases decided by the Supreme Court often explain a multitude of topics and doctrines. If you are a beginner in reading a full-text of the case and eventually writing a digest, it will be hard to determine what your professor wants to see. Accordingly, a case includes several subject matters that may not even be related to the topic of the syllabus.

In order to be effective, you must first read the syllabus and look at the topic where the case is included before reading the full text. In that way, you will be able to know what the relevant details are.

If the professor did not give a syllabus, take a look at the prescribed textbook of your professor and look at the Table of Contents of the same. More often than not, this will point out the specific topic or the most relevant topic to which the case is assigned. If there are multiple topics in which the case is designated, jot them all down and compare the same to where you are with respect to the discussion and recitations of the professor. In that way, you will know if whether your topics are behind or ahead. This is the first thing you should do before engaging in the next steps of writing a digest.

Read the full-text of the case

One of the misconceptions in reading the full-text of the case is that one needs to understand the whole of the text. This is not entirely true. As mentioned, a case decided by the Supreme Court has a multitude of topics that are discussed exhaustively. From substantive to procedural aspects, these topics are more often than not taxing and text-heavy.

Go back to tip number one and know the syllabus. If you know the topic which is related to the case you are studying, then it is now easy to read through the text of the case. In reading the full-text, it is not necessary that you memorize word for word the pronouncement of the Supreme Court. What is important is that you are able to single out specific facts, issues, and ruling that are related to the topics assigned for you to read.

Upon knowing the issue which you are assigned to read, it will already be easy to spot the proper facts and issues of the case. Understanding the full text before proceeding with writing the digest is important for you to retain the proper knowledge and wisdom behind the decision.

In short, do not rush into writing the digest. Understand first the topics of the case assigned so you can write your case digest effectively and efficiently. Accordingly, you will be able to retain in full what you have read and what you will eventually write. It will help you better understand your reading assignments as well.

Divide your digest into three parts

There are only three important parts in a case digest: the FACTS, the ISSUE, and the RULING. Upon knowing the topic you are looking for, you must be able to pinpoint these three elements in what you are reading. Remember that you must only write the relevant details pertaining to the assigned topic.

For the FACTS, you must take into consideration the pertinent discussions of the Court. Irrelevant and minute details should be dispensed with. Only write or type those which are important under your assigned topic. Backstories are not necessary UNLESS they are relatively connected to the outcome of the case. For the ISSUE, check on whether or not the topic of the case assigned is under a substantive or procedural discussion. Remember that the Supreme Court discusses these two aspects of a case. If the subject in which the case is assigned focuses on the substantive aspect of the law, then the issue of the case digest must focus on the same. If the subject in which the case is assigned focuses on the procedural aspect of the law, then the issue of the case digest must focus on the same. Do not include in your case digest issues not related to the topic. For the RULING, answer the issue you posited in the case digest.

For example, the issue is “Whether or not X is an employee of Y”

The decision or ruling should only discuss that issue. In answering the same, you must point out the elements of an employer-employee relationship, the relevant facts of the case, and the explanation of the Supreme Court in ruling the same. You do not have to include other circumstances not related to the issue you just wrote or included.

Avoid including irrelevant details

The essence of a case digest is that it is a shortened version of the actual decision. Refrain from including in your case digest irrelevant details such as the history of the case, backgrounders on the topics at hand, and matters not related to the main issue of the case.

A case digest is only effective if it summarizes the FACTS, ISSUES, and the RULING. By including irrelevant details, you will be destroying the purpose of a case digest which is to put into perspective the most important facets of the case assigned. The point of a case digest is to present in a concise manner what the case is all about and what should eventually be highlighted for a particular topic. Unless required by a professor, a law student should refrain from including in his work unnecessary words which would not only lengthen the digest but make it ineffective as well

Don’t change the text of the case

One of the common misconceptions in writing a digest is paraphrasing the decision. One must remember that the text of the case is binding. One misplaced word could change the very essence of the decision. Remember to write in verbatim what you want to include in your digest. Don’t take shortcuts. Don’t change the wordings of the Court.

In several cases decided by the Court, it was held that what is binding is not only the thought of the Supreme Court but the words written as well. If a law student tries to change or inadvertently deletes or adds a word, he or she is already committing a mistake. The word of the Supreme Court must be quoted as is where is every time there arises an opportunity to do so. In case digests, considering that these are shortened versions of the full-text decision, they must mirror the words the Supreme Court used.

One wrong word or punctuation mark could lead to an entire change in the decision. As discussed in several cases of Statutory Construction, these minute but important details must be given due attention so as to avoid altering what the Supreme Court means to discuss in a particular topic of the case.

Limit it to one or two pages

As mentioned earlier, the essence of writing a case digest is to shorten the actual decision of the Court. It would be contrary to the essence if you will be writing or producing a case digest with a lot of pages. Limiting your work to one or two pages would be appropriate not only for the professor reading your work but for you as well.

Do not listen to those who are saying that the longer the digest, the better. The essence of a case digest is to mirror the Supreme Court’s words as short as possible, without sacrificing the integrity of the case. If you really followed the steps mentioned before this last tip, then you will be able to streamline your reading assignment in a manner that it would not exceed two pages.

A better understanding of the case would lead to a short but effective case digest.

These are just some of the basic tips on how to effectively write a case digest. To all those law students who will be applying this strategy, may you all be able to grasp the essence of our means, and may this help you in your journey to become a lawyer.

For more tips, view more articles on Law School 101 .

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Case Study Solution

Parts of a case study research case study help.

Parts Of A Case Study Research is a rare book about one of the most important cases of violence as well as a case about both actual and extraordinary violence in law. It is therefore not entirely accurate to summarize it. It therefore should be better understood and treated in the abstract here: How violent is it when you cannot adequately control police control of your data or have no personal security clearance (this means an incorrect picture of how violent it is when it is discussed). More precisely, what constitutes homicide is also a serious condition, and an important factor of any case of violence is (unbeknown to an observer) a person’s motivation: that maybe someone committed a crime again in the same way might not be very pleasant to talk about (be it the day when you were out of your house on Christmas Day, or the job you had last year, or the physical sense force of a colleague!). If it is objectively hard for you to give a person who has already committed a crime the most honest scrutiny, however trivial (or reasonable) for you, will be required (without such information as the victim’s answer to the police commissioner’s inquiry into the past murder case, for instance), this being the case whether the issue is psychological or emotional under the circumstances. I will concentrate on psychological (or psychological ‘fairestal’) factors that can manifest in extremely violent situations. It should also be emphasised here that police are under severe pressure against the case history of murder—that is, under the pressure even those who don’t actually have a criminal record of a great deal longer will have to tell the truth, and the punishment for any crimes that the police investigate will certainly be almost as good as the police, even perhaps even probably worse. This would seem to indicate simply that any crime that does involve violent behaviour (i.

Evaluation of Alternatives

e., someone committed a crime, or which has been previously committed after a particular death or injury) no doubt increases the likelihood of a more severe penalty (and a much lower chance of that), whereas under a more benign crime the situation would become even more serious, as when we identify (a victim) as having done nothing in the past that is out of line with a good or just moral good. So in this sense homicide, by itself makes it less that the very serious character of murders is to be feared, which is a very basic and very unspecific requirement of the sociological concept of violent crime. The sort of thing it is intended to say is obvious, but a single sentence is quite adequate for its function: that the serious character of a crime is to be turned into a very extreme by the method, via the immediate absence of any sense or capacity for turning out. So by simply ignoring that principle, however (and particularly when dealing with a murder where it could matter) what the sentence might signify is that if the serious character of the crime, in which that crime was created, were to be turned into less serious or more likely the sentence could actually get that way, the sentence should remain a very interesting and important one. 10_ ‘We have a theory of what we mean by ‘great go now how’, as Simon Hochschild in his book _The Rulings_ explains. Which sounds an awful lot like the opposite of the saying ‘the mental strength of a man is probably in his intellectual capacity than in his mental strength is in his physical capacity’. To me this seems a little strange, because when we speak of great things, it is notParts Of A Case Study Research Program Study Design The following is an ongoing project of the Study Design Research Program at Kansas State University in Mooresville, Missouri.

SWOT Analysis

The project focuses on a genetic study conducted by a team of scientists in Illinois to examine genetic differences in the human gene pool. The goal, stated in the case study and section, concerns some important aspects of the present work: 1) an animal study on the human development of Drosophila, by which the authors describe the human embryo stage, birth stage, embryonic development, metamorphosis, embryology, and genetic control of human eyesight; 2) a study to explore other parts of the human eye — eye development; and 3) questions on how the human eye will be controlled by the eye in human. In Part II, the team presented some samples of human eye development in the Illinois Eye Center at Oakbird Medical Center through the Endemics Research Center and asked them to determine whether the photoreceptor cells occur in both the human eye and in the eyes (ocular). In The Endemics Research Center, they also determined that the human eye contains a highly differentiated populations of cells that support the human eye. The end result of this study — eyesight — is that, if correct, the human eye will behave in a similar manner, and that, if the human eyes are correct, the human eye could be completely different in its own right processes from the first result. These findings may put the human eye in a direct relationship with vision, potentially improving a number of other areas of eye development of the human brain, perhaps even treating some blind people with the condition. In Part III, the team explained the information that they were given to in order to determine which aspects of their activity they “liked” from developing the brain tissue for eye vision, and which they regarded as “essential” for the eyes they were taking. This description was very pertinent to the present research project.

PESTEL Analysis

Finally, the team showed them, respectively, visual and auditory vision in a human eye separately. The second stage examined eye light perception in a human eye. The goal was not to obtain some sample of the light perception in humans, but to determine, for each study, if both eyes perceive light, what levels it translates into. Viewed as a 2D picture that is not presented to view, we can identify which eye’s eye has an electrical potential to perceive light by comparing the intensities of the two different color fields. ## FIVE MANUFACTURES TO START DOGGARIAN THEORIES IN MEN OTHER REFERENDUM AND D. WITH MANUFACTURES THAT ARE RESOLVED IN THE WEB ENZIES As shown in ed 2 and ed 3, the eye is the “most important” region in a human eye. Men are also able to see in one-half of a pupil, and two-thirds of them can see in one-half of a pupil without interference from the rest of his or her pupils. They go from the left to the right when they see light (light stimuli or lights that have no perceptible visual stimulus).

Porters Five Forces Analysis

These men are therefore the “most important” animals, with eyesight just barely affected by low light or eye-flick problems caused by excessive light in the dark but well defined in the light used. Therefore, the eye moves their vision but largely does not do anything elseParts Of A Case Study Research TAMPA, SPP: This small group cell infection study provides the first evidence that a naturally occurring “black-spotted bird” is isolated from the pericardium of a rare bird. The “black-spotted bird” was purchased from a Florida bird farm and shipped to the US Department of Agriculture since 1995 (for two years). This bird of approximately 8 months size is from a wild breed, contains two flocks and is the same size as the white-fronted black bird “piers,” but with a significantly larger white head. All the populations tested were distributed as a single county and include two black chicks and only three white birds. The number of black birds on each population increased from 39 prior to the study to 160 (all from a wild breed) during the study period. The study also demonstrated that this bird (or any number of it) can be isolated, or otherwise obtained from a captive local bird farm. The isolated black bird was then deposited into a cage for future use by scientists from the University of Connecticut University.

This facility provides the facility for experimental studies of human-associated infectious diseases. More information about this bird and its science is available on the Birds at Work page of these pages. 10:13 P.M.: This paper was collected and edited by the authors for University Affairs, Department of Pathology and Experimental Animals (The Johns Hopkins University). This is an important record (see 6:1 S.10) of an historical event, and is a milestone in the history of veterinary medicine. The authors note that there had been a special event in the history of veterinary medicine since Henry Moring’s, 150 years ago, in 1628, that led to a new scientific discipline: “The National Museum of veterinary Medicine (NMVM) by its title.

But according to a reported old business deal involving Mesoxons, the very early Mesoxons had been employed by owners and officials of the animal” on which “they were very careful”. That event came about because of a special breed group competition conducted by the NMVM that “opened up a good deal of space in the animal” for “a number of outstanding collectors”. These individuals were successful in winning over the critics as members of the remaining competition “whose ranks had been discovered after their time as a member of the original groups.” This event marked the initiation of several “school of veterinary medicine” programs such as the Mesoxons program, then also founded as a special place of study among the animal’s elite and society. It deserves to mention also that the book “De Berenstein Manual” by John S. Klarmann, Ph.D. and Richard J.

PESTLE Analysis

Friedman, Ph.D., has a “sensitivity piece” (1906) which suggests that “if in the present case five or ten collections were added to the Mercedenarium a year ago, the number [of specimens] is growing to nearly twenty”. As it’s clear that the volume is only beginning to grow, it should also be remembered that the Mesoxons are many and full of valuable research materials. This fact and the widespread use of the Mesoxons for research and medical use are just a sample of the “old” world of Veterinary Medicine, the scientific community working today to realize this new educational research that just continues to grow. This experiment may be very well possible with a single group of mice, but what of the research being done in three groups and what is done? What they are doing may be very well possible with a “large” collection, but is it just a mistake just to add two of the most valuable samples to the collection already used in the museum? What about three of the most important specimens they should be adding to the collection. On this subject, the Authors on “De Berenstein Manual” tend to give a lengthy explanation, but let me tell you what they are doing to bring animals together so that you could make the most of their work and treat them like pets, because these animals are so unique and so interesting. Read further on this subject, and see if you have a chance to see research done in the museum and learn about this old animal.

The title of the book �

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What are the objectives of a case study?

Table of Contents

• 1 What are the objectives of a case study?
• 2 How do you write an objective for a case study?
• 3 What are the key facts of the case study?
• 4 What is a career objective example?
• 5 What are the steps to solve a case study?
• 6 What are the learning objectives of case 2?
• 7 How is interprofessional collaboration used in case studies?
• 8 What are case 1 and case 2 of COPD?

The general purpose of a case study is to: → describe an individual situation (case), e.g. a person, business, organisation, or institution, in detail; → identify the key issues of the case (your assignment question should tell you what to focus on); → analyse the case using relevant theoretical concepts from your unit …

How do you write an objective for a case study?

Writing your research objectives clearly helps to:

• Define the focus of your study.
• Clearly identify variables to be measured.
• Indicate the various steps to be involved.
• Establish the limits of the study.
• Avoid collection of any data that is not strictly necessary.

What are the parts of case study?

There are usually eight sections in a case study:

• Synopsis/Executive Summary. Outline the purpose of the case study.
• Findings. Identify the problems found in the case by:
• Discussion. Summarise the major problem/s.
• Conclusion.
• Recommendations.
• Implementation.
• References.
• Appendices (if any)

What are the key facts of the case study?

Key facts are those facts in the case that are critical to the outcome of the case. All lawsuits arise as a result of disputes involving facts. Our legal system revolves around resolving disputes through the application of rules of law to the facts of a case.

What is a career objective example?

General career objective examples To secure a challenging position in a reputable organization to expand my learnings, knowledge, and skills. Secure a responsible career opportunity to fully utilize my training and skills, while making a significant contribution to the success of the company.

What are the 4 most important parts of case study?

The 4 Essential Elements of a Great Case Study

• Showcase the Problems You Answered. The customer has come to you with a problem or need for you to solve and you knocked it out of the water!
• Tell The Story of Your Customers’ Experience.

What are the steps to solve a case study?

Steps for solving a case study in Nutshell

• Identify the possible alternatives to attaining the objective.
• Evaluate the cause and effect of each alternative i.e. think about the outcome of each action /alternative.
• Work in the classroom.
• The Syndicate approach.
• Report writing.
• The problem (to understand properly)

What are the learning objectives of case 2?

How are case studies used in health case studies?

How is interprofessional collaboration used in case studies?

What are case 1 and case 2 of copd.

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CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21

The information on this page is current as of Dec 22, 2023 .

For the most up-to-date version of CFR Title 21, go to the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR).

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[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 21, Volume 5]

[CITE: 21CFR312.32]

TITLE 21--FOOD AND DRUGS CHAPTER I--FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION SUBCHAPTER D - DRUGS FOR HUMAN USE Sec. 312.32 IND safety reporting. The following definitions of terms apply to this section: means any untoward medical occurrence associated with the use of a drug in humans, whether or not considered drug related. or An adverse event or suspected adverse reaction is considered "life-threatening" if, in the view of either the investigator or sponsor, its occurrence places the patient or subject at immediate risk of death. It does not include an adverse event or suspected adverse reaction that, had it occurred in a more severe form, might have caused death. or An adverse event or suspected adverse reaction is considered "serious" if, in the view of either the investigator or sponsor, it results in any of the following outcomes: Death, a life-threatening adverse event, inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization, a persistent or significant incapacity or substantial disruption of the ability to conduct normal life functions, or a congenital anomaly/birth defect. Important medical events that may not result in death, be life-threatening, or require hospitalization may be considered serious when, based upon appropriate medical judgment, they may jeopardize the patient or subject and may require medical or surgical intervention to prevent one of the outcomes listed in this definition. Examples of such medical events include allergic bronchospasm requiring intensive treatment in an emergency room or at home, blood dyscrasias or convulsions that do not result in inpatient hospitalization, or the development of drug dependency or drug abuse. means any adverse event for which there is a reasonable possibility that the drug caused the adverse event. For the purposes of IND safety reporting, "reasonable possibility" means there is evidence to suggest a causal relationship between the drug and the adverse event. Suspected adverse reaction implies a lesser degree of certainty about causality than adverse reaction, which means any adverse event caused by a drug. or An adverse event or suspected adverse reaction is considered "unexpected" if it is not listed in the investigator brochure or is not listed at the specificity or severity that has been observed; or, if an investigator brochure is not required or available, is not consistent with the risk information described in the general investigational plan or elsewhere in the current application, as amended. For example, under this definition, hepatic necrosis would be unexpected (by virtue of greater severity) if the investigator brochure referred only to elevated hepatic enzymes or hepatitis. Similarly, cerebral thromboembolism and cerebral vasculitis would be unexpected (by virtue of greater specificity) if the investigator brochure listed only cerebral vascular accidents. "Unexpected," as used in this definition, also refers to adverse events or suspected adverse reactions that are mentioned in the investigator brochure as occurring with a class of drugs or as anticipated from the pharmacological properties of the drug, but are not specifically mentioned as occurring with the particular drug under investigation. The sponsor must promptly review all information relevant to the safety of the drug obtained or otherwise received by the sponsor from foreign or domestic sources, including information derived from any clinical or epidemiological investigations, animal or in vitro studies, reports in the scientific literature, and unpublished scientific papers, as well as reports from foreign regulatory authorities and reports of foreign commercial marketing experience for drugs that are not marketed in the United States. The sponsor must notify FDA and all participating investigators (i.e., all investigators to whom the sponsor is providing drug under its INDs or under any investigator's IND) in an IND safety report of potential serious risks, from clinical trials or any other source, as soon as possible, but in no case later than 15 calendar days after the sponsor determines that the information qualifies for reporting under paragraph (c)(1)(i), (c)(1)(ii), (c)(1)(iii), or (c)(1)(iv) of this section. In each IND safety report, the sponsor must identify all IND safety reports previously submitted to FDA concerning a similar suspected adverse reaction, and must analyze the significance of the suspected adverse reaction in light of previous, similar reports or any other relevant information. The sponsor must report any suspected adverse reaction that is both serious and unexpected. The sponsor must report an adverse event as a suspected adverse reaction only if there is evidence to suggest a causal relationship between the drug and the adverse event, such as: The sponsor must report any findings from epidemiological studies, pooled analysis of multiple studies, or clinical studies (other than those reported under paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section), whether or not conducted under an IND, and whether or not conducted by the sponsor, that suggest a significant risk in humans exposed to the drug. Ordinarily, such a finding would result in a safety-related change in the protocol, informed consent, investigator brochure (excluding routine updates of these documents), or other aspects of the overall conduct of the clinical investigation. The sponsor must report any findings from animal or in vitro testing, whether or not conducted by the sponsor, that suggest a significant risk in humans exposed to the drug, such as reports of mutagenicity, teratogenicity, or carcinogenicity, or reports of significant organ toxicity at or near the expected human exposure. Ordinarily, any such findings would result in a safety-related change in the protocol, informed consent, investigator brochure (excluding routine updates of these documents), or other aspects of the overall conduct of the clinical investigation. The sponsor must report any clinically important increase in the rate of a serious suspected adverse reaction over that listed in the protocol or investigator brochure. The sponsor must submit each IND safety report in a narrative format or on FDA Form 3500A or in an electronic format that FDA can process, review, and archive. FDA will periodically issue guidance on how to provide the electronic submission (e.g., method of transmission, media, file formats, preparation and organization of files). The sponsor may submit foreign suspected adverse reactions on a Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS) I Form instead of a FDA Form 3500A. Reports of overall findings or pooled analyses from published and unpublished in vitro, animal, epidemiological, or clinical studies must be submitted in a narrative format. Each notification to FDA must bear prominent identification of its contents, i.e., "IND Safety Report," and must be transmitted to the review division in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research or in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research that has responsibility for review of the IND. Upon request from FDA, the sponsor must submit to FDA any additional data or information that the agency deems necessary, as soon as possible, but in no case later than 15 calendar days after receiving the request. The sponsor must also notify FDA of any unexpected fatal or life-threatening suspected adverse reaction as soon as possible but in no case later than 7 calendar days after the sponsor's initial receipt of the information. FDA may require a sponsor to submit IND safety reports in a format or at a frequency different than that required under this paragraph. The sponsor may also propose and adopt a different reporting format or frequency if the change is agreed to in advance by the director of the FDA review division that has responsibility for review of the IND. A sponsor of a clinical study of a drug marketed or approved in the United States that is conducted under an IND is required to submit IND safety reports for suspected adverse reactions that are observed in the clinical study, at domestic or foreign study sites. The sponsor must also submit safety information from the clinical study as prescribed by the postmarketing safety reporting requirements (e.g., §§ 310.305, 314.80, and 600.80 of this chapter). Study endpoints (e.g., mortality or major morbidity) must be reported to FDA by the sponsor as described in the protocol and ordinarily would not be reported under paragraph (c) of this section. However, if a serious and unexpected adverse event occurs for which there is evidence suggesting a causal relationship between the drug and the event (e.g., death from anaphylaxis), the event must be reported under § 312.32(c)(1)(i) as a serious and unexpected suspected adverse reaction even if it is a component of the study endpoint (e.g., all-cause mortality). (1) The sponsor must promptly investigate all safety information it receives. A safety report or other information submitted by a sponsor under this part (and any release by FDA of that report or information) does not necessarily reflect a conclusion by the sponsor or FDA that the report or information constitutes an admission that the drug caused or contributed to an adverse event. A sponsor need not admit, and may deny, that the report or information submitted by the sponsor constitutes an admission that the drug caused or contributed to an adverse event. [75 FR 59961, Sept. 29, 2010] This website has been translated to Spanish from English, and is updated often. It is possible that some links will connect you to content only available in English or some of the words on the page will appear in English until translation has been completed (usually within 24 hours). We appreciate your patience with the translation process. In the case of any discrepancy in meaning, the English version is considered official. Thank you for visiting esp.fda.gov/tabaco. Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments Annotated Bibliography Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article Group Presentations Dealing with Nervousness Using Visual Aids Grading Someone Else's Paper Types of Structured Group Activities Group Project Survival Skills Leading a Class Discussion Multiple Book Review Essay Reviewing Collected Works Writing a Case Analysis Paper Writing a Case Study About Informed Consent Writing Field Notes Writing a Policy Memo Writing a Reflective Paper Writing a Research Proposal Generative AI and Writing Acknowledgments A case study research paper examines a person, place, event, condition, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis in order to extrapolate  key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for understanding an important research problem with greater clarity. A case study research paper usually examines a single subject of analysis, but case study papers can also be designed as a comparative investigation that shows relationships between two or more subjects. The methods used to study a case can rest within a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method investigative paradigm. Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010 ; “What is a Case Study?” In Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London: SAGE, 2010. How to Approach Writing a Case Study Research Paper General information about how to choose a topic to investigate can be found under the " Choosing a Research Problem " tab in the Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper writing guide. Review this page because it may help you identify a subject of analysis that can be investigated using a case study design. However, identifying a case to investigate involves more than choosing the research problem . A case study encompasses a problem contextualized around the application of in-depth analysis, interpretation, and discussion, often resulting in specific recommendations for action or for improving existing conditions. As Seawright and Gerring note, practical considerations such as time and access to information can influence case selection, but these issues should not be the sole factors used in describing the methodological justification for identifying a particular case to study. Given this, selecting a case includes considering the following: The case represents an unusual or atypical example of a research problem that requires more in-depth analysis? Cases often represent a topic that rests on the fringes of prior investigations because the case may provide new ways of understanding the research problem. For example, if the research problem is to identify strategies to improve policies that support girl's access to secondary education in predominantly Muslim nations, you could consider using Azerbaijan as a case study rather than selecting a more obvious nation in the Middle East. Doing so may reveal important new insights into recommending how governments in other predominantly Muslim nations can formulate policies that support improved access to education for girls. The case provides important insight or illuminate a previously hidden problem? In-depth analysis of a case can be based on the hypothesis that the case study will reveal trends or issues that have not been exposed in prior research or will reveal new and important implications for practice. For example, anecdotal evidence may suggest drug use among homeless veterans is related to their patterns of travel throughout the day. Assuming prior studies have not looked at individual travel choices as a way to study access to illicit drug use, a case study that observes a homeless veteran could reveal how issues of personal mobility choices facilitate regular access to illicit drugs. Note that it is important to conduct a thorough literature review to ensure that your assumption about the need to reveal new insights or previously hidden problems is valid and evidence-based. The case challenges and offers a counter-point to prevailing assumptions? Over time, research on any given topic can fall into a trap of developing assumptions based on outdated studies that are still applied to new or changing conditions or the idea that something should simply be accepted as "common sense," even though the issue has not been thoroughly tested in current practice. A case study analysis may offer an opportunity to gather evidence that challenges prevailing assumptions about a research problem and provide a new set of recommendations applied to practice that have not been tested previously. For example, perhaps there has been a long practice among scholars to apply a particular theory in explaining the relationship between two subjects of analysis. Your case could challenge this assumption by applying an innovative theoretical framework [perhaps borrowed from another discipline] to explore whether this approach offers new ways of understanding the research problem. Taking a contrarian stance is one of the most important ways that new knowledge and understanding develops from existing literature. The case provides an opportunity to pursue action leading to the resolution of a problem? Another way to think about choosing a case to study is to consider how the results from investigating a particular case may result in findings that reveal ways in which to resolve an existing or emerging problem. For example, studying the case of an unforeseen incident, such as a fatal accident at a railroad crossing, can reveal hidden issues that could be applied to preventative measures that contribute to reducing the chance of accidents in the future. In this example, a case study investigating the accident could lead to a better understanding of where to strategically locate additional signals at other railroad crossings so as to better warn drivers of an approaching train, particularly when visibility is hindered by heavy rain, fog, or at night. The case offers a new direction in future research? A case study can be used as a tool for an exploratory investigation that highlights the need for further research about the problem. A case can be used when there are few studies that help predict an outcome or that establish a clear understanding about how best to proceed in addressing a problem. For example, after conducting a thorough literature review [very important!], you discover that little research exists showing the ways in which women contribute to promoting water conservation in rural communities of east central Africa. A case study of how women contribute to saving water in a rural village of Uganda can lay the foundation for understanding the need for more thorough research that documents how women in their roles as cooks and family caregivers think about water as a valuable resource within their community. This example of a case study could also point to the need for scholars to build new theoretical frameworks around the topic [e.g., applying feminist theories of work and family to the issue of water conservation]. Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. “Building Theories from Case Study Research.” Academy of Management Review 14 (October 1989): 532-550; Emmel, Nick. Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research: A Realist Approach . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013; Gerring, John. “What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?” American Political Science Review 98 (May 2004): 341-354; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Seawright, Jason and John Gerring. "Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research." Political Research Quarterly 61 (June 2008): 294-308. Structure and Writing Style The purpose of a paper in the social sciences designed around a case study is to thoroughly investigate a subject of analysis in order to reveal a new understanding about the research problem and, in so doing, contributing new knowledge to what is already known from previous studies. In applied social sciences disciplines [e.g., education, social work, public administration, etc.], case studies may also be used to reveal best practices, highlight key programs, or investigate interesting aspects of professional work. In general, the structure of a case study research paper is not all that different from a standard college-level research paper. However, there are subtle differences you should be aware of. Here are the key elements to organizing and writing a case study research paper. I.  Introduction As with any research paper, your introduction should serve as a roadmap for your readers to ascertain the scope and purpose of your study . The introduction to a case study research paper, however, should not only describe the research problem and its significance, but you should also succinctly describe why the case is being used and how it relates to addressing the problem. The two elements should be linked. With this in mind, a good introduction answers these four questions: What is being studied? Describe the research problem and describe the subject of analysis [the case] you have chosen to address the problem. Explain how they are linked and what elements of the case will help to expand knowledge and understanding about the problem. Why is this topic important to investigate? Describe the significance of the research problem and state why a case study design and the subject of analysis that the paper is designed around is appropriate in addressing the problem. What did we know about this topic before I did this study? Provide background that helps lead the reader into the more in-depth literature review to follow. If applicable, summarize prior case study research applied to the research problem and why it fails to adequately address the problem. Describe why your case will be useful. If no prior case studies have been used to address the research problem, explain why you have selected this subject of analysis. How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding? Explain why your case study will be suitable in helping to expand knowledge and understanding about the research problem. Each of these questions should be addressed in no more than a few paragraphs. Exceptions to this can be when you are addressing a complex research problem or subject of analysis that requires more in-depth background information. II.  Literature Review The literature review for a case study research paper is generally structured the same as it is for any college-level research paper. The difference, however, is that the literature review is focused on providing background information and  enabling historical interpretation of the subject of analysis in relation to the research problem the case is intended to address . This includes synthesizing studies that help to: Place relevant works in the context of their contribution to understanding the case study being investigated . This would involve summarizing studies that have used a similar subject of analysis to investigate the research problem. If there is literature using the same or a very similar case to study, you need to explain why duplicating past research is important [e.g., conditions have changed; prior studies were conducted long ago, etc.]. Describe the relationship each work has to the others under consideration that informs the reader why this case is applicable . Your literature review should include a description of any works that support using the case to investigate the research problem and the underlying research questions. Identify new ways to interpret prior research using the case study . If applicable, review any research that has examined the research problem using a different research design. Explain how your use of a case study design may reveal new knowledge or a new perspective or that can redirect research in an important new direction. Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies . This refers to synthesizing any literature that points to unresolved issues of concern about the research problem and describing how the subject of analysis that forms the case study can help resolve these existing contradictions. Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research . Your review should examine any literature that lays a foundation for understanding why your case study design and the subject of analysis around which you have designed your study may reveal a new way of approaching the research problem or offer a perspective that points to the need for additional research. Expose any gaps that exist in the literature that the case study could help to fill . Summarize any literature that not only shows how your subject of analysis contributes to understanding the research problem, but how your case contributes to a new way of understanding the problem that prior research has failed to do. Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important!] . Collectively, your literature review should always place your case study within the larger domain of prior research about the problem. The overarching purpose of reviewing pertinent literature in a case study paper is to demonstrate that you have thoroughly identified and synthesized prior studies in relation to explaining the relevance of the case in addressing the research problem. III.  Method In this section, you explain why you selected a particular case [i.e., subject of analysis] and the strategy you used to identify and ultimately decide that your case was appropriate in addressing the research problem. The way you describe the methods used varies depending on the type of subject of analysis that constitutes your case study. If your subject of analysis is an incident or event . In the social and behavioral sciences, the event or incident that represents the case to be studied is usually bounded by time and place, with a clear beginning and end and with an identifiable location or position relative to its surroundings. The subject of analysis can be a rare or critical event or it can focus on a typical or regular event. The purpose of studying a rare event is to illuminate new ways of thinking about the broader research problem or to test a hypothesis. Critical incident case studies must describe the method by which you identified the event and explain the process by which you determined the validity of this case to inform broader perspectives about the research problem or to reveal new findings. However, the event does not have to be a rare or uniquely significant to support new thinking about the research problem or to challenge an existing hypothesis. For example, Walo, Bull, and Breen conducted a case study to identify and evaluate the direct and indirect economic benefits and costs of a local sports event in the City of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of their study was to provide new insights from measuring the impact of a typical local sports event that prior studies could not measure well because they focused on large "mega-events." Whether the event is rare or not, the methods section should include an explanation of the following characteristics of the event: a) when did it take place; b) what were the underlying circumstances leading to the event; and, c) what were the consequences of the event in relation to the research problem. If your subject of analysis is a person. Explain why you selected this particular individual to be studied and describe what experiences they have had that provide an opportunity to advance new understandings about the research problem. Mention any background about this person which might help the reader understand the significance of their experiences that make them worthy of study. This includes describing the relationships this person has had with other people, institutions, and/or events that support using them as the subject for a case study research paper. It is particularly important to differentiate the person as the subject of analysis from others and to succinctly explain how the person relates to examining the research problem [e.g., why is one politician in a particular local election used to show an increase in voter turnout from any other candidate running in the election]. Note that these issues apply to a specific group of people used as a case study unit of analysis [e.g., a classroom of students]. If your subject of analysis is a place. In general, a case study that investigates a place suggests a subject of analysis that is unique or special in some way and that this uniqueness can be used to build new understanding or knowledge about the research problem. A case study of a place must not only describe its various attributes relevant to the research problem [e.g., physical, social, historical, cultural, economic, political], but you must state the method by which you determined that this place will illuminate new understandings about the research problem. It is also important to articulate why a particular place as the case for study is being used if similar places also exist [i.e., if you are studying patterns of homeless encampments of veterans in open spaces, explain why you are studying Echo Park in Los Angeles rather than Griffith Park?]. If applicable, describe what type of human activity involving this place makes it a good choice to study [e.g., prior research suggests Echo Park has more homeless veterans]. If your subject of analysis is a phenomenon. A phenomenon refers to a fact, occurrence, or circumstance that can be studied or observed but with the cause or explanation to be in question. In this sense, a phenomenon that forms your subject of analysis can encompass anything that can be observed or presumed to exist but is not fully understood. In the social and behavioral sciences, the case usually focuses on human interaction within a complex physical, social, economic, cultural, or political system. For example, the phenomenon could be the observation that many vehicles used by ISIS fighters are small trucks with English language advertisements on them. The research problem could be that ISIS fighters are difficult to combat because they are highly mobile. The research questions could be how and by what means are these vehicles used by ISIS being supplied to the militants and how might supply lines to these vehicles be cut off? How might knowing the suppliers of these trucks reveal larger networks of collaborators and financial support? A case study of a phenomenon most often encompasses an in-depth analysis of a cause and effect that is grounded in an interactive relationship between people and their environment in some way. NOTE:   The choice of the case or set of cases to study cannot appear random. Evidence that supports the method by which you identified and chose your subject of analysis should clearly support investigation of the research problem and linked to key findings from your literature review. Be sure to cite any studies that helped you determine that the case you chose was appropriate for examining the problem. IV.  Discussion The main elements of your discussion section are generally the same as any research paper, but centered around interpreting and drawing conclusions about the key findings from your analysis of the case study. Note that a general social sciences research paper may contain a separate section to report findings. However, in a paper designed around a case study, it is common to combine a description of the results with the discussion about their implications. The objectives of your discussion section should include the following: Reiterate the Research Problem/State the Major Findings Briefly reiterate the research problem you are investigating and explain why the subject of analysis around which you designed the case study were used. You should then describe the findings revealed from your study of the case using direct, declarative, and succinct proclamation of the study results. Highlight any findings that were unexpected or especially profound. Explain the Meaning of the Findings and Why They are Important Systematically explain the meaning of your case study findings and why you believe they are important. Begin this part of the section by repeating what you consider to be your most important or surprising finding first, then systematically review each finding. Be sure to thoroughly extrapolate what your analysis of the case can tell the reader about situations or conditions beyond the actual case that was studied while, at the same time, being careful not to misconstrue or conflate a finding that undermines the external validity of your conclusions. Relate the Findings to Similar Studies No study in the social sciences is so novel or possesses such a restricted focus that it has absolutely no relation to previously published research. The discussion section should relate your case study results to those found in other studies, particularly if questions raised from prior studies served as the motivation for choosing your subject of analysis. This is important because comparing and contrasting the findings of other studies helps support the overall importance of your results and it highlights how and in what ways your case study design and the subject of analysis differs from prior research about the topic. Consider Alternative Explanations of the Findings Remember that the purpose of social science research is to discover and not to prove. When writing the discussion section, you should carefully consider all possible explanations revealed by the case study results, rather than just those that fit your hypothesis or prior assumptions and biases. Be alert to what the in-depth analysis of the case may reveal about the research problem, including offering a contrarian perspective to what scholars have stated in prior research if that is how the findings can be interpreted from your case. Acknowledge the Study's Limitations You can state the study's limitations in the conclusion section of your paper but describing the limitations of your subject of analysis in the discussion section provides an opportunity to identify the limitations and explain why they are not significant. This part of the discussion section should also note any unanswered questions or issues your case study could not address. More detailed information about how to document any limitations to your research can be found here . Suggest Areas for Further Research Although your case study may offer important insights about the research problem, there are likely additional questions related to the problem that remain unanswered or findings that unexpectedly revealed themselves as a result of your in-depth analysis of the case. Be sure that the recommendations for further research are linked to the research problem and that you explain why your recommendations are valid in other contexts and based on the original assumptions of your study. V.  Conclusion As with any research paper, you should summarize your conclusion in clear, simple language; emphasize how the findings from your case study differs from or supports prior research and why. Do not simply reiterate the discussion section. Provide a synthesis of key findings presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem. If you haven't already done so in the discussion section, be sure to document the limitations of your case study and any need for further research. The function of your paper's conclusion is to: 1) reiterate the main argument supported by the findings from your case study; 2) state clearly the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem using a case study design in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found from reviewing the literature; and, 3) provide a place to persuasively and succinctly restate the significance of your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with in-depth information about the topic. Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is appropriate: If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize these points for your reader. If prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the conclusion of your paper to describe your main points and explain their significance. Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration of the case study's findings that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from your case study findings. Note that, depending on the discipline you are writing in or the preferences of your professor, the concluding paragraph may contain your final reflections on the evidence presented as it applies to practice or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the subject of analysis you have investigated will depend on whether you are explicitly asked to express your observations in this way. Problems to Avoid Overgeneralization One of the goals of a case study is to lay a foundation for understanding broader trends and issues applied to similar circumstances. However, be careful when drawing conclusions from your case study. They must be evidence-based and grounded in the results of the study; otherwise, it is merely speculation. Looking at a prior example, it would be incorrect to state that a factor in improving girls access to education in Azerbaijan and the policy implications this may have for improving access in other Muslim nations is due to girls access to social media if there is no documentary evidence from your case study to indicate this. There may be anecdotal evidence that retention rates were better for girls who were engaged with social media, but this observation would only point to the need for further research and would not be a definitive finding if this was not a part of your original research agenda. Failure to Document Limitations No case is going to reveal all that needs to be understood about a research problem. Therefore, just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study , you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis. For example, the case of studying how women conceptualize the need for water conservation in a village in Uganda could have limited application in other cultural contexts or in areas where fresh water from rivers or lakes is plentiful and, therefore, conservation is understood more in terms of managing access rather than preserving access to a scarce resource. Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings. If you do not, your reader may question the validity of your analysis, particularly if you failed to document an obvious outcome from your case study research. For example, in the case of studying the accident at the railroad crossing to evaluate where and what types of warning signals should be located, you failed to take into consideration speed limit signage as well as warning signals. When designing your case study, be sure you have thoroughly addressed all aspects of the problem and do not leave gaps in your analysis that leave the reader questioning the results. Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Gerring, John. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Merriam, Sharan B. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education . Rev. ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998; Miller, Lisa L. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science Research.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14 (2018): TBD; Mills, Albert J., Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Putney, LeAnn Grogan. "Case Study." In Encyclopedia of Research Design , Neil J. Salkind, editor. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010), pp. 116-120; Simons, Helen. Case Study Research in Practice . London: SAGE Publications, 2009;  Kratochwill,  Thomas R. and Joel R. Levin, editors. Single-Case Research Design and Analysis: New Development for Psychology and Education .  Hilldsale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992; Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London : SAGE, 2010; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Los Angeles, CA, SAGE Publications, 2014; Walo, Maree, Adrian Bull, and Helen Breen. “Achieving Economic Benefits at Local Events: A Case Study of a Local Sports Event.” Festival Management and Event Tourism 4 (1996): 95-106. Writing Tip At Least Five Misconceptions about Case Study Research Social science case studies are often perceived as limited in their ability to create new knowledge because they are not randomly selected and findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. Flyvbjerg examines five misunderstandings about case study research and systematically "corrects" each one. To quote, these are: Misunderstanding 1 :  General, theoretical [context-independent] knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical [context-dependent] knowledge. Misunderstanding 2 :  One cannot generalize on the basis of an individual case; therefore, the case study cannot contribute to scientific development. Misunderstanding 3 :  The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses; that is, in the first stage of a total research process, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building. Misunderstanding 4 :  The case study contains a bias toward verification, that is, a tendency to confirm the researcher’s preconceived notions. Misunderstanding 5 :  It is often difficult to summarize and develop general propositions and theories on the basis of specific case studies [p. 221]. While writing your paper, think introspectively about how you addressed these misconceptions because to do so can help you strengthen the validity and reliability of your research by clarifying issues of case selection, the testing and challenging of existing assumptions, the interpretation of key findings, and the summation of case outcomes. Think of a case study research paper as a complete, in-depth narrative about the specific properties and key characteristics of your subject of analysis applied to the research problem. Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 12 (April 2006): 219-245. << Previous: Writing a Case Analysis Paper Next: Writing a Field Report >> Last Updated: Jun 3, 2024 9:44 AM URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/assignments Have a language expert improve your writing Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free. Knowledge Base Methodology Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods Published on 5 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 30 January 2023. A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organisation, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research. A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating, and understanding different aspects of a research problem . Table of contents When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyse the case. A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case. Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research. You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem. Case study examples Research question Case study What are the ecological effects of wolf reintroduction? Case study of wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park in the US How do populist politicians use narratives about history to gain support? Case studies of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and US president Donald Trump How can teachers implement active learning strategies in mixed-level classrooms? Case study of a local school that promotes active learning What are the main advantages and disadvantages of wind farms for rural communities? Case studies of three rural wind farm development projects in different parts of the country How are viral marketing strategies changing the relationship between companies and consumers? Case study of the iPhone X marketing campaign How do experiences of work in the gig economy differ by gender, race, and age? Case studies of Deliveroo and Uber drivers in London Prevent plagiarism, run a free check. Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to: Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem Open up new directions for future research Unlike quantitative or experimental research, a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem. If you find yourself aiming to simultaneously investigate and solve an issue, consider conducting action research . As its name suggests, action research conducts research and takes action at the same time, and is highly iterative and flexible.  However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience, or phenomenon. While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to: Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation. There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews, observations, and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data . The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context. In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject. How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis, with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results , and discussion . Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyse its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ). In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates. Cite this Scribbr article If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator. McCombes, S. (2023, January 30). Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved 11 June 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/case-studies/ Is this article helpful? Shona McCombes Other students also liked, correlational research | guide, design & examples, a quick guide to experimental design | 5 steps & examples, descriptive research design | definition, methods & examples. 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Long COVID can include a wide range of ongoing symptoms and conditions that can last weeks, months, or even years after COVID-19 illness. Anyone who had a SARS-CoV-2 infection, the virus that causes COVID-19, can experience Long COVID, including children. COVID-19 vaccination is the best available tool to prevent Long COVID. Living with Long COVID can be difficult and isolating, especially when there are no immediate answers or solutions. About Long COVID Long COVID is defined as a chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and is present for at least 3 months. Long COVID includes a wide range of symptoms or conditions that may improve, worsen, or be ongoing. Long COVID occurs more often in people who had severe COVID-19 illness, but anyone who gets COVID-19 can experience it, including children. Most people with Long COVID experience symptoms days after first learning they had COVID-19, but some people who later develop Long COVID do not know when they were infected. People can be reinfected with SARS-CoV-2 multiple times. Each time a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2, they have a risk of developing Long COVID. Long COVID symptoms and conditions can emerge, persist, resolve, and reemerge over weeks and months. These symptoms and conditions can range from mild to severe, may require comprehensive care, and can even result in a disability . While rates of new cases of Long COVID have decreased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it remains a serious public health concern as millions of U.S. adults and children have been affected by Long COVID. Signs and symptoms People with Long COVID can have a wide variety of symptoms that can range from mild to severe and may be similar to symptoms from other illnesses. Symptoms can last weeks, months, or years after COVID-19 illness and can emerge, persist, resolve, and reemerge over different lengths of time. Long COVID may not affect everyone the same way. Some people can experience health problems from different types and combinations of symptoms that may: Be difficult to recognize or diagnose Require comprehensive care Result in disability Fatigue, brain fog, and post-exertional malaise (PEM) are commonly reported symptoms, but more than 200 Long COVID symptoms have been identified. General symptoms  Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort   Respiratory and heart symptoms Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath Fast-beating or pounding heart (also known as heart palpitations)   Neurological symptoms Difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”) Sleep problems Dizziness when you stand up (lightheadedness) Pins-and-needles feelings Change in smell or taste Depression or anxiety   Digestive symptoms Stomach pain Constipation   Other symptoms Joint or muscle pain Changes in menstrual cycles Symptoms that are hard to explain and manage Some people with Long COVID have symptoms that are hard to explain or difficult to manage. There is no laboratory test that can determine if your unexplained symptoms are due to Long COVID. People with these unexplained symptoms may sometimes even be misunderstood or experience stigma. This can result in a delay in diagnosis and receiving the appropriate care or treatment. Long COVID treatment is focused on managing symptoms, reducing their impact on daily activities, and improving your quality of life. Talk to your healthcare provider if you are experiencing symptoms that are hard to explain or that persist, or if you think you or your child has Long COVID. Complications Some people, especially those who had severe COVID-19, may experience multi-organ effects or autoimmune conditions lasting weeks, months, or even years after COVID-19 illness. Multi-organ effects can involve many body systems, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, skin, and brain. Symptoms for many of these multi-organ complications are similar to commonly reported Long COVID symptoms. As a result of these effects, people who have had COVID-19 may be more likely to develop new or worsening of health conditions such as: Heart conditions Blood clots Neurological conditions Who is at risk While anyone who gets COVID-19 can develop Long COVID, studies have shown that some groups of people are more likely to develop Long COVID than others, including (not a comprehensive list): Hispanic and Latino people People who have experienced more severe COVID-19 illness, especially those who were hospitalized or needed intensive care People with underlying health conditions and adults who are 65 or older People who did not get a COVID-19 vaccine Health inequities affect populations at risk for Long COVID Health inequities from disability , economic, geographic, and other social factors disproportionately affect some groups of people. These inequities can increase the risk of negative health outcomes and impact from Long COVID. CDC emphasizes core strategies  to lower health risks from COVID-19, including severe outcomes such as hospitalization and death. Preventing severe outcomes from COVID-19 illness helps prevent Long COVID. Steps you can take to protect yourself and others include: Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccination . Practicing good hygiene  (practices like handwashing that improve cleanliness) Taking steps for cleaner air Use precautions to prevent spread Seek healthcare promptly for testing and/or treatment if you have risk factors for severe illness ; treatment  may help lower your risk of severe illness Research shows COVID-19 vaccination  is the best available tool to prevent Long COVID. Testing and diagnosis Long COVID is not one illness. There is no laboratory test that can determine if your symptoms or conditions are due to Long COVID. A positive SARS-CoV-2 test is not required for a Long COVID diagnosis. Your healthcare provider considers a diagnosis of Long COVID based on: Your health history If you had a diagnosis of COVID-19 by a positive test, symptoms, or exposure A health examination Clinical evaluations and results of routine blood tests, chest X-rays, and electrocardiograms may be normal in someone with Long COVID. People experiencing Long COVID should seek care from a healthcare provider to create a personal medical management plan and improve their symptoms and quality of life. Talk to your healthcare provider if you think you or your child has Long COVID. Similar conditions Some people experiencing Long COVID symptoms have symptoms similar to those reported by people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)  and other poorly understood chronic illnesses that may occur after other infections. These unexplained symptoms or conditions may be misunderstood by healthcare providers, which can result in a delay in diagnosis and people receiving the appropriate care or treatment. What CDC is doing CDC is working with other federal agencies to better understand and address the long-term impacts of Long COVID , who gets Long COVID, and why. CDC supports these goals by: Partnering with state and local jurisdictions Supporting healthcare providers Promoting and conducting research Studies are in progress to learn more about Long COVID and identify further measures to help prevent Long COVID. CDC and partners use multiple approaches to support and conduct research that estimates: How many people experience Long COVID and why Which groups of people are disproportionately impacted by Long COVID How new variants may affect Long COVID The role that COVID-19 vaccination plays in preventing Long COVID Each approach helps CDC and its partners better understand Long COVID and how healthcare providers can treat or support patients living with these long-term effects. CDC posts data on Long COVID and provides analyses. The most recent CDC data and analyses on Long COVID can be found on the  U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey . CDC will continue to share information with healthcare providers to help them evaluate and manage these conditions. The Office of Long COVID Research and Practice (OLC) (HHS) Long COVID (Veterans Affairs) Coronavirus Resources (Department of Labor) RECOVER COVID Initiative Long COVID Reports A Long COVID Definition: A Chronic, Systemic Disease State with Profound Consequences | The National Academies Press Long-Term Health Effects of COVID-19: Disability and Function Following SARS-CoV-2 Infection | The National Academies Press Implementation of the Government-wide Response to Long COVID (HHS) National Research Action Plan (covid.gov) Services and Supports for Longer-Term Impacts of COVID-19 Health+ Long Covid Human-Centered Design Report (HHS) Whole Health System Approach to Long COVID (Veterans Affairs) To receive email updates about COVID-19, enter your email address: Exit Notification / Disclaimer Policy The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website. Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website. You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website. Bipolar Disorder Therapy Center When To See a Therapist Types of Therapy Best Online Therapy Best Couples Therapy Best Family Therapy Managing Stress Sleep and Dreaming Understanding Emotions Self-Improvement Healthy Relationships Student Resources Personality Types Guided Meditations Verywell Mind Insights 2024 Verywell Mind 25 Mental Health in the Classroom Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Crisis Support What Is a Case Study? Weighing the pros and cons of this method of research Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book." Cara Lustik is a fact-checker and copywriter. Verywell / Colleen Tighe Pros and Cons What Types of Case Studies Are Out There? Where do you find data for a case study, how do i write a psychology case study. A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work. The point of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population. While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, we got you—here are some rules of APA format to reference.   At a Glance A case study, or an in-depth study of a person, group, or event, can be a useful research tool when used wisely. In many cases, case studies are best used in situations where it would be difficult or impossible for you to conduct an experiment. They are helpful for looking at unique situations and allow researchers to gather a lot of˜ information about a specific individual or group of people. However, it's important to be cautious of any bias we draw from them as they are highly subjective. What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies? A case study can have its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs. One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study: Allows researchers to capture information on the 'how,' 'what,' and 'why,' of something that's implemented Gives researchers the chance to collect information on why one strategy might be chosen over another Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research On the other hand, a case study can have some drawbacks: It cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population Cannot demonstrate cause and effect It may not be scientifically rigorous It can lead to bias Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they want to explore a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. Through their insights, researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies. It's important to remember that the insights from case studies cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research. Case Study Examples There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of  Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include: Anna O : Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment. Phineas Gage : Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior. Genie : Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language learning was possible, even after missing critical periods for language development. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals. Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse denied her the opportunity to learn a language at critical points in her development. This is clearly not something researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce. There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might use: Collective case studies : These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those who live there. Descriptive case studies : These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory. Explanatory case studies : These   are often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur. Exploratory case studies : These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses . Instrumental case studies : These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers. Intrinsic case studies : This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic case study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory. The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously. The type of case study that psychology researchers use depends on the unique characteristics of the situation and the case itself. There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are: Archival records : Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records. Direct observation : This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting . While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers. Documents : Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources. Interviews : Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions. Participant observation : When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation. Physical artifacts : Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject. If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines you need to follow. If you are writing your case study for a professional publication, check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study. Here is a general outline of what should be included in a case study. Section 1: A Case History This section will have the following structure and content: Background information : The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses. Description of the presenting problem : In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with. Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported. Your diagnosis : Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis. Section 2: Treatment Plan This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen. Cognitive behavioral approach : Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment. Humanistic approach : Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy . Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful. Psychoanalytic approach : Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach. Pharmacological approach : If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments. This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes. When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research.  In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies? Need More Tips? Here are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when formatting your case study: Never refer to the subject of your case study as "the client." Instead, use their name or a pseudonym. Read examples of case studies to gain an idea about the style and format. Remember to use APA format when citing references . Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach .  BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011;11:100. Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011 Jun 27;11:100. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-100 Gagnon, Yves-Chantal.  The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook . Canada, Chicago Review Press Incorporated DBA Independent Pub Group, 2010. Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . United States, SAGE Publications, 2017. By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book." COVID Select Subcommittee Releases Dr. Fauci’s Transcript, Highlights Key Takeaways in New Memo WASHINGTON — Today, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) released the transcript from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s transcribed interview. Dr. Fauci served as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and was the face of America’s public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic. His closed door, 14-hour, two-day testimony in January 2024 has served as a critical component of the Select Subcommittee’s investigations into the origins of COVID-19, pandemic-era domestic policy failures, and improvements to the United States’ public health system. In conjunction with the transcript, the Select Subcommittee also released a new staff memo that highlights the key takeaways from Dr. Fauci’s transcribed interview. The memo can be found here . The Select Subcommittee also released four additional transcripts from senior public health officials. These transcripts, as well as Dr. Fauci’s transcript, can be found below: Dr. Anthony Fauci Part 1 Dr. Anthony Fauci Part 2 Dr. Hugh Auchincloss Dr. Cliff Lane Greg Folkers Gray Handley Below are important exchanges from Dr. Fauci’s transcribed interview: SOCIAL DISTANCING : The “6 feet apart” social distancing recommendation forced on Americans by federal health officials was arbitrary and not based on science. Dr. Fauci testified that this guidance — which shut down schools and small businesses nationwide — “sort of just appeared” and was not based on any scientific studies. Majority Counsel: “ Do you recall when discussions regarding, kind of, the at least a 6 foot threshold began? ” Dr. Fauci: “The 6 foot in the school?” Majority Counsel: “Six foot overall.  I mean, 6-foot was applied at businesse s—” Dr. Fauci: “Yeah.” Majority Counsel: “ —it was applied in schools, it was applied here.  At least how the messaging was applied was that 6-foot distancing was the distance that needed to be— “ Dr. Fauci: “ You know, I don’t recall.  It sort of just appeared.  I don’t recall, like, a discussion of whether it should be 5 or 6 or whatever.  It was just that 6 foot is— ”    Majority Counsel: “ Did you see any studies that supported 6 feet? ” Dr. Fauci: “ I was not aware of studies that in fact, that would be a very difficult study to do. ” MASKING : Dr. Fauci testified that he did not recall any supporting evidence for masking children. Concerningly, mask-wearing has been associated with learning loss and severe speech development issues in America’s children. Majority Counsel: “ Do you recall reviewing any studies or data supporting masking for children? ” Dr. Fauci: “ You know, I might have, Mitch, but I don’t recall specifically that I did. I might have. ” Majority Counsel: “ Since the — there’s been a lot of studies that have come out since the pandemic started, but specifically on this there have been significant on kind of like the learning loss and speech and development issues that have been associated with particularly young children wearing masks while they’re growing up. They can’t see their teacher talk and can’t learn how to form words. Have you followed any of those studies? ” Dr. Fauci: “ No. But I believe that there are a lot of conflicting studies too, that there are those that say, yes, there is an impact, and there are those that say there’s not. I still think that’s up in the air. ” TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS : Dr. Fauci unequivocally agreed with EVERY travel restriction issued by the Trump Administration at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This testimony runs counter to the public narrative that the Trump Administration’s travel restrictions were xenophobic. During his transcribed interview, the Biden Administration’s counsel curiously prohibited Dr. Fauci from answering questions on whether he recommended the travel restrictions. Majority Counsel: “ Did you agree with President Trump’s decision to restrict travel from China? ”                              Dr. Fauci: “ I did , and I said there were caveats to restrictions. I agreed with it, but I said we have to be careful because sometimes when you do restrictions they have negative consequences in that you don’t have open access to help or even information. But fundamentally, I agreed at that time, since we had almost no infections that we knew of in our country, that at least a temporary restriction would be important. ” Majority Counsel: “ Did you also agree with the EU travel restriction? ” Dr. Fauci: “ I agreed with the suggestion that that be done, yes. ” Majority Counsel: “ Did you agree with the U.K. travel restriction? ” Dr. Fauci: “ Yes, I did. ” Majority Counsel: “ Did you recommend instituting travel restrictions in response to the pandemic? ” Biden Administration Official: “ I’m going to step in here .” VACCINE MANDATES: Dr. Fauci admitted that vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic could increase vaccine hesitancy in the future. He also claimed that these mandates were not sufficiently studied ahead of the pandemic. Previously, Dr. Fauci advocated “that when you make it difficult for people in their lives, they lose their ideological bullshit, and they get vaccinated.” Majority Counsel: “ Do you think mandating vaccines can result in some hesitancy? ”  Dr. Fauci: “ I think one of the things that we really need to do after the fact, now, to — you know, after-the-game, after-the-event  evaluation of things that need to be done, we really need to take a look at the psyche of  the country, have maybe some social-type studies to figure out, does the mandating of vaccines in the way the country’s mental framework is right now, does that actually cause more people to not want to get vaccinated, or not? I don’t know. But I think that’s something we need to know. ” LAB LEAK THEORY : Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory. This comes nearly four years after prompting the publication of the now infamous “Proximal Origin” paper that attempted to vilify and disprove the lab leak hypothesis. Majority Counsel: “ Just you sitting here today, do you think the possibility or the hypothesis that the coronavirus emerged from a laboratory accident is a conspiracy theory? ” Dr. Fauci: “ Well, it’s a possibility. I think people have made conspiracy aspects from it.  And I think you have to separate the two when you keep an open mind, that it could be a lab leak or it could be a natural occurrence. I’ve mentioned in this committee that I believe the evidence that I’ve seen weighs my opinion towards one, which is a natural occurrence, but I still leave an open mind. So I think that in and of itself isn’t inherently a conspiracy theory, but some people spin off things from that that are kind of crazy .” GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH : Dr. Fauci repeatedly played semantics with the definition of “gain-of-function” research in an effort to avoid conceding that the NIH’s funded this dangerous research in China . As the head of NIAID and the face of America’s response to the pandemic, Dr. Fauci certainly understood the common definition of “gain-of-function.” Yet, he repeatedly refused — both behind closed doors and to Sen. Rand Paul during a 2021 hearing — to clarify a general understanding of the term and instead only referred to his own “operative definition. Dr. Fauci: “ So, when I, to repeat, when I’m asked is something gain of function, I’m referring to the operative definition of gain of function according to the framework of the 3PCO…That’s my definition. That is the regulatory operational definition. And as we were talking about before, other people use the word “gain of function” this, “gain of function” that, and everybody’s got their own interpretation of it.  But when you’re deciding whether a grant should be funded, this is the operational definition. And when I was asked anywhere by the Congress, by the Senate, by Senator Paul this is what I was referring to .”  CONFLICTS OF INTEREST : Dr. Fauci claimed that his staff had no conflicts of interest regarding the origins of COVID-19, yet his Senior Advisor — Dr. David Morens — was “best-friends” with disgraced and soon-to-be debarred EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak . Considering Dr. Morens worked under Dr. Fauci’s leadership for more than 20 years, it seems highly unlikely that Dr. Fauci was genuinely unaware of this relationship. Majority Counsel: “ I was wondering if you had thoughts on whether Dr. Daszak should have filed competing interest statements when he was weighing in on these issues, whether through the National Academies or other venues. ” Dr. Fauci: “ You know, I hesitate to speculate about what someone else should do. The only people that I am involved with is my own staff, who we’ve mentioned many times in this discussion, who don’t have a conflict of interest. ” GRANT APPROVAL : Dr. Fauci testified that he signed off on every foreign and domestic NIAID grant without reviewing the proposals. He was also unable to confirm if NIAID has ANY mechanisms to conduct oversight of the foreign laboratories they fund . NIAID’s flawed grant process — which relies heavily on trusting its grantees without verifying — leaves opportunities  for adversaries to exploit. Majority Counsel: “ Who gives the final approval? ” Dr. Fauci: “ You know, technically, I sign off on each council, but I don’t see the grants and what they are.  I never look at what grants are there.  It’s just somebody at the end of the council where they’re all finished and they go, ‘Here,’ and you sign it .”   Majority Counsel: “ Okay. So to your knowledge, NIAID wouldn’t kind of independently verify the biosafety of a foreign lab? ” Dr. Fauci: “ Again, I’d have to say I’m not sure.  To my knowledge, I wouldn’t be able to make a statement that I would be confident it would be. ” Majority Counsel: “ Do you know if NIAID grants go through any type of national security review as part of the process? ” Dr. Fauci: “ National security review? ” Majority Counsel: “ So, like, through the National Security Council or— “ Dr. Fauci: “ No. ” Majority Counsel: “ —or anyone in the [intelligence community]— “ Dr. Fauci: “ Not to my knowledge .” Majority Counsel: “ I guess what we’re trying to learn going forward is, obviously, U.S. labs are vetted, certified, and there’s a standard of how U.S. labs operate. Are foreign labs held to the same standard as U.S. labs when they receive U.S. money, or are they the standards of the country in which they operate? ”  Dr. Fauci: “ I am not certain. I have heard again, I think it was subsequent to of course, that was never brought up. ” Majority Counsel: “ Uh huh. ” Dr. Fauci: “ When I was the director, no one ever asked me, you know, who determines, you know, what the standards of a foreign lab are. But so the answer to your question is I don’t know, okay? ” FEIGNED IGNORANCE : Dr. Fauci claimed he “did not recall” numerous issues and events surrounding the pandemic more than 100 times . Specifically, Dr. Fauci testified that despite the fact EcoHealth Alliance was conducting risky gain-of-function research in China, he did not know any details about the grant, nor did he maintain a relationship with its President, Dr. Peter Daszak. Majority Counsel: “ Do you recall when you first found out that the year 5 progress report was missing from the EcoHealth grant? ” Dr. Fauci: “ I don’t recall precisely.  It was somewhere on a briefing that the staff gave to me.  I don’t know exactly when that was.  It could have been later.  I don’t know. ” Majority Counsel: “ Okay.  Do you think, just to the best of your recollection, whether it was before you were aware that the year 5 progress report was late before May 2021 or it would have been after? ” Dr. Fauci: “ I don’t recall. ” 185 IMAGES Out Of This World How To Write An Introduction For A Case Report University Abstract How to Create a Case Study + 14 Case Study Templates Case Analysis: Examples + How-to Guide & Writing Tips what are the most important parts of case study Case Study Cara Nak Jawab Case Study VIDEO CASE PARTS & CASE ATTACHMENTS (USED) COMMENTS How to Write a Case Study: from Outline to Examples 1. 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Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work. COVID Select Subcommittee Releases Dr. Fauci's Transcript, Highlights Dr. Fauci: "I was not aware of studies that in fact, that would be a very difficult study to do. MASKING : Dr. Fauci testified that he did not recall any supporting evidence for masking children. Concerningly, mask-wearing has been associated with learning loss and severe speech development issues in America's children. assignment essay homework paper phd report resume speech