How to Write a Good Case Study

What is a case study?

That is the analysis of the situation. The main aim of such paper is to illustrate the connection between the theory and practice. It induces critical thinking and mental ability. If to put the words into the shell that is the academic paper that requires interesting topic, logical content flow, and informative conclusion. In order to create the winning case study you should be aware of the topic; moreover, you should have the big “luggage” of facts.

Case study report is an integral part of the paper. There is a magic formula of it, which definitely will fall on a student’s eye. The magic formula for your successful paper writing is CCC.

C – clear (use simple sentences, avoid the compound ones).
C – concise (use reasoned sentences, try to avoid too much description. Don’t waste your paper on the long attraction).
C – captivating (the main thing is to grab and save reader’s attention).

How to write a student case study?

We have no intention to annoy you that is why we gathered only important and up to date facts to inform you about the way to write such type of paper. Hope everything will be clear for you. Surfing the Internet, you can come across various manuals and guidelines that reveal the essence of that type of paper. Nevertheless, our article is devoted to not the theoretical issues but practical. We aim to show you the basic steps of writing that will help you make the case study perfect.

As a type of academic paper, the case study has the typical three components structure. Of course, it may include the abstract and thesis. You have to follow the rules of formatting to submit the professional paper.

First of all, your task is to collect the information that can serve as the basis for the investigation. To apply it on practice you should do global research and consult with the supervisor as he/she can give you some pieces of essential advice.

We induce you to use only credible source and proved data. Get rid of some assumption; work with the relevant facts.

The topic of your paper should be interesting for you. It is much more fascinating to discover the issue that meets your hobby, for instance. As a rule, students accept the topic that the professor advised. Be creative and suggest your issue that deserves to be investigated.

Case study analysis. Case study examples

Before writing up a case study, it’s recommended to make case study analysis. To make it right, you need to follow simple steps. Below you can see how to write analysis paper:

1. Think about the topic. Your duty is to pick the topic that is interesting, appropriate for that type of paper and can be under the discus. A case study requires some themes from the nursing field and the medicine, and here you can submit the facts and prove them with the credible examples.

2. Outline the possible statements. It is recommended to write the plan and think about the causes and consequences of the controversial issues.

Example (N.B. in these examples, the patient diagnosis is a schizoaffective disorder).

3. Developing an introduction.

Have you heard about the introduction? An introduction is the beginning of the case study that comprises several sentences that summarise the main issue that will be discussed in the main body. In the introduction, you can include some facts about the scientists that contributed to that sphere.

Example J.A., a 35-year-old sanitation worker, was brought to the emergency department by her sister after being found in her home repeating “my neighbours are trying to kill me.” J.A. stated that she often hears voices and sees people who tell her to kill herself. In the emergency department, J.A. was assessed and comforted. Her hygiene had been deteriorating, and her teeth were discoloured and falling out. Her sister helped with the exam and stated that J.A. “had not shown up for work and would not answer her phone. I had to break into her house to get to her”.

4. Add some extra information about the historical background or other aspects that will make the case study more interesting.

In connection with the fact that you the main creator of the masterpiece, you can make the structure diverse and content rich. You can add some facts about the way of treatment and the history of the medicine. That will attract the target audience and make the paper informative.
Example J.A. has a history of schizoaffective disorder. She discontinued her medications three weeks ago. According to a study performed in 2002, encouraging medication adherence early in the course of schizoaffective disorder will help the patient to continue to take the medication long term (Robinson et al. 2002).

5. Make the structure clear and logical. You can start with the wide theme and slowly go to the narrower.
Example J.A.’s mother was diagnosed with depression when she was forty years old and committed suicide ten years after.

APA format

It’s highly recommended by professional to write a case study in APA format. The style of the APA was developed by the American Psychological Association. Today, this is one of the most common formats for the design of scientific and research papers, especially in the fields of psychology, sociology, business, mathematics, economics, nursing, as well as justice and law. Immediately to apprehend all the requirements of the APA is rather difficult, but with the help of the tips below you can easily prepare a publication in the style of APA:

1. Don’t hurry! Put all your thoughts together and take your time.
2. Use footnotes for long explanations. The footnote is inserted immediately after the corresponding word/sentence in the text. The footnotes section is inserted at the end of the publication.
3. Decide what the main issues of the introduction and conclusion are.
4. Do not forget to highlight the problem that is central to the case study.
5. The crucial statements from the method section can serve as the winning proves.
6. Show the way hoe you will achieve the goal.
7. Rewrite the main results and submit them.
8. Avoid the new information and unknown abbreviations.
9. Try to make the content flow logical and consistent.
10. Each point of the paper should describe the previous one.
11. Check if the abstract is written according to all requirements.

There are several revision instructions for writing the case study. Everything is changing from time to time, so you need to use the latest edition to make it conform to the current standards. In the programs Microsoft Word, WordPerfect and EasyOffice there is the possibility of automatic formatting of bibliographies, footnotes, and citations in accordance with the requirements of the APA. If there is no confidence in the availability of built-in templates, it is better not to take risks and to format the text manually.

Formatting in the style of APA provides many technical details: font size, line spacing, margins, headers. To get the best estimate for the design of the work, you must fulfil all these requirements:

- Use a 12-point serif font (for example, Times New Roman) for the body paragraphs. Use a sans-serif font (for example, Arial) for headings and signatures of illustrations.
- Use a double interval for all material, including the main text, headers, footers, quotations, a list of literature and the signatures of the illustrations.
- Set the first line of each paragraph to an indentation of 1.27 cm (1/2 inch).
- Align the text to the left, leaving the right margin "jagged."

Each page should be numbered in a certain order, each chapter or section begins with a new page. Before posting a publication, all pages should be numbered sequentially, beginning with page 1:

• Page 1 is the title page.
• Page 2 - the abstract of your work.
• Page 3 - the beginning of the main text.

The list of publications begins with a new page after the main text. Tables are placed on the list of literature; each table begins with a new page. Illustrations are placed after the tables, each illustration on a separate page. Each application starts with a new page.

Check your work for errors. While doing the work, watch for several important points: logicality and clarity of presentation, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. When all the requirements of the APA are met together, review the text of the work for several times. During each check, pay attention to all the important points. Take off some tension by asking a friend to check your work for punctuation, spelling, and grammar. This will allow you to focus on the formatting and content of the work. Now you know how to write up a case study.

Cite this Page

How to Write a Good Case Study. (2018, May 11). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/write-a-case-study/

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