How to conduct a case study

Video: How To Write A Case Study? | Amazon Case Study Example

Content

Steps
Tips
What do you need

A case study is a study of a situation that requires a systematic study, analysis and preparation of reports. The research is structured in such a way as to answer the questions "How?" and why?" regarding an event, procedure, or phenomenon. A case study can be worked on either by one person or by a whole team or organization. The research report includes the opinions of specialists, scientific sources are cited, therefore such dossiers are often used to develop new methods in various fields - marketing, medicine, manufacturing, etc. If you need to complete case studies, it will take a long time to collect and analyze information - some studies take weeks or even years. After reading this manual, you will find out what else is needed to complete the case study.

Steps

1 Formulate the research objectives. The case study question can be provided by the instructor or management, or you can formulate it yourself. Make sure the question is specific and can be studied using scientific or modern research methods.
- Do not use subjective variants of the research question. For example, the question "What news portal do young people 18-20 years old love?"
- There are several categories of case studies. Instrumental research is aimed at finding an in-depth study of a specific issue. Collective research analyzes several case studies of situations to gain insight into the broader phenomenon. Internal research is based on a deeper study of the issue, which is presented in another, already completed case study.
2 Create a rules plan, strategy, and structure for the case study. This will create a common vision of the issue, so that you know where to start and what should ultimately turn out. Below are some sample questions for developing a case study strategy to create a complete report:
- Determine the purpose and relevance of the study. Create a list of 4-5 of the most important questions that you intend to answer through your research. Consider how to approach your research with these questions in mind.
- Determine the methodology for collecting information. Depending on the question, you may need 1 or more methods: collecting reports, searching online, working in a library, interviewing researchers and research specialists, fieldwork (for example, to create a map with mapped objects), etc. The more different techniques are used, the more valuable and authoritative the research appears to be.
- Describe the general question and proceed with a systematic analysis. The main resources required for this are time and a text editor. You also need to check out authoritative sources for citation. In this case, you should plan to conduct a validation of the information received before using it for your report.
3 Create questionnaires for interviews and research. Each of them should include a part of the questions related to the topic of your case study. This is especially important if interviews of experts or surveys are planned on the issue under study.
- Be sure to ask the question to exclude a “Yes” or “No” answer. For more information, it is better to ask, "What changes have been made to improve the technology?" rather than "Have you made any changes to improve the technology?"
- Questions can also be phrased in a statement format, for example: “Please explain how the existing procedure / technology was created”.
4 Allow several weeks to several months to collect information. Make sure that by the time you need to start your analysis, you will have a rich knowledge base on the issue under study. Research new questions only if they are directly related to the main questions of the case study.
5 Collect all the information received in one place and start analyzing. You should constantly remember and re-read the questions that are written in the list of the main tasks of the study. You may be surprised how much the perception of the information received can change when viewed through the prism of the tasks of the case study. Before you start writing a report, you need to gather all the information together and focus on completing the tasks of the case stage.
- If there is more than one person working with you in a team, it is better to think about the distribution of responsibilities. For example, someone might be given the responsibility of plotting graphs based on data collected by other team members. Also, each person can prepare an answer to one specific topic from the list of the main tasks of the study.
6 Write your report in the form of a story. Unlike scientific research, the presentation of the case study material should contain an introduction, development and conclusion, and it is better to present the material in a simple and accessible language. Thanks to this, the case study will be understandable for any person, even if he is poorly or superficially familiar with the issue under study.
- Start with an introduction describing the research task. It can be described as a problem or puzzle that needs to be solved.
- Describe the situation and the key sources of authority you will refer to in your report. Add any necessary information or description of the situation necessary for the reader to understand the data being analyzed.
- The narrative style should be used throughout the rest of your work. In the following sections, include a description of the methods used and the results obtained. Add tables, charts, graphs, photographs, and other tools to make it easier for the reader to understand your research.
- Describe in detail any questions and concerns raised as a result of the research.
- Write your conclusions. Here you need to detail the main questions of the case study and try to formulate how the research answers them. The information should be submitted not in the form of a final answer, but as proof of a hypothesis. You can also indicate areas for further research that may help in the study of the problem.
7 Check the facts and information. If you are using quotes from unreliable sources, you need to find confirmation or exclude them.
- This stage is sometimes referred to as "strict compliance". Make sure that the case study file is trustworthy, can be used for other purposes, is verifiable (validated), and completely reliable.
8 Publish a case study report. This could be a term paper, marketing report, or journal publication.

Tips

Remember that the final answer to the research question is not the purpose of the case study. Its task is to develop one or more theories and hypotheses regarding a given issue.