Case Study
A case study is an in-depth evaluation of a person, group or event.
Updated: November 3, 2023
A case study is an in-depth evaluation of a person, group or event. You should learn as much as possible about the group, event, or individual when conducting a case study. Practically every aspect of the life of subject and history is analyzed during the study to find patterns and causes of behavior.
Various fields including social work, political science, education, medicine, and psychology take part in case studies. These studies are also referred as powerful business tools and serve as research methodologies to tell a story by examining customers and their behavior. A business or marketing case study can help build a successful partnership, sometimes between a brand and a client.
Marketing analytics software are generally used to analyze the data and discover actionable insights. Collective, Descriptive, Exploratory, Explanatory, Intrinsic, and Instrumental are different types of case studies available to use to uncover data.
Case studies are used by business that looks for a successful partnership, typically between a brand and a client, in psychology to examine human behavior and focus on a particular subject, in research to observe industries that need specialized research, like education, social work, and healthcare.
Selecting a case, building a framework, collecting data and describing and analyzing the case are basic elements of conducting a case study.
Types of case studies
- Illustrative Case Studies: Provide a detailed overview of a particular subject or situation.
- Exploratory Case Studies: Investigate an event or phenomenon with little prior research available.
- Cumulative Case Studies: Compile information from several case studies for broader analysis.
- Critical Instance Case Studies: Examine specific cases to gain insights into general issues or trends.
- Program Implementation Case Studies: Focus on the implementation and outcomes of specific programs.
- Narrative Case Studies: Tell a detailed story about an event, providing context and analysis.
- Intrinsic Case Studies: Study a case that is of interest in and of itself.
- Instrumental Case Studies: Use the case as a means to understand a broader issue.
- Collective Case Studies: Examine multiple cases as a group to identify patterns or themes.
- Longitudinal Case Studies: Study a case over an extended period to understand changes and developments.
