Acasestudypapertellsastory.Itexaminesonespecificsituation.Thissituationiscalledthe"case."Thecasecanbeaboutaperson.Itcanbeaboutagroup.Itcanbeaboutacompanyoranevent.Thegoalistounderstandthiscasedeeply.Wewanttolearnfromit.

Peoplewritecasestudypapersinmanyfields.Businessstudentswritethem.Psychologystudentswritethem.Medicalstudentswritethem.Thestylechangesalittleforeachfield.Thebasicideastaysthesame.Youinvestigateasingleexampleingreatdetail.

First,youmustchooseyourcase.Thecaseneedstobeinteresting.Itshouldofferachancetolearnsomething.Abusinesscasemightstudyacompanythatfailed.Whydiditfail?Amedicalcasemightstudyapatientwitharareillness.Howdiddoctorstreatit?Agoodcasehasaclearfocus.Itisnottoobroad.Youcannotstudyawholeindustry.Youstudyonefactoryinthatindustry.

Afterchoosingthecase,yougatherinformation.Thisistheresearchphase.Youlookfordata.Youreadreports.Youlookatnumbers.Ifpossible,youtalktopeopleinvolved.Youmightinterviewthemanagerofthecompany.Youmightinterviewthepatientorthedoctor.Youcollectallthefacts.Youwritethemdown.Youmustbeverycareful.Yourinformationneedstobeaccurate.Youcheckyoursources.Youmakesureeverythingiscorrect.

Thenyouorganizeyourpaper.Atypicalcasestudypaperhassections.Thefirstsectionisanintroduction.Here,youpresentthecase.Youexplainwhyitisimportant.Youstateyourmainquestion.Whatwillthisstudytrytofindout?

Thenextsectionisthebackground.Yougivethecontext.Youtellthestorysofar.Foracompanycase,youdescribethecompany'shistory.Youtalkaboutitsmarket.Youdiscussitsmainchallenges.Forapersoncase,youdescribetheperson'slifesituation.Yougiverelevantdetails.Thissectionsetsthestage.

Thenyoudescribeyourmethod.Howdidyoustudythiscase?Didyouuseinterviews?Didyoulookatfinancialrecords?Didyouobservethesubject?Youexplainyourprocess.Thisshowsthereaderyourworkistrustworthy.

Thefollowingsectionisthemostdetailed.Itisthecasedescription.Youpresentyourfindings.Youtellthereaderwhatyoudiscovered.Youdescribetheeventsinorder.Youusethedatayoucollected.Youmightincludequotesfrominterviews.Youmightincludechartsofnumbers.Youpresenteverythingclearly.Yousticktothefactshere.Youdonotgiveyouropinionyet.Youjustreportwhatyoufound.

Afterthedescription,youanalyzethecase.Thisisakeysection.Youlookattheinformation.Youexplainwhatitmeans.Whydidthingshappenthisway?Whatwerethecausesoftheproblem?Whatweretheeffects?Youconnectthefactstoideasfromyourfield.Inabusinesscase,youmightuseamanagementtheory.Inapsychologycase,youmightuseabehavioraltheory.Youusetheseideastounderstandthecasebetter.

Thenyoudiscusssolutionsorlessons.Basedonyouranalysis,whatcouldhavebeendonedifferently?Whatsolutionsarepossible?Ifthecaseisaboutasuccess,whatmadeitwork?Whatcanotherslearnfromthis?Youtalkabouttheimplications.Yourdiscussionshouldbelogical.Itshouldcomedirectlyfromyouranalysis.

Acasestudypaperdoesnotneedmanycomplexwords.Simplelanguageispowerful.Useshortsentences.Sayexactlywhatyoumean.Forexample,donotwrite"utilize."Write"use."Donotwrite"commence."Write"start."Thismakesyourpaperclear.Everyonecanunderstandit.

Youmustthinkaboutyourreader.Thereadermightnotknowyourcase.Explaineverything.Assumethereaderisintelligentbutuninformed.Giveallneededinformation.Definespecialterms.Spelloutabbreviationsthefirsttimeyouusethem.

Writingacasestudyislikebeingadetective.Youlookatalltheclues.Youputthemtogether.Youtellaclearstoryofwhathappened.Thenyouexplainthestory.Yousaywhytheeventsareimportant.

Thevalueofacasestudyisinitsdepth.Awidesurveygivesyougeneralpatterns.Acasestudygivesyouacloselook.Youseethedetails.Youunderstandthereal-lifecomplications.Theoriesarecleanandsimple.Reallifeismessy.Acasestudyshowsthemess.Itshowshowtheorymeetspractice.

Remembertobeethical.Ifyourcaseinvolvespeople,protecttheirprivacy.Often,youuseafalsename.Youchangesomeminordetails.Youdothistokeepthepersonsafe.Youmusthavepermissiontostudysomeone.Thisisveryimportant.

Yourpapershouldhaveastrongfocus.Donottrytoanswertoomanyquestions.Pickoneortwomainquestions.Answerthemwell.Godeep,notwide.Youranalysiswillbebetter.

Useheadingstoseparatesections.Thishelpsthereader.Thereadercanfollowyourstructureeasily.Headingsactassignposts.Theyguidethereaderthroughyourpaper.

Avoidfancylanguage.Donottrytosoundsmart.Trytobeclear.Yourgoaliscommunication.Youwanttosharewhatyoulearned.Simplewordsworkbest.Talkaboutthe"plan"notthe"strategyformulation."Talkaboutthe"result"notthe"outcome."Keepitbasic.

Acasestudypaperisastorywithapurpose.Thestoryisaboutyourcase.Thepurposeistogaininsight.Youprovidethefacts.Youprovidetheanalysis.Thereaderlearnssomethinguseful.

Writingtakestime.Youwillwriteafirstdraft.Thenyouwillreviseit.Checkyourfactsagain.Checkyourlogic.Makesureeachsentenceisclear.Readyourpaperaloud.Thishelpsfindawkwardparts.Askafriendtoreadit.Cantheyunderstandit?Theirfeedbackisvaluable.

Agoodcasestudypaperisinteresting.Itislikeagoodmystery.Thereaderwantstoknowwhathappened.Thereaderwantstounderstandwhy.Yourjobistosatisfythiscuriosity.Presentthecase.Analyzeit.Explainthelessons.Doallthiswithsimple,directwords.Yourworkwillbestronganduseful.