A case study investigates a bounded case in its context. Define what the case is, the question it addresses and the evidence needed before collecting data. Explain how you will analyse the material and what your conclusions can support. A description of an organisation alone does not establish a persuasive case study design.
What counts as the case?
A case might be a particular programme, organisational process or service during a defined period. Each interviewee is not automatically a separate case. State your unit of analysis and the boundaries relevant to your question. SAGE’s companion site for Robert Yin introduces one methodological tradition; other case study approaches also exist.
A case study can use qualitative evidence, numerical records or both. The design is not determined solely by having interviewed someone. Choose an approach that explains how the context will inform your answer.
How do you define a feasible case?
Write one sentence naming the unit, setting and period. State what is included and excluded, and check access before promising particular evidence.
Hypothetical plan, not completed research: examine the organisation of consultations in one university support centre during one semester. Ask how that centre organises support for first-year students who have paid employment. Other centres and semesters are outside the proposed case unless the design explicitly includes them.
What evidence would this example need?
Compare appointment schedules and booking rules, voluntary interviews with students who have relevant experience, and authorised documents or staff accounts. Each source should answer a question: what is offered, how it is experienced and how organisational decisions are explained.
Check permissions and minimise personal data. An administrative record should not be used merely because somebody informally shared it. Aggregated information may be sufficient, depending on the question and institutional requirements.
How does analysis go beyond description?
Specify how each evidence source will be examined. Interviews might use a justified thematic approach, while documents and numerical records may require other procedures. Keep a traceable connection between each claim and the extract, document or calculation supporting it.
Compare agreements and contradictions. A difference between advertised availability and a student’s experience can be analytically important. Do not remove inconvenient evidence to make the account uniform. The SAGE methods overview discusses differing approaches to case study methodology.
How should you structure the chapter?
Present the question and selection rationale, boundaries and context, evidence sources, collection and analysis, findings with evidence, and discussion of limitations. Adapt headings to your department. Include relevant researcher positioning, such as working in the organisation studied. A lengthy organisational history should serve the analysis rather than replace it.
What can one case support?
One case is not automatically a representative sample of all organisations. It is also misleading to dismiss every possibility of wider learning from a case; Flyvbjerg examines this misconception. Explain how your account relates to theory and which conditions matter when considering another setting.
Distinguish participants’ explanations from demonstrated causal effects. Before starting, discuss the question, access, analysis and ethics with your supervisor. Replacing the centre’s name may not anonymise a distinctive situation. Use the worksheet to plan these decisions, not as a substitute for methodological reading.
FAQ
Is case study research always qualitative?
No. A justified design can use qualitative, numerical or combined evidence.
Does each interviewee form a separate case?
Not automatically. Define the case and unit of analysis from your question.
Is an organisation description enough?
Connect context to a question, evidence, analysis and defensible conclusions.
Must I copy another study’s interview count?
No. Justify scope through your design, evidence needs and analytical purpose.
Downloadable worksheet
Related guides
- Thematic Analysis of Interviews: From Transcripts to Codes and Themes
- Dissertation Aims and Objectives: How to Write Them with Examples
- Tables and Figures in a Dissertation: Titles, Sources and Interpretation
- Qualitative or Quantitative Research: Choosing a Design for Your Dissertation
- Research Methodology in Your Thesis: Methods, Structure and Common Mistakes