Exploring Case Studies for Undergraduate Students Questions and Answers
- The Case Study as a Research Tool
- Pointers in Doing a Case Research Project
- Confidentiality
The Case Study as a Research Tool
What is a case?
A case is based on a series of events that actually happened to an individual, a group, or a company/organisation.
What is a case study?
A case study describes typical management situations, administrative issues and business challenges confronting a manager in an organisation, or a business entrepreneur. Ideally, cases are based on real-life accounts, and are sometimes presented from the standpoint of the decision-maker(s) involved.
How does doing a case study as an Applied Research Project (ARP) help in undergraduate study?
Since case studies investigate managerial issues and business decisions based on real life situations, students using this approach learn to sharpen their "real world" problem-solving abilities. Students will also get to practice and gain proficiency in important interpersonal and intuitive skills, as the case research approach employs various methods such as interviews and observation studies in collecting data. You will also learn to conceptualise ideas, which helps you hone critical thinking skills. Finally, since the case study approach naturally lends itself to different ways of framing problems and different ways of interpreting them, this facilitates mutual learning in a group setting.
What are the hallmarks of good business case research?
- A good case tackles issues that are relevant, real, and important to management, rather than focusing on trivial managerial decisions. Such issues are to be clearly identified and defined so as to form the central themes of the case.
- The business situation of each case should be adequately described so readers can contextualise case problem(s). There should also be sufficient background information given about the country, industry, and people involved to help give understanding of the broader environment in which the business is operating.
- Case writers should also pay attention to constructing an effective opening paragraph and may consider providing a situation summary at the beginning of the case.
- Essential data such as financial statements and organisational charts must be provided and presented in clearly structured and well-laid out exhibits at the end of the case.
- Finally, good cases are neatly structured and easy to read.
Pointers in Doing a Case Research Project
Finding your case research topic
A good way to find a viable case research topic is through reading or discussion with your project group mates and your tutors. After the initial brainstorming stage, you can then begin identifying and contacting managers or business entrepreneurs who might be willing to participate in your case project.
Learning how to manage the context element in research
The information that you will acquire must be embedded in a "real world" situation. To help you do this, keep in mind the following questions:
- Where do I find information about the issue/topic?
- Who should I interview or speak to? How can I persuade people to speak to me?
- What should I ask? How do I structure the information that I have in a coherent and convincing manner so that it relates to my problem definition?
Working with organisations
How much you work with an organisation depends on the complexity of your case study. Expect to meet them for at least two interview sessions, and to acquire any non-sensitive information essential to the case. The first interview with the company should be to help define the potential issue(s) which the case will be focusing on. After the first interview, you as the case writer will then need to ask for access to any relevant data (organisational charts, internal reports, etc.). A second interview should then be scheduled to help fill in any remaining details. Once you have gathered this material, you can then go away and finish drafting the case. When the case is written, you must then have the company verify the facts as you have presented them, correct any errors, and eventually release (allow) the case to be published.
Confidentiality
Ethical issues - some rules of conduct you should observe throughout the case writing process:
If the case you are writing is based on primary data supplied by an organisation, throughout the case writing process, the case writer should maintain strict confidentiality with regard to all information provided by the organisation. A draft case must be submitted to the organisation in question for it to verify the accuracy of the case content you have presented.
In writing the case study, you must secure the company's agreement to use information it has provided to you that is outside the public domain.
