A good case study is the vehicle by which a chunk of reality is brought into the classroom to be worked over by the class and the instructor. A good case keeps the class discussion grounded upon some stubborn facts that must be faced in real life situations. It is the anchor on academic flights of speculations. It is the record of complex situations that must literally be pulled apart and put back together again for the expression of attitudes or ways of thinking brought into the classroom.
— Paul Lawrence, “The Preparation of Case Material,” The Case Method of Teaching Human Relations and Administration, ed. Kenneth R. Andrews (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953), p. 215.
The Set Up.
In “classical” case study method, a very specific procedure is followed. To begin, members of the class read through the first part of the “case,” a narrative in which the situation, principals, and central problem are described.
One person is then asked to recount the story in as much detail as possible but with — and here’s the hard part — no commentary or analysis. A second or even third person may be needed to flesh out things in a satisfactory manner. The idea is to get out on the table, so to speak, the “who, what, when, where, and how” without the “why.” This tactic is designed to ensure that the subsequent analysis is anchored in the case itself, that it is indeed “grounded upon some stubborn facts.”
Once this process is completed, then comes the time for analysis. However, not surprisingly, the kind of analysis is proscribed quite specifically, according to a plan that has been dubbed “the approach.”
What follows is an example of a case study and the set of questions that defines a typical analytical approach to this case.
The Situation.
[check back for updated case]
The Approach.
1. How did this problem develop — from the leaders’ points of view? From the students’ point of you? From Jim’s point of view?
2. What is your appraisal of the leaders’ actions? What alternatives were open to them?
3. What should the leaders have done, if anything, at the time? Before the next class? At the beginning of the next class?
4. What general guidelines could you suggest that might be useful in dealing with a similar situation?
For further reading about the case study method, the definitive text is C. Roland Christensen, Teaching and the Case Method (Boston: Harvard Business School, 1987).