what is a case study

what is a case study

The Importance of Case Studies

1. Definition and Purpose of Case Studies

A case study is a task which aims to teach the student how to analyze the causes and consequences of an event and activity by creating its role model. Such assignments show how complexities may influence various decisions, and that is what makes case studies so important. Because it follows up vivid problems and solutions to a multiplicity of views, we must be fully aware of what is happening and why it has happened. For the identification of effectiveness and end result of case studies, there is a need for a variety of tools and techniques for data collection, and they allow the entry of an array of sources for comparison. The researcher studies in depth, with the aim of getting a comprehensive and detailed examination of the situation within its natural setting. The case study method is the ideal method for answering the research questions, whether they be descriptive or explanatory.

2. Benefits of Using Case Studies

The benefits and limitations of using case studies Based on my observations, I think one of the biggest benefits of case study analysis is that they are often a focused form of research, allowing the researcher to understand the finer details of why something happened. For example, one of our roles in the improvement of clinical practice in the NHS has been the development and evaluation of nurse triage. We were interested in this because we were aware that, in a number of instances, when people phoned for a GP appointment they would be told to go to out of hours service or A&E. This was because the receptionist often had very little time to assess the needs of the patient and would err on the side of caution, feeling that if they did not know the patient well, they could not afford to miss anything and would always advise a high level of care. This would then tie up a same day appointment when this was not necessary. Often the receptionist was doing this because the patient had concerning symptoms and there was no other opportunity for obtaining medical advice that day. In this instance, sending the patient to an acute care service had potential to waste NHS resources or in a worse case scenario, the patient may feel the need to self-refer to casual care unsafely. At the time of this telephone conversation it’s likely that had the patient seen the GP they may have avoided the acute care visit, but there was no way to convey this to the GP and no guarantee of a same day appointment with the GP later that day. This project was a complex intervention but is working with the very simple premise of trying to obtain the most appropriate level of care for a patient with a GP appointment postponed to 2/3 Rio. 20/3/20.take place and it will be difficult to determine the most appropriate study design and analysis technique. However, irrespective of any trial or simulation modelling, we feel that understanding with detail what led to these patients making an appointment for a acute service, can best be answered using case study technique. This may include further rationale as to why the GP appointment was postponed, who the patient wished to see and when.

3. Steps in Conducting a Case Study

In completing the other steps in the case study, the researcher may cut the scope of the study down or add further questions or comparisons to the case, all with a view to meeting the aims. This process is hosted on the design structure so that it is easy to make iterative changes to the study plan as the study develops.

The first step for a case study is to define the aims of the study, which in turn determine the specifications for data collection and data analysis. A case study is usually designed to meet the aims or the hypotheses of the study. A good case study should always make clear which information is factual description and which is an inference or the opinion of the researcher.

The number of stages for a case study can be a subjective or an objective one. We therefore distinguish between exploratory (or pilot), descriptive, and explanatory case studies (Stake 1978, Yin 1984). These different forms of case study can be used in their own right, or can be used in conjunction with each other. These differences help inform the choice of methods. Retrieving data is much more focused in objective studies, in which the researcher is often conducting tests and/or measurements. This is not to say that data cannot be obtained quite easily from an exploratory study. Frequently, researchers will use several methods in all different forms of case study, but they will use the other methods in a more subsidiary manner.

4. Examples of Successful Case Studies

Recently having completed the redesign of the streaming media review site Soundstage.com, Michael the SEO worked with the site owner to overhaul the current marketing strategy by installing a new plan to promote specific best-selling articles instead of the website as a whole. Using reports in Excel format, Atomz type and click information was successfully shared with the client and helped to make this decision of changing the way the site is promoted based on past data.

The first actionable insights came from a report that pointed out the low acceptance and success of certain pages even though they were being trafficked through AdWords. This eventually led to deeper analysis into comparing how search engine traffic compared with AdWords traffic, and the Type by Tier reports allowed staff to quickly identify the success of AdWords traffic compared to organic traffic to the same page. AdWords traffic to a poor performing landing page could easily be fixed with minor adjustments, but landing traffic would necessitate an entire reorganization of the page. Going forward, Yahoo would be able to utilize this tool in various capacities to determine the success of certain pages and compare organic traffic with search marketing traffic to the same page.

Yahoo had business and technical requirements that needed to be met. With a comprehensive understanding of their needs, Atomz enterprise search and information management solutions provided Yahoo with tools to effectively manage both search marketing initiatives and the search experience on their clients’ sites.

Yahoo (Overture) Yahoo is a very successful search engine and internet company. The Overture division of Yahoo offers a paid listing to advertisers to appear at the top of search results. Yahoo contacted Bid Management looking for a tool or service that would help them manage their paid search listings for their clients.

Case studies are an extremely effective form of marketing that you can use to help promote your product. Case studies take an existing customer and explore how they utilize your product to help them achieve their business goals. This article focuses on the successful case studies as an example. If a company has ever had a successful case study that resulted in a lot of new customers, it is more than likely that the customer is still using the same product today. Let’s take a look at some of the case studies of our biggest customers and how they have benefited from using our product.

5. Conclusion: Leveraging Case Studies for Success

Organizations are turning to case studies for the same reasons students do; whether to research and learn about a subject, to support their belief in a thesis, or to gain in-depth knowledge. Our findings in this article support the claim that case studies are of extreme value to organizations and provide a flexible and valuable data collection tool. The article offers clear evidence of the usefulness of case studies and the other articles in this issue corroborate our findings. Flyvbjerg (2005) echoes our sentiments when he writes “A well-constructed case…is the ideal research design in the search for understanding cause and effect.” The flexibility of case study research to provide a more in-depth, holistic approach to understanding and explaining the intricacies of everyday life cannot be contested. There are a multitude of methods and data collection techniques in existence today which provide both qualitative and quantitative researchers with a plethora of tools to choose from. At their most basic level, though, case studies can be conducted using just about any of these. Whether the aim is to gain a better understanding of a particular aspect that is too difficult to measure in a controlled experiment, to understand a process in more detail, to learn more about an experiential instance, or to investigate causal relationships between variables; case studies provide a unique and valuable way of data collection. It is for this reason that case study is a go-to method for researchers aiming to publish. There are an innumerable amount of instances in which case studies have contributed to the creation of new theories, evaluation or challenging of an existing theory, illustrating a causal relationship that previously went unexplained, or the setting light on a phenomenon that is unique in itself. This is an undeniable attribute of case studies. Ihre (2006) states that “where case-study research comes into its own is in enabling us to capture phenomena and processes that occur over time.” Postgraduate and even undergraduate research students are no stranger to the concept of case studies. Often their objective is to learn more on a subject and case study research provides an affordable means to do so. A published case study is the ultimate goal. Whether it is to show the theoretical knowledge gleaned from an education through application, or to contribute new knowledge to a said discipline. Thus case study research and the ability to publish case studies are an important tool for the student of any level and a rewarding method of data collection for the researcher.