What is a case study? Meaning, Examples & Tips

What is a case study?

A case study is a common form of academic research. It requires you to analyse a real-world case, and show its correlation to an existing theory about the topic.

The main goal for writing a case study is to analyse the case, provide explanations and offer new perspectives and conclusions based on the topic. The conclusions from your case study ultimately require you to have answered the research question as part of your academic work or project.

Originally, the methodology for case study research was developed for the social sciences discipline. However, the use of case studies has since developed to be adapted within other disciplines such as media studies, economics, management, communications, psychology, linguistics and politics.

Case studies typically focus on qualitative research – however, you can also opt for a quantitative case study if that’s more suitable. You can also decide how broad your subject is. For example, it could be a relatively small topic of a wide societal analysis. You can also combine or contrast multiple case studies as part of your work.

Note: While the term "case study" typically describes a method used in scientific research, the term is also often used in the recruitment process when candidates are asked to solve an example case.

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Case studies for a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Case studies often form part of your bachelor’s or master’s degree work, but they can also be part of your dissertation or thesis. Other academic projects also provide good scope for looking at a case study as they give you a good amount of freedom in terms of topic choice, formatting and implementation. You can also adapt your chosen topic to your case study, depending on the type of work you’re carrying out.

Always pay attention to the correct case study format when carrying out this type of work for your degree. There are regulations in place for each type of work which dictate how you structure your work.

For example, pay close attention to a logical and complete structure which incorporates an introduction, main body and conclusion as well as a detailed bibliography or source list.

Advantages and disadvantages of a case study.

When considering whether a case study is the best basis for your academic work, you should look at the following advantages and disadvantages of this research method:

Advantages.

• Allows you to focus on a current topic or case.
• Useful approach for problem solving, as the analysis can provide concrete solutions.
• You can adapt your approach to build case studies from multiple perspectives.
• Practice for future job application processes.

Disadvantages.

• Often involves time-consuming prep work and implementation.
• Digital analysis may require specific software and knowledge of how to use it.
• Cases may be quite different to real-world situations.

Common case study research methods.

Your research method will depend on the type of case study you’re conducting. For example, if you’re focusing on identifying an issue, your approach would be different than if you were assessing existing solutions to a problem.

Your method might also change based on the number of cases you’re examining. Robert K. Yin refers to this in his book “Case Study Research and Applications”, where he differentiates between single-case studies and multiple-case studies.

The former focuses on a single case to be examined (for example, the situation in one company), while the latter investigates several similar topics with a different level of analysis which must be comparable to one another.

Take a look at some other case study examples that might apply to your own research methodology.

Case study method – identifying a problem

This methodology is one of the most classic when looking at case study design. In this example, you are aware of the case, but not the problems behind it. Throughout your case study, you will analyse data, identify the problems and provide appropriate solutions and/or conclusions.

Case study example:

You’re conducting a case study for a local restaurant which is unprofitable despite a high level of custom.

You carry out analysis by looking at the operational costs alongside the worker and customer satisfaction. By doing this, you identify the core problem being inefficient processes and high staff turnover.

As a potential solution, you recommend better training programs for staff to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as optimising the menu’s structure.

Case study method – assessing a problem

With this type of case study, you are likely already aware of the problem. The goal here is to review possible solutions and develop alternative solutions if necessary.

Case study example:

Your case study requires you to look at the illegal trading of ivory and its consequences for the population of elephants in Africa.

You analyse different measures such as stricter laws and international collaboration for law enforcement as well as educational programs to raise public awareness.

The goal of your case study format is to evaluate the effectiveness of these possible solutions and develop new strategies to curb illegal ivory trading and improve protections for elephants.

Case incident method.

This is one of the more challenging types of case study as there is usually very little or no prior information at your disposal. The difficulty is that you’ll need to gather the data to begin the analysis part of your case study.

Case study example:

You are investigating the effectiveness of online classes in a local school during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no existing data about the learning successes and the student satisfaction wasn’t collected at the time.

Therefore, you collect your own primary data through questionnaires and interviews with teaching staff, students and parents. You also conduct an analytical comparison between final grades before and after the introduction of online classes.

Analysing the data you’ve collected enables you to identify specific strengths and weaknesses of the online teaching format and suggest any future areas for improvement.

Stated problem method – investigative case.

An investigative case takes the opposite approach to identifying a problem. With this type of case study, you already know the problem and need to find out the cause of it as well as providing appropriate suggestions to resolve it.

Case study example:

In your case study concerning the environment, you are analysing the main causes for stagnating air pollution is large cities such as London. This means looking at traffic, industrial emissions and heating using fossil fuels.

Building on this, you suggest concrete measures to combat this. Suggestions such as developing on existing environmental protection zones, encouragement for electric vehicles and improvement of public transportation to improve air quality.

Use Adobe Acrobat to build your case study.

Prepare your research and curate your case study with the help of Adobe Acrobat. Use the online tools to work efficiently and streamline your academic analysis:

• Merge PDFs
• Extract PDF pages
• Convert PDF to Word
• Edit PDF

Tips for writing a case study.

When writing your case study, refer to the general rules of academic writing and any guidelines from your faculty or institution. Using these formal guidelines will help you create a solid foundation for your case study.

Here are a few extra tips to help you on your research journey:

1. Pay attention to your case study structure.

As with any academic work, a logical and legible structure is fundamental. Creating a clear journey throughout your writing provides the best reading experience and aids understanding.

You may want to use the following structure when writing your case study:

Introduction

• Research objective
• Research question
• Relevance of the topic
• Methodology

Main body

• Case analysis

Conclusion

• Findings

When writing the conclusion for your case study, it’s especially important to summarise all new insights and suggestions. You should also restate why your case study was relevant and what consequences your new research may have.

2. Combine your case study with other academic research methods.

If you’re creating a larger piece of academic work such as a dissertation or thesis, you can combine your case study with other academic research methods. You could incorporate interviews with experts or include a group discussion.

Another possibility is that you combine qualitative and quantitative research methods, also known as mixed methods research. For example, your case study could be the qualitative research, and you could combine this with quantitative research through questionnaires or observations.

If you opt to use triangulation as a research method, you’ll incorporate different theories, research and methods into the picture. Doing this can provide a broad range of perspectives for your case study as this integrates even more information and opinions into your work.

3. Proofread your case study.

Once you have finished your case study and proofed it yourself, ask someone else to proofread it and provide comments. A second opinion can help ensure that your work flows correctly and can be understood.

Use a PDF version of your work when doing this – that way others can add comments and annotations without directly changing your work.

If you’ve created your work in Word, then use the free tool from Adobe Acrobat to convert your Word into a PDF.

Printing your work for you and others to proofread is also another good method to get comments, as reading your physical work can help you view it in a different way.

Case study example.

To give you a better idea of what a case study might look in an academic context, we’ve created a simple example to help inspire you.

Say you’re doing a marketing case study as part of your bachelor’s degree.

1. You could investigate the correlation between consumer behaviour and marketing strategies for certain target groups.
2. You decide to focus on a recent marketing campaign from Nike – this will be your real-world research subject.
3. In the next step, you will look at further literary sources and select theories around consumer and buyer behaviour as well as marketing strategies.
4. Following this, describe your case in as much detail as possible.
5. In the next step, you will connect your case study example with theories in the case analysis. All being well, your concluding comments will summarise new findings or perspectives around marketing strategies.