Academic writing is both a challenging task for any student and a valuable skill at the same time. If mastered, it would bring you benefits through all college years and further into postgraduate studies and professional careers. Although the essay is probably the most popular kind of academic paper, its types vary significantly based on the objectives. Most essays would entail research, content outline, and typical structure. But such specific essays as a case study require a whole new set of steps and focus areas. In this article, we explore the efficient tips for writing a high-quality case study essay.
To begin with, your algorithm of actions would depend mainly on the type of assignment you’ve got. A case study is usually provided as a real-life or fictional scenario, an event, or a personal profile. You’d receive a short story with various details and questions to consider. In rarer cases, students may be required to search for the relevant interesting case to be analyzed. The main difference between the two is that one must do prior research before writing. Otherwise, a smart approach to the case study essay writing would include the following.
- Active reading and keywords search
Case scenarios are chosen or made up with a concrete goal in tutors’ minds. But they may also include many irrelevant facts added to complicate your task. So, any case study essay should start with a focused slow reading of the given scenario.
First, read all the questions for the case study to prime your attention. Then, a highlighter would help to mark words and facts that seem informative for your potential answers. Try to deduce why some of the facts were put for your attention. All the assignments would concentrate on the material studied in class. So, look for connections between important facts from the scenario and the concepts from a learned subject. This way, you have a high chance of providing the answers that your tutors expect.
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- Research for relevant sources and current discussions
Materials from the learned classes, as mentioned above, would prove to your professors that you’ve been studying carefully during the term. But it won’t be enough to provide fresh ideas or get a high grade.
As you now understand what concepts are relevant to the case study questions, you could start diligent research for relevant books, research papers, articles, or news items. This would help you to broader your perspective and bring useful content for quotes and references.
A case study is a type of assignment requiring students to analyze a unique situation or fact and apply knowledge of the topic, relevant concepts, and sources to generalize findings. So, one is expected to make universal conclusions while leaning on a solitary case. It sounds advanced and would be a challenge for most students, if not for relevant sources helping to formulate the conclusions. One could also look for essay help uk if your time is scarce, so the professional writers conduct the in-depth research for you.
- Structure the essay around the key questions
When argumentative essays often maintain a simple structure ruled by a number of statements to analyze, case study essays require another approach. A given scenario would contain at least one question you’d have to answer after studying the facts. But those keywords and phrases you’ve highlighted at the beginning of your work also inform your decision on the structure.
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You’d need to define thematic blocks you’d like to discuss to answer the essay questions. Every such block may have several statements to defend and support with sources. And all blocks should be linked together to achieve the overall goal of your paper. Don’t forget to consider a hierarchy of your facts and arguments. You’d have to lead your narrative from the most important facts to the least important ones. Or take the argument and counterargument approach, when one of the facts you examine is followed by another fact that contradicts or negate your previous statement.
- Write with a practical goal in mind
Unlike traditional essays, the case study essay is aimed not so much at exploring one’s personal ideas and insights. But rather at covering relevant subject areas and reliable sources. Hence, the writing approach should be different as well.
So, you’ve already identified key facts from the case scenario, selected relevant references, and made up a structure with these elements. What’s left is to write the answers to the case study questions, while maintaining a general essay-like style. One can achieve it by ensuring a proper sequence of thoughts and logical links between arguments and facts. Connect separate answers with transitional phrases or relations between facts. This would ensure a smooth narrative rather than a bulleted list of answers.
Writing a case study essay is often less about writing as such and more about research and construction of arguments. Invest your time and efforts in these parts of the assignment, so your structuring and writing come easier. A secret to an effective case study essay lies in your broad subject knowledge and examined sources arranged into compelling text thanks to logical structure and concentration on facts.
