What Is a Case Study? Assignment vs Research Design

"Case study" is one of the most confusing terms students meet at university, because it is used in two quite different ways. Sometimes it means an assignment: you are given a scenario and asked to analyse it. Sometimes it means a research design: you study one or a few real cases in depth for a thesis or project.

This guide explains both meanings separately, so you can work out which one you are dealing with and how to approach it.

Two meanings of "case study"

	Case-study assignment	Case-study research design
Where you meet it	Coursework and exams, common in business, law, health and social care	Dissertations, theses and research projects
Who provides the case	Usually your lecturer	Usually you choose and justify it
What you do	Analyse a given situation and apply theory, law or professional frameworks	Collect and analyse data about a real case to answer a research question
Typical output	A report, essay or set of recommendations	A methodology, findings and discussion
Key skill	Applying concepts to a specific situation	Designing and justifying a rigorous study

If you are not sure which one your brief means, look at the verbs. "Analyse the following case" or "advise the client" usually signals an assignment. "Use a case study approach to investigate" usually signals research design. If it is still unclear, ask your tutor.

Part 1: The case-study assignment

In a case-study assignment, you are given a scenario, real or fictional, and asked to analyse it using what you have learned on the module. The case is a way of testing whether you can apply knowledge, not only repeat it.

What it looks like in different subjects

Business and management. You might analyse a company's strategy, a marketing decision or an organisational change, using models from your module.
Law. You might be given a set of facts and asked to identify the legal issues, apply the relevant rules and advise one of the parties. This is sometimes called a problem question.
Health and social care. You might analyse a patient or service-user scenario, applying professional frameworks, ethical principles and evidence to recommend care or action.

Expectations vary a great deal between subjects, modules and universities. Your brief and marking criteria are always the most reliable guide. Our case studies guide in the Writing Centre explains the format in more detail.

How to approach a case-study assignment

Read the brief and the case separately. First, understand exactly what you are asked to do. Then read the case, ideally twice.
Identify the key issues. What problems, decisions or questions does the case raise? Note them in a list.
Select relevant theory or frameworks. Choose the concepts from your module that best help explain the issues. Fewer, well-applied concepts are usually better than many mentioned briefly.
Apply, do not just describe. Show how each concept explains something specific in the case. Use details from the case as evidence.
Evaluate options. Where relevant, consider alternative interpretations or solutions and weigh them up.
Recommend or conclude. If the brief asks for recommendations, make them specific, realistic and linked to your analysis.

Common mistakes in case-study assignments

Retelling the case. Your reader already knows the facts. Summarise only what you need, then analyse.
Theory without the case. Explaining a model in general terms without applying it to the scenario.
Unsupported recommendations. Suggesting actions that do not follow from your analysis.
Ignoring the format. Some case assignments expect a report with headings, others an essay. Check the brief.

Part 2: Case-study research design

As a research design, a case study means investigating one case, or a small number of cases, in depth and in its real-life context. A "case" can be an organisation, a policy, a community, an event, a project or even a single person, depending on your field.

When a case-study design fits

A case-study design often suits research questions that ask how or why something happens in a particular setting, especially when the context matters and cannot easily be separated from what you are studying. It is less suited to questions that ask how common something is across a large population.

Case-study research often uses several sources of data, such as interviews, documents and observation, and is frequently qualitative, although it can include quantitative data. Our article on qualitative vs quantitative research explains how to choose an approach.

Single or multiple cases

Single case. Allows great depth. Useful when a case is especially revealing, unusual or typical of a wider situation.
Multiple cases. Allows comparison between cases. Useful when you want to see whether patterns hold in different settings, but it takes more time and words.

How to justify your case

Examiners will want to know why you chose this particular case. A clear justification usually explains:

what the case is and where its boundaries are (for example, which organisation, which time period);
why it is relevant to your research question;
why it is a suitable case to study, for example because it is typical, unusual or particularly informative;
how you can access the data you need, ethically and practically.

Illustrative structure only. Your justification must be based on your own case and the methodology literature your department recommends.

Getting the structure right

The structure you need depends on which kind of case study you are writing.

For a case-study assignment, a common structure is: introduction, brief overview of the case, analysis of the key issues (often one section per issue), evaluation of options, recommendations or conclusion. Your brief may specify something different, so always follow it.

For case-study research, the case is part of a larger thesis structure: introduction, literature review, methodology (where you describe and justify the case), findings, discussion and conclusion. The thesis chapter planner can help you map this out.

Quick checklist

I know whether my brief is asking for a case-study assignment or a case-study research design.
I have identified the key issues or research question clearly.
I apply theory or frameworks directly to details of the case.
My recommendations or conclusions follow from my analysis.
For research, I have defined my case and explained why I chose it.
I have checked the required format and structure in my brief or handbook.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a real company or organisation in a case-study assignment?

It depends on the brief. Some assignments provide a fictional case, others ask you to choose a real organisation and research it using published information. If you use a real organisation, rely on sources you can cite properly, and check whether your module has rules about which organisations you may use.

Is a case-study research design qualitative or quantitative?

Case-study research is often qualitative, but it does not have to be. Some case studies combine interviews and documents with numerical data. Your research question should guide which kinds of data you collect.

How much theory should I include in a case-study assignment?

Enough to explain the case well, but not so much that the case disappears. Choose the most relevant concepts from your module and apply them in depth. Your marking criteria usually indicate how much weight is placed on theory, analysis and recommendations.

If you would like to strengthen your analysis, our article on moving from descriptive to critical academic writing shows how to turn description into evaluation, and the essay outline planner can help you plan your structure.

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Working on a case study and not sure where to start? Get guidance on understanding the brief and structuring your own analysis.

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