How to Write a Case Study?

Case Study Writing Service

By the time there is a case study about your industry, you are already too late.

You have been asked to write a case study. Many of you think case study writing to be quite simple - researching for data and passing a judgment based on that. While the crux of it may seem simple, let me assure you that writing a perfect case study is not a walk in the park.

To write a perfect case study assignment help, you need to prepare yourself for long hours of grueling research. You need to hit the libraries and search the various websites, blogs, and journals to collate the data about your case study. Then you need to understand the ideal way to explain the case study by choosing the appropriate type. Finally, you need to implement and explain the research methodology to prove the point of the history case study.

It does not seem so simple anymore, right? Well, worry not! We are here to tell you everything from what is a case study to how to write a case study. We also have a ton of case study examples that will help you understand how to write one accurately. So, if you are interested in learning all about how to write a case study, fasten your seatbelt, and let’s take off!

What is a Case Study? The Basics of It

According to the case study definition, case studies are a type of research process that delves deep into organizational problems and looks for solutions. Kellogg's Case Study reports have a wide scope, and the different types of case studies make them an essential tool for everyone, from students to professionals, to know in detail about a real-world problem.

Case studies highlight issues and provide a solution for the same

Analysis of case studies is used to know the solutions to unique medical or legal cases. There are also numerous business case study examples that show how an organization implemented certain strategies to eliminate long-lasting issues.

A good example would be Nike's case study on its Sweatshop Problem. They used case studies to identify their loopholes and come up with the "Fair Labor Association." This association came up with a code that defined limited work hours every week and a minimum hiring age which solved their sweatshop problems.

So, this example shows that if case studies are well-designed, they can be of much value to certain professionals. For example, if you are a marketer, then you can use such case studies to better understand the potential risks of not having a well-defined working age and hour. They can better identify the pain points of the customers and offer better solutions for the same.

Case study reports follow a storytelling approach

Unlike research papers, they are more factual in nature. For example, research papers will only offer you the hard facts about the study. But, a well-written case study should provide a holistic view of the whole study.

Assume you are doing a finance case study with a sample size of 500 people, you need to explain why and how you chose your sample size. Despite being more practical, the answers to case studies are usually much shorter than that of research papers. This is because, unlike research papers where you describe everything, you only need to add hands-on information in case study answers.

Here is a case study word template for your convenience –

From this template, you can clearly notice how case study questions address the specifics.

Another distinctive feature of a case study is that, unlike research papers, you need to position yourself as a protagonist of the story. You need to act as the main character trying to solve the problems. The entire part will be divided into three parts –

• A gripping introduction
• A detailed body
• A solid conclusion

So, you need to hook on the audience with an attractive or even controversial statement. Then you must build the action and finally end the paper, answering all the questions you asked at the beginning.

This brings us to the next part -

What are the Different Types of Case Studies?

As mentioned earlier, there are several types of case studies that provide detailed insight into an event, company issues, customer behavior, etc. Based on the problems covered, we can say that case studies can be divided into these domains –

• Historical Case Studies

These case studies are great sources to learn. Usually, these historical events trickle down from various events over the years. So, it offers more than one perspective on a matter. Then students can draw parallels from these events and compare and analyze these perspectives.

An example of a historical case study is "The Travels of Alfred Wegener." From this historical case study, geologists formed many theories, and it is now considered one of the best studies for climatology and meteorology.

• Problem-oriented

These case studies are specifically based on problem-solving events. These case studies look for theoretical situations and the problems arising from them. If you notice a problem in the system while working somewhere, you can always escalate it to senior management. However, if you have a start-up, you can do a comprehensive study on the issues with help from problem-oriented case studies.

A case study example of a problem-oriented case study is the study of SL-07 acquiring a complex case-management system. The case study is a fantastic example that shows how the Y-foundation case was formed, and the problem-oriented requirements were listed before it was solved.

• Cumulative

In these case studies, the researchers collect information from various resources and are compared them. Most business case study examples tend to be cumulative in nature. The main objective of this type of case study is to summarize past studies without devoting more time and money to further investigations. So this is also can be termed as a type of data analysis.

• Critical

Critical case studies find out the causes of a certain effect. It then discusses the effects of that event. This type of case study is mainly used to counter a universal assertion.

• Illustrative

The case study outlines of illustrative case studies are more descriptive. They are mostly used to paint a vivid picture of an event or the lessons you learned from the investigation. Medical case studies often turn out to be illustrative ones. For example, if you want to do a case study about a veteran suffering from PTSD, you will need to illustrate their problems in detail.

The therapists will use that content to understand what they are going through. The more illustrative it will be, the better the chances of finding a new treatment plan.

Let us now find the answer to another pressing question regarding case studies.

The 101 of a Case Study Format

We find many students asking for case study format on the internet. So, let us shed some light on the correct case study format –

 

• Executive Summary

Explain what you want to research in the case study. Write a brief overview of your research area. Draft a thesis statement and summarize your observation within a couple of sentences.

• Background

In this part, provide background information on the case. State the most relevant facts, and isolate all the challenges you want to address.

• Case Evaluation

Isolate those areas of the case you want to work on. You should back up why you are isolating those sections with reason. Explain why the system is not working or not meeting the standard expectations.

• Proposed Solutions

Lay down a list of the feasible ways you can use to solve or improve the current scenario. Explain why each of these solutions can be a realistic way to solve the issues you have addressed. Provide testable evidence of how your proposed solutions can solve the issues.

• Conclusion

Summarize everything you have discussed till now. Evaluate the cases and the proposed solutions. Post evaluation, recommend the strategy you want to choose. Explain with evidence why your chosen method is the most viable option.

Usually, students struggle to wrap up their case studies properly with testable evidence. This is why many students order case study help from professionals.

• Implementation

Explain how you to put the recommended strategies into motion. The explanation should be detailed and should have a scientific explanation behind it.

• References

Referencing the case study is also quite vital. You need to acknowledge the sources you have taken data and inspiration from. Many students post queries like, “how to cite a case study in APA?” because of their lack of knowledge. So, make yourself with the APA case study format and any other format your institution wants.

Ensure all the necessary points are appropriately cited before you submit them to the professors.

Here is a case study sample so you can understand the steps better –

 

This should clear your doubts about the correct format of a case study.

Taking a cue from the previous section, now let’s discuss how to write a case study assignment –

 

• Define your objective

Explain why you want to present your subject. State how you desire to feature the case study. It can be an infographic, written document, video, or podcast. Decide your medium and where you want to feature it.

• Determine the target audience

Before starting the study, you should be clear about whom you want to do the study for. Choose your sample size, and get in touch with the candidates to check if they have the willingness to be a part of your case study experiment. Observe the situation of the candidates and note them down for further studies.

• Identify the possible consequences

Note down the possible consequences you may face during the case study research. Start your case study by abiding by these guidelines.

When you are planning to write a case study, always prioritize researching. Read as many sources as you can and gather the maximum amount of information. This will help you to analyze all the points and develop more creative solutions.

Alternatively, students can also conduct customer interviews. Interviewing real customers gives you better insight into the case, which can be critical for the case study. Then browse the internet to search for information that can be useful for the study. Check for other case study reports as well. This will give you a detailed idea about the possible consequences of the study.

• List the credible sources

List down all the sources that seem trustworthy. Examine them and find out the important facts and problems. Ensure you write down all the ideas upon which you can brainstorm later on.

• Focus on the main challenges

Identify all the major challenges you faced during the case study. Note down the reasons they exist and how they impact the research subject.

Then only you can work on providing solutions for the same. Think of multiple possible solutions. Try to make the solutions innovative and unique. Take inspiration from the things you learned in the class. You can also get inspired by your personal experience. After exploring all the options, focus on the solution you feel is best suited for the case study.

Once you have all the research material ready, you will have no trouble understanding how to write a case study. However, before you write your paper, check the set of instructions your professors have asked you to follow. Following the correct case study word template and knowing how to cite a case study is essential to write a perfect case study assignment.

Let us quickly brief you on the different rubrics that you may need to follow –

• Identify the theories, concepts, and practices correctly.
• Identify the principles and theories relevant to the case study.
• Evaluate ethical and legal obligations. Apply them while making any decisions about the case study.
• Drafting a coherent explanation and summarizing the study.
• Understanding the importance of the case and your contribution to the particular study.
• Showing your critical-thinking and analytical skills
• Explaining the relationship between your case study and the business world
• Integrating the theories and the practical knowledge from the case study during the analysis.

Your professors may ask for slightly different criteria. However, essentially all these criteria have these eight standard outcomes.

Now let us shift our focus on how to write a case study paper outline.

How to Write a Case Study Outline?

Let’s take a hypothetical situation where you want to do a case study on 30 people suffering from alcohol addiction. Start by writing the –

1. INTRODUCTION

• Statement of the issue – Alcoholism isn’t a flaw in the character. Rather it is a disease that many people suffer from.
• Presenting the problem – More than fourteen million people only in the USA are currently suffering from alcoholism, making it the third most common mental illness.
• Explaining the terms – Historically, alcoholism was referred to as alcohol addiction. However, now, it has become more severe and is now classified as a disorder.
• Hypotheses – Excess drinking of alcohol can lead to other drug addictions.
• Importance of the story – How can the case study help more people deal with their addiction problems?

 

2. BODY

• Stating the background – Explain why you chose the topic for your case study.
• Presenting the data analysis – Describe why chose the sample size of thirty. Present the interview questions, and the outcomes you derived from the interview.
• Present your first argument stating your facts about people suffering from depression and anxiety.
• Present your second argument showing the percentage of teenagers and mid-teens that have started drinking.
• You can add another argument about the percentage of people whose parents have alcohol issues.

 

3. CONCLUSION

• End the paper with a conclusive statement like – According to my research, I found that alcoholism is a disease because….
• Recommend the plans and actions to stop alcoholism in society.

These three part sums up how to write a cast study outline.

 

The Importance of Writing Case Studies

1. Niche-Specific

Case studies are targeted papers that address the challenges directly. So, if you are seeking answers to any specific issues, case studies can be the best option for you.

1. Helps in Brand Positioning

Marketers aim to portray their brands as authoritative in front of their audience. The best way to do that is by offering hard facts and statistical evidence. Case studies are examples of factual studies and lead to well-researched conclusions. So, publishing case studies helps to position them as authoritative in the industry.

1. Explain the Solutions

Case studies are used to solve real-life problems. However, the major advantage of case studies is they also explain the solutions with abundant evidence. Case studies are never vague, and the audience can know the “why” behind the questions.

1. Provides Social Proof

Modern-day customers are much more skeptical and demand proof before believing in something. Case studies overload potential customers with scientific proof. Since most customers always check reviews and opinions online before a purchase, case studies act as the perfect way to educate customers.

1. Leads to Spinoff Content

Companies that rely on regular customer engagement through online posts heavily rely on case studies for spinoff content. The initial investment is certainly higher, but by publishing case studies, they can get specific takeaways and also generate ideas for future content.

These are the five reasons why case studies are considered so important.

4 Essentials of a Comprehensive Case Study Assignment

Follow these tips to write a perfect case study report –

1. Title Page

• Add a title that grabs describe your study and grabs eyeballs.
• Add the word “case study” in the title.
• The title should not be more than nine words.
• The first page must contain your detailed contact information.

 

1. Citation

• There are situations where you would be forced to cite someone else’s work to write your case study. So, you should know how to cite a case studyin the required style.

If the case study is in APA referencing, the citation will be in the following style –

King, M., Hill, B., & Steel, M.A (2020). HCL Technologies. New York: Harvard Business Publishing.

Here is how you should do it in MLA referencing style –

King, Maria, Ben Hill, and Michael A. Steel (2020). HCL Technologies. New York: Harvard Business Publishing.

There are many other citation styles like Oxford, Chicago, etc., where you need to follow their respective citation styles. Take whatever help you need and learn the MLA, APA, and other case study formats. This is crucial to perfect your case study papers.

• Case study examples

Including a lot of examples will make your case study more credible. Here are a few examples of case study examples that often gets mentioned in many such psychological case studies –

1. Example of Phineas Gage incident in case studies on how frontal brain damage changes personality.
2. Example of Henry Gustav Molaison in case studies on if human memory remains distributed throughout the cerebral cortex.
3. Example of Victor Leborgne in case studies on Broca’s area.
4. Example of the “Wild Boy of Aveyron” in case studies on natural experiments in nature
5. Example of Anna O. in case studies on the role of psychoanalysis in treating mental diseases.

• Conclusion

Case studies are the best way to get an overview of the issues going on in an organization, within a group, or with a person. Analysis of case studies helps marketers and researchers look into the real-life problems occurring in the various sectors of business. These insights help us know about the obstacles from a first-hand perspective. We tried to explain what you need to know before doing a case study. Go through this blog and learn how to deal with the case studies step-by-step. Remember not to burn yourself out, and you can easily complete the case study assignment on your own.

If you want to go through a few more case study samples to get the task right, we have just the right options to spoil you with.

There are many case study examples scattered throughout the various case studies on various disciplines.

Case Study Samples You Can Give a Read

Medical Case Study Examples

• I have spots and my skin burns
  A case of a 10-year-old boy with a 3-week history of diarrhea, vomiting and cough
  A case of fever and general malaise
  A case of sudden rapid neurological deterioration in an HIV positive 27-year-old female
  An unusual cause of fulminant hepatitis

 

Business Case Study Examples

 

i. How Handled Scaled from Zero to 121 Locations with the Help of HubSpot

ii. The Whole Package

iii. Rozum Robotics intensifies its PR game with Awario

iv. Chevrolet DTU

v. How Fractl Earned Links from 931 Unique Domains for Porch.com in a Single Year

 

Environmental Case Study Examples

 

i. New locks in Albertkanaal in Flanders, Belgium

ii. Green roofs in Basel, Switzerland: combining mitigation and adaptation measures

iii. Barcelona trees tempering the Mediterranean city climate, Spain

iv. The economics of managing heavy rains and storm water in Copenhagen – The Cloudburst Management Plan, Denmark

v. Financial contributions of planning applications to prevent heathland fires in Dorset, United Kingdom

Chemistry Case Study Examples

i. The Global Warming Debate: A Case Study

ii. Fossil Fuels – “Liquid Coal: Producing Liquid Fuel from Non-Petroleum Sources

iii. Acid/Base Chemistry - "Using Oceans to Fight Global Warming

iv. Kinetics - "Corn Ethanol: Using Corn to Make Fuel?

v. Gas Laws - "Hydrogen Powered Cars: The Wave of the Future?

vi. 

History Case Study Examples

i. Death by Numbers

ii. Reasons to Study Earthquakes

iii. History of Seafloor Exploration

iv. The Great Devonian Controversy

v. Bert Bolin: Scientist -Organizer

You can many such case study samples and prepare for your case study.

 

Case Study FAQs:

1. What is a case study?

The simplest case study definition would be it is a research approach used to generate a multi-faceted as well as detailed understanding of any complex challenges in a real-life context. Case studies are abundantly used to solve challenges in various disciplines, especially in social science.

2. How is a case study structured?

A case study format usually follows a standard structure –

• An introduction
• Background information
• Explanation of the case study
• Presentation of the findings
• Conclusion
• References

3. What is a case study in psychology?

Psychological case studies are extremely detailed investigations of a single person or a group of people. In this type of case study, the researchers usually study an unusual psychological event or phenomenon. They select the individual or the group and perform an in-depth analysis of the event.

4. How to write a case study?

In case you are wondering how to cite a case study, there is no single citation rule. You must learn which citation style your professors asked you to follow. It can be MLA, Oxford, APA, or any other style. Usually, the standard rule used in most institutions is – Author name(s). Year. Title of Case Study. Number of Case Study.

5. How to Make a case study Outline?

To make a clear case study outline, follow the following points –

• Write clear headlines
• Provide brief background information on the case
• Explain the case
• State the challenges and consequences
• Offer probable solutions
• Choose an option and explain the benefits
• Conclude with recommendations and CTA

6. How to create a case study?

If you are wondering how to write a case study, go through these points –

• Introduce the case
• State the problem
• Introduce the solution
• Explain your decision
• Prove it

7. What is a case-control study?

A case-control study compares two groups of people for their research. They choose one group who is suffering from a condition or a disease. They compare it with another set of people who are not suffering from any condition and compare both cases under a controlled environment.

8. What is a business case study?

Business case studies are in-depth studies of real-world business scenarios. In these case studies, researchers study the various challenges businesses face. Then they perform an analysis based on the research findings and recommend a solution for the same.

9. What is a case study in research?

A research case study executes detailed research on single or multiple issues affecting an organization in real life. Research case studies are done to solve problems in a wide variety of disciplines.

10. How to prepare for a case study interview?

• Understand the issue
• Identify any underlying assumptions
• Summarize all the issues and findings
• State the recommendations
• Show how the solution can derive the expected results