CASE STUDY

Definition

A case study is a research method involving an up-close, in-depth, and detailed examination of a
particular case. For example, a case study in medicine may examine a specific patient a doctor
treated, and a case study in business might study a particular firm's strategy. Generally, a case
can be nearly any unit of analysis, including individuals, organizations, events, or actions.

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.

Goal of case study design

To summarize everything that we have mentioned earlier, it is worth noting that unlike most of
the statistically based studies, the main goal of creating a case study is to look for some new
variables while you are conducting each new research task. It is a good educational tool. With its
history, rich in amazing breakthroughs, this type of study can be easily called the most exciting
and sometimes (it depends on its topic and the subject that you study) the hardest tasks that
students get in college or university. The case study writing process can take lots of your time
and nerves when collecting information, cooperating with different researchers, analyzing data,
and writing the text of your paper. However, it can be quite interesting! The main advice is –
whatever type of case study you have to complete, you need to identify the purpose and goals
and only then start conducting your research.

When to do a case study

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.

Process of case study

Step 1: Select a case

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.

Step 2: Build a theoretical framework

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.

Step 3: Collect your data

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.

Step 4: Describe and analyze the case

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).

Different Types of Case Studies

There are several types of case studies, each differing from each other based on the hypothesis
and/or thesis to be proved. It is also possible for types of case studies to overlap each other. Each
of the following types of cases can be used in any field or discipline. Whether it is psychology,
business or the arts, the type of case study can apply to any field.

1. Explanatory: The explanatory case study focuses on an explanation for a question or a

phenomenon. The results are not up for interpretation. A case study with a person or
group would not be explanatory, as with humans, there will always be variables. There
are always small variances that cannot be explained. However, event case studies can be
 explanatory. For example, let's say a certain automobile has a series of crashes that are
caused by faulty brakes. All of the crashes are a result of brakes not being effective on icy
roads.
2. Exploratory: An exploratory case study is usually the precursor to a formal, large-scale
research project. The case study's goal is to prove that further investigation is necessary.
Exploratory case studies are very popular in psychology and the social sciences.
Psychologists are always looking for better ways to treat their patients, and exploratory
studies allow them to research new ideas or theories.

3. Multiple-Case Studies or Collective Studies: Multiple case or collective studies use

information from different studies to formulate the case for a new study. The use of past
studies allows additional information without needing to spend more time and money on
additional studies. Furthermore, this type of study could uncover differences as well.

4. Intrinsic: An intrinsic case study is the study of a case wherein the subject itself is the
primary interest . The "Genie" case is an example of this. The study wasn't s o much
about psychology, but about Genie herself, and how her experiences shaped who she was.

5. Instrumental: An instrumental case study uses a case to gain insights into a phenomenon.
For example, a researcher interested in child obesity rates might set up a study with
middle school students and an exercise program. In this case, the children and the
exercise program are not the focus. The focus is learning the relationship between
children and exercise, and why certain children become obese.

Types of Case Studies based on Subjects

There are generally five different types of case studies, and the subjects that they address. Every
case study, whether explanatory or exploratory, or intrinsic or instrumental, fits into one of these
five groups. These are:

1. Person – This type of study focuses on one particular individual. This case study would
use several types of research to determine an outcome. This case study is still one of the
most valuable in all of child development.
2. Group – This type of study focuses on a group of people. This could be a family, a group
or friends, or even coworkers. An example of this type of case study would be the
 uncontacted tribes of Indians in the Peruvian and Brazilian rainforest. These tribes have
never had any modern contact. Therefore, there is a great interest to study them.

3. Location – This type of study focuses on a place, and how and why people use the place.
For example, many case studies have been done about Siberia, and the people who live
there. Siberia is a cold and barren place in northern Russia, and it is considered the most
difficult place to live in the world. Studying the location, and it's weather and people can
help other people learn how to live with extreme weather and isolation. Location studies
can also be done on locations that are facing some kind of change. For example, a case
study could be done on Alaska, and whether the state is seeing the effects of climate
change. Another type of study that could be done in Alaska is how the environment
changes as population increases. Geographers and those interested in population growth
often do these case studies.

4. Organization/Company – This type of study focuses on a business or an organization.

This could include the people who work for the company, or an event that occurred at the
organization. An excellent example of this type of case study is Enron. Enron was one of
the largest energy company's in the United States, when it was discovered that executives
at the company were fraudulently reporting the company's accounting numbers.

This type of case study is used by accountants, auditors, financiers, as well as business
students, in order to learn how such a large company could get away with committing
such a serious case of corporate fraud for as long as they did. It can also be looked at
from a psychological standpoint, as it is interesting to learn why the executives took the
large risks that they took.

5. Event – This type of study focuses on an event, whether cultural or societal, and how it
affects those that are affected by it. An example would be the Tylenol cyanide scandal.
This event affected Johnson & Johnson, the parent company, as well as the public at
large. The case study would detail the events of the scandal, and more specifically, what
management at Johnson & Johnson did to correct the problem. To this day, when a
company experiences a large public relations scandal, they look to the Tylenol case study
to learn how they managed to survive the scandal.

Case selection strategies

John Gerring and Jason Seawright list seven case selection strategies:

1. Typical cases – cases that exemplify a stable cross-case relationship. These cases are
representative of the larger population of cases, and the purpose of the study is to look
within the case rather than compare it with other cases
2. Diverse cases – cases that have variation on the relevant X and Y variables. Due to the
range of variation on the relevant variables, these cases are representative of the full
population of cases.
3. Extreme cases – cases that have an extreme value on the X or Y variable relative to other
cases
4. Deviant cases – cases that defy existing theories and common sense. They not only have
extreme values on X or Y (like extreme cases), but defy existing knowledge about causal
relations
5. Theory testing case studies – the goal is to assess the validity and scope conditions of
existing theories.

Data collection methods in case studies design

Case study research is not limited to a single source of data, as in the use of questionnaires for
carrying out a survey. In fact, good case studies benefit from having multiple sources of
evidence. Mostly following six methods of data collection are used:

1. Direct observations (e.g., human actions or a physical environment)

2. Interviews (e.g., open-ended conversations with key participants)
3. Archival records (e.g., student records)
4. Documents (e.g., newspaper articles, letters and e-mails, reports)
5. Participant-observation (e.g., being identified as a researcher but also filling a real-life
role in the scene being studied)
6. Physical artifacts (e.g., computer downloads of employees’ work).

Strengths of Case Studies

1. Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.

 2. Provides insight for further research.
3. Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.
4. It uses a number of different research methodologies.
5. It can be done remotely.
6. It is inexpensive
7. It is very accessible to readers.

Limitations of Case Studies

1. Lacking scientific rigor and providing little basis for generalization of results to the wider
population.
2. Researchers' own subjective feeling may influence the case study (researcher bias).
3. Difficult to replicate.
4. It can have influence factors within the data.
5. Time-consuming.
6. The volume of data, together with the time restrictions in place, impacted on the depth of
analysis that was possible within the available resources.
7. It takes longer to analyze the data.
8. It is a labor-intensive method of data collection .