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• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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All You Wanted to Know About How to Write a Case Study

What do you study in your college? If you are a psychology, sociology, or anthropology student, we bet you might be familiar with what a case study is. This research method is used to study a certain person, group, or situation. In this guide from our dissertation writing service , you will learn how to write a case study professionally, from researching to citing sources properly. Also, we will explore different types of case studies and show you examples — so that you won’t have any other questions left.

What Is a Case Study?

A case study is a subcategory of research design which investigates problems and offers solutions. Case studies can range from academic research studies to corporate promotional tools trying to sell an idea—their scope is quite vast.

What Is the Difference Between a Research Paper and a Case Study?

While research papers turn the reader’s attention to a certain problem, case studies go even further. Case study guidelines require students to pay attention to details, examining issues closely and in-depth using different research methods. For example, case studies may be used to examine court cases if you study Law, or a patient's health history if you study Medicine. Case studies are also used in Marketing, which are thorough, empirically supported analysis of a good or service's performance. Well-designed case studies can be valuable for prospective customers as they can identify and solve the potential customers pain point.

Case studies involve a lot of storytelling – they usually examine particular cases for a person or a group of people. This method of research is very helpful, as it is very practical and can give a lot of hands-on information. Most commonly, the length of the case study is about 500-900 words, which is much less than the length of an average research paper.

The structure of a case study is very similar to storytelling. It has a protagonist or main character, which in your case is actually a problem you are trying to solve. You can use the system of 3 Acts to make it a compelling story. It should have an introduction, rising action, a climax where transformation occurs, falling action, and a solution.

Here is a rough formula for you to use in your case study:

Problem (Act I): > Solution (Act II) > Result (Act III) > Conclusion.

Types of Case Studies

The purpose of a case study is to provide detailed reports on an event, an institution, a place, future customers, or pretty much anything. There are a few common types of case study, but the type depends on the topic. The following are the most common domains where case studies are needed:

• Historical case studies are great to learn from. Historical events have a multitude of source info offering different perspectives. There are always modern parallels where these perspectives can be applied, compared, and thoroughly analyzed.
• Problem-oriented case studies are usually used for solving problems. These are often assigned as theoretical situations where you need to immerse yourself in the situation to examine it. Imagine you’re working for a startup and you’ve just noticed a significant flaw in your product’s design. Before taking it to the senior manager, you want to do a comprehensive study on the issue and provide solutions. On a greater scale, problem-oriented case studies are a vital part of relevant socio-economic discussions.
• Cumulative case studies collect information and offer comparisons. In business, case studies are often used to tell people about the value of a product.
• Critical case studies explore the causes and effects of a certain case.
• Illustrative case studies describe certain events, investigating outcomes and lessons learned.

Need a compelling case study? EssayPro has got you covered. Our experts are ready to provide you with detailed, insightful case studies that capture the essence of real-world scenarios. Elevate your academic work with our professional assistance.

Case Study Format

The case study format is typically made up of eight parts:

• Executive Summary. Explain what you will examine in the case study. Write an overview of the field you’re researching. Make a thesis statement and sum up the results of your observation in a maximum of 2 sentences.
• Background. Provide background information and the most relevant facts. Isolate the issues.
• Case Evaluation. Isolate the sections of the study you want to focus on. In it, explain why something is working or is not working.
• Proposed Solutions. Offer realistic ways to solve what isn’t working or how to improve its current condition. Explain why these solutions work by offering testable evidence.
• Conclusion. Summarize the main points from the case evaluations and proposed solutions. 6. Recommendations. Talk about the strategy that you should choose. Explain why this choice is the most appropriate.
• Implementation. Explain how to put the specific strategies into action.
• References. Provide all the citations.

How to Write a Case Study

Let's discover how to write a case study.

Setting Up the Research

When writing a case study, remember that research should always come first. Reading many different sources and analyzing other points of view will help you come up with more creative solutions. You can also conduct an actual interview to thoroughly investigate the customer story that you'll need for your case study. Including all of the necessary research, writing a case study may take some time. The research process involves doing the following:

• Define your objective. Explain the reason why you’re presenting your subject. Figure out where you will feature your case study; whether it is written, on video, shown as an infographic, streamed as a podcast, etc.
• Determine who will be the right candidate for your case study. Get permission, quotes, and other features that will make your case study effective. Get in touch with your candidate to see if they approve of being part of your work. Study that candidate’s situation and note down what caused it.
• Identify which various consequences could result from the situation. Follow these guidelines on how to start a case study: surf the net to find some general information you might find useful.
• Make a list of credible sources and examine them. Seek out important facts and highlight problems. Always write down your ideas and make sure to brainstorm.
• Focus on several key issues – why they exist, and how they impact your research subject. Think of several unique solutions. Draw from class discussions, readings, and personal experience. When writing a case study, focus on the best solution and explore it in depth. After having all your research in place, writing a case study will be easy. You may first want to check the rubric and criteria of your assignment for the correct case study structure.

Read Also: 'CREDIBLE SOURCES: WHAT ARE THEY?'

Although your instructor might be looking at slightly different criteria, every case study rubric essentially has the same standards. Your professor will want you to exhibit 8 different outcomes:

• Correctly identify the concepts, theories, and practices in the discipline.
• Identify the relevant theories and principles associated with the particular study.
• Evaluate legal and ethical principles and apply them to your decision-making.
• Recognize the global importance and contribution of your case.
• Construct a coherent summary and explanation of the study.
• Demonstrate analytical and critical-thinking skills.
• Explain the interrelationships between the environment and nature.
• Integrate theory and practice of the discipline within the analysis.

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Case Study Outline

Let's look at the structure of an outline based on the issue of the alcoholic addiction of 30 people.

Introduction

• Statement of the issue: Alcoholism is a disease rather than a weakness of character.
• Presentation of the problem: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there.
• Explanation of the terms: In the past, alcoholism was commonly referred to as alcohol dependence or alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is now the more severe stage of this addiction in the disorder spectrum.
• Hypotheses: Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs.
• Importance of your story: How the information you present can help people with their addictions.
• Background of the story: Include an explanation of why you chose this topic.
• Presentation of analysis and data: Describe the criteria for choosing 30 candidates, the structure of the interview, and the outcomes.
• Strong argument 1: ex. X% of candidates dealing with anxiety and depression...
• Strong argument 2: ex. X amount of people started drinking by their mid-teens.
• Strong argument 3: ex. X% of respondents’ parents had issues with alcohol.
• Concluding statement: I have researched if alcoholism is a disease and found out that…
• Recommendations: Ways and actions for preventing alcohol use.

Writing a Case Study Draft

After you’ve done your case study research and written the outline, it’s time to focus on the draft. In a draft, you have to develop and write your case study by using: the data which you collected throughout the research, interviews, and the analysis processes that were undertaken. Follow these rules for the draft:

• Your draft should contain at least 4 sections: an introduction; a body where you should include background information, an explanation of why you decided to do this case study, and a presentation of your main findings; a conclusion where you present data; and references.
• In the introduction, you should set the pace very clearly. You can even raise a question or quote someone you interviewed in the research phase. It must provide adequate background information on the topic. The background may include analyses of previous studies on your topic. Include the aim of your case here as well. Think of it as a thesis statement. The aim must describe the purpose of your work—presenting the issues that you want to tackle. Include background information, such as photos or videos you used when doing the research.
• Describe your unique research process, whether it was through interviews, observations, academic journals, etc. The next point includes providing the results of your research. Tell the audience what you found out. Why is this important, and what could be learned from it? Discuss the real implications of the problem and its significance in the world.
• Include quotes and data (such as findings, percentages, and awards). This will add a personal touch and better credibility to the case you present. Explain what results you find during your interviews in regards to the problem and how it developed. Also, write about solutions which have already been proposed by other people who have already written about this case.
• At the end of your case study, you should offer possible solutions, but don’t worry about solving them yourself.

Use Data to Illustrate Key Points in Your Case Study

Even though your case study is a story, it should be based on evidence. Use as much data as possible to illustrate your point. Without the right data, your case study may appear weak and the readers may not be able to relate to your issue as much as they should. Let's see the examples from essay writing service :

‍ With data: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there. Without data: A lot of people suffer from alcoholism in the United States.

Try to include as many credible sources as possible. You may have terms or sources that could be hard for other cultures to understand. If this is the case, you should include them in the appendix or Notes for the Instructor or Professor.

Finalizing the Draft: Checklist

After you finish drafting your case study, polish it up by answering these ‘ask yourself’ questions and think about how to end your case study:

• Check that you follow the correct case study format, also in regards to text formatting.
• Check that your work is consistent with its referencing and citation style.
• Micro-editing — check for grammar and spelling issues.
• Macro-editing — does ‘the big picture’ come across to the reader? Is there enough raw data, such as real-life examples or personal experiences? Have you made your data collection process completely transparent? Does your analysis provide a clear conclusion, allowing for further research and practice?

Problems to avoid:

• Overgeneralization – Do not go into further research that deviates from the main problem.
• Failure to Document Limitations – Just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study, you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis.
• Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications – Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings.

How to Create a Title Page and Cite a Case Study

Let's see how to create an awesome title page.

Your title page depends on the prescribed citation format. The title page should include:

• A title that attracts some attention and describes your study
• The title should have the words “case study” in it
• The title should range between 5-9 words in length
• Your name and contact information
• Your finished paper should be only 500 to 1,500 words in length.With this type of assignment, write effectively and avoid fluff

Here is a template for the APA and MLA format title page:

There are some cases when you need to cite someone else's study in your own one – therefore, you need to master how to cite a case study. A case study is like a research paper when it comes to citations. You can cite it like you cite a book, depending on what style you need.

Citation Example in MLA ‍ Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing, 2008. Print.

Citation Example in APA ‍ Hill, L., Khanna, T., & Stecker, E. A. (2008). HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing.

Citation Example in Chicago Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies.

Case Study Examples

To give you an idea of a professional case study example, we gathered and linked some below.

Eastman Kodak Case Study

Case Study Example: Audi Trains Mexican Autoworkers in Germany

To conclude, a case study is one of the best methods of getting an overview of what happened to a person, a group, or a situation in practice. It allows you to have an in-depth glance at the real-life problems that businesses, healthcare industry, criminal justice, etc. may face. This insight helps us look at such situations in a different light. This is because we see scenarios that we otherwise would not, without necessarily being there. If you need custom essays , try our research paper writing services .

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Crafting a case study is not easy. You might want to write one of high quality, but you don’t have the time or expertise. If you’re having trouble with your case study, help with essay request - we'll help. EssayPro writers have read and written countless case studies and are experts in endless disciplines. Request essay writing, editing, or proofreading assistance from our custom case study writing service , and all of your worries will be gone.

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Related Articles

Assessment by Case Studies and Scenarios

Case studies depict real-life situations in which problems need to be solved. Scenario-based teaching may be similar to case studies, or may be oriented toward developing communication or teamwork skills. Both case studies and scenarios are commonly used methods of problem-based learning. Typically, using these methods, teachers aim to develop student reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making skills. Case studies differ from role plays in that in the former, learning takes place largely through discussion and analysis, whereas in the latter, students assume a character or role and "act out" what that character would do in the scenario (The Teaching Gateway page Assessing with Role Plays and Simulations contains more information on using role plays for assessments.) Like role plays and simulations, case studies and scenarios aim for authenticity:  allowing students to get a sense of the situations they might face in the real world upon graduation. Students can see how their learning and skills can be applied in a real-world situation, without the pressure of being actually involved in that situation with the associated constraints on research, discussion and reflection time.

Case studies and scenarios are particularly useful when they present situations are complex and solutions are uncertain. Ideally, their complexity requires group members to draw from and share their experiences, work together, and learn by doing to understand and help solve the case-study problem.

You can present a single case to several groups in a class and require each group to offer its solutions, or you can give a different case to each group or individual.

Case studies' effectiveness comes from their abiliity to:

• engage students in research and reflective discussion
• encourage clinical and professional reasoning in a safe environment
• encourage higher-order thinking
• facilitate creative problem solving and the application of different problem-solving theories without risk to third parties or projects
• allow students to develop realistic solutions to complex problems
• develop students' ability to identify and distinguish between critical and extraneous factors
• enable students to apply previously acquired skills
• allow students to learn from one another
• provide an effective simulated learning environment
• encourage practical reasoning
• allow you to assess individuals or teams.

You can use case studies to bridge the gap between teacher-centred lectures and pure problem-based learning. They leave room for you to guide students directly, while the scenarios themselves suggest how students should operate, and provide parameters for their work.

Although some students have reported greater satisfaction with simulations as learning tools than with case studies (Maamari & El-Nakla, 2023), case studies generally require less up-front preparation time, and can be less intimidating for students.

To make case studies an effective form of assessment, instructors and tutors need to be familiar with their use in both teaching and assessment. This applies whether teachers are developing the case studies for their courses themselves or using those developed by others.

Case studies reach their highest effectiveness as a teaching and assessment tool when they are authentic; ensuring that case studies accurately reflect the circumstances in which a student will eventually be practising professionally can require a considerable amount of research, as well as the potential involvement of industry professionals.

Students may need scaffolding as they learn how to problem-solve in the context of case studies; using case studies as low-stakes, formative assessments can prepare them for summative assessment by case study at the end of the course.

Learning outcomes, course outlines, and marking rubrics need to be entirely clear about how case studies will be used in the course and how students will be expected to demonstrate their learning through thee way they analyse and problem-solve in the context of case studies.

Assessment preparation

Typically, the product assessed after case study or scenario work is a verbal presentation or a written submission. Decide who will take part in the assessment: the tutor, an industry specialist, a panel, peer groups or students themselves by self-evaluation? Choose whether to give a class or group mark or to assess individual performance; and whether to assess the product yourself or have it assessed by peers.

Assessment strategies

You can assess students’ interaction with other members of a group by asking open-ended questions, and setting tasks that require teamwork and sharing resources.

Assess the process of analysis

Case studies allow you to assess a student’s demonstration of deeper understanding and cognitive skills as they address the case.  These skills include, for example:

• identification of a problem
• hypotheses generation
• construction of an enquiry plan
• interpretation of findings
• investigation of results collected for evidence to refine a hypothesis and construction of a management plan.

During the problem-solving process, you can also observe and evaluate:

• quality of research
• structural issues in written material
• organisation of arguments
• feasibility of solutions presented
• intra-group dynamics
• evidence of consideration of all case factors
• multiple resolutions of the same scenario issue.

Use a variety of questions in case analysis

The Questioning page discusses in detail various ways to use questions in teaching . If your students are using the Harvard Business School case study method for their analysis, use a range of question types to enable the class to move through the stages of analysis:

• clarification/information seeking ( What? )
• analysis/diagnosis ( Why? )
• conclusion/recommendation ( What now? )
• implementation ( How? ) and
• application/reflection ( So what? What does it mean to you?)

Use technology

Learning-management systems such as Moodle can help you track contributions to case discussions . You can assess students' interactions with other members of a group by viewing their responses to open-ended questions or observing their teamwork and sharing of resources as part of the discussion.  You can incorporate the use of various tools in these systems, or others such as Survey Monkey, into students' assessment of their peers, or of their group members' contribution to exploring and presenting case studies. You can also set this peer assessment up so that it takes place anonymously.

Assessing by Case Studies: UNSW examples

These videos show examples of how UNSW faculty have implemented case studies in their own courses.

• Boston University. Using Case Studies to Teach
• Columbia University. Case Method Teaching and Learning
• Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College. Starting Point: What is Investigative Case-Based Learning?

Maamari, B. E., & El-Nakla, D. (2023). From case studies to experiential learning. Is simulation an effective tool for student assessment? Arab Economic and Business Journal, 15(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.38039/2214-4625.1023

Merret, C. (2020). Using case studies and build projects as authentic assessments in cornerstone courses. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education , 50 (1), 20-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306419020913286

Porzecanski, A. L., Bravo, A., Groom, M. J., Dávalos, L. M., Bynum, N., Abraham, B. J., Cigliano, J. A., Griffiths, C., Stokes, D. L., Cawthorn, M., Fernandez, D. S., Freeman,  L., Leslie, T., Theodose, T., Vogler, D., & Sterling, E. J. (2021). Using case studies to improve the critical thinking skills of undergraduate conservation biology students. Case Studies in the Environment , 5 (1), 1536396. https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2021.1536396

• Teaching for learning
• Assessment Toolkit
• Digital Assessment at UNSW
• Designing Assessment
• Selecting Assessment Methods
• Selecting Assessment Technologies
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• Case Studies & Scenarios
• Oral Presentations
• Role Play & Simulation
• Grading & Giving Feedback
• Reviewing Assessment Quality
• Spotlight on Assessment
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Events & news

15.7 Evaluation: Presentation and Analysis of Case Study

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Revise writing to follow the genre conventions of case studies.
• Evaluate the effectiveness and quality of a case study report.

Case studies follow a structure of background and context , methods , findings , and analysis . Body paragraphs should have main points and concrete details. In addition, case studies are written in formal language with precise wording and with a specific purpose and audience (generally other professionals in the field) in mind. Case studies also adhere to the conventions of the discipline’s formatting guide ( APA Documentation and Format in this study). Compare your case study with the following rubric as a final check.

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What Is a Case Study?

Weighing the pros and cons of this method of research

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Cara Lustik is a fact-checker and copywriter.

Verywell / Colleen Tighe

• Pros and Cons

What Types of Case Studies Are Out There?

Where do you find data for a case study, how do i write a psychology case study.

A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.

The point of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.

While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, we got you—here are some rules of APA format to reference.  

At a Glance

A case study, or an in-depth study of a person, group, or event, can be a useful research tool when used wisely. In many cases, case studies are best used in situations where it would be difficult or impossible for you to conduct an experiment. They are helpful for looking at unique situations and allow researchers to gather a lot of˜ information about a specific individual or group of people. However, it's important to be cautious of any bias we draw from them as they are highly subjective.

What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies?

A case study can have its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.

One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study:

• Allows researchers to capture information on the 'how,' 'what,' and 'why,' of something that's implemented
• Gives researchers the chance to collect information on why one strategy might be chosen over another
• Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research

On the other hand, a case study can have some drawbacks:

• It cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
• Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
• It may not be scientifically rigorous
• It can lead to bias

Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they want to explore a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. Through their insights, researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies.

It's important to remember that the insights from case studies cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research.

Case Study Examples

There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of  Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include:

• Anna O : Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment.
• Phineas Gage : Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior.
• Genie : Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language learning was possible, even after missing critical periods for language development. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals.

Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse denied her the opportunity to learn a language at critical points in her development.

This is clearly not something researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce.

There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might use:

• Collective case studies : These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those who live there.
• Descriptive case studies : These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.
• Explanatory case studies : These   are often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur.
• Exploratory case studies : These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses .
• Instrumental case studies : These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.
• Intrinsic case studies : This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic case study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory.

The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously.

The type of case study that psychology researchers use depends on the unique characteristics of the situation and the case itself.

There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are:

• Archival records : Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records.
• Direct observation : This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting . While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.
• Documents : Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources.
• Interviews : Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions.
• Participant observation : When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation.
• Physical artifacts : Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject.

If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines you need to follow. If you are writing your case study for a professional publication, check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study.

Here is a general outline of what should be included in a case study.

Section 1: A Case History

This section will have the following structure and content:

Background information : The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses.

Description of the presenting problem : In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with.

Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported.

Your diagnosis : Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis.

Section 2: Treatment Plan

This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen.

• Cognitive behavioral approach : Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.
• Humanistic approach : Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy . Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful.
• Psychoanalytic approach : Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach.
• Pharmacological approach : If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments.

This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes.

When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research. 

In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies?

Need More Tips?

Here are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when formatting your case study:

• Never refer to the subject of your case study as "the client." Instead, use their name or a pseudonym.
• Read examples of case studies to gain an idea about the style and format.
• Remember to use APA format when citing references .

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach .  BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011;11:100.

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011 Jun 27;11:100. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-100

Gagnon, Yves-Chantal.  The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook . Canada, Chicago Review Press Incorporated DBA Independent Pub Group, 2010.

Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . United States, SAGE Publications, 2017.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Case studies

Case studies usually involve real-life situations and often take the form of a problem-based inquiry approach; in other words students are presented with a complex real life situation that they are asked to find a solution to. “The benefits of utilizing case studies in instruction include the way that cases model how to think professionally about real problems and situations, helping candidates to think productively about concrete experiences” (Kleinfeld, 1990 in Ulanoff, Fingon and Beltran, 2009). The case study method involves placing students in the role of decision-makers and asking them to address a challenge that may confront a company, non-profit organisation or government department. In the absence of a single straightforward answer students are expected to exchange ideas, consider possible theoretical explanations and data, and weigh up possible solutions. Based on this exchange and evaluation of mixed data they are expected to come up with a decision, and choose a solution to the particular challenge. Though case study learning and assessment may take many forms the common thread is that the case study involves a real-life situation and finding solutions is the focus of the assessment.

Advantages of case studies

• Enables students to apply their knowledge and skills to real life situations.
• Can be undertaken individually or as a group assessment.
• Generally designed to assess the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives (application, analysis and evaluation).
• Well adapted to multi- or inter-disciplinary learning.
• Calls on students to demonstrate a range of different skills such as the selection on information, analysis, decision-making problem-solving and presentation.
• In the case of a group-based approach students are given the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to collaborate and communicate effectively.
• Supports the development of a range of valuable employability skills which are likely to be attractive to employers and students alike.

Challenges of case studies

• Case studies can be used in time-constrained examinations but this method of assessment really lends itself better to a coursework approach.
• Can be a complex activity that involves negotiating a range of media that may be hard to contain in a controlled environment.
• It is important to have realistic expectations of what actually can be achieved.
• Planning and preparing for case study work can be time-consuming for teachers.

How students might experience case studies

There is some evidence to suggest that case studies increase students’ motivation. Students are often very interested in working on real life situations. It brings their learning alive and enables them not only to develop solutions to actual situations/problems but also to understand in new ways the valuable role that theory and relevant concepts can play as part of this process. In addition as part of their work on the case study they are clearly developing valuable transferable skills that they can take forward into the workplace and society at large. Students may not be used to this form of assessment so they will need clear guidance as to what is expected (length, format, main elements), a clear explanation of marking criteria as well as development in the different skills they will need to acquire in order to successfully complete the case study. These will in part depend on the nature of the case study - is data analysis involved?; where and how will students find relevant qualitative and quantitative data?; what is the appropriate way of citing and referencing?

Reliability, validity, fairness and inclusivity of case studies

Teaching and learning activities should be carefully designed to support the work on the case study or the development of the relevant skills and knowledge bases. From an inclusive design perspective case studies are an attractive form of learning and assessment.  Depending on the nature of the inquiry students may be given a degree of choice over their case study and thus be in a position to bring their different backgrounds and experience to bear. In any case, it is important to ensure that the chosen case studies are accessible to all students taking the course. In the case of first year students the teacher may want to provide all the relevant materials to the students. For more advanced students, they may be expected to do some research and to identify relevant supporting materials for the case study inquiry. Where group work is involved a number of options may be considered to ensure fairness. The students may complete some elements of both formative and summative work as a group as well as others individually. For example, students may complete various tasks or give a presentation on the case study as a group but write up part of the final case study individually. In addition, it is relatively common practice to ask students engaged in groupwork to write a short reflective piece discussing their experience of group work. Students can also be asked to rate their contribution and the contribution of other members of the group using one of a number of online group assessment tools such as WebPA and Teammates.

How to maintain and ensure rigour in case studies

Critical to ensuring rigour is having clarity about the different parts of the case study or, in the case of a single assessment task, the criteria against which the assessment will be marked; the weight that will be attached to different parts of the assignment, and the marking scheme.  Marking and moderation should follow departmental practice.

How to limit possible misconduct in case studies

Whether the students are working in groups or individually teachers can check that the work is the work of particular students by designing in opportunities to assess (formatively or summatively) work at several points in the assessment process. This can be done by asking students to present work in written or oral form – either by submitting assignment tasks via Moodle or making short presentations in class. In addition to serving as a check for misconduct this also provides an opportunity for teachers and peers to give constructive feedback on the development of the case study and as such constitutes good practice.

LSE examples

Daniel Ferreira discussed his use of case studies in teaching Master’s level Finance students for many years, and, starting in 2016/17 undergraduates with the introduction of the Finance department’s new BSc programme

http://lti.lse.ac.uk/lse-innovators/irene-papanicolas-healthy-collaboration/

Further resources

University of New South Wales, Sydney: Assessment by Case Studies and Scenarios https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessment-case-studies-and-scenarios

Assessment Resources at Hong Kong University: Types of Assessment Methods: Case Study http://ar.cetl.hku.hk/am_case_study.htm

Bonney, K.M. (2015) Case Study Teaching Method Improves Student Performance and Perceptions of Learning Gains.  Journal of Microbiological Education , 16(1): 21–28

Ulanoff, S.H., Fingon, J.C. and Beltrán, D. (2009) Using Case Studies To Assess Candidates’ Knowledge and Skills in a Graduate Reading Program,  Teacher Education Quarterly,  6(2): 125-142

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S. and Marshall, S. (1999)  A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education,  Routledge, UK

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• v.19(2); Spring 2021

Effective Use of Student-Created Case Studies as Assessment in an Undergraduate Neuroscience Course

Dianna m. bindelli.

1 Neuroscience Department, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI 53140

Shannon A.M. Kafura

Alyssa laci, nicole a. losurdo, denise r. cook-snyder.

2 Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee WI 53226

Case studies and student-led learning activities are both effective active learning methods for increasing student engagement, promoting student learning, and improving student performance. Here, we describe combining these instructional methods to use student-created case studies as assessment for an online neurovirology module in a neuroanatomy and physiology course. First, students learned about neurovirology in a flipped classroom format using free, open-access virology resources. Then, students used iterative writing practices to write an interrupted case study incorporating a patient narrative and primary literature data on the neurovirulent virus of their choice, which was graded as a writing assessment. Finally, students exchanged case studies with their peers, and both taught and completed the case studies as low-stakes assessment. Student performance and evaluations support the efficacy of case studies as assessment, where iterative writing improved student performance, and students reported increased knowledge and confidence in the corresponding learning objectives. Overall, we believe that using student-created case studies as assessment is a valuable, student-led extension of effective case study pedagogy, and has wide applicability to a variety of undergraduate courses.

It is well established that active learning increases student engagement, promotes student learning, and improves student performance compared to traditional lecture ( Armbruster et al., 2009 ; Haak et al., 2011 ; Freeman et al., 2014 ). Moreover, active learning is a critical component of inclusive pedagogy that is effective for all students, and decreases the achievement gap for persons excluded because of their ethnicity or race (PEERs; Haak et al., 2011 ; Ballen et al., 2017 ; Penner, 2018 ; Theobald et al., 2020 ; Asai, 2020 ). Frequent student-led learning activities are an important component of an active learning classroom, where students engage with course content and work collaboratively with their peers to increase their own and each other’s learning. Student-led learning techniques range from short, cooperative activities like think-pair-share and the jigsaw method ( Faust and Paulson, 1998 ; Lom, 2012 ; Lang, 2016 ), to full collaborative learning courses where students prepare and lead most classes ( Casteel and Bridges, 2007 ; Davidson and Major, 2014 ; Kurczek and Johnson, 2014 ). Case studies are also an effective active learning method that uses narratives to engage students in higher-level learning objectives within Bloom’s Taxonomy ( Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001 ; Handelsman et al., 2004 ; Herreid et al., 2012 ; Wiertelak et al., 2016 ). As one example, case studies have been incorporated into introductory and upper-level neuroscience courses to promote student analysis and evaluation of primary literature ( Cook-Snyder, 2017 ; Sawyer and Frenzel, 2018 ; Rollins, 2020 ). Typically, student-led learning activities and case studies are both used as in-class practice before a separate, larger assessment, like an exam testing similar content ( Freeman et al., 2014 ; Cook-Snyder, 2017 ; Sawyer and Frenzel, 2018 ). Here, we describe using the case study itself as the assessment, where students work collaboratively to write a case study that demonstrates and applies their neurovirology knowledge and requires analysis and evaluation of the primary literature. In turn, students lead their peers in discussion of their case to promote their own and each other’s learning.

As described here, we used student-created case studies as assessment in a four-week, online neurovirology module in an upper-level neuroanatomy and physiology course. Neurovirology is the interdisciplinary study of viruses that affect the central nervous system ( Nath and Berger, 2020 ) and students voted to learn more about neurovirology during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic in the spring 2020 semester. Accordingly, student-created case studies focused on neurovirulent viruses, or viruses that can cause disease of nervous tissue ( Racaniello, 2020a ). Students used iterative writing practices to write their case studies, which were graded as writing assignments. Then, students exchanged case studies with their peers, and both taught and completed the cases in small groups as low-stakes assessment. Student performance data and self-reported evaluations support the success of the neurovirology module and case study assignment in meeting the content and skills learning objectives listed below. Case studies are highly effective tools in undergraduate education ( Handelsman et al., 2004 ; Herreid et al., 2012 ; Wiertelak et al., 2016 ), and we believe that using student-created case studies as assessment is a valuable extension of established case study pedagogy.

Learning Objectives

Content objectives.

After this module, students should be able to:

• ○ Viral properties and classification
• ○ Viral pathogenesis, including infection and immune response
• ○ CNS barriers, including the blood-brain barrier
• ○ Mechanisms of neurotoxicity and neuronal death

Skills Objectives

Additionally, students will increase their skills in:

• Applying virology and neuroscience principles to neurovirulent viruses and neurologic disorders
• Using resources from the neurovirology module to learn more about virology
• Analyzing and evaluating primary literature
• Collaborating to write original case studies
• Leading peers in analysis and evaluation of case studies

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Neurovirology module.

The neurovirology module was developed for a one-semester, neuroanatomy and physiology lecture and laboratory course for junior and senior neuroscience majors at a small liberal arts college (Neuroscience 4100, Carthage College). Enrollment for the course is typically 25–30 students, with greater than 60% of students reporting clinically focused health care career goals. The most common career goals are physician (M.D. or D.O.), physician assistant, physical or occupational therapist, and clinical psychologist, consistent with the hypothesis that students believe a neuroscience major will better prepare them for health care careers ( Prichard, 2015 ; Ramos et al., 2016a , 2016b ).

The neurovirology module was developed as a substitution for in-person labs when remote instruction was implemented in the spring 2020 semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Student survey data was collected using Google Forms at the beginning of remote instruction, and 96% of students voted in favor of using lab time to learn more about virology and infectious disease, with an emphasis on neurovirology ( n = 26 enrolled students; 24/26 students for, 0/26 students against, 2/26 students abstained). Accordingly, the neurovirology module was administered over Zoom ( https://zoom.us/ ) during weekly 3-hour lab periods for a total of four weeks (Week 1 to Week 4; 12 hours total; see Supplementary Material Appendix A , Appendix B ). Students received instruction in using Zoom prior to the neurovirology module, including joining a Zoom class, providing verbal and non-verbal feedback to the instructor, and joining breakout rooms to work with peers.

The neurovirology module followed a flipped classroom format, in which students gained familiarity with neurovirology content before class, and used class time for active learning strategies ( Mazur, 2009 ; Brame, 2013 ). Appendix A provides details on before class readings, videos, and assignments, and in-class activites for the neurovirology module. Briefly, in Week 1, students learned basic principles of virology using recorded lectures and readings from a free, online, open-access virology course ( https://www.virology.ws/course/ ) and blog ( https://www.virology.ws/virology-101/ ) courtesy of Vincent Racaniello at Columbia University ( Racaniello, 2004 ; Racaniello, 2009a , 2009b , 2009c , 2009d , 2009e , 2009f , 2009g ; Racaniello, 2020a , 2020b , 2020c ). These materials were supplemented with textbook readings on the immune system ( Widmaier et al., 2014 ). Week 1 materials were chosen to provide students with enough background on viral properties, classification, and pathogenesis that they could apply their knowledge to neurovirulent viruses and neurologic disorders in Week 2. Accordingly, in Week 2, students read about central nervous system barriers in the course textbook ( Kandel et al., 2013 ), and watched a brief, recorded lecture summarizing major mechanisms of neurotoxicity and neuronal death ( Appendix A ; Fink and Cookson, 2005 ; Jellinger, 2010 ; Fan et al., 2017 ; full lecture available from the corresponding author by request). After completing these additional background readings, students read a neurovirology review article describing mechanisms of invasion and disease for specific neurovirulent viruses ( Swanson and McGavern, 2015 ).

Before class assignments for Week 1 and Week 2 included short, online comprehension quizzes, and collaborative “neurovirology dictionary” assignments, where students were responsible for adding new terms and definitions to create a shared “neurovirology dictionary” from the before class readings and videos ( Appendix A ). Both of these graded assignments incentivized student preparation before class and provided checks of student understanding, which are key elements of a flipped classroom ( Brame, 2013 ).

Week 1 and Week 2 class time used cooperative, student-led learning, where students worked together to complete questions based on the before class content ( Davidson and Major, 2014 ). Specifically, students were randomly assigned to groups of 3–4 using the breakout room function in Zoom. Each group was assigned a different set of instructor-created questions to discuss and complete in a shared Google Slides document, and the instructor circulated between groups to check understanding. Then, each group presented their answers to the full class. This format provided structure for students to create their own study guide summarizing neurovirology content, and provided additional practice in cooperative, student-led learning ( Davidson and Major, 2014 ).

Case Study Assignment

Weeks 3–4 of the neurovirology module were used for the case study assignment. Broadly defined, case studies use narratives to engage students and meet learning objectives ( Herreid, 2007 ). The case study assignment was worth 6% of the final course grade, and Appendix B provides details on assignment requirements and a grading rubric. Briefly, students worked in self-selected groups of 2–3 to write their case study on any neurovirulent virus of their choosing. Case studies were required to follow an interrupted, literature-based format ( Herreid et al., 2012 ; Prud’homme-Généreux, 2016 ; Cook-Snyder, 2017 ), where the first part of the case study used a patient narrative or primary literature data and asked questions on the epidemiology and/or symptoms and diagnosis of the virus. The second part of the case study was required to use primary literature data and ask questions on the pathogenesis and/or treatment of the virus. Students included answers to their own questions, and the answers were required to be clearly supported by the course materials and by their case study. Supplementary Material Appendices C and D provide example student-created case studies on rabies virus and enterovirus 71, respectively.

Students followed an iterative writing practice to create their case studies, which sought to couple goal-directed practice with targeted feedback ( Ambrose et al., 2010 ). Specifically, students submitted the first draft of their co-authored case study in Week 3, which was graded by the instructor using a holistic rubric that included a grading scale, comments, and specific examples from the students’ draft ( Appendix B ; Allen and Tanner, 2006 ). The first draft was worth 10% of the students’ final grade on the assignment, which incentivized student performance on the draft while still serving as a low-stakes assesment and providing formative feedback ( Birol et al., 2013 ; Brownell et al., 2013 ; Cotner and Ballen, 2017 ; Cyr, 2017 ). Then, students revised and submitted the final draft of their case study in Week 4, which was graded by the instructor using the same rubric as the first draft to provide summative feedback, and was worth 90% of the students’ final grade. Students were asked to write new or edited text on the final draft in a different color, so the instructor could more easily identify the students’ improvements from the first draft and incorporation of first draft feedback.

Students also shared their case study final draft with one other student group, and the case study authors led their peers through their case studies following a previously described classroom management strategy ( Cook-Snyder, 2017 ). This classroom management strategy is consistent with effective student-led discussion practices, including students working in teams to create and disseminate discussion questions before leading class discussion ( Casteel and Bridges, 2007 ; Kurczek and Johnson, 2014 ). Briefly, in Week 4, peers completed the student authors’ case study questions as homework before class, and class time was used to discuss their answers. Discussion was facilitated by the student authors, and emphasized that there can be multiple "correct" answers where the best answers are accurate and well-supported. Well-supported answers cited the case study itself, the neurovirology module, previous course content, and/or the primary literature as needed. This approach encourages students to apply course knowledge and conduct targeted literature searches to increase their knowledge. Peers edited their answers based on the discussion, and these edits were factored into a pass/fail grade from the instructor. Each case study was allotted 30 minutes for discussion; at the end of 30 minutes, the peers and students authors switched roles and discussed the peers’ case study. Appendix B provides a table illustrating this format for a three-hour class period. Overall, each student received three grades on the case study assignment: a grade on the first draft and a grade on the final draft of the case study they wrote, and a pass/fail grade on the case study they completed ( Appendix B ). Additionally, each student had the opportunity to teach their case study to their peers as a student-led learning activity. By implementing the case study assignment workflow outlined here, students both created original work and led their peers in analysis and evaluation of their work, consistent with higher-level learning objectives from Bloom’s Taxonomy ( Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001 ).

Assessment of Learning Objectives

Learning objectives for the neurovirology module and case study assignment were assessed directly and indirectly using student performance data and self-reported evaluations, respectively ( Muir, 2015 ). Data and evaluations were collected in accordance with federal guidelines for research in education settings, and with approval from the Institutional Review Board at Carthage College. All statistical analyses were performed in GraphPad Prism 8 for macOS (San Diego, CA) with a significance level of p <0.05.

Analyzed student performance data included student grades on the first draft and final draft of the case study assignment ( Figure 1 ). Comparison of first draft and final draft case study grades was analyzed using a parametric paired t -test.

Student performance improved with iterative writing practice and low-stakes assessment. Student group grades for the first draft and final draft of the case study are shown as a percentage of the total possible points for the draft (grey circles). Lines connect the first draft and final draft grades from the same student group ( n = 12 student groups; paired t -test, **** p <0.001).

De-identified student self-reported evaluations were collected using Google Forms after Week 4 of the neurovirology module and case study assignment. Quantitative evaluations used a Likert scale with the following responses: 5-Strongly Agree; 4- Agree; 3- Neutral; 2- Disagree; 1- Strongly Disagree ( Figures 2 ​ 2 – 4 ). All questions included a “prefer not to respond” option for student response, although no students chose this option for the questions reported here. Student responses were analyzed using a nonparametric one-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test, with a hypothetical median of 3- Neutral. If the responses were significantly different from 3- Neutral, we concluded that the students agreed/strongly agreed (4–5) or disagreed/strongly disagreed (1–2) with the question. This analysis method is consistent with previous research analyzing student-led learning activities ( Stavnezer and Lom, 2019 ).

Students self-reported familiarity with neurovirology ( A ), increased knowledge in content learning objectives ( B ), and activities contributing to knowledge ( C ). Evaluations used a Likert scale: 5-Strongly Agree; 4- Agree; 3- Neutral; 2- Disagree; 1- Strongly Disagree. Scatter plots show individual student responses (grey circles) and the median response (black bar) for each question ( n = 23–24 students; one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test to a hypothesized median of 3- Neutral (dotted line); ** p <0.01, **** p <0.0001).

Students self-reported increased confidence in skills learning objectives. Evaluations used a Likert scale: 5-Strongly Agree; 4- Agree; 3- Neutral; 2- Disagree; 1- Strongly Disagree. Scatter plots show individual student responses (grey circles) and the median response (black bar) for each question ( n = 23–24 students; one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test to a hypothesized median of 3- Neutral (dotted line); **** p <0.0001).

Students self-reported satisfaction with the neurovirology module and case study assignment. Evaluations used a Likert scale: 5-Strongly Agree; 4- Agree; 3- Neutral; 2- Disagree; 1- Strongly Disagree. Scatter plots show individual student responses (grey circles) and the median response (black bar) for each question ( n = 24 students; one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test to a hypothesized median of 3- Neutral (dotted line); *** p <0.001, **** p <0.0001).

De-identified qualitative evaluations included three open-ended questions: (1) What will you take away from the neurovirology module?; (2) What aspects of the neurovirology module were most valuable?; (3) What suggestions do you have for how Dr. Cook-Snyder (i.e., instructor and corresponding author) can improve the neurovirology module? The corresponding author categorized student responses to align with the content and skills learning objectives, or with the neurovirology module materials ( Appendix A ) and case study assignment ( Appendix B ; Figure 5 ). Some student responses contained module/case study assignment category. Additionally, some student responses (31.03% of responses) did not contain a suggestion for improvement, and were omitted from analysis. Accordingly, qualitative evaluation sample sizes vary from course enrollment because one response can contain zero or multiple categories, consistent with analysis methods from previous studies ( Stavnezer and Lom, 2019 ).

Students self-reported content and skills learning objective takeaways, and provided strengths and areas for improvement for the neurovirology module and case study assignment. Qualitative evaluations used open-ended questions to assess takeaways ( A ), strengths ( B ), and areas for improvement ( C ). ( A ) Students responses on takeaways were aligned with content learning objectives (above dotted line) or skills learning objectives (below dotted line), and the percentage of total responses for each learning objective is shown ( n = 38 responses). ( B, C ) Student responses on strengths ( B ) and areas for improvement ( C ) were aligned with neurovirology module materials (above dotted line) or the case study assignment (below dotted line), and the percentage of total responses for each category is shown ( B : n = 39 responses; C : n = 20 responses)

Student Performance

Student learning in the neurovirology module ( Supplementary Material Appendix A ) was primarily assessed with the case study assignment ( Supplementary Material Appendix B ). As examples, two student-created case studies on neurovirulent viruses are included in Supplementary Material Appendices C and D . Student authors (DMB, SAMK, AL, NAL) had substantial familiarity with interrupted, literature-based case studies before writing their own case study in this format. Indeed, almost all students who wrote case studies (25 out of 26 students) had previously completed 13 interrupted, literature-based case studies over two semesters in the corresponding author’s courses ( Cook-Snyder, 2017 ). In Appendix C , the student-created case study on rabies virus applies content from the neurovirology module with detailed analysis of primary literature data on rabies virus, blood-brain barrier permeability, and vaccine efficacy ( Long et al., 2020 ). In Appendix D , the student-created case study on enterovirus 71 also applies neurovirology content to investigate vaccine efficacy ( Li et al., 2008 ; Zhang et al., 2012 ). Additionally, this case study reviews cerebellar and pontine structure and function, which were previously discussed in the course, in relation to viral pathogenesis ( Huang et al., 1999 ; Shen et al., 1999 ; Jain et al., 2014 ). In both case studies, student authors successfully met the skills learning objectives of the neurovirology module and case study assignment by applying their knowledge of neurovirology and analyzing and evaluating primary literature.

The case study assignment used an iterative writing process and low-stakes assessment, where the first draft of the case study was worth 10% of the students’ final grade on the assignment, and the final draft was worth 90%. Iterative writing practices and low-stakes assessment have been shown to improve student performance and confidence within a course ( Freestone, 2009 ; Brownell et al., 2013 ; Cyr, 2017 ). Therefore, we compared student grades on the first draft and final draft of the case study, and consistent with previous literature, our results show that every student group increased their grade from the first draft to the final draft ( Figure 1 ). These results further support that iterative writing practices and low-stakes assessment can improve student performance.

Student Evaluations

For quantitative evaluations, students used a Likert scale to self-report their knowledge of content learning objectives and confidence in skills learning objectives after completion of the neurovirology module and case study assignment. Our results show that the majority of students had not studied neurovirology in a previous college course, and that they reported increased knowledge of content learning objectives after completing the neurovirology module and case study assignment ( Figure 2A, 2B ). Moreover, students reported that writing, teaching, and completing a neurovirology case study all increased their neurovirology knowledge, with writing (median = 5- Strongly Agree) ranking higher than teaching or completing (median = 4- Agree; Figure 2C ). Additionally, students reported increased confidence in skills learning objectives ( Figure 3 ), and agreed that if they took the course again, they would want the neurovirology module included, and to write more case studies ( Figure 4 ). Taken together, these data suggest that the neurovirology module and case study assignment were largely successful in meeting content and skills learning objectives and student satisfaction.

For qualitative evaluations, students answered open-ended questions on takeaways, strengths, and areas for improvement after completion of the neurovirology module and case study assignment. When asked what they will take away from the neurovirology module, student responses spanned the module’s learning objectives but reported more content than skills takeaways ( Figure 5A ; 55.3% of responses for content learning objectives; 44.7% of response for skills learning objectives). Additionally, students emphasized the importance of the module as a foundation for further exploration, as exemplified by the following responses:

“I will take away how much I loved learning about neurovirology. I was always interested in infectious diseases and loved neuroscience so tying them together has been fantastic… I am definitely more confident in reading primary literature on the topic due to this section and that will hopefully carry me through any future education.” “I thought the material was interesting and relevant and I appreciated that I could take the information and neurovirology definitions we were learning about and begin to apply them to literature being published now about COVID-19….”

When asked about the most valuable aspects of the neurovirology module, students identified before class readings and videos, and in-class active learning strategies in Weeks 1–2 of the module ( Appendix A ), and writing and teaching their case studies in Weeks 3–4 of the case study assignment ( Appendix B ; Figure 5B ; 56.4% of responses for the neurovirology module, 43.6% of responses for the case study assignment). Writing the case study was the most commonly identified valuable aspect of the class (33% of responses; Figure 5B ), as exemplified by the following responses:

“I found the case study we created to be most helpful. It pushed me to go through the neurovirology material learned in the lectures, readings, and videos and truly understand the topic I had to eventually write and teach about. I felt that it allowed for more active learning in which I had to think about the topic from multiple angles-researching a virus, creating the prompt, writing questions and answers...” “I really enjoyed having the challenge of writing our case study. It made me think more like a scientist and a physician regarding viruses and how they can affect the nervous system. It is very interesting to apply the theory to what we could see in real life on a patient undergoing a viral infection.” “I think the aspect that was most valuable was the creation of the case study. I thought it was beyond inspiring to have crafted our very own case study that seemed so professional and to teach it to our peers was very meaningful.”

When asked for suggestions for improving the neurovirology module, student feedback spanned the module and the case study assignment ( Figure 5C ; 55% of responses for the neurovirology module, 45% of responses for the case study assignment). The most common areas for improvement were adding more content, especially clinical symptoms and diagnosis (30% of responses) and completing more case studies (30% of responses). Interestingly, adding more content was also the most common area for improvement for students that reported neutral or disagree with knowledge of content learning objectives ( Figure 2B ) or confidence in skills learning objectives ( Figure 3 ; 57% of responses from these students). As two students wrote:

“Discussing more symptoms and how you would classify a disease based on the symptoms presented [is an area of improvement]…learning how to diagnose/differentiate these types of diseases would be helpful.” “…I think it would be interesting if we all got to do or at least listen in on everyone's case study. This would allow us to learn about different neuroviruses.”

Interestingly, some students also identified providing more instruction on teaching the case study as an area for improvement ( Figure 5C ; 15% of responses). As one student wrote:

“While I did think that creating our own case study was very valuable, I did think that some of the expectations on how it was going to be presented were unclear. I wish there was a little more format to that portion of the project. Other than that I really did enjoy this module and I hope that you can find a way to integrate it into the class material in the future.”

Taken together, qualitative student evaluations suggest that student takeaways aligned with content and skills learning objectives, and that students valued the structure of the neurovirology module and case study assignment, although important improvements to content and instruction are needed.

In this article, we describe using student-created case studies as assessment for a neurovirology module. Our results suggest that the neurovirology module and the case study assignment met their intended content and skills learning objectives by improving student performance and increasing students’ self-reported knowledge and confidence. We believe our approach is a valuable extension of case study pedagogy with broad applicability to a variety of undergraduate courses.

As described in this article, students followed iterative writing practices to create their case studies, which have been shown to improve student performance and confidence within a course ( Freestone, 2009 ; Brownell et al., 2013 ; Cyr, 2017 ). Our data was consistent with the previous literature, showing improved student grades from the first draft to the final draft of the case study assignment ( Figure 1 ). Previous studies also suggest that iterative writing practice coupled with calibrated peer review may be particularly effective in improving performance for the lowest-performing students ( Birol et al., 2013 ). Future version of the case study assignment could repeat the iterative writing practices described here and included calibrated peer review for the first draft, then measure improvement from the first draft to the final draft for high- and low-performing students. Moreover, additional studies suggest that iterative writing practices may not improve student writing performance across all domains or in subsequent courses ( Rayner et al., 2014 ; Holstein et al., 2015 ). Further analysis would be necessary to determine if students show longitudinal improvements in writing performance across multiple writing assignments and courses after completion of the case study assignment described here.

Quantitative and qualitative student self-report evaluations support that the neurovirology module and case study assignment promoted content and skills learning objectives in understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating ( Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001 ), and that students valued the structure of the neurovirology module and case study assignment ( Figures 2 ​ 2 ​ – 5 ). Importantly, student self-report evaluations of active learning may underestimate the amount of actual student learning ( Deslauriers et al., 2019 ), so the high student evaluations of learning objectives are notable. However, students also offered important areas for improvement, including adding more content on clinical symptoms and diagnosis on neurovirulent disorders ( Figure 5C ). To address this, future iterations of the neurovirology module should include clinical textbook readings and primary literature ( Bookstaver et al., 2017 ; Nath and Berger, 2020 ) coupled with public health resources on symptoms and diagnosis ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020 ; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, 2020 ; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2020 ). Encouraging students to read scientific articles written for the general public prior to or concurrent with reading primary literature on the same topic improves student understand of complex or unfamiliar literature ( Gottesman and Hoskins, 2013 ; Bodnar et al., 2016 ; Kararo and McCartney, 2019 ). Additionally, students suggested providing more instruction on teaching case studies and completing more case studies ( Figure 5C ). This area for improvement is consistent with quantitative evaluations, where students reported that writing, teaching, and completing a neurovirology case study all increased their neurovirology knowledge, but writing ranked higher than teaching or completing ( Figure 2C ). To address this, future iterations of the case study assignment will include teaching guidelines in the assignment requirements ( Appendix B ) based on nine facilitator strategies for student-led discussion ( Rees, 1998 ; Soranno, 2010 ). Students will be asked to reflect on these strategies and write a short paragraph at the end of their first draft on how they will work as a team to teach their case study using these strategies. Additionally, students will share their case study final draft with at least two other student groups to increase the number of case studies each student completes. Quantitative and qualitative evaluations should be repeated to determine if these interventions address students’ areas for improvement.

Students had considerable familiarity with interrupted, literature-based case studies before writing their own cases. Indeed, almost all students who wrote case studies (25 out of 26 students) had previously completed 13 interrupted, literature-based case studies over two semesters in the corresponding author’s courses ( Cook-Snyder, 2017 ). This is consistent with active learning pedagogy, which emphasizes students practicing the skills necessary to succeed in assessment before they are assessed ( Armbruster et al., 2009 ; Haak et al., 2011 ; Freeman et al., 2014 ). However, previous research suggests that more limited practice with case studies prior to writing a case study may still be effective. For example, research on collaborative learning courses describe instructor modeling of good discussion practices “several” times before students prepared and led classroom discussions ( Casteel and Bridges, 2007 ; Kurczek and Johnson, 2014 ). Therefore, we suggest that students complete several (two to four) instructor-provided and -taught case studies following the structure and classroom management of the case study assignment before writing and leading their own case.

Active learning is a critical component of inclusive pedagogy that is effective for all students, and decreases the achievement gap for PEERs ( Haak et al., 2011 ; Ballen et al., 2017 ; Penner, 2018 ; Theobald et al., 2020 ; Asai, 2020 ). Studies suggest that active learning may be particularly effective for PEERs because active learning helps students identify as scientists, and science identity is critical for persistence in STEM ( Graham et al., 2013 ; Trujillo and Tanner, 2014 ; Theobald et al., 2020 ). Case studies are important components of active learning ( Handelsman et al., 2004 ; Herreid et al., 2012 ; Wiertelak et al., 2016 ), and some qualitative student evaluations suggest that the case study assignment promoted scientific identity, where students described thinking “more like a scientist and a physician,” and that writing a case study “seemed so professional.” However, direct questions on students’ science identities are needed for future iterations of the case study assignment to determine if the assignment promoted science identity ( Trujillo and Tanner, 2014 ). Likewise, further studies are needed to determine if the case study assignment promoted persistence in STEM. In this article, the case study assignment was used in a spring semester course for junior and senior neuroscience majors at Carthage College, where nearly 100% of junior and senior neuroscience majors graduate from Carthage with a neuroscience degree (data not shown). This is consistent with previous research, which estimates that STEM attrition rates peak in students’ first and second academic year, and plateau in third and fourth year ( Aulck et al., 2017 ; Chen et al., 2018 ). However, if the case study assignment was used in first or second year neuroscience courses, when STEM attrition rates are higher, measuring subsequent retention of students in a STEM major could be particularly valuable metric.

We believe that using student-created case studies as assessment has wide applicability to undergraduate education because case studies themselves have wide applicability. Case studies have been used effectively in introductory and advanced neuroscience courses with small and large student enrollments to address a variety of content and skills learning objectives ( Herreid et al., 2012 ; Brielmaier, 2016 ; Ogilvie and Ribbens, 2016 ; Roesch and Frenzel, 2016 ; Wiertelak et al., 2016 ; Lemons, 2017 ; Nagel and Nicholas, 2017 ; Sawyer and Frenzel, 2018 ; Mitrano, 2019 ; Ogilvie, 2019 ; Watson, 2019 ; Rollins, 2020 ). Case studies are also effective active learning methods for synchronous and asynchronous online and hybrid teaching ( Brooke, 2006 ; Schiano and Anderson, 2014 ). Accordingly, we believe that the case study assignment described here could be adapted to follow any of these existing methods of case study writing and teaching. Additionally, we encourage instructors to adapt our neurovirology module to their students’ needs and interests, taking advantage of the free virology resources available online ( https://www.virology.ws/course/ ; https://www.virology.ws/virology-101/ ). Moreover, we believe the module format and case study assignment described here could be duplicated for other important neuroscience topics that are highly relevant to students but not always discussed in the neuroscience curriculum, like social neuroscience or neuroethics ( Flint and Dorr, 2010 ; Abu-Odeh et al., 2015 ; Wiertelak et al., 2018 ). Overall, we believe that using student-created case studies as assessment is a valuable, student-led extension of effective case study pedagogy, and has wide applicability to a variety of undergraduate courses.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Neuroscience Case Network (NeuroCaseNet; NSF-RCN-UBE Grant #1624104). The authors thank the students in Neuroscience 4100 at Carthage College for their participation and feedback, and Dr. Kristen Frenzel for editing the manuscript.

APPENDIX 1. NEUROVIROLOGY MODULE MATERIALS

Before class readings and videos.

Instructions for students: Please read and watch the following in order. Note that most of these are short readings and videos, but Infection Basics is an hour-long lecture.

• What is a virus?: https://www.virology.ws/2004/07/28/what-is-a-virus/
• How viruses are classified: https://www.virology.ws/2009/08/07/how-viruses-are-classified/
• Simplifying virus classification: The Baltimore system: https://www.virology.ws/2009/08/12/simplifying-virus-classification-the-baltimore-system/
• Recorded lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBJ0vcOlS7I&feature=youtu.be
• Slides: https://virology2020.s3.amazonaws.com/012_4310_20.pdf
• Please watch the entire lecture
• pg. 652 – 656
• pg. 662- adaptive immune responses overview
• These pages define immune cell types and cytokines, and give overviews of the innate immune response and adaptive immune response
• The rest of the chapter is for your reference
• Innate immune defenses: https://www.virology.ws/2009/06/03/innate-immune-defenses/
• The inflammatory response: https://www.virology.ws/2009/07/01/the-inflammatory-response/
• Adaptive immune defenses: https://www.virology.ws/2009/07/03/adaptive-immune-defenses/
• Adaptive immune defenses: Antibodies: https://www.virology.ws/2009/07/22/adaptive-immune-defenses-antibodies/
• Immunopathology: Too much of a good thing: https://www.virology.ws/2009/01/23/immunopathology-too-much-of-a-good-thing/
• Recorded lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQkg0mID-w8&feature=youtu.be
• Slides: https://virology2020.s3.amazonaws.com/016_4310_20.pdf
• Please watch until 8:00 (slide 7) of this lecture. The rest of the lecture is posted for your reference.
• Recorded lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWRynTL8NI4&feature=youtu.be
• Slides: https://virology2020.s3.amazonaws.com/017_4310_20.pdf
• Please watch until 5:30 (slide 6) of this video. The rest of the lecture is posted for your reference

Before Class Assignments

Instructions for students.

• Quiz ( Instructor note: Figure A1 provides sample quiz questions ).
• Neurovirology dictionary ( Instructor note: Figure A2 provides example neurovirology dictionary entries ). Neurovirology has so many terms that we’re going to create our own neurovirology dictionary. You are responsible for adding two new definitions to the dictionary this week. Your two definitions should be unique- they should not have already been defined by your classmates. I’ve included a few definitions to get us started. Your neurovirology dictionary definitions are worth 5 points, and you will receive full credit for being thoughtful, thorough, and on time.

In Class: Zoom lecture

• Study questions will be distributed at the beginning of class. You'll have the first part of class to work on the study questions in groups, and we'll discuss the answers to the study questions during the second part of class.
• At the end the end of class, please submit your study questions to the assignment posted below ( Instructor note: this course uses Schoology as learning management software ). Your study questions are worth 5 points, and you will receive full credit for being thoughtful, thorough, and on time.

Please read and watch the following in order.

• Kandel, Appendix D , The Blood-Brain Barrier, Choroid Plexus, and Cerebrospinal Fluid: pgs. 1565–1575.
• Mechanism of neurotoxicity and neuronal death ( Instructor note: this is a brief, recorded lecture focusing on key definitions, including apoptosis, autophagy, necrosis, inflammation, excitotoxicity, trophic factor withdrawal, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, protein misfolding and aggregation, and axonal transport dysfunction ).
• Swanson and McGavern, 2015 - Viral Diseases of the Central Nervous System ( Instructor note: key concepts from this review include viral spread, CNS entry, viral cytopathology, and immunopathology).
• Quiz ( Instructor note: Figure A3 provides sample quiz questions ).
• At the end of class, please submit your study questions to the assignment posted below ( Instructor note: this course uses Schoology as learning management software ). Your study questions are worth 5 points, and you will receive full credit for being thoughtful, thorough, and on time.

Sample quiz questions for Week 1 neurovirology module.

Example student-created neurovirology dictionary entries for Week 1 and Week 2 neurovirology module. Student names have been redacted.

Sample quiz questions for Week 2 neurovirology module.

APPENDIX 2. CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS AND RUBRIC

What is a neurovirology case study.

We’ve used case studies to practice applying our knowledge from lecture to solve biomedically-relevant problems. By now, you all are experts in answering case studies questions- now it’s your turn to work in groups to write your own case study, similar to the case studies we’ve completed in class, and teach it to your peers.

What should you include in your neurovirology case study?

You should work with your lab group to write a neurovirology case study on any neurovirulent virus of your choosing. Your virus can also be neurotropic and/or neuroinvasive, but this is not required. ( Instructor note: neurovirulent viruses cause disease of nervous tissue. Neurotropic viruses infect neural cells; infection may occur by neural or hematogenous spread from a peripheral site. Neuroinvasive viruses enter the CNS after infection of a peripheral site ).

Your neurovirology case study should have two parts:

• Part #1 of your case study should investigate your neurovirulent virus using a patient narrative and/or primary literature data. You are encouraged to refer back to our previous case studies as examples.
• Based on your patient narrative and/or primary literature data, you should write a minimum of two questions, with answers, which address the epidemiology and/or symptoms and diagnosis of your virus.
• Part #2 of your case study should continue to investigate your neurovirulent virus using primary literature data. You are encouraged to refer back to our previous case studies as examples- nearly all of our case studies include questions based on primary literature data.
• Based on your primary literature data, you should write a minimum of three questions, with answers, which address the pathogenesis and/or treatment of your virus.
• Answers to your questions should be clearly supported by previous readings, videos, and lectures from class, and by the case study itself. You are encouraged to use any material from class as needed- you are not limited to just our neurovirology readings, videos and lectures.
• Remember, your peers are going to read your case study and answer your questions. So, your peers should be able to answer your questions based on material from class, plus any additional information you provide for them in the case study. Your peers should have to do minimal additional research to answer your questions correctly.

Your neurovirology case study should also have two versions:

• The answers to your questions
• In-text citations for all parts of your case study, especially your patient narrative/primary literature data and the answers to your questions.
• A list of references on the last page.
• You will write a 1st draft and a final draft of your Answer Key- see the Submission requirements and Grading and Feedback sections below for details
• This is the version you will share with your peers, so they can read your case study and answer your questions. This version should be identical to your Answer Key final draft, but not include the answers to your questions, in-text citations, or your list of references at the end.

How will you teach your neurovirology case study to your peers?

During Week 4, you will be leading your peers in a discussion of your case study, similar to our class discussions of case studies ( Instructor note: see Cook-Snyder, 2017 for a detailed classroom management strategy for case studies ).

• You will share your Neurovirology Case Study- Without Answer with your peers
• Your peers will read your case study, answer the questions, and submit their answers to Schoology before class.
• Then, in class, you will lead your peers in a discussion of your case study, and your peers will submit their original answers plus annotations to Schoology after class

Submission requirements

• ○ Your 1st draft is due Tuesday, May 5th, before your lab section starts (Instructor note: this is Week 3).
• ○ Your final draft is due Monday, May 11th, 10:30am (Instructor note: this is Week 4).
• ○ Even though you’re writing one case study per lab group, all group members should submit the case study to Schoology. This will ensure that all group members receive their case study grades.
• Your Neurovirology Case Study- Without Answers should be emailed to your peers by Monday, May 11th, 10:30am (Instructor note: this is Week 4).

Grading and Feedback

You will be graded according to the Neurovirology Case Study Grading Rubric posted below. Note that 10% of your case study grade will be earned on your 1st draft, and 90% will be earned on your final draft.

I will provide feedback electronically on all drafts (1st and final). My feedback will summarize the strengths, areas for improvement, and specific actions you can take to improve. IMPORTANT: I will provide a maximum of two comments per rubric section. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t any additional areas for improvement, or that if you only address these comments that you will get a 100%. But, I believe targeting your attention and effort to these top areas will make the most improvement.

Neurovirology Case Study Grading Rubric

APPENDIX 3. STUDENT-CREATED CASE STUDY- RABIES VIRUS

Instructor note: This case was written by Alyssa Laci and Nicole A. Losurdo, undergraduate students in Neuroscience 4100, Spring 2020 semester, Carthage College. In-text citations and references are in blue font. The answer key version of this case is available via request to [email protected] . The corresponding author (DRCS) has edited the case for formatting and clarity and has indicated whether each answer is supported by the case study in the neurovirology module, previous course content, and/or the primary literature in blue font.

Brian was engaging in yard work when he heard his wife yell to him.

“Brian! There is a stray dog in the yard that is acting rather strange. He is staggering and having a hard time standing upright. I think I also saw a foamy discharge coming from his eyes and mouth. I noticed him while I was in the garden because he was making this weird high-pitched noise” ( Taylor and Nel, 2015 ).

Brian walked over to his wife.

She looked concerned and asked him, “What do you think we should do about him?”

Brian replied with a similar concerned tone, “Well we better make sure he is okay and consider calling animal control. In the meantime, I’ll go take a closer look at him.”

Brian slowly moved closer to the dog, trying not to disturb or frighten him. He reached toward the dog, trying to comfort his fear. Instead, the dog lunged at his hand and bit him.

Brian pulled his hand away in pain. He glanced down at his fingers and found blood oozing from them. He stepped away from the dog and went inside to wash his hands off from the bite.

As he was washing his hands, the area around the bite tingled and itched ( CDC, 2019 ). He continued to scrub until the blood was gone, applied a bandaid and grabbed the phone to call animal control.

A week passed, and the area of Brian’s bite began to itch more excessively and he just couldn’t drum up the motivation to leave his bed because he felt so sleepy ( CDC, 2019 ). His wife entered into his bedroom, “Honey, please quit itching. You’re just going to make it worse.” She reached for his forehead, it felt warm.

Extremely irritated by her suggestion, Brian tried to keep his response low, but raised his voice at her ( CDC, 2019 ). “Don’t tell me what to do! I am a grown man! And stop coming in here to turn my light on. It’s so bright and hurts my eyes!” Shocked, his wife turned down the light and left the room, giving him time to rest.

Several more days passed. As he laid in bed, Brian began to lose feeling in his hand. He glanced down at it, noticing that it was twitching ( CDC, 2019 ). He looked up at the bedroom doorway. “Where am I?” He thought. “My mouth is so full of spit and I can hardly swallow because my throat feels so tight. Almost like its spasming.” He got out of bed and walked toward the hallway to splash his face with water. While he walked through the hallway, he noticed a creepy figure standing above him. Thinking that he may be hallucinating, Brian called to his wife. “Sweetie, please call 911.”

Part I Questions

• What are Brian’s signs and symptoms? (Answer based on case study)
• Brian was brought to the hospital after his wife called him an ambulance. Based on his symptoms, what do you think he will be diagnosed with? What diagnostic tests do you think physicians will use to achieve this diagnosis? (Answer based on case study and requires primary literature search)

After being taken to the hospital, Brian was diagnosed with rabies virus. Rabies virus enters peripheral nerves directly, and then can migrate to the central nervous system and up to the brain ( Rupprecht, 1996 ). One mechanism of entry into the peripheral nerves is through the neuromuscular junction ( Rupprecht, 1996 ). Once symptoms begin to appear, both general symptoms of fever or fatigue and neurological symptoms like hydrophobia, the disease cannot be reversed or cured ( Rupprecht, 1996 ). If the rabies vaccine is administered before the onset of symptoms, it can generally prevent or destroy the disease and the inevitable death that follows ( Long et al., 2020 ). Since Brian has already developed neurological symptoms, it is unlikely that the current rabies vaccine will be able to cure him ( Long et al., 2020 ).

The efficacy of the vaccine is reliant upon a permeable blood brain barrier (BBB) to allow immune cells to reach the virus in the brain and destroy it ( Kandel et al., 2013 ; Long et al., 2020 ). A study looked at the role of the phosphoprotein gene of the rabies virus on the permeability of the BBB ( Long et al., 2020 ). The study inoculated mice with either a wild-type (GD-SH-01), an attenuated rabies virus (HEP-Flury), or a chimeric virus that had the phosphoprotein gene of the wild-type inserted into the genome of the attenuated version (rHEP-SH-P). The rHEP-SH-P phosphoprotein gene is silenced by the placement in the attenuated genome. GD-SH-01 generally produced mild inflammation with eventual complete breakdown of the BBB, while the HEP-Flury produces high inflammation, but a more transiently permeable BBB. Figure 1 shows the data on BBB permeability (modified from Figure 1 in Long et al., 2020 ).

Part II Questions

• Is the rabies spread by hematogenous spread or neural spread? (Answer based on neurovirology module)
• Does the phosphoprotein cause a relative increase or decrease in BBB permeability? Use Figure 1 to explain your answer. (Answer based on case study)
• Would the incorporation of a phosphoprotein antagonist improve vaccine efficacy in the attenuated virus? Use Figure 1 to explain your answer. (Answer based on case study and neurovirology module)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rabies. 2019. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/symptoms/index.html .
• Kandel ER, Schwartz JH, Jessell TM, Siegelbaum SA, Hudspeth AJ. Principles of Neural Science. 5th Ed. New York: McGraw Hill Medical; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]
• Long T, Zhang B, Fan R, Wu Y, Mo M, Luo J, Chang Y, Tian Q, Mei M, Jiang H, Luo Y, Guo X. Phosphoprotein Gene of Wild-Type Rabies Virus Plays a Role in Limiting Viral Pathogenicity and Lowering the Enhancement of BBB Permeability. Front Microbiol. 2020; 11 :109. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Racaniello VR. Immunopathology: Too much of a good thing. Virology Blog. 2009a. Jan 23, Available at https://www.virology.ws/2009/01/23/immunopathology-too-much-of-a-good-thing/
• Racaniello VR. Virology Lectures 2020 #12: Infection Basics Biology 4310: Virology. Columbia University; 2020a. Mar 8, Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBJ0vcOlS7I&feature=youtu.be . [ Google Scholar ]
• Rupprecht CE. Chapter 61. Rhabdoviruses: Rabies Virus. In: Baron S, editor. Medical Microbiology. 4th edition. Galveston, TX: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; 1996. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8618/ [ Google Scholar ]
• Swanson PA, 2nd, McGavern DB. Viral diseases of the central nervous system. Curr Opin Virol. 2015; 11 :44–54. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Taylor L, Nel L. Global Epidemiology of Canine Rabies: Past, Present, and Future Prospects. Veterinary Medicine: Research and Reports. 2015; 6 :361–371. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tang X, Luo M, Zhang S, et al. Pivotal role of dogs in rabies transmission, China. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005; 11 (12):1970–1972. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

APPENDIX 4. STUDENT-CREATED CASE STUDY- ENTEROVIRUS 71

Instructor note: This case was written by Dianna M. Bindelli and Shannon A.M. Kafura, undergraduate students in Neuroscience 4100, Spring 2020 semester, Carthage College. In-text citation and references are in blue font. The answer key version of this case is available via request to [email protected] . The corresponding author (DRCS) has edited the case for formatting and clarity and has indicated if each answer is supported by the case study the neurovirology module, previous course content, and/or the primary literature in blue font.

It was the summer of 1998 in China when Finley Chang, a 10-year-old boy, went to the orthodontist to get his braces. It was mid-July, so Finley was extremely warm on his way to the orthodontist, also he was nervous. His mom, Mrs. Chang waited for him in the waiting room and was delighted to see her little boy growing up with his new braces.

The orthodontist, Dr. Wung had noticed that Finley was visibly sweating. He asked Finley if he was feeling fine. Finley said, “just nervous”. Dr. Wung had informed Mrs. Chang that the braces were all in place and his mouth had looked good! He warned that he may have pain in his mouth for a few days while adjusting to the braces.

One morning he woke up and he complained of a stomachache. He decided that he must just be hungry and proceeded to go downstairs for breakfast. On his way down the stairs, he began to feel woozy. He felt like the room was spinning, so he hurried down the stairs to sit down.

His mom had made pancakes and had orange juice for him.

“Good morning! What’s the rush? How did you sleep?” asked his mom.

“Fine.” responded Finley.

Mrs. Chang knew something was wrong when Finley did not dive into his sugary pancakes and was sitting there with his eyes closed.

Finley really did not feel like eating. He did not want to tell his mom about his stomachache. So, he decided to stick with the juice for now. After a couple sips of juice, he got a sour face.

“What happened?” asked his mom.

Finley began to feel the inside of his mouth and responded, “I have weird cuts in my mouth”. His mom looked and saw cuts on his gums and mouth and thought it may be from the braces ( Huang et al., 1999 ). However, it has been over a month since he had them, so she decided to call the orthodontist and have the alignment checked out.

While Finley was getting ready to leave for the orthodontist, he began vomiting. Mrs. Chang thought he had the flu bug and canceled the appointment, for now.

The next morning Mrs. Chang thought Finley would be better. However, Finley woke up with sweating and vomiting, and with even more sores in his mouth ( Huang et al., 1999 ). He sat up in bed and felt even more dizzy than yesterday and had to lie down. Mrs. Chang felt his head and thought his fever was even higher ( Huang et al., 1999 ). At this point she decided to take Finley to the pediatrician.

Dr. Hu looked at Finley’s mouth sores and brought him some water. She decided to run a few tests. She set up Finley with some anti-nausea medication and ordered an IV. In the meantime, she was analyzing the tests she ran.

• What are Finley’s signs and symptoms? (Answer based on case study)
• What tests would you run based on Finley’s signs and symptoms? Hypothesize the expected results. (Answer based on neurovirology module and previous course content)

Three days after coming back from the doctor, Finley’s mother went into his room to see if he wanted dinner. “Finley, time to eat.” He was waking up from a nap. “Finley, are you okay?” she asked, concerned. “I don’t feel so good, mom,” mumbled Finley, slurring his words. She helped him sit up and felt his forehead to see if fever had returned.

“Well, you don’t seem to have a fever again. Let’s try and eat some food, maybe that will help.” She then helped him get out of bed and into the kitchen.

When Finley was eating, he kept dropping food because his hands were shaking, and he had extreme difficulty bringing his chopsticks to his mouth. He kept accidently hitting his nose or chin. “Finley, do you want me to help you?” asked his mom. When he answered, she noticed that he also couldn’t focus straight on her and instead his eyes would bounce away ( Huang et al., 1999 ; Bae et al., 2013 ; Kandel et al., 2013 ; Jain et al., 2014 ; Cook-Snyder, 2020c ). Finley’s mother knew something was wrong and brought him to the emergency room.

The ER doctor walked into the room, “Hello, my name is Dr. Chen, and you must be Finley. Can you tell me what is going on?” Finley told her, “My arms don’t seem to be working right and I don’t feel very good,” again slurring his words ( Kandel et al., 2013 ; Cook-Snyder, 2020c ).

“Okay, and according to your chart, you’ve been sick recently?” asked Dr. Chen. “Yes, he was just at the doctor three days ago and the pediatrician diagnosed him with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease,” replied Finley’s mother ( Rhoades et al., 2011 ; Chen, et al., 2020 ).

“I see. His blood work also shows that Finley had viremia, specifically Enterovirus 71 (EV71). Enterovirus 71 is known to cause Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, so this is making more sense. Finley also has increased amounts of lymphocytes and monocytes in his blood. Well, before I can make a diagnosis, I would like to take an MRI.” Dr. Chen said ( Rhoades et al., 2011 ; Chen et al., 2020 ; Racaniello, 2020a ). Finley’s expected MRI results are shown in Figure 1 (modified from Figure 2A in Shen et al., 1999 ; and Figure 1B in Huang et al., 1999 ).

“Based on the expected MRI results and the viremia, it looks like Finley has rhombencephalitis. This is a pretty serious diagnosis. He’s lucky that you brought him in,” said Dr. Chen. “I’d like to admit him to the hospital for care.” She discussed the treatment plan with Finley’s mom and left the room ( Huang et al., 1999 ; Chen et al., 2007 ; Jubelt et al., 2011 ; Jain et al., 2014 ; Chen et al., 2019 ).

Dr. Chen recommended a treatment called Ribavirin, an antiviral treatment. She presented the data in Figure 2 (modified from Figure 1B in Li et al., 2008 ) and Figure 3 (modified from Figure 3B in Zhang et al., 2012 ).

• What are Finley’s new signs and symptoms? (Answer based on case study and previous course content).
• Looking at Figure 1 , what brain regions are marked by the arrows? Use full neuroanatomical descriptions to explain your answer. (Answer based on previous course content).
• Could damage to these brain areas cause the signs and symptoms seen in Finley? (Answer based on previous course content).
• Hypothesize how Finley may have developed rhombencephalitis. In other words, propose a possible mechanism of pathogenesis for how the virus infected the CNS. (Answer based on neurovirology module).
• Using Figure 2 and ​ and3, 3 , would Ribavirin be an effective treatment? Depending on your answer, either explain a possible mechanism of action for Ribavirin or possible solutions to make the drug effective. (Answer based on case study).
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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

Definition and Introduction

Case analysis is a problem-based teaching and learning method that involves critically analyzing complex scenarios within an organizational setting for the purpose of placing the student in a “real world” situation and applying reflection and critical thinking skills to contemplate appropriate solutions, decisions, or recommended courses of action. It is considered a more effective teaching technique than in-class role playing or simulation activities. The analytical process is often guided by questions provided by the instructor that ask students to contemplate relationships between the facts and critical incidents described in the case.

Cases generally include both descriptive and statistical elements and rely on students applying abductive reasoning to develop and argue for preferred or best outcomes [i.e., case scenarios rarely have a single correct or perfect answer based on the evidence provided]. Rather than emphasizing theories or concepts, case analysis assignments emphasize building a bridge of relevancy between abstract thinking and practical application and, by so doing, teaches the value of both within a specific area of professional practice.

Given this, the purpose of a case analysis paper is to present a structured and logically organized format for analyzing the case situation. It can be assigned to students individually or as a small group assignment and it may include an in-class presentation component. Case analysis is predominately taught in economics and business-related courses, but it is also a method of teaching and learning found in other applied social sciences disciplines, such as, social work, public relations, education, journalism, and public administration.

Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide . Revised Edition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2018; Christoph Rasche and Achim Seisreiner. Guidelines for Business Case Analysis . University of Potsdam; Writing a Case Analysis . Writing Center, Baruch College; Volpe, Guglielmo. "Case Teaching in Economics: History, Practice and Evidence." Cogent Economics and Finance 3 (December 2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977.

How to Approach Writing a Case Analysis Paper

The organization and structure of a case analysis paper can vary depending on the organizational setting, the situation, and how your professor wants you to approach the assignment. Nevertheless, preparing to write a case analysis paper involves several important steps. As Hawes notes, a case analysis assignment “...is useful in developing the ability to get to the heart of a problem, analyze it thoroughly, and to indicate the appropriate solution as well as how it should be implemented” [p.48]. This statement encapsulates how you should approach preparing to write a case analysis paper.

Before you begin to write your paper, consider the following analytical procedures:

• Review the case to get an overview of the situation . A case can be only a few pages in length, however, it is most often very lengthy and contains a significant amount of detailed background information and statistics, with multilayered descriptions of the scenario, the roles and behaviors of various stakeholder groups, and situational events. Therefore, a quick reading of the case will help you gain an overall sense of the situation and illuminate the types of issues and problems that you will need to address in your paper. If your professor has provided questions intended to help frame your analysis, use them to guide your initial reading of the case.
• Read the case thoroughly . After gaining a general overview of the case, carefully read the content again with the purpose of understanding key circumstances, events, and behaviors among stakeholder groups. Look for information or data that appears contradictory, extraneous, or misleading. At this point, you should be taking notes as you read because this will help you develop a general outline of your paper. The aim is to obtain a complete understanding of the situation so that you can begin contemplating tentative answers to any questions your professor has provided or, if they have not provided, developing answers to your own questions about the case scenario and its connection to the course readings,lectures, and class discussions.
• Determine key stakeholder groups, issues, and events and the relationships they all have to each other . As you analyze the content, pay particular attention to identifying individuals, groups, or organizations described in the case and identify evidence of any problems or issues of concern that impact the situation in a negative way. Other things to look for include identifying any assumptions being made by or about each stakeholder, potential biased explanations or actions, explicit demands or ultimatums , and the underlying concerns that motivate these behaviors among stakeholders. The goal at this stage is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the situational and behavioral dynamics of the case and the explicit and implicit consequences of each of these actions.
• Identify the core problems . The next step in most case analysis assignments is to discern what the core [i.e., most damaging, detrimental, injurious] problems are within the organizational setting and to determine their implications. The purpose at this stage of preparing to write your analysis paper is to distinguish between the symptoms of core problems and the core problems themselves and to decide which of these must be addressed immediately and which problems do not appear critical but may escalate over time. Identify evidence from the case to support your decisions by determining what information or data is essential to addressing the core problems and what information is not relevant or is misleading.
• Explore alternative solutions . As noted, case analysis scenarios rarely have only one correct answer. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that the process of analyzing the case and diagnosing core problems, while based on evidence, is a subjective process open to various avenues of interpretation. This means that you must consider alternative solutions or courses of action by critically examining strengths and weaknesses, risk factors, and the differences between short and long-term solutions. For each possible solution or course of action, consider the consequences they may have related to their implementation and how these recommendations might lead to new problems. Also, consider thinking about your recommended solutions or courses of action in relation to issues of fairness, equity, and inclusion.
• Decide on a final set of recommendations . The last stage in preparing to write a case analysis paper is to assert an opinion or viewpoint about the recommendations needed to help resolve the core problems as you see them and to make a persuasive argument for supporting this point of view. Prepare a clear rationale for your recommendations based on examining each element of your analysis. Anticipate possible obstacles that could derail their implementation. Consider any counter-arguments that could be made concerning the validity of your recommended actions. Finally, describe a set of criteria and measurable indicators that could be applied to evaluating the effectiveness of your implementation plan.

Use these steps as the framework for writing your paper. Remember that the more detailed you are in taking notes as you critically examine each element of the case, the more information you will have to draw from when you begin to write. This will save you time.

NOTE : If the process of preparing to write a case analysis paper is assigned as a student group project, consider having each member of the group analyze a specific element of the case, including drafting answers to the corresponding questions used by your professor to frame the analysis. This will help make the analytical process more efficient and ensure that the distribution of work is equitable. This can also facilitate who is responsible for drafting each part of the final case analysis paper and, if applicable, the in-class presentation.

Framework for Case Analysis . College of Management. University of Massachusetts; Hawes, Jon M. "Teaching is Not Telling: The Case Method as a Form of Interactive Learning." Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education 5 (Winter 2004): 47-54; Rasche, Christoph and Achim Seisreiner. Guidelines for Business Case Analysis . University of Potsdam; Writing a Case Study Analysis . University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center; Van Ness, Raymond K. A Guide to Case Analysis . School of Business. State University of New York, Albany; Writing a Case Analysis . Business School, University of New South Wales.

Structure and Writing Style

A case analysis paper should be detailed, concise, persuasive, clearly written, and professional in tone and in the use of language . As with other forms of college-level academic writing, declarative statements that convey information, provide a fact, or offer an explanation or any recommended courses of action should be based on evidence. If allowed by your professor, any external sources used to support your analysis, such as course readings, should be properly cited under a list of references. The organization and structure of case analysis papers can vary depending on your professor’s preferred format, but its structure generally follows the steps used for analyzing the case.

Introduction

The introduction should provide a succinct but thorough descriptive overview of the main facts, issues, and core problems of the case . The introduction should also include a brief summary of the most relevant details about the situation and organizational setting. This includes defining the theoretical framework or conceptual model on which any questions were used to frame your analysis.

Following the rules of most college-level research papers, the introduction should then inform the reader how the paper will be organized. This includes describing the major sections of the paper and the order in which they will be presented. Unless you are told to do so by your professor, you do not need to preview your final recommendations in the introduction. U nlike most college-level research papers , the introduction does not include a statement about the significance of your findings because a case analysis assignment does not involve contributing new knowledge about a research problem.

Background Analysis

Background analysis can vary depending on any guiding questions provided by your professor and the underlying concept or theory that the case is based upon. In general, however, this section of your paper should focus on:

• Providing an overarching analysis of problems identified from the case scenario, including identifying events that stakeholders find challenging or troublesome,
• Identifying assumptions made by each stakeholder and any apparent biases they may exhibit,
• Describing any demands or claims made by or forced upon key stakeholders, and
• Highlighting any issues of concern or complaints expressed by stakeholders in response to those demands or claims.

These aspects of the case are often in the form of behavioral responses expressed by individuals or groups within the organizational setting. However, note that problems in a case situation can also be reflected in data [or the lack thereof] and in the decision-making, operational, cultural, or institutional structure of the organization. Additionally, demands or claims can be either internal and external to the organization [e.g., a case analysis involving a president considering arms sales to Saudi Arabia could include managing internal demands from White House advisors as well as demands from members of Congress].

Throughout this section, present all relevant evidence from the case that supports your analysis. Do not simply claim there is a problem, an assumption, a demand, or a concern; tell the reader what part of the case informed how you identified these background elements.

Identification of Problems

In most case analysis assignments, there are problems, and then there are problems . Each problem can reflect a multitude of underlying symptoms that are detrimental to the interests of the organization. The purpose of identifying problems is to teach students how to differentiate between problems that vary in severity, impact, and relative importance. Given this, problems can be described in three general forms: those that must be addressed immediately, those that should be addressed but the impact is not severe, and those that do not require immediate attention and can be set aside for the time being.

All of the problems you identify from the case should be identified in this section of your paper, with a description based on evidence explaining the problem variances. If the assignment asks you to conduct research to further support your assessment of the problems, include this in your explanation. Remember to cite those sources in a list of references. Use specific evidence from the case and apply appropriate concepts, theories, and models discussed in class or in relevant course readings to highlight and explain the key problems [or problem] that you believe must be solved immediately and describe the underlying symptoms and why they are so critical.

Alternative Solutions

This section is where you provide specific, realistic, and evidence-based solutions to the problems you have identified and make recommendations about how to alleviate the underlying symptomatic conditions impacting the organizational setting. For each solution, you must explain why it was chosen and provide clear evidence to support your reasoning. This can include, for example, course readings and class discussions as well as research resources, such as, books, journal articles, research reports, or government documents. In some cases, your professor may encourage you to include personal, anecdotal experiences as evidence to support why you chose a particular solution or set of solutions. Using anecdotal evidence helps promote reflective thinking about the process of determining what qualifies as a core problem and relevant solution .

Throughout this part of the paper, keep in mind the entire array of problems that must be addressed and describe in detail the solutions that might be implemented to resolve these problems.

Recommended Courses of Action

In some case analysis assignments, your professor may ask you to combine the alternative solutions section with your recommended courses of action. However, it is important to know the difference between the two. A solution refers to the answer to a problem. A course of action refers to a procedure or deliberate sequence of activities adopted to proactively confront a situation, often in the context of accomplishing a goal. In this context, proposed courses of action are based on your analysis of alternative solutions. Your description and justification for pursuing each course of action should represent the overall plan for implementing your recommendations.

For each course of action, you need to explain the rationale for your recommendation in a way that confronts challenges, explains risks, and anticipates any counter-arguments from stakeholders. Do this by considering the strengths and weaknesses of each course of action framed in relation to how the action is expected to resolve the core problems presented, the possible ways the action may affect remaining problems, and how the recommended action will be perceived by each stakeholder.

In addition, you should describe the criteria needed to measure how well the implementation of these actions is working and explain which individuals or groups are responsible for ensuring your recommendations are successful. In addition, always consider the law of unintended consequences. Outline difficulties that may arise in implementing each course of action and describe how implementing the proposed courses of action [either individually or collectively] may lead to new problems [both large and small].

Throughout this section, you must consider the costs and benefits of recommending your courses of action in relation to uncertainties or missing information and the negative consequences of success.

The conclusion should be brief and introspective. Unlike a research paper, the conclusion in a case analysis paper does not include a summary of key findings and their significance, a statement about how the study contributed to existing knowledge, or indicate opportunities for future research.

Begin by synthesizing the core problems presented in the case and the relevance of your recommended solutions. This can include an explanation of what you have learned about the case in the context of your answers to the questions provided by your professor. The conclusion is also where you link what you learned from analyzing the case with the course readings or class discussions. This can further demonstrate your understanding of the relationships between the practical case situation and the theoretical and abstract content of assigned readings and other course content.

Problems to Avoid

The literature on case analysis assignments often includes examples of difficulties students have with applying methods of critical analysis and effectively reporting the results of their assessment of the situation. A common reason cited by scholars is that the application of this type of teaching and learning method is limited to applied fields of social and behavioral sciences and, as a result, writing a case analysis paper can be unfamiliar to most students entering college.

After you have drafted your paper, proofread the narrative flow and revise any of these common errors:

• Unnecessary detail in the background section . The background section should highlight the essential elements of the case based on your analysis. Focus on summarizing the facts and highlighting the key factors that become relevant in the other sections of the paper by eliminating any unnecessary information.
• Analysis relies too much on opinion . Your analysis is interpretive, but the narrative must be connected clearly to evidence from the case and any models and theories discussed in class or in course readings. Any positions or arguments you make should be supported by evidence.
• Analysis does not focus on the most important elements of the case . Your paper should provide a thorough overview of the case. However, the analysis should focus on providing evidence about what you identify are the key events, stakeholders, issues, and problems. Emphasize what you identify as the most critical aspects of the case to be developed throughout your analysis. Be thorough but succinct.
• Writing is too descriptive . A paper with too much descriptive information detracts from your analysis of the complexities of the case situation. Questions about what happened, where, when, and by whom should only be included as essential information leading to your examination of questions related to why, how, and for what purpose.
• Inadequate definition of a core problem and associated symptoms . A common error found in case analysis papers is recommending a solution or course of action without adequately defining or demonstrating that you understand the problem. Make sure you have clearly described the problem and its impact and scope within the organizational setting. Ensure that you have adequately described the root causes w hen describing the symptoms of the problem.
• Recommendations lack specificity . Identify any use of vague statements and indeterminate terminology, such as, “A particular experience” or “a large increase to the budget.” These statements cannot be measured and, as a result, there is no way to evaluate their successful implementation. Provide specific data and use direct language in describing recommended actions.
• Unrealistic, exaggerated, or unattainable recommendations . Review your recommendations to ensure that they are based on the situational facts of the case. Your recommended solutions and courses of action must be based on realistic assumptions and fit within the constraints of the situation. Also note that the case scenario has already happened, therefore, any speculation or arguments about what could have occurred if the circumstances were different should be revised or eliminated.

Bee, Lian Song et al. "Business Students' Perspectives on Case Method Coaching for Problem-Based Learning: Impacts on Student Engagement and Learning Performance in Higher Education." Education & Training 64 (2022): 416-432; The Case Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. Grand Valley State University; Georgallis, Panikos and Kayleigh Bruijn. "Sustainability Teaching using Case-Based Debates." Journal of International Education in Business 15 (2022): 147-163; Hawes, Jon M. "Teaching is Not Telling: The Case Method as a Form of Interactive Learning." Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education 5 (Winter 2004): 47-54; Georgallis, Panikos, and Kayleigh Bruijn. "Sustainability Teaching Using Case-based Debates." Journal of International Education in Business 15 (2022): 147-163; .Dean,  Kathy Lund and Charles J. Fornaciari. "How to Create and Use Experiential Case-Based Exercises in a Management Classroom." Journal of Management Education 26 (October 2002): 586-603; Klebba, Joanne M. and Janet G. Hamilton. "Structured Case Analysis: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in a Marketing Case Course." Journal of Marketing Education 29 (August 2007): 132-137, 139; Klein, Norman. "The Case Discussion Method Revisited: Some Questions about Student Skills." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 30-32; Mukherjee, Arup. "Effective Use of In-Class Mini Case Analysis for Discovery Learning in an Undergraduate MIS Course." The Journal of Computer Information Systems 40 (Spring 2000): 15-23; Pessoa, Silviaet al. "Scaffolding the Case Analysis in an Organizational Behavior Course: Making Analytical Language Explicit." Journal of Management Education 46 (2022): 226-251: Ramsey, V. J. and L. D. Dodge. "Case Analysis: A Structured Approach." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 27-29; Schweitzer, Karen. "How to Write and Format a Business Case Study." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-write-and-format-a-business-case-study-466324 (accessed December 5, 2022); Reddy, C. D. "Teaching Research Methodology: Everything's a Case." Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods 18 (December 2020): 178-188; Volpe, Guglielmo. "Case Teaching in Economics: History, Practice and Evidence." Cogent Economics and Finance 3 (December 2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977.

Writing Tip

Ca se Study and Case Analysis Are Not the Same!

Confusion often exists between what it means to write a paper that uses a case study research design and writing a paper that analyzes a case; they are two different types of approaches to learning in the social and behavioral sciences. Professors as well as educational researchers contribute to this confusion because they often use the term "case study" when describing the subject of analysis for a case analysis paper. But you are not studying a case for the purpose of generating a comprehensive, multi-faceted understanding of a research problem. R ather, you are critically analyzing a specific scenario to argue logically for recommended solutions and courses of action that lead to optimal outcomes applicable to professional practice.

To avoid any confusion, here are twelve characteristics that delineate the differences between writing a paper using the case study research method and writing a case analysis paper:

• Case study is a method of in-depth research and rigorous inquiry ; case analysis is a reliable method of teaching and learning . A case study is a modality of research that investigates a phenomenon for the purpose of creating new knowledge, solving a problem, or testing a hypothesis using empirical evidence derived from the case being studied. Often, the results are used to generalize about a larger population or within a wider context. The writing adheres to the traditional standards of a scholarly research study. A case analysis is a pedagogical tool used to teach students how to reflect and think critically about a practical, real-life problem in an organizational setting.
• The researcher is responsible for identifying the case to study; a case analysis is assigned by your professor . As the researcher, you choose the case study to investigate in support of obtaining new knowledge and understanding about the research problem. The case in a case analysis assignment is almost always provided, and sometimes written, by your professor and either given to every student in class to analyze individually or to a small group of students, or students select a case to analyze from a predetermined list.
• A case study is indeterminate and boundless; a case analysis is predetermined and confined . A case study can be almost anything [see item 9 below] as long as it relates directly to examining the research problem. This relationship is the only limit to what a researcher can choose as the subject of their case study. The content of a case analysis is determined by your professor and its parameters are well-defined and limited to elucidating insights of practical value applied to practice.
• Case study is fact-based and describes actual events or situations; case analysis can be entirely fictional or adapted from an actual situation . The entire content of a case study must be grounded in reality to be a valid subject of investigation in an empirical research study. A case analysis only needs to set the stage for critically examining a situation in practice and, therefore, can be entirely fictional or adapted, all or in-part, from an actual situation.
• Research using a case study method must adhere to principles of intellectual honesty and academic integrity; a case analysis scenario can include misleading or false information . A case study paper must report research objectively and factually to ensure that any findings are understood to be logically correct and trustworthy. A case analysis scenario may include misleading or false information intended to deliberately distract from the central issues of the case. The purpose is to teach students how to sort through conflicting or useless information in order to come up with the preferred solution. Any use of misleading or false information in academic research is considered unethical.
• Case study is linked to a research problem; case analysis is linked to a practical situation or scenario . In the social sciences, the subject of an investigation is most often framed as a problem that must be researched in order to generate new knowledge leading to a solution. Case analysis narratives are grounded in real life scenarios for the purpose of examining the realities of decision-making behavior and processes within organizational settings. A case analysis assignments include a problem or set of problems to be analyzed. However, the goal is centered around the act of identifying and evaluating courses of action leading to best possible outcomes.
• The purpose of a case study is to create new knowledge through research; the purpose of a case analysis is to teach new understanding . Case studies are a choice of methodological design intended to create new knowledge about resolving a research problem. A case analysis is a mode of teaching and learning intended to create new understanding and an awareness of uncertainty applied to practice through acts of critical thinking and reflection.
• A case study seeks to identify the best possible solution to a research problem; case analysis can have an indeterminate set of solutions or outcomes . Your role in studying a case is to discover the most logical, evidence-based ways to address a research problem. A case analysis assignment rarely has a single correct answer because one of the goals is to force students to confront the real life dynamics of uncertainly, ambiguity, and missing or conflicting information within professional practice. Under these conditions, a perfect outcome or solution almost never exists.
• Case study is unbounded and relies on gathering external information; case analysis is a self-contained subject of analysis . The scope of a case study chosen as a method of research is bounded. However, the researcher is free to gather whatever information and data is necessary to investigate its relevance to understanding the research problem. For a case analysis assignment, your professor will often ask you to examine solutions or recommended courses of action based solely on facts and information from the case.
• Case study can be a person, place, object, issue, event, condition, or phenomenon; a case analysis is a carefully constructed synopsis of events, situations, and behaviors . The research problem dictates the type of case being studied and, therefore, the design can encompass almost anything tangible as long as it fulfills the objective of generating new knowledge and understanding. A case analysis is in the form of a narrative containing descriptions of facts, situations, processes, rules, and behaviors within a particular setting and under a specific set of circumstances.
• Case study can represent an open-ended subject of inquiry; a case analysis is a narrative about something that has happened in the past . A case study is not restricted by time and can encompass an event or issue with no temporal limit or end. For example, the current war in Ukraine can be used as a case study of how medical personnel help civilians during a large military conflict, even though circumstances around this event are still evolving. A case analysis can be used to elicit critical thinking about current or future situations in practice, but the case itself is a narrative about something finite and that has taken place in the past.
• Multiple case studies can be used in a research study; case analysis involves examining a single scenario . Case study research can use two or more cases to examine a problem, often for the purpose of conducting a comparative investigation intended to discover hidden relationships, document emerging trends, or determine variations among different examples. A case analysis assignment typically describes a stand-alone, self-contained situation and any comparisons among cases are conducted during in-class discussions and/or student presentations.

The Case Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. Grand Valley State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Ramsey, V. J. and L. D. Dodge. "Case Analysis: A Structured Approach." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 27-29; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2017; Crowe, Sarah et al. “The Case Study Approach.” BMC Medical Research Methodology 11 (2011):  doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-11-100; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing; 1994.

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Other assessments: Case studies

• Scientific writing style
• Case studies
• Journal critique
• Research proposals
• Dissertations
• Literature reviews
• Assessed discussion
• Video assignments

On this page:

“For knowledge you will use in the real world - in business, for example, or in engineering or medicine - the "what" [to think] isn't sufficient. You must know how to apply the knowledge to the real world.” William Ellet, The Case Study Handbook

Case study assignments are common in some disciplines. Their main purpose is to show that you can relate theory to real-life situations. You also need to be able to recommend practical solutions to real-life problems.

This page is dedicated to writing case studies for undergraduate assignments, it does not tackle case studies as a research method/approach.

What is a case study?

A case study is an assignment where you analyse a specific case (organisation, group, person, event, issue) and explain how the elements and complexities of that case relate to theory . You will sometimes have to come up with solutions to problems or recommendations for future action.

You may be asked to write a case study as an essay, as part of a longer assignment or as a report.

Examples of cases

An organisation.  For example a company, a business, a school, a sports club, a health body.

A group. For example a class of pupils, an individual team within an organisation, a project group, a sports club.

An individual.  For example a patient, a client, a specific student/pupil, a manager/leader.

An event.  For example a sporting occasion, a cultural event, a news story, an historical event.

An issue.  For example a dilemma, problem, critical event, change of practice.

Analysing a case

What are you being asked to do.

It is important be sure about the purpose of analysing the case before you begin. Refer back to your assignment brief and make sure you are clear about this. It could be:

• To answer a specific question using examples from the case to support your argument
• To explore what happened and why (no recommendations needed)
• To make recommendations or identify solutions
• To write a plan that takes the issues into consideration

Examining the case

In order to be thoroughly familiar with the case you are going to need to read through* the case several times during the analysis process. Start by simply reading it without asking too many questions in your mind. Get a feel for it as a whole. After that, you will need to read through it several times to identify the following:

• What are the facts? List information you are sure about.
• What happened/is happening? List definite actions that occurred/are occurring.
• Who was/is involved? List people by job role and what their involvement was/is.

You will now need to read additional material to help you analyse. In business, for example, you will perhaps want to read the financial statements for the company you are investigating; in nursing, the background of the treatment for the disorder from which “your” patient is suffering.

* Sometimes cases are presented to you as videos to watch. In which case you are going to have to watch it many times!

Theoretical approaches

You may have to ask yourself which theoretical approaches that you have covered in your course are relevant to the particular case you have before you. In some instances this may be obvious but in others it may be less so. A theoretical approach is useful as it can give you  specific questions to answer ; specific things to look for. For example, in business, this may take the form of a SWOT analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) or you may look at the Porter's Five Forces model. There are similar models in other disciplines which you may have been introduced to already - or the brief may tell you which to use.

No obvious theoretical approach?

If you have not been provided with a theoretical approach don't worry. You can still ask questions. For example: 

What is this case study about in general? What is the big picture - the main issue that this case study is an example of?

What specific issues are associated with it? What makes this case interesting?

What do I already know about these issues?

How do they link with the theories we have studied? (See below.)

What alternative approaches to dealing with the issues would be appropriate?

If an alternative approach were used, what impact might it have?

Linking to theory

The most crucial element about a case study is your ability to link the real world example to theory. This gives you more insight into both because

• The real life example will mean you can see how theory works in practice .
• Theory can help you see why things happened as they did and help you come up with alternative approaches and find solutions/make recommendations.

Real life is complex and messy. Do not expect it to nicely fit into theories which are by their very nature best guesses (albeit well researched) and generalisations. However, you will have been given the case specifically because it does relate to some theories you have learned or need to be aware of.

So you need to:

• Look back through your lecture notes and reading lists to see if anything seems to fit with the case.
• Search for research that relates to the issues you identified during your analysis. Note these will not necessarily be labelled as 'theories'. Claims made in research papers can all be described as theories. 

Now consider some or all of the questions below:

• Do the facts and issues raised in the case support any theories?
• Do the fact and issues raised in the case invalidate or undermine any theories?
• Can any of the theories explain why issues arose?
• Can any of the theories back up the actions taken?
• Can any of the theories suggest alternative courses of action?
• Do you think any of these alternatives would work best in your case? Why?

Armed with the answers to many of these questions, you are ready to start writing up your case study.

Writing up your case study

The most common ways to write up a case study are as essays or reports . The main differences between the two will be how you structure your work.

Structuring a case study essay

Case study essays usually have to answer a specific question using examples from your case study. They are written in continuous prose (a series of paragraphs with no subheadings). They should be structured much like any other essay with an introduction, main body and conclusion. 

Introduction

This needs to have three things:

• An introduction to your case (you don't need to rewrite it, just summarise it giving the important parts for your essay).
• A position statement (your answer to the overall question).
• An indication of how the rest of the essay is structured.

These do not have to be in that particular order but they do all need to be included.

Generally you will organise this thematically . Each paragraph needs to make a point and then use information from your case to illustrate and back up that point . You will also bring in theory (other reading) to strengthen your argument. It is acceptable to start with the example from your case and then show how this links to theory and the conclusion this leads you to; however, it is best if you first let your reader know the point you are making, as then they are not having to second guess this until the end of the paragraph. 

Each point in your main body should be leading back to the position statement you made in the introduction.

What are the main lessons you learned from the case study? How well did the theory fit with the real world example? Have you been asked to provide solutions or recommendations? If so, give them here.

Reference list

Include all the sources you have cited in your essay.

Structuring a case study report

These can vary between disciplines so check your assignment guidance. A typical case study would include:

Table of contents

See our MS Word pages  or our MS Office Software SkillsGuide for instructions on how to create these automatically.

Executive summary - optional, check if required

Give an overview of your whole report including main approaches, findings and recommendations. This is a bit like the abstract of a journal article.

• Context (Background)
• Purpose - what is the case study trying to achieve? 
• Approach - are you using any particular theoretical tools or research approaches?

Discussion/Analysis

• Identification of issues and problems
• Links to theories that help you explain the case
• Explanation of causes or implications of the issues identified
• Possible solutions (if required, check your instructions)

These depends on what you were asked to do but could include:

• Main lessons learned
• Best solutions and reasons why
• Recommendations (may have their own section)
• Action plan (may have its own section)
• Include all the sources you have cited in the report.

Appendices if required

Recommended books and ebooks from our collection, related books and ebooks from our collection.

Recommended external resources

• Writing a case study From Monash University
• Writing a case study analysis From The University of Arizona
• Case studies From the University of South Australia - includes useful sample case studies
• Writing a case study PDF to download from the University of Bedfordshire
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How to write a case study — examples, templates, and tools

It’s a marketer’s job to communicate the effectiveness of a product or service to potential and current customers to convince them to buy and keep business moving. One of the best methods for doing this is to share success stories that are relatable to prospects and customers based on their pain points, experiences, and overall needs.

That’s where case studies come in. Case studies are an essential part of a content marketing plan. These in-depth stories of customer experiences are some of the most effective at demonstrating the value of a product or service. Yet many marketers don’t use them, whether because of their regimented formats or the process of customer involvement and approval.

A case study is a powerful tool for showcasing your hard work and the success your customer achieved. But writing a great case study can be difficult if you’ve never done it before or if it’s been a while. This guide will show you how to write an effective case study and provide real-world examples and templates that will keep readers engaged and support your business.

In this article, you’ll learn:

What is a case study?

How to write a case study, case study templates, case study examples, case study tools.

A case study is the detailed story of a customer’s experience with a product or service that demonstrates their success and often includes measurable outcomes. Case studies are used in a range of fields and for various reasons, from business to academic research. They’re especially impactful in marketing as brands work to convince and convert consumers with relatable, real-world stories of actual customer experiences.

The best case studies tell the story of a customer’s success, including the steps they took, the results they achieved, and the support they received from a brand along the way. To write a great case study, you need to:

• Celebrate the customer and make them — not a product or service — the star of the story.
• Craft the story with specific audiences or target segments in mind so that the story of one customer will be viewed as relatable and actionable for another customer.
• Write copy that is easy to read and engaging so that readers will gain the insights and messages intended.
• Follow a standardized format that includes all of the essentials a potential customer would find interesting and useful.
• Support all of the claims for success made in the story with data in the forms of hard numbers and customer statements.

Case studies are a type of review but more in depth, aiming to show — rather than just tell — the positive experiences that customers have with a brand. Notably, 89% of consumers read reviews before deciding to buy, and 79% view case study content as part of their purchasing process. When it comes to B2B sales, 52% of buyers rank case studies as an important part of their evaluation process.

Telling a brand story through the experience of a tried-and-true customer matters. The story is relatable to potential new customers as they imagine themselves in the shoes of the company or individual featured in the case study. Showcasing previous customers can help new ones see themselves engaging with your brand in the ways that are most meaningful to them.

Besides sharing the perspective of another customer, case studies stand out from other content marketing forms because they are based on evidence. Whether pulling from client testimonials or data-driven results, case studies tend to have more impact on new business because the story contains information that is both objective (data) and subjective (customer experience) — and the brand doesn’t sound too self-promotional.

Case studies are unique in that there’s a fairly standardized format for telling a customer’s story. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity. It’s all about making sure that teams are clear on the goals for the case study — along with strategies for supporting content and channels — and understanding how the story fits within the framework of the company’s overall marketing goals.

Here are the basic steps to writing a good case study.

1. Identify your goal

Start by defining exactly who your case study will be designed to help. Case studies are about specific instances where a company works with a customer to achieve a goal. Identify which customers are likely to have these goals, as well as other needs the story should cover to appeal to them.

The answer is often found in one of the buyer personas that have been constructed as part of your larger marketing strategy. This can include anything from new leads generated by the marketing team to long-term customers that are being pressed for cross-sell opportunities. In all of these cases, demonstrating value through a relatable customer success story can be part of the solution to conversion.

2. Choose your client or subject

Who you highlight matters. Case studies tie brands together that might otherwise not cross paths. A writer will want to ensure that the highlighted customer aligns with their own company’s brand identity and offerings. Look for a customer with positive name recognition who has had great success with a product or service and is willing to be an advocate.

The client should also match up with the identified target audience. Whichever company or individual is selected should be a reflection of other potential customers who can see themselves in similar circumstances, having the same problems and possible solutions.

Some of the most compelling case studies feature customers who:

• Switch from one product or service to another while naming competitors that missed the mark.
• Experience measurable results that are relatable to others in a specific industry.
• Represent well-known brands and recognizable names that are likely to compel action.
• Advocate for a product or service as a champion and are well-versed in its advantages.

Whoever or whatever customer is selected, marketers must ensure they have the permission of the company involved before getting started. Some brands have strict review and approval procedures for any official marketing or promotional materials that include their name. Acquiring those approvals in advance will prevent any miscommunication or wasted effort if there is an issue with their legal or compliance teams.

3. Conduct research and compile data

Substantiating the claims made in a case study — either by the marketing team or customers themselves — adds validity to the story. To do this, include data and feedback from the client that defines what success looks like. This can be anything from demonstrating return on investment (ROI) to a specific metric the customer was striving to improve. Case studies should prove how an outcome was achieved and show tangible results that indicate to the customer that your solution is the right one.

This step could also include customer interviews. Make sure that the people being interviewed are key stakeholders in the purchase decision or deployment and use of the product or service that is being highlighted. Content writers should work off a set list of questions prepared in advance. It can be helpful to share these with the interviewees beforehand so they have time to consider and craft their responses. One of the best interview tactics to keep in mind is to ask questions where yes and no are not natural answers. This way, your subject will provide more open-ended responses that produce more meaningful content.

4. Choose the right format

There are a number of different ways to format a case study. Depending on what you hope to achieve, one style will be better than another. However, there are some common elements to include, such as:

• An engaging headline
• A subject and customer introduction
• The unique challenge or challenges the customer faced
• The solution the customer used to solve the problem
• The results achieved
• Data and statistics to back up claims of success
• A strong call to action (CTA) to engage with the vendor

It’s also important to note that while case studies are traditionally written as stories, they don’t have to be in a written format. Some companies choose to get more creative with their case studies and produce multimedia content, depending on their audience and objectives. Case study formats can include traditional print stories, interactive web or social content, data-heavy infographics, professionally shot videos, podcasts, and more.

5. Write your case study

We’ll go into more detail later about how exactly to write a case study, including templates and examples. Generally speaking, though, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing your case study.

• Be clear and concise. Readers want to get to the point of the story quickly and easily, and they’ll be looking to see themselves reflected in the story right from the start.
• Provide a big picture. Always make sure to explain who the client is, their goals, and how they achieved success in a short introduction to engage the reader.
• Construct a clear narrative. Stick to the story from the perspective of the customer and what they needed to solve instead of just listing product features or benefits.
• Leverage graphics. Incorporating infographics, charts, and sidebars can be a more engaging and eye-catching way to share key statistics and data in readable ways.
• Offer the right amount of detail. Most case studies are one or two pages with clear sections that a reader can skim to find the information most important to them.
• Include data to support claims. Show real results — both facts and figures and customer quotes — to demonstrate credibility and prove the solution works.

6. Promote your story

Marketers have a number of options for distribution of a freshly minted case study. Many brands choose to publish case studies on their website and post them on social media. This can help support SEO and organic content strategies while also boosting company credibility and trust as visitors see that other businesses have used the product or service.

Marketers are always looking for quality content they can use for lead generation. Consider offering a case study as gated content behind a form on a landing page or as an offer in an email message. One great way to do this is to summarize the content and tease the full story available for download after the user takes an action.

Sales teams can also leverage case studies, so be sure they are aware that the assets exist once they’re published. Especially when it comes to larger B2B sales, companies often ask for examples of similar customer challenges that have been solved.

Now that you’ve learned a bit about case studies and what they should include, you may be wondering how to start creating great customer story content. Here are a couple of templates you can use to structure your case study.

Template 1 — Challenge-solution-result format

• Start with an engaging title. This should be fewer than 70 characters long for SEO best practices. One of the best ways to approach the title is to include the customer’s name and a hint at the challenge they overcame in the end.
• Create an introduction. Lead with an explanation as to who the customer is, the need they had, and the opportunity they found with a specific product or solution. Writers can also suggest the success the customer experienced with the solution they chose.
• Present the challenge. This should be several paragraphs long and explain the problem the customer faced and the issues they were trying to solve. Details should tie into the company’s products and services naturally. This section needs to be the most relatable to the reader so they can picture themselves in a similar situation.
• Share the solution. Explain which product or service offered was the ideal fit for the customer and why. Feel free to delve into their experience setting up, purchasing, and onboarding the solution.
• Explain the results. Demonstrate the impact of the solution they chose by backing up their positive experience with data. Fill in with customer quotes and tangible, measurable results that show the effect of their choice.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that invites readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to nurture them further in the marketing pipeline. What you ask of the reader should tie directly into the goals that were established for the case study in the first place.

Template 2 — Data-driven format

• Start with an engaging title. Be sure to include a statistic or data point in the first 70 characters. Again, it’s best to include the customer’s name as part of the title.
• Create an overview. Share the customer’s background and a short version of the challenge they faced. Present the reason a particular product or service was chosen, and feel free to include quotes from the customer about their selection process.
• Present data point 1. Isolate the first metric that the customer used to define success and explain how the product or solution helped to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 2. Isolate the second metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 3. Isolate the final metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Summarize the results. Reiterate the fact that the customer was able to achieve success thanks to a specific product or service. Include quotes and statements that reflect customer satisfaction and suggest they plan to continue using the solution.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that asks readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to further nurture them in the marketing pipeline. Again, remember that this is where marketers can look to convert their content into action with the customer.

While templates are helpful, seeing a case study in action can also be a great way to learn. Here are some examples of how Adobe customers have experienced success.

Juniper Networks

One example is the Adobe and Juniper Networks case study , which puts the reader in the customer’s shoes. The beginning of the story quickly orients the reader so that they know exactly who the article is about and what they were trying to achieve. Solutions are outlined in a way that shows Adobe Experience Manager is the best choice and a natural fit for the customer. Along the way, quotes from the client are incorporated to help add validity to the statements. The results in the case study are conveyed with clear evidence of scale and volume using tangible data.

The story of Lenovo’s journey with Adobe is one that spans years of planning, implementation, and rollout. The Lenovo case study does a great job of consolidating all of this into a relatable journey that other enterprise organizations can see themselves taking, despite the project size. This case study also features descriptive headers and compelling visual elements that engage the reader and strengthen the content.

Tata Consulting

When it comes to using data to show customer results, this case study does an excellent job of conveying details and numbers in an easy-to-digest manner. Bullet points at the start break up the content while also helping the reader understand exactly what the case study will be about. Tata Consulting used Adobe to deliver elevated, engaging content experiences for a large telecommunications client of its own — an objective that’s relatable for a lot of companies.

Case studies are a vital tool for any marketing team as they enable you to demonstrate the value of your company’s products and services to others. They help marketers do their job and add credibility to a brand trying to promote its solutions by using the experiences and stories of real customers.

When you’re ready to get started with a case study:

• Think about a few goals you’d like to accomplish with your content.
• Make a list of successful clients that would be strong candidates for a case study.
• Reach out to the client to get their approval and conduct an interview.
• Gather the data to present an engaging and effective customer story.

Adobe can help

There are several Adobe products that can help you craft compelling case studies. Adobe Experience Platform helps you collect data and deliver great customer experiences across every channel. Once you’ve created your case studies, Experience Platform will help you deliver the right information to the right customer at the right time for maximum impact.

To learn more, watch the Adobe Experience Platform story .

Keep in mind that the best case studies are backed by data. That’s where Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform and Adobe Analytics come into play. With Real-Time CDP, you can gather the data you need to build a great case study and target specific customers to deliver the content to the right audience at the perfect moment.

Watch the Real-Time CDP overview video to learn more.

Finally, Adobe Analytics turns real-time data into real-time insights. It helps your business collect and synthesize data from multiple platforms to make more informed decisions and create the best case study possible.

Request a demo to learn more about Adobe Analytics.

https://business.adobe.com/blog/perspectives/b2b-ecommerce-10-case-studies-inspire-you

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/business-case

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-real-time-analytics

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Essential Skills For Your VET Diploma Studies

Case study assessments.

• Short answer assessments
• Skills practice session and reflection assessments
• Professional documentation assessments
• Project assessments
• Presentation assessments
• Creating a strong paragraph
• Incorporating information from sources
• Using bullet points and sentences
• Revising and editing your assessments
• ACAP VET Student Calendar

Content The main part of the case study assignment involves applying the concepts and theories you have learnt about to the case study. You should also incorporate information from your course materials and other sources when writing your case study assignment to support your ideas. A case study might also require you to provide examples of what you would say to a client or another person in the case, and what they might say. 

Structure Some case study assignments are in short answer style, so it is a good idea to include the numbered questions in your assignment so it is clear exactly which question you are responding to. Other case study assignments need to be structured with an introduction, a series of body paragraphs and a conclusion. When presenting case studies in this way, you can use headings which can often be ‘created’ from information in the task description.  

Style Case studies require you to write in the third person (people’s names, he/she/they, ‘the case manager’, ‘the client’ etc) when discussing the theories or research of authors, or the client, the professional or the organisation in the case. A case study might require you to use first person (‘I’, ‘my’ etc) to provide your own reflections about the case, its personal impact on you, or how you would apply theories and skills to the case. 

Make sure you have a good balance between describing your case study and analysing it. Many students fall into the trap of being too descriptive when writing about their case. Some ways to include analysis are:

• Explaining and giving reasons
• Comparing and contrasting
• Making suggestions and recommendations
• Supporting your ideas with information from sources

Useful links

• AI Content Shield
• AI KW Research
• AI Assistant
• SEO Optimizer
• AI KW Clustering
• Customer reviews
• The NLO Revolution
• Press Center
• Help Center
• Content Resources
• Facebook Group

Creative Steps to Write a Nutrition Case Study

Table of Contents

Nutrition plays a vital role in improving a patient’s health. However, each patient has unique nutritional needs requiring a personalized healthcare approach. That’s where nutrition case studies come in. These case studies comprehensively assess a patient’s nutritional status and help develop an individualized nutrition plan. They also help to monitor and evaluate the patient’s progress toward their health goals over time. In this article, we will provide a step-by-step guide on  how to write a nutrition case study . This post will help you understand the importance of nutrition case studies, whether you are a healthcare professional or a student.

What Is a Nutrition Case Study?

A nutrition case study comprehensively reports an individual’s nutritional status, dietary habits, and health outcomes . Healthcare professionals typically use these case studies to evaluate and treat patients. This is with various nutritional concerns, such as obesity, malnutrition, or chronic diseases. If you are a nutrition student or practitioner, learning how to write a nutrition case study is an essential skill to have. 

Importance of Nutrition Case Study

Nutrition case studies are a crucial tool for healthcare professionals in nutrition and dietetics. Here are some of the reasons why nutrition case studies are essential:

Provides a Comprehensive Assessment of a Patient’s Nutritional Status

 Nutrition case studies involve a detailed analysis of a patient’s dietary intake, medical history, and lifestyle factors that may impact their nutritional status. This information is used to develop a personalized nutrition plan tailored to the patient’s needs.

Develops an Individualized Nutrition Plan

A nutrition case study’s personalized approach to healthcare leads to an individualized nutrition plan. This approach can lead to better patient outcomes, improved health outcomes, and a higher quality of life for the patient.

Monitors and Evaluates Progress Over Time

Nutrition case studies track a patient’s food intake, weight, body composition, and other health outcomes over time. This enables healthcare professionals to monitor and evaluate the patient’s progress toward their health goals and adjust the nutrition plan as needed.

Provides Education About Healthy Eating Habits and Lifestyle Changes

Nutrition case studies can help educate patients about healthy eating habits and lifestyle changes. By providing a detailed assessment of a patient’s nutritional status, healthcare professionals can help patients make sustainable changes to their diet and lifestyle.

Supports Evidence-Based Practice

Nutrition case studies are based on evidence-based practice, meaning the nutrition plan is grounded in scientific research and clinical expertise. This approach ensures that the patient receives the best care based on the latest research and clinical knowledge.

Steps on How to Write a Nutrition Case Study

Selecting the patient.

The first step in writing a nutrition case study is selecting the patient. Typically, the patient has sought out nutritional counseling or treatment for a specific reason. These reasons include weight management, a chronic disease, or a food allergy. The patient should be willing to participate in the case study and provide detailed information about their diet, health history, and lifestyle habits. When selecting a patient, obtaining their written consent to participate in the case study is essential. This should include an explanation of the purpose of the case study and how their information will be used. It should also add any potential risks or benefits of participating. The patient should know that they can stop participating in the research at any moment if they don’t want to.

Gathering Information

The next step in writing a nutrition case study is gathering information about the patient. This includes a comprehensive assessment of their dietary habits, health status, medical history, and lifestyle factors that may impact their nutrition. To gather this information, you may need to conduct a nutrition assessment, which typically includes the following components:

Anthropometric Measurements

This involves measuring the patient’s height, weight, body mass index (BMI), and other body composition measures.

Dietary Intake Assessment

This involves collecting information about the patient’s dietary habits, including food preferences, allergies, and cultural or religious dietary restrictions.

Biochemical Assessment

This involves analyzing the patient’s blood, urine, or other biological samples to assess their nutritional status.

Medical History

This involves collecting information about the patient’s past and current medical conditions, medications, and surgeries.

Lifestyle Assessment

This involves collecting information about the patient’s physical activity, stress, and other lifestyle factors that may impact their nutrition status. Gathering as much information as possible is essential to create a comprehensive nutrition case study. This information will help you develop an individualized nutrition plan addressing the patient’s needs and concerns.

Developing a Nutrition Plan

Once you have gathered all the necessary information, the next step is to develop a nutrition plan for the patient. The nutrition plan should be based on the patient’s dietary needs, health goals, and lifestyle factors. It should also consider any medical conditions or medications that may impact the patient’s nutritional status. The nutrition plan should include the following components:

Macronutrient and Micronutrient Recommendations

This involves recommending specific amounts of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and other essential nutrients the patient should consume daily.

Food Group Recommendations

This involves recommending specific food groups for the patient, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

Meal and Snack Recommendations

This involves recommending specific meals and snacks for the patient to meet their nutritional needs throughout the day.

Nutritional Supplements

This involves recommending specific nutritional supplements, such as vitamins, minerals, or protein powders, that may help patients meet their nutritional needs.

Behavioral Recommendations

This involves recommending specific behavioral changes that may impact the patient’s nutrition status, such as increasing physical activity or reducing stress. The nutrition plan should be individualized to the patient’s needs and preferences. It should also be realistic and achievable, considering any barriers the patient may face in following the plan.

Implementing the Nutrition Plan

Once the nutrition plan has been developed, the next step is implementing it with the patient. This may involve educating the patient about healthy eating habits and strategies for making dietary changes. The patient should also be encouraged to track their food intake and monitor their progress toward their health goals. Working collaboratively with the patient throughout the implementation process is essential, as ongoing support and guidance are needed. This may involve regular follow-up appointments or communication via phone or email. The patient should be encouraged to ask questions and share any concerns or challenges they may be experiencing.

Monitoring and Evaluating Progress

The final step in writing a nutrition case study is monitoring and evaluating the patient’s progress. This involves tracking the patient’s food intake, weight, body composition, and other health outcomes. The patient’s progress should be regularly assessed, and adjustments made to the nutrition plan as needed. Objective measures such as laboratory values or body composition assessments are essential to evaluate the patient’s progress. This can help ensure that the nutrition plan is effective and that the patient is progressing toward their health goals.

How to Write a Nutrition Case Study

Once the nutrition plan has been implemented and the patient’s progress has been evaluated, it is time to write the case study. The case study should be organized in a logical and easy-to-read format, and should include the following sections:

Introduction

This should provide an overview of the patient’s case and outline the purpose of the case study.

Patient History

You should provide a comprehensive overview of the patient’s medical history, dietary habits, and lifestyle factors that may impact their nutritional status.

Nutrition Assessment

This should provide a detailed assessment of the patient’s nutritional status, including anthropometric measurements, dietary intake, biochemical markers, and medical history.

Nutrition Plan

This should provide a comprehensive overview of the patient’s individualized nutrition plan. They include macronutrient and micronutrient recommendations, food group recommendations, meal and snack recommendations, nutritional supplement recommendations, and behavioral recommendations.

Implementation and Follow-Up

This should provide an overview of the patient’s progress in implementing the nutrition plan, including any challenges or barriers encountered. It should also outline the follow-up appointments or communication that took place between the patient and healthcare provider.

This should provide an overview of the patient’s progress towards their health goals, including any changes in weight, body composition, or laboratory values.

This should provide an interpretation of the patient’s results, including any limitations or strengths of the case study. It should also provide a summary of the key takeaways and implications for future practice.

Writing a nutrition case study may not be the most exciting task in the world, but it is a crucial one. By following these steps and using a bit of wit and creativity, healthcare professionals can effectively communicate their patient’s nutritional needs . This shows progress toward their health goals. Who knows, maybe writing a nutrition case study will be more fun than you thought!

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Nursing Case Studies with Answers

Explore Nursing Case Studies with Answers and examples in Carepatron's free downloadable PDF. Enhance your nursing knowledge and prepare for exams with practical scenarios.

By Wynona Jugueta on Mar 25, 2024.

Fact Checked by Ericka Pingol.

What is a case study?

A case study in medicine is a detailed report of a patient's experience with a disease, treatment, or condition. It typically includes the patient's medical history, symptoms, diagnostic tests, treatment course, and outcome.

Some key things to know about medical case studies template . First, they delve deep into the specifics of a single case, providing a rich understanding of a particular medical situation.

Medical professionals use case studies to learn about rare diseases, unusual presentations of common conditions, and the decision-making process involved in complex cases.

Case studies can identify exciting areas for further investigation through more rigorous clinical trials. While informative, they can't be used to develop general treatment guidelines because they only focus on a single case.

Overall, medical case studies are valuable tools for medical education and research, offering insights into human health and disease complexities.

Printable Nursing Case Studies with Answers

Download this Nursing Case Studies with Answers to analyze complex clinical situations, identify priority needs, and develop effective care plans tailored to individual patients.

What is in a nursing case study?

A nursing case study is a detailed examination of a patient's health condition, treatment plan, and overall care journey, specifically from the perspective of nursing practice. These case studies are essential components of nursing education and professional development, providing valuable insights into clinical scenarios and patient care experiences.

In a case nursing study template , various elements are typically included to comprehensively understand the patient's situation. First and foremost, the case study outlines the patient's demographic information, including age, gender, medical history, and presenting symptoms. This demographic overview sets the stage for understanding the context in which healthcare interventions occur.

Moreover, nursing case studies often delve into the nursing assessment process, highlighting the initial and ongoing assessments nurses conduct to gather relevant patient health status data. These assessments involve physical examinations, vital sign monitoring, and assessment tools to identify potential health issues and risk factors.

Critical thinking skills are essential in nursing case studies, as they enable nurses to analyze complex clinical situations, identify priority needs, and develop effective care plans tailored to individual patients. Nursing students and experienced nurses use case studies as opportunities to enhance their critical thinking abilities and clinical decision-making processes.

Nursing case studies serve several vital purposes within healthcare education and professional practice, whether they are a primary care physician or a group of nursing students. Let's explore each purpose in detail:

Enhancing clinical reasoning skills

One primary purpose of nursing case studies is to enhance nursing students' and practicing nurses' clinical reasoning skills. By presenting realistic patient scenarios, case studies challenge individuals to analyze clinical data, interpret findings, and develop appropriate nursing interventions. This process promotes critical thinking and problem-solving abilities essential for effective nursing practice.

Applying theoretical knowledge to practice

Nursing case studies provide a bridge between theoretical knowledge and practical application. They allow nursing students to apply concepts learned in the classroom to real-world patient care situations. By engaging with case studies, students can integrate theoretical principles with clinical practice, gaining a deeper understanding of nursing concepts and their relevance to patient care.

Facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration

Another purpose of nursing case studies is to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among healthcare professionals. Nurses often collaborate with physicians, specialists, therapists, and other team members in complex patient cases to deliver comprehensive care. Case studies offer opportunities for nurses to explore collaborative decision-making processes, communication strategies, and teamwork dynamics essential for providing quality patient care.

Promoting evidence-based practice

Nursing case studies are crucial in promoting evidence-based practice (EBP) within nursing and healthcare settings. Nurses can make informed decisions about patient care interventions by analyzing patient scenarios and considering current research evidence. Case studies encourage nurses to critically evaluate research findings, clinical guidelines, and best practices to ensure the delivery of safe, effective, and patient-centered care.

Fostering professional development

Engaging with nursing case studies contributes to the ongoing professional development of nurses at all stages of their careers. For nursing students, case studies provide valuable learning experiences that help prepare them for clinical practice. For experienced nurses, case studies offer opportunities to refine clinical skills, stay updated on emerging healthcare trends, and reflect on past experiences to improve future practice.

How to write a nursing case study?

Writing a nursing case study involves several essential steps to ensure accuracy, relevance, and clarity. Let's break down the process into actionable steps:

Step 1: Select a patient case

Begin by selecting a patient case that presents a relevant and compelling healthcare scenario. Consider factors such as the patient's demographic information, medical history, presenting symptoms (e.g., joint stiffness, pain), and healthcare needs (e.g., medication administration, vital signs monitoring). Choose a case that aligns with your learning objectives and offers meaningful analysis and discussion opportunities.

Step 2: Gather relevant data

Collect comprehensive data about the selected patient case, including medical records, test results, nursing assessments, and relevant healthcare documentation. Pay close attention to details such as the patient's current health status, past medical history (e.g., diabetes), treatment plans, and any ongoing concerns or challenges. Utilize assessment tools and techniques to evaluate the patient's condition thoroughly and identify areas of clinical significance.

Step 3: Assess the patient's needs

Based on the gathered data, evaluate the patient's needs, considering physical, emotional, social, and environmental factors. Assess the patient's pain levels, mobility, vital signs, and other relevant health indicators. Identify any potential complications, risks, or areas requiring immediate attention. Consider the patient's preferences, cultural background, and individualized care requirements in your assessment.

Step 4: Formulate nursing diagnoses

Formulate nursing diagnoses that accurately reflect the patient's health needs and priorities based on your assessment findings. Identify actual and potential nursing diagnoses related to the patient's condition, considering factors such as impaired mobility, ineffective pain management, medication adherence issues, and self-care deficits. Ensure your nursing diagnoses are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Step 5: Develop a care plan

Develop a comprehensive care plan outlining the nursing interventions and strategies to address the patient's identified needs and nursing diagnoses. Prioritize interventions based on the patient's condition, preferences, and care goals. Include evidence-based nursing interventions to promote optimal health outcomes, manage symptoms, prevent complications, and enhance the patient's overall well-being. Collaborate with other healthcare professionals as needed to ensure coordinated care delivery.

Step 6: Implement and evaluate interventions

Implement the nursing interventions outlined in the care plan while closely monitoring the patient's response to treatment. Administer medications, provide patient education, perform nursing procedures, and coordinate care activities to effectively meet the patient's needs. Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, reassessing the patient's condition and adjusting the care plan as necessary. Document all interventions, observations, and outcomes accurately and comprehensively.

Step 7: Reflect and seek assistance

Reflect on the nursing case study process, considering what worked well, areas for improvement, and lessons learned. Seek assistance from nursing instructors, preceptors, or colleagues if you encounter challenges or have concerns about the patient's care. Collaborate with interdisciplinary team members to address complex patient issues and ensure holistic care delivery. Continuously strive to enhance your nursing practice through ongoing learning and professional development.

Nursing Case Studies with Answers example (sample)

Below is an example of a nursing case study sample created by the Carepatron team. This sample illustrates a structured framework for documenting patient cases, outlining nursing interventions, and providing corresponding answers to guide learners through the analysis process. Feel free to download the PDF and use it as a reference when formulating your own nursing case studies.

Download this free Nursing Case Studies with Answers PDF example here 

Why use Carepatron as your nursing software?

Carepatron stands out as a comprehensive and reliable solution for nursing professionals seeking efficient and streamlined workflows in their practice. With a range of features tailored to the needs of nurses and healthcare teams, Carepatron offers unparalleled support and functionality for managing various aspects of patient care.

Nurse scheduling software

One of the key advantages of Carepatron is its nurse scheduling software , which simplifies the process of creating and managing schedules for nursing staff. With intuitive scheduling tools and customizable options, nurses can easily coordinate shifts, manage availability, and ensure adequate staffing levels to meet patient needs effectively.

Telehealth platform

In addition, Carepatron offers a robust telehealth platform that facilitates remote patient monitoring, virtual consultations, and telemedicine services. This feature enables nurses to provide continuity of care beyond traditional healthcare settings, reaching patients in remote areas or those unable to attend in-person appointments.

Clinical documentation software

Furthermore, Carepatron's clinical documentation software streamlines the documentation process, allowing nurses to easily capture patient data, record assessments, and document interventions. The platform supports accurate and efficient documentation practices, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and promoting continuity of care across healthcare settings.

Commonly asked questions

In clinical terms, a case study is a detailed examination of a patient's medical history, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes, typically used for educational or research purposes.

Case studies are essential in nursing as they provide real-life scenarios for nurses to apply theoretical knowledge, enhance critical thinking skills, and develop practical clinical reasoning and decision-making abilities.

Case studies in nursing education offer benefits such as promoting active learning, encouraging problem-solving skills, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration, and fostering a deeper understanding of complex healthcare situations.

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The Effects of Climate Change

The effects of human-caused global warming are happening now, are irreversible for people alive today, and will worsen as long as humans add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

• We already see effects scientists predicted, such as the loss of sea ice, melting glaciers and ice sheets, sea level rise, and more intense heat waves.
• Scientists predict global temperature increases from human-made greenhouse gases will continue. Severe weather damage will also increase and intensify.

Earth Will Continue to Warm and the Effects Will Be Profound

Global climate change is not a future problem. Changes to Earth’s climate driven by increased human emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are already having widespread effects on the environment: glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking, river and lake ice is breaking up earlier, plant and animal geographic ranges are shifting, and plants and trees are blooming sooner.

Effects that scientists had long predicted would result from global climate change are now occurring, such as sea ice loss, accelerated sea level rise, and longer, more intense heat waves.

The magnitude and rate of climate change and associated risks depend strongly on near-term mitigation and adaptation actions, and projected adverse impacts and related losses and damages escalate with every increment of global warming.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Some changes (such as droughts, wildfires, and extreme rainfall) are happening faster than scientists previously assessed. In fact, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — the United Nations body established to assess the science related to climate change — modern humans have never before seen the observed changes in our global climate, and some of these changes are irreversible over the next hundreds to thousands of years.

Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for many decades, mainly due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities.

The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment report, published in 2021, found that human emissions of heat-trapping gases have already warmed the climate by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since 1850-1900. 1 The global average temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 degrees C (about 3 degrees F) within the next few decades. These changes will affect all regions of Earth.

The severity of effects caused by climate change will depend on the path of future human activities. More greenhouse gas emissions will lead to more climate extremes and widespread damaging effects across our planet. However, those future effects depend on the total amount of carbon dioxide we emit. So, if we can reduce emissions, we may avoid some of the worst effects.

The scientific evidence is unequivocal: climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future.

Here are some of the expected effects of global climate change on the United States, according to the Third and Fourth National Climate Assessment Reports:

Future effects of global climate change in the United States:

U.S. Sea Level Likely to Rise 1 to 6.6 Feet by 2100

Global sea level has risen about 8 inches (0.2 meters) since reliable record-keeping began in 1880. By 2100, scientists project that it will rise at least another foot (0.3 meters), but possibly as high as 6.6 feet (2 meters) in a high-emissions scenario. Sea level is rising because of added water from melting land ice and the expansion of seawater as it warms. Image credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0

Climate Changes Will Continue Through This Century and Beyond

Global climate is projected to continue warming over this century and beyond. Image credit: Khagani Hasanov, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

Hurricanes Will Become Stronger and More Intense

Scientists project that hurricane-associated storm intensity and rainfall rates will increase as the climate continues to warm. Image credit: NASA

More Droughts and Heat Waves

Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves (periods of abnormally hot weather lasting days to weeks) are projected to become more intense, and cold waves less intense and less frequent. Image credit: NOAA

Longer Wildfire Season

Warming temperatures have extended and intensified wildfire season in the West, where long-term drought in the region has heightened the risk of fires. Scientists estimate that human-caused climate change has already doubled the area of forest burned in recent decades. By around 2050, the amount of land consumed by wildfires in Western states is projected to further increase by two to six times. Even in traditionally rainy regions like the Southeast, wildfires are projected to increase by about 30%.

Changes in Precipitation Patterns

Climate change is having an uneven effect on precipitation (rain and snow) in the United States, with some locations experiencing increased precipitation and flooding, while others suffer from drought. On average, more winter and spring precipitation is projected for the northern United States, and less for the Southwest, over this century. Image credit: Marvin Nauman/FEMA

Frost-Free Season (and Growing Season) will Lengthen

The length of the frost-free season, and the corresponding growing season, has been increasing since the 1980s, with the largest increases occurring in the western United States. Across the United States, the growing season is projected to continue to lengthen, which will affect ecosystems and agriculture.

Global Temperatures Will Continue to Rise

Summer of 2023 was Earth's hottest summer on record, 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (F) (0.23 degrees Celsius (C)) warmer than any other summer in NASA’s record and 2.1 degrees F (1.2 C) warmer than the average summer between 1951 and 1980. Image credit: NASA

Arctic Is Very Likely to Become Ice-Free

Sea ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is expected to continue decreasing, and the Arctic Ocean will very likely become essentially ice-free in late summer if current projections hold. This change is expected to occur before mid-century.

U.S. Regional Effects

Climate change is bringing different types of challenges to each region of the country. Some of the current and future impacts are summarized below. These findings are from the Third 3 and Fourth 4 National Climate Assessment Reports, released by the U.S. Global Change Research Program .

• Northeast. Heat waves, heavy downpours, and sea level rise pose increasing challenges to many aspects of life in the Northeast. Infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries, and ecosystems will be increasingly compromised. Farmers can explore new crop options, but these adaptations are not cost- or risk-free. Moreover, adaptive capacity , which varies throughout the region, could be overwhelmed by a changing climate. Many states and cities are beginning to incorporate climate change into their planning.
• Northwest. Changes in the timing of peak flows in rivers and streams are reducing water supplies and worsening competing demands for water. Sea level rise, erosion, flooding, risks to infrastructure, and increasing ocean acidity pose major threats. Increasing wildfire incidence and severity, heat waves, insect outbreaks, and tree diseases are causing widespread forest die-off.
• Southeast. Sea level rise poses widespread and continuing threats to the region’s economy and environment. Extreme heat will affect health, energy, agriculture, and more. Decreased water availability will have economic and environmental impacts.
• Midwest. Extreme heat, heavy downpours, and flooding will affect infrastructure, health, agriculture, forestry, transportation, air and water quality, and more. Climate change will also worsen a range of risks to the Great Lakes.
• Southwest. Climate change has caused increased heat, drought, and insect outbreaks. In turn, these changes have made wildfires more numerous and severe. The warming climate has also caused a decline in water supplies, reduced agricultural yields, and triggered heat-related health impacts in cities. In coastal areas, flooding and erosion are additional concerns.

1. IPCC 2021, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis , the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

2. IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Stocker, T.F., D. Qin, G.-K. Plattner, M. Tignor, S.K. Allen, J. Boschung, A. Nauels, Y. Xia, V. Bex and P.M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

3. USGCRP 2014, Third Climate Assessment .

4. USGCRP 2017, Fourth Climate Assessment .

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A Degree of Difference

So, the Earth's average temperature has increased about 2 degrees Fahrenheit during the 20th century. What's the big deal?

What’s the difference between climate change and global warming?

“Global warming” refers to the long-term warming of the planet. “Climate change” encompasses global warming, but refers to the broader range of changes that are happening to our planet, including rising sea levels; shrinking mountain glaciers; accelerating ice melt in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic; and shifts in flower/plant blooming times.

Is it too late to prevent climate change?

Humans have caused major climate changes to happen already, and we have set in motion more changes still. However, if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the rise in global temperatures would begin to flatten within a few years. Temperatures would then plateau but remain well-elevated for many, many centuries.

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Failure of Francis Scott Key Bridge provides future engineers a chance to learn how to better protect the public

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware

Disclosure statement

Michael J. Chajes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Delaware provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

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The cargo ship collision that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024, is raising questions about just how much engineers can do to prevent such catastrophes from occurring in the future. Here, Michael J. Chajes , a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Delaware, discusses how bridge design codes have changed over the years and the challenges of building new structures, and retrofitting existing ones, so they can survive extreme events

How hard is it to design a bridge to withstand the force that took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge?

Once engineers understand the forces that a structure will be subjected to, they can design a structure to withstand them. That said, we know that each force has a range of magnitudes that can occur. For example, not all trucks on the roadways weigh the same amount, not all earthquakes are of the same magnitude, and not all ships have the same weight. We incorporate this variability in forces into the design.

Even if built to a given set of plans, the final strength of the structure can vary. The materials used have variations in strength. For example, concrete delivered on two successive days will have a sightly different final strength. This variability in the strength of the final structure is also taken into account in the design process to ensure the bridge or building is safe. There’s no way we could build two bridges from the same set of plans and they end up with the exact same strength.

Based on the weight and speed of the ship that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge, today’s U.S. bridge design code would call for the bridge to be designed to resist a lateral force of 11,500 tons. This means the bridge has the ability to withstand a lateral hit of that magnitude. That is equivalent to the weight of about 50 loaded Boeing 777s or the weight of the Eiffel Tower. While this is a very large lateral force, structures can be designed to resist such forces. Tall buildings are routinely designed to resist lateral loads of this magnitude that result from wind or earthquakes. However, it is a matter of how much one wants to spend on the structure, and many design goals and constraints need to be balanced against each other.

What do engineers do to ensure safety in extreme events?

Our knowledge of how extreme events affect structures is constantly evolving. One area where this is very apparent is earthquake engineering . After each earthquake, structural engineers learn what has worked and what has not worked, and then the building and bridge design codes evolve. Infrastructure owners also try to retrofit existing structures that were designed to earlier codes.

Ship collisions and their impact on bridges are a similar area of evolving understanding and improved design codes. There have been over 35 major bridge collapses globally that were caused by ship collisions from 1960 to 2015 . Engineers evaluate the failures, and they update the engineering codes so that they better account for the effects of ship collisions.

How has bridge design evolved since the Baltimore bridge was built?

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was designed in the early 1970s. Construction started in 1972, and it opened to traffic in 1977. This preceded the 1980 collapse of the Sunshine Skyway in Florida, which was caused by a ship collision, similar to what happened in Baltimore. That bridge collapse led to the initiation of research projects that culminated in the development of a U.S. guide specification in 1991 that was updated in 2009.

Based on that guide specification, bridge design codes were changed to include forces due to ship collisions. The design of the Francis Scott Key Bridge would not have been required to consider the effect of ship collisions. The current U.S. bridge design code says that:

“where vessel collision is anticipated, structures should be:

• Designed to resist vessel collision forces and/or

• Adequately protected by fenders, dolphins, berms, islands, or other sacrifice-able devices.”

Other changes since the 1970s are that cargo ships have increased in size and weight . The ship that brought down the Sunshine Skyway in 1980 weighed 35,000 tons, while the ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge weighed 95,000 tons.

With the increasing weight of cargo ships, the most cost-effective design strategy to prevent collapse of bridges due to vessel collision may well be to protect the bridge piers from the impact. This is done by building a bridge collision protective system, which is often a concrete or rock structure that surrounds the pier and stops the ship from getting to the pier, as is done to protect many of our national monuments.

A pier protection system was installed when the Sunshine Skyway bridge was rebuilt, and it has been used on numerous other bridges . The same approach is currently being applied by the Delaware River and Bay Authority at a cost of US$93 million to protect the piers of the Delaware Memorial Bridge .

But what about existing bridges like the Francis Scott Key Bridge? Bridge owners have a tremendous challenge finding the financial resources needed to retrofit their bridges to satisfy the latest design codes and to account for the increased impact loads expected due to the heavier and heavier ships. Both things happened here. That is, design codes changed and improved, and loads got much larger. Engineers and infrastructure owners try their best to prioritize where their limited funds can be used to increase structural safety and minimize the chance of structural failure.

What can universities do?

The No. 1 job of structural engineers is to protect the public and minimize the risk of structural failures that pose a threat to human life. To do that, engineers must be able to calculate the forces that our structures may be subjected to. This includes cases where a large ship accidentally collides with a bridge, or a large earthquake or hurricane strikes.

In these extreme cases, the structure will almost assuredly sustain damage, but, if at all possible, it should be resilient enough to not collapse. The design codes are continually updated to account for new knowledge, new materials and new design techniques. The reliability of our structures is improving all the time.

Retrofitting structures built to prior codes is an ongoing process, and one that this disaster moves to the forefront. The U.S. has a lot of infrastructure that was designed to old codes, and we have larger trucks crossing our bridges, and larger ships passing beneath them.

Engineers can never reduce the probability of failure to zero, but they can reduce it to the point where failures happen very infrequently and only in cases where numerous unforeseen circumstances combine to make a structure vulnerable to collapse.

• Catastrophe
• Civil engineering
• Bridge construction
• Structural engineering
• Cargo ships
• naval disasters
• Baltimore bridge collapse

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