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Organizational Development Resources: Case Studies

What is a case study?

A case study is a research method relying on a single case rather than a population census or a representative sample.  When researchers focus on a single case, for example, they can make detailed observations over a long period of time, something that cannot be done with large samples without a very high price tag.

Source: Case study. (2000). In The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology.

Searching for Case Studies

In business literature, case studies provide a critical analysis of a company or industry.

Many companies produce case studies, not published as journal articles, to be used as classroom resources and charge students for access.  The delivery model used by these companies does not allow libraries to provide access. 

Ethical use of this type of proprietary information has the following limitations:

  • Paid fee permits students to download a personal copy for class assignments (some case study services may allow student to download up to three times--for personal use)
  • Does not permit students to copy and share individual case studies with others

The following databases contain case studies: