How to analyze a case study
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Transcript of 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