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The first case study can be dated back to the 1800s when a French economist decided to craft up a new method to have a better understanding of statistical data. But it was much later, in the 1920s, that Harvard Business School Professors started looking at case studies as a teaching method. It soon became a widespread practice to help students analyze the facts of a case, discuss it, and even arrive at their own conclusions based on the data.
As you guessed, it is not an easy job. But these tips from some of the expert writers at EssayService should help you approach case studies with more confidence.
Since then, case studies have found its way to almost every academic field. Most commonly, they are used to encourage students to investigate a scenario and consider the solutions. You need sufficient evidence to support the problem, as well as your analysis.
Define the Purpose
Ask any academic expert, and they will tell you that a clearly defined abstract is the key to a good paper. It will also help you to pique the interest of the reader. In some cases, it is easier to define the objective of your case study. At other times, it will take you to finish the entire case study to narrow down its scope. Regardless, in its final form, a strong abstract is concise, compelling, and credible.
A good way to do this is first to organize your thoughts, so you can rewrite it after you complete the case study to reflect all the key points. Present an overview of the case, and make it appealing to the reader to explore further. It is not easy work. If you need fresh ideas, pay attention to the Studyfy resource. This resource is designed for students. Here, every student can find useful information for themselves.
Look up Similar Case Studies
Though the methodology, in general, might be the same, how you approach it might be different based on your objective. If you find yourself stuck at any point, it won’t hurt to refer to other case studies in similar niches. You might be able to find a narrative that you like, and it will help you identify similar patterns. Additionally, you can also scour the references for relevant resources.
While doing this, ensure that you do not copy anything other than the writing style. Your professors would have seen a lot of similar case studies, and the last thing you want to do is even to suggest a hint of plagiarism in your final case study report. If you are looking at the work only as a resource, then it is a solid strategy to rely on.
3. Prepare and Plan for Research
Writing your own case study requires a significant amount of work from your part. Needless to say, It is an essential and crucial part of writing. As we mentioned earlier, you need to support your case study with facts and evidence. The more you are able to source and present, the more convincing your analysis and discussion would seem.
Hence, it would help if you allocated time to do research well before writing your case study. Plan your research down to the sources and the approximate time it would take. Most of the time, students underestimate how much time would go into research and wind up having little time left to work on presenting their findings. This is something you want to avoid. A little planning up front could help you handle the whole process much efficiently. Avoid these problems. You can buy essay paper without much trouble. If you understand that you will not be able to cope with the tasks on your own.
4. Presenting the Discussion
The discussion is perhaps the most crucial part of your case study. It is also where your contribution to the paper matters the most. The main elements here are the same as any other research paper, centered around your interpretation of the facts. You are also required to draw your conclusions here, combining the description of the results and discussion outfits consequences from your perspective.
You have to explain your case study findings and review them systematically. But be sure not to misinterpret any idea or conclusions. One can also refer to previous case studies that have motivated you to research this topic or have influenced your research method. Comparing and contrasting your findings will help to support your conclusions.
5. Acknowledge Your Limitations
As much as you are invested in the case study, it is also necessary that you acknowledge the study’s limitation to be unbiased about the conclusions. It is entirely possible that the study could do better with more resources or the sources that you did not have access to. In this case, you have to describe these limitations in the discussion session. This will give the readers a chance to identify the constraints and whether they are significant or not to your objective.
It would also be wise to address any unanswered questions or issues that your research could not tackle. Acknowledging these will help you stay clear of further scrutiny or from your professor point out these as errors.
6. Avoid Overgeneralization
In the introduction, it might be good to lay a foundation on the subject to give the context of your study. However, when you conclude your research, it focuses on your particular research and the evidence. If not, you will end up speculating without contributing anything new or leaving the case study redundant.
On the other hand, you are to include all possible outcomes, no matter how common or general they might be. Without that, your reader might question why you haven’t pointed out the obvious and, consequently, your credibility.
Wrapping Up
A case study has to address all aspects of an issue thoroughly. You cannot leave the gaps unfilled, thinking that the answers are evident. Your professors are always keen to find new insights into case studies. Even if you take a common topic, your approach can offer a unique perspective.
Try to avoid redundancy and repetition. Ultimately, remember that even for case studies, your goal is to keep the reader interested and invested through your facts and findings. Think of your case study as an in-depth research paper by itself, and try to strengthen its validity in all ways you can.
