This section will help you navigate your way through the process of reading, analysing and responding to a case study.
Case studies describe real-life situations and events over a period of time. They may centre on a person, group, project or organisation. A case study assessment task requires you to analyse actual or potential problems and identify solutions. For this, you need to consider:
what is happening
why it's happening
how to solve the problem.
You will need to use theories to develop solutions to practical situations.
There are three broad stages involved in a case study assignment:
identify key issues and problems from the case
research then link the problems to relevant theory
develop solutions that lead to actionable recommendations.
Structure
Case study analyses are generally presented in a report-style format. They are usually written for a professional audience (e.g. a client or manager) as well as your lecturer.
A case study should have:
a logical structure
sections with headings and subheadings.
Check your assignment instructions carefully to see what structure you need to use. If you have any doubts, contact your course teaching staff.
A business case study is usually highly structured, as shown in the following example.