Imagine when your teacher asks you to write a case study. You have no idea how to format a case study. The online writing experts from Submityourhomeworks.com have created this article to help you know what should be written in each of the sections of the study. Let’s get started!

1. Case Study Introduction

Keep in mind that the introduction should be done in a way that captures the reader’s interest. Thus, a widely used approach is the funnel structure. In this structure, you will start with describing the general aspects, showing the context in which we will work, then going on to a more specific topic (eg, scientific context) until you arrive at the purpose of the paper and the reason for its execution.

1.1 Description of the problem studied

The problem description is important because it helps readers to make comparisons between the problems that happen to them and the problem that you investigated in the case study. This section helps to understand the relevance of the research as a whole. To guide the writing of this subsection you must answer the questions

• What is the problem studied?
• Where does it happen?
• Who observed or observed its occurrence?
• Why is this important and should it be addressed?

The last paragraph should contain a brief description of the solution and what are the expected benefits of such a solution.

1.2 Research Objectives

Research objectives are an analysis of the case study purposes with the aim of presenting the point of view in the context of Context.

1.3 Context where the research was applied

Here you should talk about the way you organized and the places where the research was carried out. The author must inform readers how the research relates to specific situations. The context consists of all the factors that can affect the generalization and usefulness of the conclusions.

2. Related works

In the first paragraph, you must contextualize it saying that the section will be dedicated to the description of the related works. Then, you should dedicate a paragraph to each of the works, describing how it deals with that topic, and finally showing your strengths and weaknesses with a critical view. In the last paragraph, you can make a general critique of the works.

3. Case study design

In this section, you will explain how the case study was done in relation to its steps and elements. In addition to providing contextualization regarding the area in which the study was conducted, it is important that the author defines the objective of the study. This objective should speak to what the author hopes to achieve with the execution of the study. This objective is refined in a set of research questions that will help the author to reach the objective and which will be answered based on the analysis.

3.1 Research Questions

In order to define the research questions, the participation of the advisor, or someone who has better experience in the research area of ​​the study is very important. It is worth remembering that the entire study will be carried out and directed with the aim of answering these research questions. Therefore, the more refined and relevant the better the result of your study.

TIP: As soon as the research questions are defined, imagine in hypotheses how you think it will be answered and start to wonder if you will have the data for those answers and analyzes. This will be important for defining the data collection process, as well as when writing the results and discussions.

3.2 Selection of participants and case study

Here you must explain who and what will participate in the studies, let’s go to an example that will be clearer. Let’s say that we want to analyze the effects of a given training on the day to day of the employees of a factory. We can say that employees will be our participants (subjects) and that specific training or application of a technique (case) will be our case.

3.3 Data collection procedure

In this section, the data collection procedure is described in detail. These data can be quantitative (numbers or measures) or qualitative (words and descriptions). It is important that the author documents the entire collection process, from the initial stages of defining the technique used, such as the execution of the entire collection process. TIP: The more details the better.

3.4 Data analysis procedure

Data analysis can be done in different ways depending on the type of data that was extracted in the previous step, which can be qualitative or quantitative.

Quantitative analysis includes descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, development of forecasting models and hypothesis testing. All of these activities are important for the case study.

It is important to note that quantitative analysis methods require a fixed research (study) design. For example, if a question with a quantitative answer is changed during the interview process, it makes it impossible to interpret the average values ​​of the answers to the questions. In addition, quantitative data from just one study tends to be quite small, due to the number of responses you will collect. This can pose threats to your study.

As the case study is a flexible research method, we can use different methods of qualitative analysis. The basic objective of the analysis is to draw conclusions from the data, maintaining a link with the evidence. This connection with the evidence means that if a reader takes the same set of data, he will be able to arrive at the same results and draw the same conclusions as you (author/researcher).

TIP: It is important that each step and decision made is documented in the study.

This type of analysis can bring threats to the study when done by only one researcher (author) since he will interpret it in a way that is convenient and pertinent to him.  It is important that this qualitative analysis is done by more than one person independently and in the end, the results are compared and joined to form a common discussion and conclusion.

3.5 Validation procedure

This validation concerns the reliability/confidence of the results presented, if the data really speaks the truth or if they have not been influenced by the researcher (author). Note that we must be careful with this type of thing from the early stages of the study. Below we will list four different aspects of validation that we must take into account:

• Construction Validity: this aspect reflects the extent to which the items you have chosen to evaluate, whether they really represent what the researcher (author) has in mind and what is investigated by the research question. For example, in an interview, if a particular issue was interpreted differently between the interviewer and the interviewee, we will have a construction threat. TIP: Always review and pilot questions before conducting the final interview.
• Internal Validity: this aspect concerns when evaluating a cause and effect relationship. When the researcher (author) investigates whether a factor affects another factor, there is a chance that the investigated factor will also be influenced by a third factor. If the researcher is not aware of the third aspect and/or is unaware of its existence, this will affect the results of the investigated factor and introduce a threat to the study.
• External Validity: concerns the possibility of generalizing the results and whether the results will be of interest to readers and researchers. In the analysis of external validity, the researcher assesses the impact of the relevance of his study on the scientific community.
• Reliability: it concerns the way in which the data and the analysis are dependent on a specific researcher (author). Hypothetically, if another researcher does the same study as you, the result should be the same. This problem can happen when you do not make it clear how the data was collected, how you interpreted the data, or even some question in the interview that was not clear to both parties.

It is worth remembering that all these validities must be considered from the beginning of the study, in order to avoid as much as possible new threats appear in your study.

4. Results

The results section is the bridge between the data and the study’s findings/evidence. It is considered one of the most important sections when you want to assess the quality of the study. Thus, it is essential that it is done in a structured way, with a critical view, and easy to be understood. To help you in writing we have divided this section into parts (or paragraphs) each with its purpose:

• Description of the participants and the cases studied.
• Description of the step-by-step execution of the case study
• Analysis and interpretation of observed aspects
• Evaluation regarding the validity of the results

 

Conclusion

In this section, you must show the most important aspects, results, and evidence of your work. Following is the division into parts or paragraph of what you should consider in writing the conclusion:

• Brief description of your work
• A summary of the research findings
• Relationship with existing evidence
• Impacts and implications that results can generate
• Study limitations
• Future works

With the above tips, you are sure to secure an impressive grade in your case study paper. However, sometimes you may not have the time for preparation, researching, and writing your paper. That is why we have a pool of expert writers to help you. All you need to do is to request online paper help, then sit back and relax as we craft your paper.