how to analyze a case study

What is a CASE??

Case

Imitates or stimulates a real situation.

Verbal representation of reality

Puts the reader in the role of a participant

Unit of analysis varies enormously from an individual to a department, a company, an industry, country or the world

myths….

Cases are stories with knowledge embedded in them that students have previously received through text, expert or both

Case is a container of truth

Case analysis is the process of finding the correct answer

Case discussion is an opportunity to tell the instructor that the student has found the right answer

Purpose of a case

To represent reality

To convey a situation with all its currents and rough edges

To shift the learning process from authority and officially sanctioned truth to unease of ambiguity and multiple meanings

To develop inference making as a primary skill

Characteristics of case

Presents significant business issue or issues

Has sufficient information on which conclusion can be based

No stated conclusions

Case methods are heuristic

Complicating properties of a case

Information that includes noise

Unstated information that must be inferred

Non-linear structure in which relevant information is scattered

Often disguised or left to inference

Role of student in a case

Construct conclusions from information in the text

Filter out irrelevant or low-value portions

Furnish missing information through inferences

Associate evidences from different parts and integrate into a conclusion

How to analyze a case

Analysis=origin=Greek word=dissolving

to break something into its constituent parts

to study the relationships of the parts to the whole

Case Analysis

THINKING not READING is the key

Reading is never the primary source of case analysis

As you read, you ask questions about the content

You seek for answers from the case itself

As you find partial or full answers, you think about how they relate to the big picture

Types of case situations

Problems

Decisions

Evaluations

Rules

Problem case

Something important has happened and we don’t know why it did

Analysis should begin with a problem definition

Work out an explanation of the problem by linking the outcome or performance to its root cause

Decision case

Many cases are organized around an explicit decision

Analyzing them requires:

Decision options

Decision criteria

Decision evidence

The goal is to determine the decision that creates the best fit between the available evidence and the criteria

Evaluation case

Express the judgment about the worth value or effectiveness of a performance, act or outcome

Finally the outcome can be the subject of an assessment

Evaluation assesses worth, value or effectiveness

Evaluation expresses the best fit between the evidence and the criteria

Rules case

Quantitative method

For this type you need to know:

The type of information needed

The appropriate rule to furnish the same

The correct way to apply the rule

The data necessary to execute the rule

The scope of such a case is very narrow, useful only in specific sets of circumstances but very productive in them

Case analysis as a process

The key word is ACTIVE READING

Interrogative and purposeful

Iterative

Three concepts contribute to active reading:

A goal

A point of view

A hypothesis

Goal of analysis

Information familiarization

To infer conclusion

Justification of your conclusion through evidence

You have thought about other possible conclusions and why yours is preferable to them

Point of view of analysis

Adopt the point of view of the “protagonist”

Put yourself in her shoes

Ask ,”why is the person in this dilemma”??

Hypothesis of analysis

One of the most useful tool for resolving the protagonist’s dilemma is a hypothesis

Hypothesis= a tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts and can be tested by further investigation

Cases don’t allow just any hypothesis

The available evidence in the case sets the rational limit on the range.

Description of process

The process has five phases:

Situation

Questions

Hypothesis

Proof and action

alternatives

situation

The most difficult part seems to be the beginning

Start by asking: what is the situation?

Bridge the gap between no knowledge and knowledge enough to form an hypothesis.

Usually reading the first and the last section is sufficient.

questions

What do I need to know about the situation?

This requires further study-content inventory

Build a map of useful contents

Scan the sections and exhibits

Capture any thought, record and any new questions

hypothesis

Most important phase of work

For problem cases, think about causes and find if they exist in the case

For quantitative evidence, find which is most relevant else formulate one

For protagonist, consider whether she is the potential cause, how she contributes to the problem

hypothesis….

For decision cases-review the criteria

Review decision options

Apply criterion that seems to identify the most evidence

Investigate the strongest decision options

hypothesis…

For evaluation cases-review the criteria

What are the terms of evaluation

If any preference, what are the reasons

Taking notes help you organize and remember information, avoid marker pens, instead use pencil and pens

Take a short break, come back and look again

proof and action

Remember, you want to prove something and look for something to prove

Assess evidence and look more if something is missing

Think in practical real world and not ideal world terms

Think about tangible actions and write them down

alternatives

May sound paradoxical but here you question your own hypothesis, its strengths and weaknesses

And what is the strongest alternative to it.

What if hypothesis is wrong-through mistakes we learn more about the thought process called CASE ANALYSIS

Case Discussion

Aren’t opportunities to recite knowledge learned elsewhere

Its an opportunity to use knowledge and intuition to generate new knowledge

Take responsibility of your view of the case, develop an argument and listen to others who disagree with you

Arguments enhance learning

Case discussion…

Collaboration-is what the case method is all about

It is a complete reversal of the lecture model

Everybody works a team with instructor as a coach

Classroom risks

Language barrier

Gender differences

Unrelated educational background

Intellectual fear

Remember, you share any or all these fears with many others

Reducing risk-the wrong way

Canned comments

Speeches

Delay and assess

Reducing risk-the right way

Speak up early

Be prepared-thorough yet flexible

Listening is participating

Remember how to laugh

Be patient with yourself

Reflect on what you learn

Understand the social factor