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Writing a case report...

Writing a case report in 10 steps

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Peer review
Victoria Stokes , foundation year 2 doctor, trauma and orthopaedics, Basildon Hospital ,
Caroline Fertleman , paediatrics consultant, The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust
victoria.stokes1{at}nhs.net

Victoria Stokes and Caroline Fertleman explain how to turn an interesting case or unusual presentation into an educational report

It is common practice in medicine that when we come across an interesting case with an unusual presentation or a surprise twist, we must tell the rest of the medical world. This is how we continue our lifelong learning and aid faster diagnosis and treatment for patients.

It usually falls to the junior to write up the case, so here are a few simple tips to get you started.

First steps

Begin by sitting down with your medical team to discuss the interesting aspects of the case and the learning points to highlight. Ideally, a registrar or middle grade will mentor you and give you guidance. Another junior doctor or medical student may also be keen to be involved. Allocate jobs to split the workload, set a deadline and work timeframe, and discuss the order in which the authors will be listed. All listed authors should contribute substantially, with the person doing most of the work put first and the guarantor (usually the most senior team member) at the end.

Getting consent

Gain permission and written consent to write up the case from the patient or parents, if your patient is a child, and keep a copy because you will need it later for submission to journals.

Information gathering

Gather all the information from the medical notes and the hospital’s electronic systems, including copies of blood results and imaging, as medical notes often disappear when the patient is discharged and are notoriously difficult to find again. Remember to anonymise the data according to your local hospital policy.

Write up the case emphasising the interesting points of the presentation, investigations leading to diagnosis, and management of the disease/pathology. Get input on the case from all members of the team, highlighting their involvement. Also include the prognosis of the patient, if known, as the reader will want to know the outcome.

Coming up with a title

Discuss a title with your supervisor and other members of the team, as this provides the focus for your article. The title should be concise and interesting but should also enable people to find it in medical literature search engines. Also think about how you will present your case study—for example, a poster presentation or scientific paper—and consider potential journals or conferences, as you may need to write in a particular style or format.

Background research

Research the disease/pathology that is the focus of your article and write a background paragraph or two, highlighting the relevance of your case report in relation to this. If you are struggling, seek the opinion of a specialist who may know of relevant articles or texts. Another good resource is your hospital library, where staff are often more than happy to help with literature searches.

How your case is different

Move on to explore how the case presented differently to the admitting team. Alternatively, if your report is focused on management, explore the difficulties the team came across and alternative options for treatment.

Finish by explaining why your case report adds to the medical literature and highlight any learning points.

Writing an abstract

The abstract should be no longer than 100-200 words and should highlight all your key points concisely. This can be harder than writing the full article and needs special care as it will be used to judge whether your case is accepted for presentation or publication.

Discuss with your supervisor or team about options for presenting or publishing your case report. At the very least, you should present your article locally within a departmental or team meeting or at a hospital grand round. Well done!

Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ’s policy on declaration of interests and declare that we have no competing interests.

Designing and Conducting Case Studies

This guide examines case studies, a form of qualitative descriptive research that is used to look at individuals, a small group of participants, or a group as a whole. Researchers collect data about participants using participant and direct observations, interviews, protocols, tests, examinations of records, and collections of writing samples. Starting with a definition of the case study, the guide moves to a brief history of this research method. Using several well documented case studies, the guide then looks at applications and methods including data collection and analysis. A discussion of ways to handle validity, reliability, and generalizability follows, with special attention to case studies as they are applied to composition studies. Finally, this guide examines the strengths and weaknesses of case studies.

Definition and Overview

Case study refers to the collection and presentation of detailed information about a particular participant or small group, frequently including the accounts of subjects themselves. A form of qualitative descriptive research, the case study looks intensely at an individual or small participant pool, drawing conclusions only about that participant or group and only in that specific context. Researchers do not focus on the discovery of a universal, generalizable truth, nor do they typically look for cause-effect relationships; instead, emphasis is placed on exploration and description.

Case studies typically examine the interplay of all variables in order to provide as complete an understanding of an event or situation as possible. This type of comprehensive understanding is arrived at through a process known as thick description, which involves an in-depth description of the entity being evaluated, the circumstances under which it is used, the characteristics of the people involved in it, and the nature of the community in which it is located. Thick description also involves interpreting the meaning of demographic and descriptive data such as cultural norms and mores, community values, ingrained attitudes, and motives.

Unlike quantitative methods of research, like the survey, which focus on the questions of who, what, where, how much, and how many, and archival analysis, which often situates the participant in some form of historical context, case studies are the preferred strategy when how or why questions are asked. Likewise, they are the preferred method when the researcher has little control over the events, and when there is a contemporary focus within a real life context. In addition, unlike more specifically directed experiments, case studies require a problem that seeks a holistic understanding of the event or situation in question using inductive logic--reasoning from specific to more general terms.

In scholarly circles, case studies are frequently discussed within the context of qualitative research and naturalistic inquiry. Case studies are often referred to interchangeably with ethnography, field study, and participant observation. The underlying philosophical assumptions in the case are similar to these types of qualitative research because each takes place in a natural setting (such as a classroom, neighborhood, or private home), and strives for a more holistic interpretation of the event or situation under study.

Unlike more statistically-based studies which search for quantifiable data, the goal of a case study is to offer new variables and questions for further research. F.H. Giddings, a sociologist in the early part of the century, compares statistical methods to the case study on the basis that the former are concerned with the distribution of a particular trait, or a small number of traits, in a population, whereas the case study is concerned with the whole variety of traits to be found in a particular instance" (Hammersley 95).

Case studies are not a new form of research; naturalistic inquiry was the primary research tool until the development of the scientific method. The fields of sociology and anthropology are credited with the primary shaping of the concept as we know it today. However, case study research has drawn from a number of other areas as well: the clinical methods of doctors; the casework technique being developed by social workers; the methods of historians and anthropologists, plus the qualitative descriptions provided by quantitative researchers like LePlay; and, in the case of Robert Park, the techniques of newspaper reporters and novelists.

Park was an ex-newspaper reporter and editor who became very influential in developing sociological case studies at the University of Chicago in the 1920s. As a newspaper professional he coined the term "scientific" or "depth" reporting: the description of local events in a way that pointed to major social trends. Park viewed the sociologist as "merely a more accurate, responsible, and scientific reporter." Park stressed the variety and value of human experience. He believed that sociology sought to arrive at natural, but fluid, laws and generalizations in regard to human nature and society. These laws weren't static laws of the kind sought by many positivists and natural law theorists, but rather, they were laws of becoming--with a constant possibility of change. Park encouraged students to get out of the library, to quit looking at papers and books, and to view the constant experiment of human experience. He writes, "Go and sit in the lounges of the luxury hotels and on the doorsteps of the flophouses; sit on the Gold Coast settees and on the slum shakedowns; sit in the Orchestra Hall and in the Star and Garter Burlesque. In short, gentlemen [sic], go get the seats of your pants dirty in real research."

But over the years, case studies have drawn their share of criticism. In fact, the method had its detractors from the start. In the 1920s, the debate between pro-qualitative and pro-quantitative became quite heated. Case studies, when compared to statistics, were considered by many to be unscientific. From the 1930's on, the rise of positivism had a growing influence on quantitative methods in sociology. People wanted static, generalizable laws in science. The sociological positivists were looking for stable laws of social phenomena. They criticized case study research because it failed to provide evidence of inter subjective agreement. Also, they condemned it because of the few number of cases studied and that the under-standardized character of their descriptions made generalization impossible. By the 1950s, quantitative methods, in the form of survey research, had become the dominant sociological approach and case study had become a minority practice.

Educational Applications

The 1950's marked the dawning of a new era in case study research, namely that of the utilization of the case study as a teaching method. "Instituted at Harvard Business School in the 1950s as a primary method of teaching, cases have since been used in classrooms and lecture halls alike, either as part of a course of study or as the main focus of the course to which other teaching material is added" (Armisted 1984). The basic purpose of instituting the case method as a teaching strategy was "to transfer much of the responsibility for learning from the teacher on to the student, whose role, as a result, shifts away from passive absorption toward active construction" (Boehrer 1990). Through careful examination and discussion of various cases, "students learn to identify actual problems, to recognize key players and their agendas, and to become aware of those aspects of the situation that contribute to the problem" (Merseth 1991). In addition, students are encouraged to "generate their own analysis of the problems under consideration, to develop their own solutions, and to practically apply their own knowledge of theory to these problems" (Boyce 1993). Along the way, students also develop "the power to analyze and to master a tangled circumstance by identifying and delineating important factors; the ability to utilize ideas, to test them against facts, and to throw them into fresh combinations" (Merseth 1991).

In addition to the practical application and testing of scholarly knowledge, case discussions can also help students prepare for real-world problems, situations and crises by providing an approximation of various professional environments (i.e. classroom, board room, courtroom, or hospital). Thus, through the examination of specific cases, students are given the opportunity to work out their own professional issues through the trials, tribulations, experiences, and research findings of others. An obvious advantage to this mode of instruction is that it allows students the exposure to settings and contexts that they might not otherwise experience. For example, a student interested in studying the effects of poverty on minority secondary student's grade point averages and S.A.T. scores could access and analyze information from schools as geographically diverse as Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, and New Mexico without ever having to leave the classroom.

The case study method also incorporates the idea that students can learn from one another "by engaging with each other and with each other's ideas, by asserting something and then having it questioned, challenged and thrown back at them so that they can reflect on what they hear, and then refine what they say" (Boehrer 1990). In summary, students can direct their own learning by formulating questions and taking responsibility for the study.

Types and Design Concerns

Researchers use multiple methods and approaches to conduct case studies.

Types of Case Studies

Under the more generalized category of case study exist several subdivisions, each of which is custom selected for use depending upon the goals and/or objectives of the investigator. These types of case study include the following:

Illustrative Case Studies These are primarily descriptive studies. They typically utilize one or two instances of an event to show what a situation is like. Illustrative case studies serve primarily to make the unfamiliar familiar and to give readers a common language about the topic in question.

Exploratory (or pilot) Case Studies These are condensed case studies performed before implementing a large scale investigation. Their basic function is to help identify questions and select types of measurement prior to the main investigation. The primary pitfall of this type of study is that initial findings may seem convincing enough to be released prematurely as conclusions.

Cumulative Case Studies These serve to aggregate information from several sites collected at different times. The idea behind these studies is the collection of past studies will allow for greater generalization without additional cost or time being expended on new, possibly repetitive studies.

Critical Instance Case Studies These examine one or more sites for either the purpose of examining a situation of unique interest with little to no interest in generalizability, or to call into question or challenge a highly generalized or universal assertion. This method is useful for answering cause and effect questions.

Identifying a Theoretical Perspective

Much of the case study's design is inherently determined for researchers, depending on the field from which they are working. In composition studies, researchers are typically working from a qualitative, descriptive standpoint. In contrast, physicists will approach their research from a more quantitative perspective. Still, in designing the study, researchers need to make explicit the questions to be explored and the theoretical perspective from which they will approach the case. The three most commonly adopted theories are listed below:

Individual Theories These focus primarily on the individual development, cognitive behavior, personality, learning and disability, and interpersonal interactions of a particular subject.

Organizational Theories These focus on bureaucracies, institutions, organizational structure and functions, or excellence in organizational performance.

Social Theories These focus on urban development, group behavior, cultural institutions, or marketplace functions.

Two examples of case studies are used consistently throughout this chapter. The first, a study produced by Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman (1988), looks at a first year graduate student's initiation into an academic writing program. The study uses participant-observer and linguistic data collecting techniques to assess the student's knowledge of appropriate discourse conventions. Using the pseudonym Nate to refer to the subject, the study sought to illuminate the particular experience rather than to generalize about the experience of fledgling academic writers collectively.

For example, in Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman's (1988) study we are told that the researchers are interested in disciplinary communities. In the first paragraph, they ask what constitutes membership in a disciplinary community and how achieving membership might affect a writer's understanding and production of texts. In the third paragraph they state that researchers must negotiate their claims "within the context of his sub specialty's accepted knowledge and methodology." In the next paragraph they ask, "How is literacy acquired? What is the process through which novices gain community membership? And what factors either aid or hinder students learning the requisite linguistic behaviors?" This introductory section ends with a paragraph in which the study's authors claim that during the course of the study, the subject, Nate, successfully makes the transition from "skilled novice" to become an initiated member of the academic discourse community and that his texts exhibit linguistic changes which indicate this transition. In the next section the authors make explicit the sociolinguistic theoretical and methodological assumptions on which the study is based (1988). Thus the reader has a good understanding of the authors' theoretical background and purpose in conducting the study even before it is explicitly stated on the fourth page of the study. "Our purpose was to examine the effects of the educational context on one graduate student's production of texts as he wrote in different courses and for different faculty members over the academic year 1984-85." The goal of the study then, was to explore the idea that writers must be initiated into a writing community, and that this initiation will change the way one writes.

The second example is Janet Emig's (1971) study of the composing process of a group of twelfth graders. In this study, Emig seeks to answer the question of what happens to the self as a result educational stimuli in terms of academic writing. The case study used methods such as protocol analysis, tape-recorded interviews, and discourse analysis.

In the case of Janet Emig's (1971) study of the composing process of eight twelfth graders, four specific hypotheses were made:

Twelfth grade writers engage in two modes of composing: reflexive and extensive.
These differences can be ascertained and characterized through having the writers compose aloud their composition process.
A set of implied stylistic principles governs the writing process.
For twelfth grade writers, extensive writing occurs chiefly as a school-sponsored activity, or reflexive, as a self-sponsored activity.

In this study, the chief distinction is between the two dominant modes of composing among older, secondary school students. The distinctions are:

The reflexive mode, which focuses on the writer's thoughts and feelings.
The extensive mode, which focuses on conveying a message.

Emig also outlines the specific questions which guided the research in the opening pages of her Review of Literature , preceding the report.

Designing a Case Study

After considering the different sub categories of case study and identifying a theoretical perspective, researchers can begin to design their study. Research design is the string of logic that ultimately links the data to be collected and the conclusions to be drawn to the initial questions of the study. Typically, research designs deal with at least four problems:

What questions to study
What data are relevant
What data to collect
How to analyze that data

In other words, a research design is basically a blueprint for getting from the beginning to the end of a study. The beginning is an initial set of questions to be answered, and the end is some set of conclusions about those questions.

Because case studies are conducted on topics as diverse as Anglo-Saxon Literature (Thrane 1986) and AIDS prevention (Van Vugt 1994), it is virtually impossible to outline any strict or universal method or design for conducting the case study. However, Robert K. Yin (1993) does offer five basic components of a research design:

A study's questions.
A study's propositions (if any).
A study's units of analysis.
The logic that links the data to the propositions.
The criteria for interpreting the findings.

In addition to these five basic components, Yin also stresses the importance of clearly articulating one's theoretical perspective, determining the goals of the study, selecting one's subject(s), selecting the appropriate method(s) of collecting data, and providing some considerations to the composition of the final report.

Conducting Case Studies

To obtain as complete a picture of the participant as possible, case study researchers can employ a variety of approaches and methods. These approaches, methods, and related issues are discussed in depth in this section.

Method: Single or Multi-modal?

To obtain as complete a picture of the participant as possible, case study researchers can employ a variety of methods. Some common methods include interviews , protocol analyses, field studies, and participant-observations. Emig (1971) chose to use several methods of data collection. Her sources included conversations with the students, protocol analysis, discrete observations of actual composition, writing samples from each student, and school records (Lauer and Asher 1988).

Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman (1988) collected data by observing classrooms, conducting faculty and student interviews, collecting self reports from the subject, and by looking at the subject's written work.

A study that was criticized for using a single method model was done by Flower and Hayes (1984). In this study that explores the ways in which writers use different forms of knowing to create space, the authors used only protocol analysis to gather data. The study came under heavy fire because of their decision to use only one method.

Participant Selection

Case studies can use one participant, or a small group of participants. However, it is important that the participant pool remain relatively small. The participants can represent a diverse cross section of society, but this isn't necessary.

For example, the Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman (1988) study looked at just one participant, Nate. By contrast, in Janet Emig's (1971) study of the composition process of twelfth graders, eight participants were selected representing a diverse cross section of the community, with volunteers from an all-white upper-middle-class suburban school, an all-black inner-city school, a racially mixed lower-middle-class school, an economically and racially mixed school, and a university school.

Often, a brief "case history" is done on the participants of the study in order to provide researchers with a clearer understanding of their participants, as well as some insight as to how their own personal histories might affect the outcome of the study. For instance, in Emig's study, the investigator had access to the school records of five of the participants, and to standardized test scores for the remaining three. Also made available to the researcher was the information that three of the eight students were selected as NCTE Achievement Award winners. These personal histories can be useful in later stages of the study when data are being analyzed and conclusions drawn.

Data Collection

There are six types of data collected in case studies:

Archival records.
Interviews.
Direct observation.
Participant observation.

In the field of composition research, these six sources might be:

A writer's drafts.
School records of student writers.
Transcripts of interviews with a writer.
Transcripts of conversations between writers (and protocols).
Videotapes and notes from direct field observations.
Hard copies of a writer's work on computer.

Depending on whether researchers have chosen to use a single or multi-modal approach for the case study, they may choose to collect data from one or any combination of these sources.

Protocols, that is, transcriptions of participants talking aloud about what they are doing as they do it, have been particularly common in composition case studies. For example, in Emig's (1971) study, the students were asked, in four different sessions, to give oral autobiographies of their writing experiences and to compose aloud three themes in the presence of a tape recorder and the investigator.

In some studies, only one method of data collection is conducted. For example, the Flower and Hayes (1981) report on the cognitive process theory of writing depends on protocol analysis alone. However, using multiple sources of evidence to increase the reliability and validity of the data can be advantageous.

Case studies are likely to be much more convincing and accurate if they are based on several different sources of information, following a corroborating mode. This conclusion is echoed among many composition researchers. For example, in her study of predrafting processes of high and low-apprehensive writers, Cynthia Selfe (1985) argues that because "methods of indirect observation provide only an incomplete reflection of the complex set of processes involved in composing, a combination of several such methods should be used to gather data in any one study." Thus, in this study, Selfe collected her data from protocols, observations of students role playing their writing processes, audio taped interviews with the students, and videotaped observations of the students in the process of composing.

It can be said then, that cross checking data from multiple sources can help provide a multidimensional profile of composing activities in a particular setting. Sharan Merriam (1985) suggests "checking, verifying, testing, probing, and confirming collected data as you go, arguing that this process will follow in a funnel-like design resulting in less data gathering in later phases of the study along with a congruent increase in analysis checking, verifying, and confirming."

It is important to note that in case studies, as in any qualitative descriptive research, while researchers begin their studies with one or several questions driving the inquiry (which influence the key factors the researcher will be looking for during data collection), a researcher may find new key factors emerging during data collection. These might be unexpected patterns or linguistic features which become evident only during the course of the research. While not bearing directly on the researcher's guiding questions, these variables may become the basis for new questions asked at the end of the report, thus linking to the possibility of further research.

Data Analysis

As the information is collected, researchers strive to make sense of their data. Generally, researchers interpret their data in one of two ways: holistically or through coding. Holistic analysis does not attempt to break the evidence into parts, but rather to draw conclusions based on the text as a whole. Flower and Hayes (1981), for example, make inferences from entire sections of their students' protocols, rather than searching through the transcripts to look for isolatable characteristics.

However, composition researchers commonly interpret their data by coding, that is by systematically searching data to identify and/or categorize specific observable actions or characteristics. These observable actions then become the key variables in the study. Sharan Merriam (1988) suggests seven analytic frameworks for the organization and presentation of data:

The role of participants.
The network analysis of formal and informal exchanges among groups.
Historical.
Thematical.
Ritual and symbolism.
Critical incidents that challenge or reinforce fundamental beliefs, practices, and values.

There are two purposes of these frameworks: to look for patterns among the data and to look for patterns that give meaning to the case study.

As stated above, while most researchers begin their case studies expecting to look for particular observable characteristics, it is not unusual for key variables to emerge during data collection. Typical variables coded in case studies of writers include pauses writers make in the production of a text, the use of specific linguistic units (such as nouns or verbs), and writing processes (planning, drafting, revising, and editing). In the Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman (1988) study, for example, researchers coded the participant's texts for use of connectives, discourse demonstratives, average sentence length, off-register words, use of the first person pronoun, and the ratio of definite articles to indefinite articles.

Since coding is inherently subjective, more than one coder is usually employed. In the Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman (1988) study, for example, three rhetoricians were employed to code the participant's texts for off-register phrases. The researchers established the agreement among the coders before concluding that the participant used fewer off-register words as the graduate program progressed.

Composing the Case Study Report

In the many forms it can take, "a case study is generically a story; it presents the concrete narrative detail of actual, or at least realistic events, it has a plot, exposition, characters, and sometimes even dialogue" (Boehrer 1990). Generally, case study reports are extensively descriptive, with "the most problematic issue often referred to as being the determination of the right combination of description and analysis" (1990). Typically, authors address each step of the research process, and attempt to give the reader as much context as possible for the decisions made in the research design and for the conclusions drawn.

This contextualization usually includes a detailed explanation of the researchers' theoretical positions, of how those theories drove the inquiry or led to the guiding research questions, of the participants' backgrounds, of the processes of data collection, of the training and limitations of the coders, along with a strong attempt to make connections between the data and the conclusions evident.

Although the Berkenkotter, Huckin, and Ackerman (1988) study does not, case study reports often include the reactions of the participants to the study or to the researchers' conclusions. Because case studies tend to be exploratory, most end with implications for further study. Here researchers may identify significant variables that emerged during the research and suggest studies related to these, or the authors may suggest further general questions that their case study generated.

For example, Emig's (1971) study concludes with a section dedicated solely to the topic of implications for further research, in which she suggests several means by which this particular study could have been improved, as well as questions and ideas raised by this study which other researchers might like to address, such as: is there a correlation between a certain personality and a certain composing process profile (e.g. is there a positive correlation between ego strength and persistence in revising)?

Also included in Emig's study is a section dedicated to implications for teaching, which outlines the pedagogical ramifications of the study's findings for teachers currently involved in high school writing programs.

Sharan Merriam (1985) also offers several suggestions for alternative presentations of data:

Prepare specialized condensations for appropriate groups.
Replace narrative sections with a series of answers to open-ended questions.
Present "skimmer's" summaries at beginning of each section.
Incorporate headlines that encapsulate information from text.
Prepare analytic summaries with supporting data appendixes.
Present data in colorful and/or unique graphic representations.

Issues of Validity and Reliability

Once key variables have been identified, they can be analyzed. Reliability becomes a key concern at this stage, and many case study researchers go to great lengths to ensure that their interpretations of the data will be both reliable and valid. Because issues of validity and reliability are an important part of any study in the social sciences, it is important to identify some ways of dealing with results.

Multi-modal case study researchers often balance the results of their coding with data from interviews or writer's reflections upon their own work. Consequently, the researchers' conclusions become highly contextualized. For example, in a case study which looked at the time spent in different stages of the writing process, Berkenkotter concluded that her participant, Donald Murray, spent more time planning his essays than in other writing stages. The report of this case study is followed by Murray's reply, wherein he agrees with some of Berkenkotter's conclusions and disagrees with others.

As is the case with other research methodologies, issues of external validity, construct validity, and reliability need to be carefully considered.

Commentary on Case Studies

Researchers often debate the relative merits of particular methods, among them case study. In this section, we comment on two key issues. To read the commentaries, choose any of the items below:

Strengths and Weaknesses of Case Studies

Most case study advocates point out that case studies produce much more detailed information than what is available through a statistical analysis. Advocates will also hold that while statistical methods might be able to deal with situations where behavior is homogeneous and routine, case studies are needed to deal with creativity, innovation, and context. Detractors argue that case studies are difficult to generalize because of inherent subjectivity and because they are based on qualitative subjective data, generalizable only to a particular context.

Flexibility

The case study approach is a comparatively flexible method of scientific research. Because its project designs seem to emphasize exploration rather than prescription or prediction, researchers are comparatively freer to discover and address issues as they arise in their experiments. In addition, the looser format of case studies allows researchers to begin with broad questions and narrow their focus as their experiment progresses rather than attempt to predict every possible outcome before the experiment is conducted.

Emphasis on Context

By seeking to understand as much as possible about a single subject or small group of subjects, case studies specialize in "deep data," or "thick description"--information based on particular contexts that can give research results a more human face. This emphasis can help bridge the gap between abstract research and concrete practice by allowing researchers to compare their firsthand observations with the quantitative results obtained through other methods of research.

Inherent Subjectivity

"The case study has long been stereotyped as the weak sibling among social science methods," and is often criticized as being too subjective and even pseudo-scientific. Likewise, "investigators who do case studies are often regarded as having deviated from their academic disciplines, and their investigations as having insufficient precision (that is, quantification), objectivity and rigor" (Yin 1989). Opponents cite opportunities for subjectivity in the implementation, presentation, and evaluation of case study research. The approach relies on personal interpretation of data and inferences. Results may not be generalizable, are difficult to test for validity, and rarely offer a problem-solving prescription. Simply put, relying on one or a few subjects as a basis for cognitive extrapolations runs the risk of inferring too much from what might be circumstance.

High Investment

Case studies can involve learning more about the subjects being tested than most researchers would care to know--their educational background, emotional background, perceptions of themselves and their surroundings, their likes, dislikes, and so on. Because of its emphasis on "deep data," the case study is out of reach for many large-scale research projects which look at a subject pool in the tens of thousands. A budget request of $10,000 to examine 200 subjects sounds more efficient than a similar request to examine four subjects.

Ethical Considerations

Researchers conducting case studies should consider certain ethical issues. For example, many educational case studies are often financed by people who have, either directly or indirectly, power over both those being studied and those conducting the investigation (1985). This conflict of interests can hinder the credibility of the study.

The personal integrity, sensitivity, and possible prejudices and/or biases of the investigators need to be taken into consideration as well. Personal biases can creep into how the research is conducted, alternative research methods used, and the preparation of surveys and questionnaires.

A common complaint in case study research is that investigators change direction during the course of the study unaware that their original research design was inadequate for the revised investigation. Thus, the researchers leave unknown gaps and biases in the study. To avoid this, researchers should report preliminary findings so that the likelihood of bias will be reduced.

Concerns about Reliability, Validity, and Generalizability

Merriam (1985) offers several suggestions for how case study researchers might actively combat the popular attacks on the validity, reliability, and generalizability of case studies:

Prolong the Processes of Data Gathering on Site: This will help to insure the accuracy of the findings by providing the researcher with more concrete information upon which to formulate interpretations.
Employ the Process of "Triangulation": Use a variety of data sources as opposed to relying solely upon one avenue of observation. One example of such a data check would be what McClintock, Brannon, and Maynard (1985) refer to as a "case cluster method," that is, when a single unit within a larger case is randomly sampled, and that data treated quantitatively." For instance, in Emig's (1971) study, the case cluster method was employed, singling out the productivity of a single student named Lynn. This cluster profile included an advanced case history of the subject, specific examination and analysis of individual compositions and protocols, and extensive interview sessions. The seven remaining students were then compared with the case of Lynn, to ascertain if there are any shared, or unique dimensions to the composing process engaged in by these eight students.
Conduct Member Checks: Initiate and maintain an active corroboration on the interpretation of data between the researcher and those who provided the data. In other words, talk to your subjects.
Collect Referential Materials: Complement the file of materials from the actual site with additional document support. For example, Emig (1971) supports her initial propositions with historical accounts by writers such as T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and D.H. Lawrence. Emig also cites examples of theoretical research done with regards to the creative process, as well as examples of empirical research dealing with the writing of adolescents. Specific attention is then given to the four stages description of the composing process delineated by Helmoltz, Wallas, and Cowley, as it serves as the focal point in this study.
Engage in Peer Consultation: Prior to composing the final draft of the report, researchers should consult with colleagues in order to establish validity through pooled judgment.

Although little can be done to combat challenges concerning the generalizability of case studies, "most writers suggest that qualitative research should be judged as credible and confirmable as opposed to valid and reliable" (Merriam 1985). Likewise, it has been argued that "rather than transplanting statistical, quantitative notions of generalizability and thus finding qualitative research inadequate, it makes more sense to develop an understanding of generalization that is congruent with the basic characteristics of qualitative inquiry" (1985). After all, criticizing the case study method for being ungeneralizable is comparable to criticizing a washing machine for not being able to tell the correct time. In other words, it is unjust to criticize a method for not being able to do something which it was never originally designed to do in the first place.

Annotated Bibliography

Armisted, C. (1984). How Useful are Case Studies. Training and Development Journal, 38 (2), 75-77.

This article looks at eight types of case studies, offers pros and cons of using case studies in the classroom, and gives suggestions for successfully writing and using case studies.

Bardovi-Harlig, K. (1997). Beyond Methods: Components of Second Language Teacher Education . New York: McGraw-Hill.

A compilation of various research essays which address issues of language teacher education. Essays included are: "Non-native reading research and theory" by Lee, "The case for Psycholinguistics" by VanPatten, and "Assessment and Second Language Teaching" by Gradman and Reed.

Bartlett, L. (1989). A Question of Good Judgment; Interpretation Theory and Qualitative Enquiry Address. 70th Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco.

Bartlett selected "quasi-historical" methodology, which focuses on the "truth" found in case records, as one that will provide "good judgments" in educational inquiry. He argues that although the method is not comprehensive, it can try to connect theory with practice.

Baydere, S. et. al. (1993). Multimedia conferencing as a tool for collaborative writing: a case study in Computer Supported Collaborative Writing. New York: Springer-Verlag.

The case study by Baydere et. al. is just one of the many essays in this book found in the series "Computer Supported Cooperative Work." Denley, Witefield and May explore similar issues in their essay, "A case study in task analysis for the design of a collaborative document production system."

Berkenkotter, C., Huckin, T., N., & Ackerman J. (1988). Conventions, Conversations, and the Writer: Case Study of a Student in a Rhetoric Ph.D. Program. Research in the Teaching of English, 22, 9-44.

The authors focused on how the writing of their subject, Nate or Ackerman, changed as he became more acquainted or familiar with his field's discourse community.

Berninger, V., W., and Gans, B., M. (1986). Language Profiles in Nonspeaking Individuals of Normal Intelligence with Severe Cerebral Palsy. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 2, 45-50.

Argues that generalizations about language abilities in patients with severe cerebral palsy (CP) should be avoided. Standardized tests of different levels of processing oral language, of processing written language, and of producing written language were administered to 3 male participants (aged 9, 16, and 40 yrs).

Bockman, J., R., and Couture, B. (1984). The Case Method in Technical Communication: Theory and Models. Texas: Association of Teachers of Technical Writing.

Examines the study and teaching of technical writing, communication of technical information, and the case method in terms of those applications.

Boehrer, J. (1990). Teaching With Cases: Learning to Question. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 42 41-57.

This article discusses the origins of the case method, looks at the question of what is a case, gives ideas about learning in case teaching, the purposes it can serve in the classroom, the ground rules for the case discussion, including the role of the question, and new directions for case teaching.

Bowman, W. R. (1993). Evaluating JTPA Programs for Economically Disadvantaged Adults: A Case Study of Utah and General Findings . Washington: National Commission for Employment Policy.

"To encourage state-level evaluations of JTPA, the Commission and the State of Utah co-sponsored this report on the effectiveness of JTPA Title II programs for adults in Utah. The technique used is non-experimental and the comparison group was selected from registrants with Utah's Employment Security. In a step-by-step approach, the report documents how non-experimental techniques can be applied and several specific technical issues can be addressed."

Boyce, A. (1993) The Case Study Approach for Pedagogists. Annual Meeting of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. (Address). Washington DC.

This paper addresses how case studies 1) bridge the gap between teaching theory and application, 2) enable students to analyze problems and develop solutions for situations that will be encountered in the real world of teaching, and 3) helps students to evaluate the feasibility of alternatives and to understand the ramifications of a particular course of action.

Carson, J. (1993) The Case Study: Ideal Home of WAC Quantitative and Qualitative Data. Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. (Address). San Diego.

"Increasingly, one of the most pressing questions for WAC advocates is how to keep [WAC] programs going in the face of numerous difficulties. Case histories offer the best chance for fashioning rhetorical arguments to keep WAC programs going because they offer the opportunity to provide a coherent narrative that contextualizes all documents and data, including what is generally considered scientific data. A case study of the WAC program, . . . at Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh demonstrates the advantages of this research method. Such studies are ideal homes for both naturalistic and positivistic data as well as both quantitative and qualitative information."

---. (1991). A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing. College Composition and Communication. 32. 365-87.

No abstract available.

Cromer, R. (1994) A Case Study of Dissociations Between Language and Cognition. Constraints on Language Acquisition: Studies of Atypical Children . Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 141-153.

Crossley, M. (1983) Case Study in Comparative and International Education: An Approach to Bridging the Theory-Practice Gap. Proceedings of the 11th Annual Conference of the Australian Comparative and International Education Society. Hamilton, NZ.

Case study research, as presented here, helps bridge the theory-practice gap in comparative and international research studies of education because it focuses on the practical, day-to-day context rather than on the national arena. The paper asserts that the case study method can be valuable at all levels of research, formation, and verification of theories in education.

Daillak, R., H., and Alkin, M., C. (1982). Qualitative Studies in Context: Reflections on the CSE Studies of Evaluation Use . California: EDRS

The report shows how the Center of the Study of Evaluation (CSE) applied qualitative techniques to a study of evaluation information use in local, Los Angeles schools. It critiques the effectiveness and the limitations of using case study, evaluation, field study, and user interview survey methodologies.

Davey, L. (1991). The Application of Case Study Evaluations. ERIC/TM Digest.

This article examines six types of case studies, the type of evaluation questions that can be answered, the functions served, some design features, and some pitfalls of the method.

Deutch, C. E. (1996). A course in research ethics for graduate students. College Teaching, 44, 2, 56-60.

This article describes a one-credit discussion course in research ethics for graduate students in biology. Case studies are focused on within the four parts of the course: 1) major issues, 2 )practical issues in scholarly work, 3) ownership of research results, and 4) training and personal decisions.

DeVoss, G. (1981). Ethics in Fieldwork Research. RIE 27p. (ERIC)

This article examines four of the ethical problems that can happen when conducting case study research: acquiring permission to do research, knowing when to stop digging, the pitfalls of doing collaborative research, and preserving the integrity of the participants.

Driscoll, A. (1985). Case Study of a Research Intervention: the University of Utah’s Collaborative Approach . San Francisco: Far West Library for Educational Research Development.

Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, Denver, CO, March 1985. Offers information of in-service training, specifically case studies application.

Ellram, L. M. (1996). The Use of the Case Study Method in Logistics Research. Journal of Business Logistics, 17, 2, 93.

This article discusses the increased use of case study in business research, and the lack of understanding of when and how to use case study methodology in business.

Emig, J. (1971) The Composing Processes of Twelfth Graders . Urbana: NTCE.

This case study uses observation, tape recordings, writing samples, and school records to show that writing in reflexive and extensive situations caused different lengths of discourse and different clusterings of the components of the writing process.

Feagin, J. R. (1991). A Case For the Case Study . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

This book discusses the nature, characteristics, and basic methodological issues of the case study as a research method.

Feldman, H., Holland, A., & Keefe, K. (1989) Language Abilities after Left Hemisphere Brain Injury: A Case Study of Twins. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 9, 32-47.

"Describes the language abilities of 2 twin pairs in which 1 twin (the experimental) suffered brain injury to the left cerebral hemisphere around the time of birth and1 twin (the control) did not. One pair of twins was initially assessed at age 23 mo. and the other at about 30 mo.; they were subsequently evaluated in their homes 3 times at about 6-mo intervals."

Fidel, R. (1984). The Case Study Method: A Case Study. Library and Information Science Research, 6.

The article describes the use of case study methodology to systematically develop a model of online searching behavior in which study design is flexible, subject manner determines data gathering and analyses, and procedures adapt to the study's progressive change.

Flower, L., & Hayes, J. R. (1984). Images, Plans and Prose: The Representation of Meaning in Writing. Written Communication, 1, 120-160.

Explores the ways in which writers actually use different forms of knowing to create prose.

Frey, L. R. (1992). Interpreting Communication Research: A Case Study Approach Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

The book discusses research methodologies in the Communication field. It focuses on how case studies bridge the gap between communication research, theory, and practice.

Gilbert, V. K. (1981). The Case Study as a Research Methodology: Difficulties and Advantages of Integrating the Positivistic, Phenomenological and Grounded Theory Approaches . The Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for the Study of Educational Administration. (Address) Halifax, NS, Can.

This study on an innovative secondary school in England shows how a "low-profile" participant-observer case study was crucial to the initial observation, the testing of hypotheses, the interpretive approach, and the grounded theory.

Gilgun, J. F. (1994). A Case for Case Studies in Social Work Research. Social Work, 39, 4, 371-381.

This article defines case study research, presents guidelines for evaluation of case studies, and shows the relevance of case studies to social work research. It also looks at issues such as evaluation and interpretations of case studies.

Glennan, S. L., Sharp-Bittner, M. A. & Tullos, D. C. (1991). Augmentative and Alternative Communication Training with a Nonspeaking Adult: Lessons from MH. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 7, 240-7.

"A response-guided case study documented changes in a nonspeaking 36-yr-old man's ability to communicate using 3 trained augmentative communication modes. . . . Data were collected in videotaped interaction sessions between the nonspeaking adult and a series of adult speaking."

Graves, D. (1981). An Examination of the Writing Processes of Seven Year Old Children. Research in the Teaching of English, 15, 113-134.

Hamel, J. (1993). Case Study Methods . Newbury Park: Sage. .

"In a most economical fashion, Hamel provides a practical guide for producing theoretically sharp and empirically sound sociological case studies. A central idea put forth by Hamel is that case studies must "locate the global in the local" thus making the careful selection of the research site the most critical decision in the analytic process."

Karthigesu, R. (1986, July). Television as a Tool for Nation-Building in the Third World: A Post-Colonial Pattern, Using Malaysia as a Case-Study. International Television Studies Conference. (Address). London, 10-12.

"The extent to which Television Malaysia, as a national mass media organization, has been able to play a role in nation building in the post-colonial period is . . . studied in two parts: how the choice of a model of nation building determines the character of the organization; and how the character of the organization influences the output of the organization."

Kenny, R. (1984). Making the Case for the Case Study. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 16, (1), 37-51.

The article looks at how and why the case study is justified as a viable and valuable approach to educational research and program evaluation.

Knirk, F. (1991). Case Materials: Research and Practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 4 (1 ), 73-81.

The article addresses the effectiveness of case studies, subject areas where case studies are commonly used, recent examples of their use, and case study design considerations.

Klos, D. (1976). Students as Case Writers. Teaching of Psychology, 3.2, 63-66.

This article reviews a course in which students gather data for an original case study of another person. The task requires the students to design the study, collect the data, write the narrative, and interpret the findings.

Leftwich, A. (1981). The Politics of Case Study: Problems of Innovation in University Education. Higher Education Review, 13.2, 38-64.

The article discusses the use of case studies as a teaching method. Emphasis is on the instructional materials, interdisciplinarity, and the complex relationships within the university that help or hinder the method.

Mabrito, M. (1991, Oct.). Electronic Mail as a Vehicle for Peer Response: Conversations of High and Low Apprehensive Writers. Written Communication, 509-32.

McCarthy, S., J. (1955). The Influence of Classroom Discourse on Student Texts: The Case of Ella . East Lansing: Institute for Research on Teaching.

A look at how students of color become marginalized within traditional classroom discourse. The essay follows the struggles of one black student: Ella.

Matsuhashi, A., ed. (1987). Writing in Real Time: Modeling Production Processes Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Investigates how writers plan to produce discourse for different purposes to report, to generalize, and to persuade, as well as how writers plan for sentence level units of language. To learn about planning, an observational measure of pause time was used" (ERIC).

Merriam, S. B. (1985). The Case Study in Educational Research: A Review of Selected Literature. Journal of Educational Thought, 19.3, 204-17.

The article examines the characteristics of, philosophical assumptions underlying the case study, the mechanics of conducting a case study, and the concerns about the reliability, validity, and generalizability of the method.

---. (1988). Case Study Research in Education: A Qualitative Approach San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Merry, S. E., & Milner, N. eds. (1993). The Possibility of Popular Justice: A Case Study of Community Mediation in the United States . Ann Arbor: U of Michigan.

". . . this volume presents a case study of one experiment in popular justice, the San Francisco Community Boards. This program has made an explicit claim to create an alternative justice, or new justice, in the midst of a society ordered by state law. The contributors to this volume explore the history and experience of the program and compare it to other versions of popular justice in the United States, Europe, and the Third World."

Merseth, K. K. (1991). The Case for Cases in Teacher Education. RIE. 42p. (ERIC).

This monograph argues that the case method of instruction offers unique potential for revitalizing the field of teacher education.

Michaels, S. (1987). Text and Context: A New Approach to the Study of Classroom Writing. Discourse Processes, 10, 321-346.

"This paper argues for and illustrates an approach to the study of writing that integrates ethnographic analysis of classroom interaction with linguistic analysis of written texts and teacher/student conversational exchanges. The approach is illustrated through a case study of writing in a single sixth grade classroom during a single writing assignment."

Milburn, G. (1995). Deciphering a Code or Unraveling a Riddle: A Case Study in the Application of a Humanistic Metaphor to the Reporting of Social Studies Teaching. Theory and Research in Education, 13.

This citation serves as an example of how case studies document learning procedures in a senior-level economics course.

Milley, J. E. (1979). An Investigation of Case Study as an Approach to Program Evaluation. 19th Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research. (Address). San Diego.

The case study method merged a narrative report focusing on the evaluator as participant-observer with document review, interview, content analysis, attitude questionnaire survey, and sociogram analysis. Milley argues that case study program evaluation has great potential for widespread use.

Minnis, J. R. (1985, Sept.). Ethnography, Case Study, Grounded Theory, and Distance Education Research. Distance Education, 6.2.

This article describes and defines the strengths and weaknesses of ethnography, case study, and grounded theory.

Nunan, D. (1992). Collaborative language learning and teaching . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Included in this series of essays is Peter Sturman’s "Team Teaching: a case study from Japan" and David Nunan’s own "Toward a collaborative approach to curriculum development: a case study."

Nystrand, M., ed. (1982). What Writers Know: The Language, Process, and Structure of Written Discourse . New York: Academic Press.

Owenby, P. H. (1992). Making Case Studies Come Alive. Training, 29, (1), 43-46. (ERIC)

This article provides tips for writing more effective case studies.

---. (1981). Pausing and Planning: The Tempo of Writer Discourse Production. Research in the Teaching of English, 15 (2),113-34.

Perl, S. (1979). The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers. Research in the Teaching of English, 13, 317-336.

"Summarizes a study of five unskilled college writers, focusing especially on one of the five, and discusses the findings in light of current pedagogical practice and research design."

Pilcher J. and A. Coffey. eds. (1996). Gender and Qualitative Research . Brookfield: Aldershot, Hants, England.

This book provides a series of essays which look at gender identity research, qualitative research and applications of case study to questions of gendered pedagogy.

Pirie, B. S. (1993). The Case of Morty: A Four Year Study. Gifted Education International, 9 (2), 105-109.

This case study describes a boy from kindergarten through third grade with above average intelligence but difficulty in learning to read, write, and spell.

Popkewitz, T. (1993). Changing Patterns of Power: Social Regulation and Teacher Education Reform. Albany: SUNY Press.

Popkewitz edits this series of essays that address case studies on educational change and the training of teachers. The essays vary in terms of discipline and scope. Also, several authors include case studies of educational practices in countries other than the United States.

---. (1984). The Predrafting Processes of Four High- and Four Low Apprehensive Writers. Research in the Teaching of English, 18, (1), 45-64.

Rasmussen, P. (1985, March) A Case Study on the Evaluation of Research at the Technical University of Denmark. International Journal of Institutional Management in Higher Education, 9 (1).

This is an example of a case study methodology used to evaluate the chemistry and chemical engineering departments at the University of Denmark.

Roth, K. J. (1986). Curriculum Materials, Teacher Talk, and Student Learning: Case Studies in Fifth-Grade Science Teaching . East Lansing: Institute for Research on Teaching.

Roth offers case studies on elementary teachers, elementary school teaching, science studies and teaching, and verbal learning.

Selfe, C. L. (1985). An Apprehensive Writer Composes. When a Writer Can't Write: Studies in Writer's Block and Other Composing-Process Problems . (pp. 83-95). Ed. Mike Rose. NMY: Guilford.

Smith-Lewis, M., R. and Ford, A. (1987). A User's Perspective on Augmentative Communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 3, 12-7.

"During a series of in-depth interviews, a 25-yr-old woman with cerebral palsy who utilized augmentative communication reflected on the effectiveness of the devices designed for her during her school career."

St. Pierre, R., G. (1980, April). Follow Through: A Case Study in Metaevaluation Research . 64th Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. (Address).

The three approaches to metaevaluation are evaluation of primary evaluations, integrative meta-analysis with combined primary evaluation results, and re-analysis of the raw data from a primary evaluation.

Stahler, T., M. (1996, Feb.) Early Field Experiences: A Model That Worked. ERIC.

"This case study of a field and theory class examines a model designed to provide meaningful field experiences for preservice teachers while remaining consistent with the instructor's beliefs about the role of teacher education in preparing teachers for the classroom."

Stake, R. E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

This book examines case study research in education and case study methodology.

Stiegelbauer, S. (1984) Community, Context, and Co-curriculum: Situational Factors Influencing School Improvements in a Study of High Schools. Presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Discussion of several case studies: one looking at high school environments, another examining educational innovations.

Stolovitch, H. (1990). Case Study Method. Performance And Instruction, 29, (9), 35-37.

This article describes the case study method as a form of simulation and presents guidelines for their use in professional training situations.

Thaller, E. (1994). Bibliography for the Case Method: Using Case Studies in Teacher Education. RIE. 37 p.

This bibliography presents approximately 450 citations on the use of case studies in teacher education from 1921-1993.

Thrane, T. (1986). On Delimiting the Senses of Near-Synonyms in Historical Semantics: A Case Study of Adjectives of 'Moral Sufficiency' in the Old English Andreas. Linguistics Across Historical and Geographical Boundaries: In Honor of Jacek Fisiak on the Occasion of his Fiftieth Birthday . Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

United Nations. (1975). Food and Agriculture Organization. Report on the FAO/UNFPA Seminar on Methodology, Research and Country: Case Studies on Population, Employment and Productivity . Rome: United Nations.

This example case study shows how the methodology can be used in a demographic and psychographic evaluation. At the same time, it discusses the formation and instigation of the case study methodology itself.

Van Vugt, J. P., ed. (1994). Aids Prevention and Services: Community Based Research . Westport: Bergin and Garvey.

"This volume has been five years in the making. In the process, some of the policy applications called for have met with limited success, such as free needle exchange programs in a limited number of American cities, providing condoms to prison inmates, and advertisements that depict same-sex couples. Rather than dating our chapters that deal with such subjects, such policy applications are verifications of the type of research demonstrated here. Furthermore, they indicate the critical need to continue community based research in the various communities threatened by acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) . . . "

Welch, W., ed. (1981, May). Case Study Methodology in Educational Evaluation. Proceedings of the Minnesota Evaluation Conference. Minnesota. (Address).

The four papers in these proceedings provide a comprehensive picture of the rationale, methodology, strengths, and limitations of case studies.

Williams, G. (1987). The Case Method: An Approach to Teaching and Learning in Educational Administration. RIE, 31p.

This paper examines the viability of the case method as a teaching and learning strategy in instructional systems geared toward the training of personnel of the administration of various aspects of educational systems.

Yin, R. K. (1993). Advancing Rigorous Methodologies: A Review of 'Towards Rigor in Reviews of Multivocal Literatures.' Review of Educational Research, 61, (3).

"R. T. Ogawa and B. Malen's article does not meet its own recommended standards for rigorous testing and presentation of its own conclusions. Use of the exploratory case study to analyze multivocal literatures is not supported, and the claim of grounded theory to analyze multivocal literatures may be stronger."

---. (1989). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. London: Sage Publications Inc.

This book discusses in great detail, the entire design process of the case study, including entire chapters on collecting evidence, analyzing evidence, composing the case study report, and designing single and multiple case studies.

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How to Write Case Reports and Case Series

Ganesan, Prasanth

Department of Medical Oncology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India

Address for correspondence: Dr. Prasanth Ganesan, Medical Oncology, 3 rd Floor, SSB, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Dhanvantari Nagar, Puducherry - 605006, India. E-mail: [email protected]

Received March 13, 2022

Received in revised form April 10, 2022

Accepted April 10, 2022

This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

Case reports are considered the smallest units of descriptive studies. They serve an important function in bringing out information regarding presentation, management, and/or outcomes of rare diseases. They can also be a starting point in understanding unique associations in clinical medicine and can introduce very effective treatment paradigms. Preparing the manuscript for a case report may be the first exposure to scientific writing for a budding clinician/researcher. This manuscript describes the steps of writing a case report and essential considerations when publishing these articles. Individual components of a case report and the “dos and don'ts” while preparing these components are detailed.

INTRODUCTION

A case report describes several aspects of an individual patient's presentation, investigations, management decisions, and/or outcomes. This is a type of observational study and has been described as the smallest publishable unit in medical literature.[ 1 ] A case series involves a group of patients with similar presentations or treatments. In modern medicine [ Figure 1 ], these publications are categorized as the “lowest level of evidence”.[ 2 ] However, they serve several essential functions. For example, there are rare diseases where large, randomized trials, or even observational studies may not be possible. Medical practice, in these conditions, is often guided by well-presented case reports or series. There are situations where a single case report has heralded an important therapy change.[ 3 ] Further, case reports are often a student's first exposure to manuscript writing. Hence, these serve as training for budding scholars to understand scientific writing, learn the process of manuscript submission, and receive and respond to reviewer comments. This article explains the reasons why case reports are published and provides guidance for writing such type of articles.

WHY ARE CASE REPORTS PUBLISHED?

A case report is often published to highlight the rarity of a particular presentation. However, it may be of much more value if it also informs some aspects of management. This could be in the form of rare expressions of a common disease so that clinicians who read will be aware and can consider additional possibilities and differential diagnoses when encountering similar situations. A new form of evaluation of a patient, either to facilitate the diagnostics or to improve understanding of the disease condition, may stimulate a case report. Novel treatments may be tried, and the results might be necessary to disseminate. This may be encountered either in rare diseases or conditions where treatment options are exhausted. Moreover, randomized trials report outcomes of a group and often do not inform about the individual patient. [ Table 1 ] describes a few examples of case reports/case series which have had a remarkable impact on medical practice.

ETHICAL ISSUES

If there is a possibility of patient identification from the report, it is mandatory to obtain informed consent from the patient while approval from the institutional ethics committee (IEC) may also be needed depending on institutional policies.[ 7 ] If identifying information is absent (or if suitable steps are taken to remove identifying information or hide the identity, (such as by covering the eyes), it may still be required by some journals to obtain ethics committee approval for certain types of case reports. If a case series involves retrospective chart review, “waiver-of-consent” may be sought from the ethics committee. Indian Ethical Guidelines do not separately address this issue in case reports.[ 8 ] The Committee on Publication Ethics has described best practices for journals when publishing case reports which also gives links to model consent forms.[ 9 ]

HOW TO START?

If you are a beginner and you have identified an interesting case which you want to report, the first step would be to sit with your team and discuss the aspects of the case you want to highlight in your publication.[ 10 ] Do a literature search and try to summarize available information before writing the draft. It would also be a good idea to understand which journal you are targeting; this will assist in determining the number of figures, the word limits, and ethical requirements (such as informed consent). Discussions with senior faculty about the authors and their order should also be done at this point to avoid issues later. For a beginner, it would be a good practice to present the case in the department or in an institutional scientific forum before writing up the manuscript.

COMPONENTS OF a CASE REPORT

A case report usually has the following sections: an abstract, a brief introduction, the actual description of the case, and finally, the discussion which highlights the uniqueness of the case and includes a conclusion statement. Many journals these days publish case reports only as a letter to editor; in such cases, an abstract is not usually required.

The title must be informative about the problem being reported. It may refer to the particular issue being highlighted in the report, or it may refer to the educational aspect of that particular report. Catchy titles are often used by authors to trigger interest among the readers and make them want to read the article. Authors may remember to use titles which will help people locate the article when searching the literature.

When writing a title, it may be best to avoid terms such as “case report,” “review of literature,” “unique,” “rare,” “first-report”; these do not add value to the presentation.

Introduction

This must introduce the condition and clearly state why the case report is worth reading. It may also contain a brief mention of the current status of the problem being described with supporting references.

Describing the case

The case must be presented succinctly, in a chronological order, clearly highlighting the salient aspects of the case being reported. Relevant negative findings may be provided. For example, if a case is being reported for elaborating a new type of treatment, then more attention must be given to treatment aspects (e.g., name of the drug, dosage, schedule, dose modifications, or the type of surgery, duration, and type of anesthesia) after briefly describing the presentation and diagnostics. The idea is that the reader must be able to apply the treatment in his/her practice if required.

However, if the case is being presented for diagnostic rarity/unusual clinical features/pathological aspects, then more attention must be given to these aspects. For example, if the emphasis is on tissue pathology, then the description must include details about tissue processing, types of stains, and immunohistochemistry details.

Figures and tables

Figures, as in any publication, should be self-explanatory. A properly constructed figure legend can be used for describing certain aspects of the case much better than long-winded text in the main manuscript. This will also help to reduce the word count in the main manuscript. If there are multiple figures (e.g., follow-up radiology series and response to treatment images), these can be combined as [ Figure 1 ]a, [ Figure 1 ]b, [ Figure 1c ] or [ Figure 1 ]a, [ Figure 1 ]b, [ Figure 1 ]c, [ Figure 1d ]. This will help conform to the figure number limits prescribed by the journal. While preparing the figures, one must ensure that the quality of the art/photograph is not compromised. Further, patient identifying features must be masked, unless necessary to show.

Tables are usually not part of case reports but may be used. One example is presenting the baseline investigations in a tabular format which can facilitate assimilation as well as reduce the word count. Tables are more often used in case series. The most common is a type of table where the features of all the cases included are summarized with each row referring to an individual patient. This usually works for a series of up to ten patients; beyond that, the table may become crowded and difficult to understand. Tables may also be used in the discussion section to summarize related, published reports to date.

Discussion including review

A case report may help to alter the approach to patient management in the clinic or it may even stimulate original research evaluating a new treatment. Thus, the discussion must summarize the unique aspects of the case (why is the case different?) and the essential learning points/implications (how will it change management?/What further research needs to be done?). In addition to stating the differences from existing literature, the discussion should also attempt to explain these differences.

If the condition or treatment approach being focused on is sufficiently rare, reviewing all available cases published until that point is critical. This review may be presented in a table with each case described briefly. A more nuanced study might attempt to summarize the relevant demographics and clinical details of the various cases published to date in the form of a table (e.g., median age, gender distribution, and survival outcomes).

CASE SERIES - WHAT IS DIFFERENT?

There is no formal definition as to what is case series and what would be considered a retrospective cohort study. In general, a case series comprises <10 cases; beyond that, it may be feasible to apply formal statistics and may be considered a cohort study.

Both case reports and case series are descriptive studies. Case series must have similar cases and hence the inclusion must be clearly defined. The interventions must be documented in a way that is reproducible and follow-up of each individual in the report must be available. Although formal statistical analyses are usually not a part of case series, authors may attempt to summarize baseline demographic parameters using descriptive statistics.

ABSTRACT OF a CASE REPORT

As explained earlier, a few journals do not require abstracts for case report submissions. When required, one should try to highlight the salient aspects of the case presented and the reason for the publication within the abstract word limit, which may be as short as 100–200 words. Spend time and effort in writing a good abstract as this is a portion which is usually read by the editor during manuscript screening and may have implications for whether the article progresses to the next stage of editorial processing.

REFERENCES IN a CASE REPORT

One may only cite key references in a case report or series as there is limited scope for elaborate literature search. Most journals have a limit of 10–15 references for case reports; when publishing as a letter to editor (or correspondence), the allowed reference limit may be even lower (five or less for some journals).

CHOOSING THE RIGHT JOURNAL

Many journals have recently stopped publishing case reports and series. This is often an attempt by journals to optimize their resources (space and reviewer time) to attain the highest possible impact. Although this is unfortunate, it is a reality which must be acknowledged. Nonetheless, the advent of online-only journals has led to more options for aspiring authors. Some journals accept case series, whereas others have “sister” journals created to accept case reports and other, less definitive, contributions to the literature.[ 11 ] It is an important exercise to study all available journals accepting case reports of the type being written. The case report must be tailored to the journal's requirements. Many journals may charge an article processing fee; author(s) must consider whether they are willing to pay and publish. Some of these may be predatory journals; authors must be wary of them and scrupulously avoid publishing in such journals as they can permanently stain the publication records of a researcher.

PUBLISHING THE CASE REPORT/SERIES AS a LETTER TO EDITOR/IMAGE SERIES

When the matter to be conveyed is very minimal or is being published mainly for its rarity, letters to editor may be an alternate route to publish case report data. Interesting images may be published in the form of “images” series which is now a part of many journals. The flexibility of web-based publishing also allows interesting videos to be published online.

GUIDELINES FOR CASE REPORTS

There are guidelines which help authors in the preparation and submission of case reports. The CAse REports (CARE) checklist is one such popular guideline. It provides a “checklist” and other resources for authors that can help navigate the process of writing a case report, especially when a person is doing it for the first time.[ 12 ]

AUTHORSHIP IN CASE REPORTS

Although there are no separate guidelines for authorship in “case reports,” general authorship rules follow that for any manuscript. “Gift” authorship must be avoided. All authors must have contributed to the creation of the manuscript in addition to being involved in some aspect of care of the patient being reported. Authorship order should be ideally predecided based on mutual consensus.

CONCLUSIONS

A case report is a useful starting point for one's scientific writing career. There are useful online resources which describe the steps for a newbie writer.[ 13 14 ] [ Table 2 ] summarizes the important components to follow and understand when writing case reports. Although many frontline journals have reduced their acceptance of case reports, these publications continue to serve an essential scientific and academic role.

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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 .

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.

Case study examples
Research question	Case study
What are the ecological effects of wolf reintroduction?	Case study of wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park
How do populist politicians use narratives about history to gain support?	Case studies of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and US president Donald Trump
How can teachers implement active learning strategies in mixed-level classrooms?	Case study of a local school that promotes active learning
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of wind farms for rural communities?	Case studies of three rural wind farm development projects in different parts of the country
How are viral marketing strategies changing the relationship between companies and consumers?	Case study of the iPhone X marketing campaign
How do experiences of work in the gig economy differ by gender, race and age?	Case studies of Deliveroo and Uber drivers in London

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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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How to Write a Case Study | Examples & Methods

What is a case study?

A case study is a research approach that provides an in-depth examination of a particular phenomenon, event, organization, or individual. It involves analyzing and interpreting data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject under investigation.

Case studies can be used in various disciplines, including business, social sciences, medicine ( clinical case report ), engineering, and education. The aim of a case study is to provide an in-depth exploration of a specific subject, often with the goal of generating new insights into the phenomena being studied.

When to write a case study

Case studies are often written to present the findings of an empirical investigation or to illustrate a particular point or theory. They are useful when researchers want to gain an in-depth understanding of a specific phenomenon or when they are interested in exploring new areas of inquiry.

Case studies are also useful when the subject of the research is rare or when the research question is complex and requires an in-depth examination. A case study can be a good fit for a thesis or dissertation as well.

Case study examples

Below are some examples of case studies with their research questions:


How do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries manage risks?	Risk management practices in SMEs in Ghana
What factors contribute to successful organizational change?	A case study of a successful organizational change at Company X
How do teachers use technology to enhance student learning in the classroom?	The impact of technology integration on student learning in a primary school in the United States
How do companies adapt to changing consumer preferences?	Coca-Cola’s strategy to address the declining demand for sugary drinks
What are the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitality industry?	The impact of COVID-19 on the hotel industry in Europe
How do organizations use social media for branding and marketing?	The role of Instagram in fashion brand promotion
How do businesses address ethical issues in their operations?	A case study of Nike’s supply chain labor practices

These examples demonstrate the diversity of research questions and case studies that can be explored. From studying small businesses in Ghana to the ethical issues in supply chains, case studies can be used to explore a wide range of phenomena.

Outlying cases vs. representative cases

An outlying case stud y refers to a case that is unusual or deviates significantly from the norm. An example of an outlying case study could be a small, family-run bed and breakfast that was able to survive and even thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic, while other larger hotels struggled to stay afloat.

On the other hand, a representative case study refers to a case that is typical of the phenomenon being studied. An example of a representative case study could be a hotel chain that operates in multiple locations that faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as reduced demand for hotel rooms, increased safety and health protocols, and supply chain disruptions. The hotel chain case could be representative of the broader hospitality industry during the pandemic, and thus provides an insight into the typical challenges that businesses in the industry faced.

Steps for Writing a Case Study

As with any academic paper, writing a case study requires careful preparation and research before a single word of the document is ever written. Follow these basic steps to ensure that you don’t miss any crucial details when composing your case study.

Step 1: Select a case to analyze

After you have developed your statement of the problem and research question , the first step in writing a case study is to select a case that is representative of the phenomenon being investigated or that provides an outlier. For example, if a researcher wants to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, they could select a representative case, such as a hotel chain that operates in multiple locations, or an outlying case, such as a small bed and breakfast that was able to pivot their business model to survive during the pandemic. Selecting the appropriate case is critical in ensuring the research question is adequately explored.

Step 2: Create a theoretical framework

Theoretical frameworks are used to guide the analysis and interpretation of data in a case study. The framework should provide a clear explanation of the key concepts, variables, and relationships that are relevant to the research question. The theoretical framework can be drawn from existing literature, or the researcher can develop their own framework based on the data collected. The theoretical framework should be developed early in the research process to guide the data collection and analysis.

To give your case analysis a strong theoretical grounding, be sure to include a literature review of references and sources relating to your topic and develop a clear theoretical framework. Your case study does not simply stand on its own but interacts with other studies related to your topic. Your case study can do one of the following:

Demonstrate a theory by showing how it explains the case being investigated
Broaden a theory by identifying additional concepts and ideas that can be incorporated to strengthen it
Confront a theory via an outlier case that does not conform to established conclusions or assumptions

Step 3: Collect data for your case study

Data collection can involve a variety of research methods , including interviews, surveys, observations, and document analyses, and it can include both primary and secondary sources . It is essential to ensure that the data collected is relevant to the research question and that it is collected in a systematic and ethical manner. Data collection methods should be chosen based on the research question and the availability of data. It is essential to plan data collection carefully to ensure that the data collected is of high quality

Step 4: Describe the case and analyze the details

The final step is to describe the case in detail and analyze the data collected. This involves identifying patterns and themes that emerge from the data and drawing conclusions that are relevant to the research question. It is essential to ensure that the analysis is supported by the data and that any limitations or alternative explanations are acknowledged.

The manner in which you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard academic paper, with separate sections or chapters for the methods section , results section , and discussion section , while others are structured more like a standalone literature review.

Regardless of the topic you choose to pursue, writing a case study requires a systematic and rigorous approach to data collection and analysis. By following the steps outlined above and using examples from existing literature, researchers can create a comprehensive and insightful case study that contributes to the understanding of a particular phenomenon.

Preparing Your Case Study for Publication

After completing the draft of your case study, be sure to revise and edit your work for any mistakes, including grammatical errors , punctuation errors , spelling mistakes, and awkward sentence structure . Ensure that your case study is well-structured and that your arguments are well-supported with language that follows the conventions of academic writing . To ensure your work is polished for style and free of errors, get English editing services from Wordvice, including our paper editing services and manuscript editing services . Let our academic subject experts enhance the style and flow of your academic work so you can submit your case study with confidence.

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Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on 5 May 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 30 January 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organisation, 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 .

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 analyse 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.

Case study examples
Research question	Case study
What are the ecological effects of wolf reintroduction?	Case study of wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park in the US
How do populist politicians use narratives about history to gain support?	Case studies of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and US president Donald Trump
How can teachers implement active learning strategies in mixed-level classrooms?	Case study of a local school that promotes active learning
What are the main advantages and disadvantages of wind farms for rural communities?	Case studies of three rural wind farm development projects in different parts of the country
How are viral marketing strategies changing the relationship between companies and consumers?	Case study of the iPhone X marketing campaign
How do experiences of work in the gig economy differ by gender, race, and age?	Case studies of Deliveroo and Uber drivers in London

Prevent plagiarism, run a free check.

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

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.

If you find yourself aiming to simultaneously investigate and solve an issue, consider conducting action research . As its name suggests, action research conducts research and takes action at the same time, and is highly iterative and flexible.

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

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

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 .

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 analyse 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.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, January 30). Case Study | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved 12 August 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/research-methods/case-studies/

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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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Home » Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Table of Contents

A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth examination and analysis of a particular phenomenon or case, such as an individual, organization, community, event, or situation.

It is a qualitative research approach that aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the case being studied. Case studies typically involve multiple sources of data, including interviews, observations, documents, and artifacts, which are analyzed using various techniques, such as content analysis, thematic analysis, and grounded theory. The findings of a case study are often used to develop theories, inform policy or practice, or generate new research questions.

Types of Case Study

Types and Methods of Case Study are as follows:

Single-Case Study

A single-case study is an in-depth analysis of a single case. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to understand a specific phenomenon in detail.

For Example , A researcher might conduct a single-case study on a particular individual to understand their experiences with a particular health condition or a specific organization to explore their management practices. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of a single-case study are often used to generate new research questions, develop theories, or inform policy or practice.

Multiple-Case Study

A multiple-case study involves the analysis of several cases that are similar in nature. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to identify similarities and differences between the cases.

For Example, a researcher might conduct a multiple-case study on several companies to explore the factors that contribute to their success or failure. The researcher collects data from each case, compares and contrasts the findings, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as comparative analysis or pattern-matching. The findings of a multiple-case study can be used to develop theories, inform policy or practice, or generate new research questions.

Exploratory Case Study

An exploratory case study is used to explore a new or understudied phenomenon. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to generate hypotheses or theories about the phenomenon.

For Example, a researcher might conduct an exploratory case study on a new technology to understand its potential impact on society. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as grounded theory or content analysis. The findings of an exploratory case study can be used to generate new research questions, develop theories, or inform policy or practice.

Descriptive Case Study

A descriptive case study is used to describe a particular phenomenon in detail. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to provide a comprehensive account of the phenomenon.

For Example, a researcher might conduct a descriptive case study on a particular community to understand its social and economic characteristics. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of a descriptive case study can be used to inform policy or practice or generate new research questions.

Instrumental Case Study

An instrumental case study is used to understand a particular phenomenon that is instrumental in achieving a particular goal. This type of case study is useful when the researcher wants to understand the role of the phenomenon in achieving the goal.

For Example, a researcher might conduct an instrumental case study on a particular policy to understand its impact on achieving a particular goal, such as reducing poverty. The researcher collects data from multiple sources, such as interviews, observations, and documents, and uses various techniques to analyze the data, such as content analysis or thematic analysis. The findings of an instrumental case study can be used to inform policy or practice or generate new research questions.

Case Study Data Collection Methods

Here are some common data collection methods for case studies:

Interviews involve asking questions to individuals who have knowledge or experience relevant to the case study. Interviews can be structured (where the same questions are asked to all participants) or unstructured (where the interviewer follows up on the responses with further questions). Interviews can be conducted in person, over the phone, or through video conferencing.

Observations

Observations involve watching and recording the behavior and activities of individuals or groups relevant to the case study. Observations can be participant (where the researcher actively participates in the activities) or non-participant (where the researcher observes from a distance). Observations can be recorded using notes, audio or video recordings, or photographs.

Documents can be used as a source of information for case studies. Documents can include reports, memos, emails, letters, and other written materials related to the case study. Documents can be collected from the case study participants or from public sources.

Surveys involve asking a set of questions to a sample of individuals relevant to the case study. Surveys can be administered in person, over the phone, through mail or email, or online. Surveys can be used to gather information on attitudes, opinions, or behaviors related to the case study.

Artifacts are physical objects relevant to the case study. Artifacts can include tools, equipment, products, or other objects that provide insights into the case study phenomenon.

How to conduct Case Study Research

Conducting a case study research involves several steps that need to be followed to ensure the quality and rigor of the study. Here are the steps to conduct case study research:

Define the research questions: The first step in conducting a case study research is to define the research questions. The research questions should be specific, measurable, and relevant to the case study phenomenon under investigation.
Select the case: The next step is to select the case or cases to be studied. The case should be relevant to the research questions and should provide rich and diverse data that can be used to answer the research questions.
Collect data: Data can be collected using various methods, such as interviews, observations, documents, surveys, and artifacts. The data collection method should be selected based on the research questions and the nature of the case study phenomenon.
Analyze the data: The data collected from the case study should be analyzed using various techniques, such as content analysis, thematic analysis, or grounded theory. The analysis should be guided by the research questions and should aim to provide insights and conclusions relevant to the research questions.
Draw conclusions: The conclusions drawn from the case study should be based on the data analysis and should be relevant to the research questions. The conclusions should be supported by evidence and should be clearly stated.
Validate the findings: The findings of the case study should be validated by reviewing the data and the analysis with participants or other experts in the field. This helps to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings.
Write the report: The final step is to write the report of the case study research. The report should provide a clear description of the case study phenomenon, the research questions, the data collection methods, the data analysis, the findings, and the conclusions. The report should be written in a clear and concise manner and should follow the guidelines for academic writing.

Examples of Case Study

Here are some examples of case study research:

The Hawthorne Studies : Conducted between 1924 and 1932, the Hawthorne Studies were a series of case studies conducted by Elton Mayo and his colleagues to examine the impact of work environment on employee productivity. The studies were conducted at the Hawthorne Works plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago and included interviews, observations, and experiments.
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Conducted in 1971, the Stanford Prison Experiment was a case study conducted by Philip Zimbardo to examine the psychological effects of power and authority. The study involved simulating a prison environment and assigning participants to the role of guards or prisoners. The study was controversial due to the ethical issues it raised.
The Challenger Disaster: The Challenger Disaster was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in 1986. The study included interviews, observations, and analysis of data to identify the technical, organizational, and cultural factors that contributed to the disaster.
The Enron Scandal: The Enron Scandal was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the Enron Corporation’s bankruptcy in 2001. The study included interviews, analysis of financial data, and review of documents to identify the accounting practices, corporate culture, and ethical issues that led to the company’s downfall.
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster : The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was a case study conducted to examine the causes of the nuclear accident that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in 2011. The study included interviews, analysis of data, and review of documents to identify the technical, organizational, and cultural factors that contributed to the disaster.

Application of Case Study

Case studies have a wide range of applications across various fields and industries. Here are some examples:

Business and Management

Case studies are widely used in business and management to examine real-life situations and develop problem-solving skills. Case studies can help students and professionals to develop a deep understanding of business concepts, theories, and best practices.

Case studies are used in healthcare to examine patient care, treatment options, and outcomes. Case studies can help healthcare professionals to develop critical thinking skills, diagnose complex medical conditions, and develop effective treatment plans.

Case studies are used in education to examine teaching and learning practices. Case studies can help educators to develop effective teaching strategies, evaluate student progress, and identify areas for improvement.

Social Sciences

Case studies are widely used in social sciences to examine human behavior, social phenomena, and cultural practices. Case studies can help researchers to develop theories, test hypotheses, and gain insights into complex social issues.

Law and Ethics

Case studies are used in law and ethics to examine legal and ethical dilemmas. Case studies can help lawyers, policymakers, and ethical professionals to develop critical thinking skills, analyze complex cases, and make informed decisions.

Purpose of Case Study

The purpose of a case study is to provide a detailed analysis of a specific phenomenon, issue, or problem in its real-life context. A case study is a qualitative research method that involves the in-depth exploration and analysis of a particular case, which can be an individual, group, organization, event, or community.

The primary purpose of a case study is to generate a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the case, including its history, context, and dynamics. Case studies can help researchers to identify and examine the underlying factors, processes, and mechanisms that contribute to the case and its outcomes. This can help to develop a more accurate and detailed understanding of the case, which can inform future research, practice, or policy.

Case studies can also serve other purposes, including:

Illustrating a theory or concept: Case studies can be used to illustrate and explain theoretical concepts and frameworks, providing concrete examples of how they can be applied in real-life situations.
Developing hypotheses: Case studies can help to generate hypotheses about the causal relationships between different factors and outcomes, which can be tested through further research.
Providing insight into complex issues: Case studies can provide insights into complex and multifaceted issues, which may be difficult to understand through other research methods.
Informing practice or policy: Case studies can be used to inform practice or policy by identifying best practices, lessons learned, or areas for improvement.

Advantages of Case Study Research

There are several advantages of case study research, including:

In-depth exploration: Case study research allows for a detailed exploration and analysis of a specific phenomenon, issue, or problem in its real-life context. This can provide a comprehensive understanding of the case and its dynamics, which may not be possible through other research methods.
Rich data: Case study research can generate rich and detailed data, including qualitative data such as interviews, observations, and documents. This can provide a nuanced understanding of the case and its complexity.
Holistic perspective: Case study research allows for a holistic perspective of the case, taking into account the various factors, processes, and mechanisms that contribute to the case and its outcomes. This can help to develop a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the case.
Theory development: Case study research can help to develop and refine theories and concepts by providing empirical evidence and concrete examples of how they can be applied in real-life situations.
Practical application: Case study research can inform practice or policy by identifying best practices, lessons learned, or areas for improvement.
Contextualization: Case study research takes into account the specific context in which the case is situated, which can help to understand how the case is influenced by the social, cultural, and historical factors of its environment.

Limitations of Case Study Research

There are several limitations of case study research, including:

Limited generalizability : Case studies are typically focused on a single case or a small number of cases, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The unique characteristics of the case may not be applicable to other contexts or populations, which may limit the external validity of the research.
Biased sampling: Case studies may rely on purposive or convenience sampling, which can introduce bias into the sample selection process. This may limit the representativeness of the sample and the generalizability of the findings.
Subjectivity: Case studies rely on the interpretation of the researcher, which can introduce subjectivity into the analysis. The researcher’s own biases, assumptions, and perspectives may influence the findings, which may limit the objectivity of the research.
Limited control: Case studies are typically conducted in naturalistic settings, which limits the control that the researcher has over the environment and the variables being studied. This may limit the ability to establish causal relationships between variables.
Time-consuming: Case studies can be time-consuming to conduct, as they typically involve a detailed exploration and analysis of a specific case. This may limit the feasibility of conducting multiple case studies or conducting case studies in a timely manner.
Resource-intensive: Case studies may require significant resources, including time, funding, and expertise. This may limit the ability of researchers to conduct case studies in resource-constrained settings.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Writing A Scientific Case Study: Effective Guide

Table of Contents

Scientific case studies are a critical tool used in scientific research to describe and analyze real-world situations and phenomena. These studies are essential in helping researchers understand the complexities of real-world situations and identify potential solutions to existing problems. A scientific case study involves an in-depth examination of a particular event, person, group, or wonder to determine the cause-and-effect relationships. If you’re wondering how to write a scientific case study , this guide is for you. Writing a scientific case study requires a systematic approach to ensure the analysis is accurate, precise, and objective. In this context, this article will guide you to write a scientific case study that can withstand rigorous scientific scrutiny.

What is a Scientific Case Study?

A scientific case study is a detailed and systematic examination of a specific phenomenon or event within a scientific framework . This examination method is useful in scientific research to provide insights into real-world situations and generate testable hypotheses. Scientific case studies are typically conducted systematically, using established scientific methods to collect and analyze data. They often involve observing a particular event or situation, collecting data through various modes (such as surveys, interviews, or experiments). And analyzing that data to identify patterns, relationships, or causal factors. Scientific case studies is useful in various fields, including biology, psychology, sociology, economics, and engineering. They can be used to investigate a range of phenomena. Such as the effects of new drug treatment, or the behavior of a particular species in its natural habitat. Overall, a scientific case study aims to provide a detailed understanding of a specific phenomenon while adhering to the rigorous standards of scientific research.

How to Write a Scientific Case Study

Writing a scientific case study involves thoroughly investigating a particular phenomenon or case and presenting the findings in a detailed, rigorous, and informative way. The following are tips for writing a scientific case study:

Choose an appropriate case. Select a subject relevant to your research question or objective. The subject should be unique and exciting and have sufficient data for a thorough analysis.
Gather data. Collect all the relevant data about the case. This may include interviews, surveys, observations, or other suitable data sources.
Analyze the data. Once you have collected the data, analyze it using appropriate methods. This may include statistical analysis, content analysis, or any other relevant analytical technique.
Develop a clear structure. A scientific case study should be well-structured. It should include an introduction, background information, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Provide sufficient detail. Provide enough detail about the case study. Include the methods used, the results obtained, and any limitations or potential biases that may have impacted the investigation.
Use appropriate language. Use scientific verbiage that is clear and concise. Avoid complex terminologies and jargon that may not be very clear to readers.
Cite relevant sources. Make sure to cite all the relevant sources used in the case study. Including any previous research or literature that supports or contradicts your findings.
Conclude. Finally, draw conclusions based on the case study’s findings. The evidence should support these conclusions and be relevant to the research question or objective.

Person holding on red pen while writing on book

Components of a Scientific Case Study

Overall, a scientific case study should be well-structured and thoroughly researched.

The abstract should summarize the entire case study, typically no longer than 250 words. It should provide a brief and straightforward summary of the research question, methods used, key findings, and conclusions. The abstract should be written last, as it summarizes the entire research.

Introduction

The introduction should offer background information to set the stage for the topic, including any relevant theories or previous research. It should also clearly state the research question or objective of the study. The introduction should be clear, brief, and captivating to the reader.

Literature review

The literature review should offer a thorough summary of previous research on the topic, including key findings and any gaps in the literature. It should also provide a critical literature analysis, highlighting any strengths or weaknesses in previous studies. The literature review should be organized logically, and any sources cited should be referenced appropriately.

The methods section should provide a clear and detailed description of the methods used in the case study. This should include information on the sampling method, data collection techniques, and data analysis procedures. The forms should be described in sufficient detail to allow for the replication of the study.

The results section should present the key findings of the case study, including any statistical analyses or other relevant data visualizations. The results should be presented clearly and concisely, using appropriate tables or figures to support the findings.

The discussion should interpret the results of the study, comparing them to previous research. And discussing any limitations or potential biases that may have affected the investigation. The debate should also explain the implications of the findings for the research question or objective and provide recommendations for future research.

The conclusion should summarize the essential findings and their implications, highlighting the main points of the case study. It should also provide recommendations for future research and briefly discuss any limitations or potential biases of the study.

The references should be properly formatted and include all sources cited in the case study. The references should be listed alphabetically, following a recognized citation style.

Appendices should include any supplementary materials that support the case study, such as raw data, additional tables or figures, or other relevant information. The appendices should be clearly labeled and organized logically.

Sample of a Scientific Case Study

Title : The Impact of Environmental Pollution on the Health of Residents Living near a Steel Manufacturing Plant

Introduction

Environmental pollution is a growing global concern affecting both human and non-human life. This case study aims to investigate the impacts of pollution on the health of people living close to a steel manufacturing plant in XYZ. The study aims to explore the correlation between pollution levels and various health issues residents report.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 500 residents within a 5 km radius of the steel plant. The study was carried out from January to June 2022. Participants were selected using stratified random sampling to ensure equal representation of gender and age groups. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire administered in person by trained research assistants. The questionnaire included questions about demographic information, health status, and exposure to pollution. Air quality data was also collected from the local environmental monitoring agency.

The air quality data showed high levels of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. The results showed a strong association between the levels of pollution and the incidence of respiratory diseases such as asthma and bronchitis. Participants living closer to the plant reported a higher incidence of these diseases. Additionally, there was a significant association between pollution levels, skin allergies, and eye irritation. Other health issues reported by participants included headaches, fatigue, and digestive problems.

The study proves that the steel manufacturing plant is a significant source of environmental pollution that adversely affects nearby residents’ health. The findings highlight the need for stricter regulations and more effective pollution control measures. This is to protect the health and welfare of people residing in industrial areas. The study also calls for further research to investigate the long-term effects of exposure to pollution on human health.

Final Words

Writing a scientific case study requires a systematic approach and attention to detail. Follow the guidelines in this article to ensure that your case study effectively communicates your findings to the scientific community. Remember to include all the necessary sections, use appropriate language, and provide ample supporting evidence. Doing so can contribute valuable knowledge to your field and potentially significantly impact scientific research. With practice and dedication, anyone can master the art of writing a scientific case study and become a valuable contributor to the scientific community. Now that you know how to write a scientific case study , it’s time to get started!

Writing A Scientific Case Study: Effective Guide

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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Princeton Online

Writing Case Studies: Science of Delivery

This course introduces you to the main elements of a good science of delivery case study and teaches you how to plan your research, conduct interviews, and organize your writing.

The science of delivery begins with a simple observation. We often have a vision of the right policies or strategies for improving health, safety, and economic well-being, but the real problem is getting things done. Even a simple policy intervention such as child vaccination requires much more than nurses and a stock of vaccine to be effective.

Case studies are a vital tool for sharing insight about the 'how’ of policy implementation and institutional reform. They trace the steps taken to produce results. They show solutions people have devised to address anticipated challenges and overcome unanticipated obstacles. They help us think about how to adapt approaches so that they work in different contexts.

The course is most suitable for practitioners who want to document and analyze their efforts to implement a program or build a new institution, researchers who want to trace how programs achieved results, and graduate students who want an introduction to one type of case study method.

You will learn:

Key elements of a science of delivery case study
How to develop a research strategy
How to plan and carry out an interview
Strategies for handling common research challenges
Ways to plan the writing process
Stylistic conventions and standards that improve communication
How to manage some common writing challenges
Systems for complying with important ethical and legal standards

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Your Step-By-Step Guide To Writing a Case Study

Creating a case study is both an art and a science. It requires making an in-depth exploration of your chosen subject in order to extract meaningful insights and understand the dynamics that more general surveys or statistical research might not uncover. At the same time, your case study also needs to be a compelling read to ensure those insights get attention from other people!

Unsurprisingly, the prospect of crafting an effective case study can be daunting. It calls for strategic planning, careful organization, and clear communication, all of which can be challenging even for experienced researchers. That's why we've created this step-by-step guide, which breaks the process down into manageable steps, demystifying the journey from defining your research question to sharing your findings. Whether you're a seasoned researcher or a first-timer, this guide aims to equip you with the necessary tools and tips to create a case study that's not just informative, but also engaging and impactful.

Are you ready to unlock the potential of case studies? Let's dive in!

What is a case study?

First, it's important to understand what a case study is – and what it isn't.

A case study is a thorough exploration of a specific subject or event over a certain time frame. Case studies are utilized in numerous fields, including sociology, psychology, education, anthropology, business, and the health sciences, and employ various research techniques to shed light on complex issues.

A case study does not provide absolute proof or conclusions that can be universally applied. Because it concentrates on one particular case or just a few cases, the findings might not apply to different contexts or subjects. Case studies also aren't ideal for determining cause-and-effect relationships as they do not use controlled conditions to separate and measure the impacts of different factors. Lastly, it must be said that a case study isn't just a random assortment of facts or observations; it necessitates a clear research question, a methodical approach to data collection and analysis, and a thoughtful interpretation of the results.

Getting started

Now that we've established the definition and purpose of a case study, let's explore the process by which one is created. You can produce a case study by following these nine steps:

1. Define the purpose of your case study

Before you start writing a case study, you need to define its purpose clearly. Ask yourself: What is the research question or problem you aim to solve? What insights are you looking to uncover? Your goals will guide your research design and influence your choice of case. This initial stage of introspection and clarification is crucial as it acts as a roadmap for your study.

2. Select the case to study

Once you've defined your research objective, the next step is to choose a suitable case that can help answer your research question. This might be a unique, critical, or representative instance. Unique cases offer the opportunity to observe and analyze a situation that is unusual or not well-understood. In contrast, a representative or typical case is often chosen because it represents other cases or a broader phenomenon.

In any case, be sure to justify your choice. Explain why the case is of interest and how it can contribute to the knowledge or understanding of the issue at hand. For instance, if you're studying the effects of corporate restructuring on employee morale, you might choose to focus on a company that recently underwent a significant restructure.

3. Conduct a thorough literature review

Performing a literature review involves a careful examination of relevant scholarly articles, books, and other sources related to your research question or problem. In the process, you identify gaps in the current knowledge and determine how your case study can address them. By critically examining existing research, you will not only gain a comprehensive understanding of your chosen topic but also be able to refine your research question or hypothesis, if necessary.

4. Choose a methodological approach

The methodological approach used in your case study will depend on your research objectives and the nature of the case. Methodologies that can be employed in case studies include qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods .

Qualitative methods are often used when the goal is to explore, understand, or interpret certain phenomena. These involve approaches like interviews, focus groups, or ethnography. Quantitative methods, on the other hand, are used when the goal is to test hypotheses or examine relationships between variables. Quantitative approaches often include experiments. Also, surveys may be either qualitative or quantitative depending on the question design.

You may choose to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods (mixed methods) if it suits your research objectives.

5. Collect and organize your data

Data collection should be systematic and organized to maintain the integrity and reliability of your research. You need to plan how you will record and store your data to ensure that it's accessible and usable.

If you're conducting interviews or observations, consider using recording devices (with participant consent) to capture the data accurately. In addition, you may want to transcribe the recorded material for easier analysis. If you're using documents or archival records, develop a system for coding and categorizing the data.

6. Analyze the data

Analysis involves interpreting your data to draw out meaningful insights; it is in this stage that your findings start to take shape. Depending on the nature of your data and your research question, you might use any of a variety of analysis methods. For qualitative data, you might employ thematic analysis to identify key themes or grounded theory to generate a new theoretical framework. For quantitative data, you might use statistical analysis to identify patterns or correlations.

Always be open to unexpected findings. Your initial hypotheses might not be supported, or you might uncover new insights that you hadn't initially considered. Remember that all data, whether they fit neatly into your analysis or not, provide valuable insights and contribute to the holistic understanding of your case.

7. Write the case study report

After analyzing the data, it's finally time to compose your case study. In terms of structure, a typical case study might consist of an introduction, background information, the collected data (results), analysis of that data, and the conclusion. Here's a brief breakdown of each section:

Introduction: The introduction should be brief but engaging, providing a clear statement of the research question or problem, explaining why the case was chosen, and outlining what the case study will cover.
Background: The background provides the context for your case. Describe the case, its history, and any relevant information that will help readers understand the situation.
Results: This section should provide a comprehensive account of what you found, without interpretation or opinion. Present your findings in a clear, organized manner. Use visuals such as charts or graphs if they aid comprehension.
Analysis: This section should provide your interpretations and arguments. Discuss the patterns, themes, or relationships you've identified in your data. Explain what these findings mean in relation to your research question.
Conclusion: Finally, summarize the key insights from your case study along with their implications. Discuss the limitations of your study and propose avenues for future research.

8. Review and revise

The process of writing a case study doesn't actually end when the report is written; you also need to review your writing for coherence, clarity, and correctness. Don't underestimate the importance of this step! Make sure the information flows logically and that your arguments are well-supported. Check for any grammar or spelling errors. Having a peer or mentor review your work can be incredibly helpful as they provide a fresh perspective and can catch mistakes you might have missed.

9. Get approval if required

If your case study involves human subjects, you may need to obtain approval from an ethical review board. You'll also need to obtain informed consent from your subjects and ensure you respect their privacy and confidentiality throughout the research process. Always follow your institution's ethical guidelines and any other relevant legislation .

Practical tips for writing a compelling case study

Getting through all those steps can feel like a formidable challenge, but here are some practical tips to make the process more manageable:

Be systematic and organized

Given the importance of detail in case studies, it's vital to be systematic and organized from the get-go. This means keeping meticulous records of your data, your sources, and any changes to your research design. A good practice is to maintain a research journal or log where you can record your process, thoughts, and reflections.

In addition, use technology to your advantage. Digital tools like citation managers can help you keep track of your sources and make formatting references a breeze, while spreadsheet or database software can assist in managing and organizing your data. Developing a consistent system for labeling and storing information at the outset will save you time and effort later when you need to retrieve data for analysis.

Stay focused

One common pitfall in research and writing is loss of focus: getting sidetracked by interesting but ultimately irrelevant digressions, which can be very easy, especially when you're dealing with a rich and complex case. Always remember your research question and objectives, and let these guide your study at every step. It's perfectly acceptable – and in fact advisable – to delineate what your study will not cover. Setting clear boundaries can help you stay focused and manage the scope of your study effectively.

Use visual aids

Visual aids such as charts, diagrams, or photographs can greatly enhance your case study. They provide readers with a break from the monotony of text and can communicate complex data or relationships more easily. For instance, if you're presenting a lot of numerical data, consider using a chart or graph. If you're describing a process or sequence of events, portraying it in a flowchart or timeline might be useful. Remember, the goal is to aid comprehension, so make sure your visual aids are clear, well-labeled, and integrated into the text.

Include direct quotes

If your case study involves interviews, including direct quotes can add depth and a sense of the personal to your findings. They provide readers with a firsthand perspective and make your case study more engaging.

When using quotes, be sure to integrate them smoothly into your text. Provide enough context so readers understand the quote's relevance. Also, remember to adhere to ethical guidelines– always respect confidentiality and anonymity agreements.

Maintain ethical standards

Ethics is a fundamental consideration in all research, including case studies. Ensure you have proper consent from participants, respect their privacy, and accurately present your findings without manipulation.

Misrepresenting data or failing to respect participants' rights can lead to serious ethical violations. Always follow your institution's ethical guidelines and any other relevant legislation. If in doubt, seek advice from a supervisor or your institution's ethics committee.

Acknowledge limitations

Every research study has limitations, which could relate to the research design, data collection methods, or other aspects of the study. Being transparent about the limitations of your study can enhance its credibility; moreover, not only does identifying limitations demonstrate your critical thinking and honesty, but it also helps readers accurately interpret your findings.

Finally, acknowledging the limitations of your work helps to set the stage for further research. By identifying aspects that your study couldn't address, you provide other researchers with avenues for building on your findings.

Learn from examples

Before you start writing your case study, it can be helpful to review some published case studies in your field. Different fields may have different conventions, and familiarizing yourself with case studies in your own field can help guide your writing. Look at the structure, tone, and style. Pay attention to how the authors present and analyze data, and how they link their findings back to the research question. You can also learn a lot from the strengths and weaknesses of previously published works. However, remember to develop your own unique voice and perspective – don't just mimic what others have done.

Design for triangulation

Triangulation involves using multiple data sources or methods to gain a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of your research topic. By coming at your research question from multiple directions, such as by examining different datasets or using different methods, you can increase the validity of your results and gain more nuanced insights.

For example, if you're studying the impact of a new teaching method in a school, you might observe classes, interview teachers, and also survey students. Each method will provide a slightly different perspective, and together, they allow you to develop a more complete picture of the teaching method's impact.

Practice reflexivity

Reflexivity involves reflecting on how your assumptions, values, or experiences might influence your research process and interpretations. As a researcher, it's essential to be aware of your potential biases and how they might shape your study.

Consider keeping a reflexivity journal where you can note your thoughts, feelings, and reflections throughout the research process. This practice can help you stay aware of your biases and ensure your research is as objective and balanced as possible.

Write for your audience

Always make sure that your writing is on target for your intended audience. If you're writing for an academic audience, for example, you'll likely use a more formal tone and include more detailed methodological information. If you're writing for practitioners or a general audience, you might use a more accessible language and focus more on practical implications.

Remember to define any technical terms or jargon, and provide sufficient context so your readers can understand your research. The goal is to communicate your findings effectively, regardless of who your readers are.

Seek feedback

Feedback is valuable for improving your case study. Consider sharing drafts with your peers, mentors, or supervisors and asking for their input. Fresh eyes can provide different perspectives, catch errors, or suggest ways to strengthen your arguments.

Remember, feedback is not personal; it's about improving your work. Be open to critique and willing to revise your work based on the feedback you receive.

Writing a case study is a meticulous process that requires clear purpose, careful planning, systematic data collection, and thoughtful analysis. Although it can be time-consuming, the rich, detailed insights a well-executed case study can provide make this study design an invaluable tool in research.

By following this guide and adopting its practical tips, you will be well on your way to crafting a compelling case study that contributes meaningful insights to your chosen field. Good luck with your research journey!

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The do’s and don’ts of writing and publishing case reports

March 6, 2023 | 5 min read

Lessons from a recent Researcher Academy webinar

As a method of documenting a single clinical observation, case reports offer timely and valuable information, especially with regards to rare diseases. They show medical professionals how fellow practitioners have acted in similar situations and thus aid in the decision-making process by sharing best practices. Not only do they significantly contribute to the knowledge pool, they also help add to a researcher’s own publication portfolio. Producing a good case report requires much more than just an interesting case, however.

To assist researchers with this task, Professors Oliver Kurzai and Adilia Warris, editors of the journal Medical Mycology Case Reports opens in new tab/window shared tips on writing high impact case reports in the latest Researcher Academy webinar opens in new tab/window . We are pleased to share here some quick do’s and don’ts from the webinar.

Tell a story

The best way to compose a case report is to tell a story. This can be accomplished by arranging the events in chronological order, being specific about your differential diagnostic considerations, elucidating the arguments for your clinical decision-making process, and following up to round off the story neatly. This will create an imaginary journey where your readers can follow every development of the case and understand why you have performed specific tests or made certain decisions during a particular treatment.

Get the details right

Make sure to describe the relevant signs and symptoms which have resulted in the differential diagnosis, both positive and negative in order to provide readers with the context in which you have made your decisions. You can also include in your case reports descriptions of actual values for blood test results, detailed dosages for medications prescribed or other variables that should be taken into account with respect to the outcome of the situation.

Employ pictures/figures where relevant

A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words, especially for case reports where findings can be clearly and efficiently illustrated via images. Don’t make use of pictures without justification, however – do so only if they have a function. For example, macroscopic and microscopic images of a newly-identified causative microorganism are an essential whereas a picture of the model you have clearly explained elsewhere in the text may be overkill.

Formulate short and sharp titles

The title is the first selling point of your case report. Therefore, you would want it to be interesting and something that grasps the reader’s attention. Make sure you phrase it concisely, but still in an eye-catching way. Take a look at the examples shared by the speakers below.

An OK title: " Treatment of cerebral mucormycosis with drug therapy alone: a case report"

Versus a compelling title: "Successful outcome of cerebral mucormycosis with drug therapy alone"

Secure written consent from patient

Due to its nature of being a detailed description of an individual patient’s clinical presentation and therapy, a case report almost always contains information that could be traced back to the individual in question. Thus, a written, informed consent from the patient is a key requirement for the publication. Keep in mind that your patient is your partner in completing a case report, therefore make sure to discuss the report proactively with them including being explicit about any potential images that you are going to use, especially if they show or could identify the patient.

Don’t write your case report before doing your homework

If your case is not unique or interesting enough, there is a high chance that it will not be published. Even when your case is unique but is not well-documented or misses some crucial diagnostic elements, the same outcome might still ensue. This is not only a waste of your precious time but also a discouragement which might prevent you from producing more case reports in the future. To avoid this outcome, make sure to carry out careful research before writing your case reports. Make sure it meets all necessary characteristics and requirements before spending a lot of time and effort on the writing part.

Don’t publish a case report without the patient’s consent

As explained above, informed patient consent is mandatory for the publication of your case reports. Ignoring this requirement can result in a rejection for your work and worse, ruin your relationship and reputation with patients. However, there is an exception for publishing a case report without patient consent when the benefit of publication toward to society outweighs potential harm for individual. This happens when the case report contains an extremely important public health message but impossible to obtain informed consent despite all efforts as the patient has died, for example.

Don’t forget, moreover that clinical practitioners are not required to, and should not reveal personal patient information to a journal that is not relevant to the case.

Don’t include everything

“Less is more” goes the popular adage… It is not recommended to provide an extensive overview or discuss every single aspect of the patient’s disease in the introduction and conclusion. This will only serve to disengage readers and will distract them from the main ideas you want to communicate. If you want to give a focused introduction and discussion, make sure your case report mentions only the key messages and information related and relevant to these points.

To learn more about other insightful tips on how to write influential case reports and more importantly to get them published, you can watch the full webinar recording at the Researcher Academy opens in new tab/window . If, after doing so you still have unresolved questions, why not post in the Researcher Academy Mendeley group opens in new tab/window , where the team will endeavour to find expert answers for you.

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The evolutionary pattern of language in scientific writings: A case study of Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society (1665–1869)

Open access
Published: 17 December 2020
Volume 126 , pages 1695–1724, ( 2021 )

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Kun Sun ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9766-269X 1 , 2 ,
Haitao Liu 2 , 3 &
Wenxin Xiong 4

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Scientific writings, as one essential part of human culture, have evolved over centuries into their current form. Knowing how scientific writings evolved is particularly helpful in understanding how trends in scientific culture developed. It also allows us to better understand how scientific culture was interwoven with human culture generally. The availability of massive digitized texts and the progress in computational technologies today provide us with a convenient and credible way to discern the evolutionary patterns in scientific writings by examining the diachronic linguistic changes. The linguistic changes in scientific writings reflect the genre shifts that took place with historical changes in science and scientific writings. This study investigates a general evolutionary linguistic pattern in scientific writings. It does so by merging two credible computational methods: relative entropy; word-embedding concreteness and imageability. It thus creates a novel quantitative methodology and applies this to the examination of diachronic changes in the Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society (PTRS, 1665–1869). The data from two computational approaches can be well mapped to support the argument that this journal followed the evolutionary trend of increasing professionalization and specialization. But it also shows that language use in this journal was greatly influenced by historical events and other socio-cultural factors. This study, as a “culturomic” approach, demonstrates that the linguistic evolutionary patterns in scientific discourse have been interrupted by external factors even though this scientific discourse would likely have cumulatively developed into a professional and specialized genre. The approaches proposed by this study can make a great contribution to full-text analysis in scientometrics.

How does scientific progress affect cultural changes? A digital text analysis

A Bibliometric Analysis of Experimental Philosophy of Language

First Steps in Shaping the History of Linguistics in Italy: The Archivio Glottologico Italiano

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

Discerning the patterns of cultural evolution is obviously crucial to gaining a better understanding of both human nature and how the world has formed and changed (Shennan 2009 ). The evolution of specific cultural phenomena can be investigated quantitatively with the development of computational technology and by drawing on the increasing amount of digitalized materials (Carr et al. 2017 ; Hutchison et al. 2018 ). These studies have helped to establish a quantitative science of cultural change and have also provided insights into the evolutionary patterns in human culture.

Science, which is an essential part of human culture and one of the most important factors in the making of modern society (Morris et al. 2013 ; Marks 1986 ), has undergone drastic changes in recent centuries (Jacob 1988 ; Kuhn 1970 ). Further, scientific publications are the most important means of recording and communicating developments in science (Lindsey 1978 ). In a manner parallel to the developmental route taken by science itself, scientific writings, after undergoing considerable changes in their structure and style over the course of centuries, have evolved into the current form (Biber and Gray 2016 ; Banks 2008 ; Atkinson 1998 ; Harmon 1989 ). A quantitative investigation of how scientific writings evolved is therefore enormously helpful in understanding the trends underlying the development of scientific culture.

Linguistic data contain an abundance of information on human activities and culture. It can be supposed that by quantitatively investigating the historical linguistic data, we can discern evolutionary patterns in human culture (Garg et al. 2018 ; Iliev et al. 2016 ; Michel et al. 2011 ). However, factors such as a lack of historical data or of significant historical events can hinder the discovery of the underlying patterns in human activities. Two crucial factors in finding significant evolutionary patterns in this domain are the availability of proper linguistic data and the mastery of effective computational methods. For instance, an important recent development is the use of linguistic changes in the available historical corpora as markers of social change (Hamilton et al. 2016b ; Hills and Adelman 2015 ; Iliev et al. 2016 ).

However, studies such as those based on the calculation of frequency using diversified and heterogeneous texts in Google books (Michel et al. 2011 ) only show in a rough and noncontinuous fashion the impact of society on language use instead of discerning a consistent evolutionary pattern in a specific field. The evolutionary patterns in a specific human culture cannot be explored either segmentally through historical materials or by exhibiting simple correlations between linguistic changes and some historical changes. Instead, such patterns would ideally be specific, insightful and consistent, like those patterns found in biological evolution (Gould 2002 ; Shennan 2009 ). One of the most convenient and credible ways that are available currently for detecting the evolutionary patterns in scientific writings is the examination of diachronic linguistic changes. A fundamental supposition of this study is that it is essential to choose appropriate historical text materials (corpus) spanning historic periods in order to investigate specific and precise evolutionary patterns in a specific field. Consistent records of scientific development should provide the solid linguistic data for tracing the patterns of scientific development and the evolution of scientific culture.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (PTRS), which dates from 1665, is the world’s first science journal. This journal has undergone considerable changes due to many different factors, such as changes in editors, in the topics of scientific studies, and in reviewing policies. However, notwithstanding these factors, the consistent publications of this journal make it possible to trace by using the methods of linguistics, how science has developed in the past three hundred years. The formation of modern science occurred prior to the 20th century. The industrial revolution and the second industrial revolution also occurred in this period and were themselves influenced by developments in modern science. The period from the mid-17th century to the 19th century was clearly of great significance to human society. For these reasons, we selected the linguistic data from the PTRS for an investigation of evolutionary patterns in the diachronic development of scientific discourse.

It is acknowledged that, with the development in society and culture, the evolution of science exhibits a general tendency towards increasing professionalization and specialization (Casadevall and Fang 2014 ). This trend suggests that scientific writings, which record scientific achievements and communications, should also become increasingly professional and specialized (Houghton 1975 ; Ure 1982 ). Furthermore, according to a widely held belief, scientific discourse became more abstract, professional and specialized (Mack 2015 ; Gross et al. 2002 ; Martin and Veel 2005 ), differentiating itself from other genres. In past studies, the linguistic evolution of scientific discourse was mostly based on observation. However, some quantitative research on the linguistic evolution of scientific discourse was only based on the simple calculation of frequency of lexical and syntactic phenomena. Although frequency is very important and useful in quantitative research, it is just the sum of all the reasons why a word would occur often in a corpus. With the development of computational approaches, we have more methods such as that of word embeddings that actually implicitly measure aspects of meaning. The other problem with the aforementioned quantitative research is that it collected diversified and heterogeneous texts from many different scientific disciplines and sources (reports, journal articles, books, leaflets etc.).

The language in these texts was too wide-ranging as well as being influenced by numerous multifaceted, unknown and uncontrolled factors. All this increases the difficulty of quantitative research, diversifies the data and reduces its reliability. It is for this reason that consistent publications that are similar in form and that strive for the same long-term goal are easier to work, more amenable to quantitative research and the data therein is more reliable. Previous studies of historical records have focused on language use as indicative of larger shifts in style, grammar and usage. However, by focusing on a single journal that was published consistently, we can observe the interplay between the individual and the historical environment. More importantly, in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, scientific writings in journals might not have been as important as academic books or reports. However, journal papers are likely to play a crucial role in science communication at present. For this reason, it is interesting and worthwhile to see how the language style of writings in journals looked in earlier times and to see what changes such journal writings underwent. The PTRS furnishes perhaps the best material for investigating these issues. This is why it is the focus of our interest. Moreover, this field (diachronic study) has seldom been explored.

Scientific writings are an objective enterprise and their style is designed to a large degree to focus readers’ minds on the scientific topics under consideration. Our specific concerns in the following are whether the evolution of language in the PTRS followed the general evolutionary trend of scientific discourse (towards professionalization and specialization) or whether it changed over time under the influence of events in the history of science and what external factors influenced the evolution of scientific writings. Our hypothesis is that this journal followed the evolutionary trend of becoming increasingly professionalized and specialized, as well as being influenced by external factors. Specifically, the hypothesis predicts that this evolutionary trend or route ought to be relatively linear. However, the straight evolutionary line could have slight fluctuations caused by socio-cultural factors. Previous studies of early scientific journals and the PTRS demonstrate that the following factors might influence the development of a scientific journal. For instance, the academic society exerted a great influence on the quality and the goals of this journal (Atkinson 1998 ). More importantly, the professionalization of science as a career and of scientists forced scientific discourse to become professional and specialized in its language and structure through various strategies such as peer-reviewing (Dawson et al. 2020 ; Spier 2002 ). We propose a specific hypothesis concerning the influence of external factors that include the following elements: editors, sponsor, reviewing policy and science community. We hold that these external factors might have exerted a great influence on changes of language and style in scientific writings.

Additionally, the increasing availability of full text from scientific articles in machine readable electronic formats is an opportunity to greatly impact scientometrics. Glenisson et al. ( 2005 ) first combined full-text analysis and traditional bibliometric methods. Scientific writings by authors with different cultural background have different linguistic characteristics. Recent studies (e.g. Lu et al. 2019a , b ; Chen et al. 2020 ) have shown that these different linguistic characteristics are also related to the characteristics of highly cited articles (i.e., impact) (e.g. Elgendi 2019 ). However, full-text analysis has seldom been used to make diachronic studies. These studies focusing on how linguistic complexity varies with the changes of scientific impacts share with the similar purpose of our study, that is, our study wants to know how language styles changed with authors who are clustered by different decades.

In order to understand these concerns and evaluate our hypothesis, we will adopt a new methodology to quantitatively investigate how language in this journal evolved over the period in question. Recently the following methods from computational linguistics have been extensively used in detecting language changes and other phenomena: relative entropy from information theory; linguistic concreteness and imageability based on word embeddings (Murdock et al. 2017 ; Garg et al. 2018 ; Snefjella et al. 2019 ). After relative entropy and word-embedding concreteness/imageability are merged into a new paradigm, the paradigm is able to detect linguistic changes comprehensively. This study will merge the two highly efficient computational methods (relative entropy and concreteness/imageability based on word embeddings) for cross-verification, thus creating a novel methodology for examining evolutionary patterns in the language of the PTRS. Our approach will potentially provide a new quantitative method in full-text analysis. The current study will address the following three questions:

Did language in the PTRS evolve towards an increasing professionalization and specialization in the authors who are grouped together by decades?

To what extent did language in the PTRS change over time under the influence of external socio-cultural factors?

How much can relative entropy and linguistic concreteness contribute to quantitative methods in full-text analysis?

As mentioned above, the evolutionary trend in scientific writings is towards professionalization and specialization (Houghton 1975 ; Ure 1982 ). Specialization means that the stylistic development of scientific writings moves towards a specialized genre because of the need for differentiation from other genres, as well as being partly due to the inauguration of different disciplines. Further, professionalization indicates that scientific writings, as means of presenting and communicating science should become more efficient. The detection of linguistic changes is a reliable method for gaining insight into the trend of professionalization and specialization, as discussed in Introduction. In order to detect these changes, we need to choose the appropriate linguistic measures.

In earlier stages of linguistic investigation, frequency was an important measure for observing the evolution of language. For instance, Biber and Gray ( 2016 ) analyze historical changes in the grammatical complexity of academic writing by comparing their changes of frequencies. Their finding is that academic writings are often surprisingly imprecise, which was due to the loss of meaning that came with the use of compressed rather than elaborated formulations. Banks ( 2008 ) also adopts a similar frequency-based quantitative method to investigate the linguistic changes in the PTRS (1700–1980). One of his findings is that nominalization has been continuously increasing in the PTRS (1700–1980). Nominalization refers to the use of a word which is not a noun as a noun or as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation. However, frequency does not consider the context. In order to reduce the limit of frequency, many studies attempted to use a diversity of methods to explore historically linguistic changes. For instance, n - gram can be used to calculate the bi-/tri-/four-gram transitional probability, which considers the larger context. Moreover, the word vector method can represent word meanings from a different perspective. That means that the relation between words can be measured by comparing their vectors. However, there are also other measures for investigating historical linguistic changes.

Measures in the information theory, such as relative entropy, can be used to evaluate diachronic changes in language and to detect cognitive evolution (Sherwin 2018 ). The use of relative entropy as a measure of changes in the probability distribution over linguistic features has proven effective in many studies (Murdock et al. 2017 ; Klingenstein et al. 2014 ; Barron et al. 2018 ). The other popular method for detecting linguistic changes often seeks association between neighboring words. For instance, comparisons between seed words and their word’s immediate neighborhood (such as the lists of k nearest neighbors) can detect slight cultural shifts in word meaning (Kutuzov et al. 2018 ; Hamilton et al. 2016b ). However, it is hard to ascertain which words are crucial in sciences that have a variety of greatly differing subfields. When sciences changed historically, it is much harder to confirm the crucial words. Further, word association or semantic similarity cannot be directly used to detect diachronic changes. A simple and efficient method for detecting semantic changes of words is linguistic concreteness. This method has already proved to be effective (Hills and Adelman 2015 ; Snefjella et al. 2019 ). On this approach, concreteness based on word embeddings provides a good measure for giving scores across different periods. Another measure, imageability, which is closely correlated with concreteness, is used in order to test the validity of linguistic concreteness. Word embeddings can be used for wide exploration; but they do not contain information on the probability of one word over different periods. Fortunately, relative entropy compensates for the weakness in word embeddings.

Relative entropy

In information theory, entropy (Shannon 1948 ) quantifies the amount of uncertainty involved in the value of a random variable or the outcome of a random process. “Relative entropy” or Kullback–Leibler divergence (KLD, also called “Bayesian surprise” or cognitive surprise) (Kullback and Leibler 1951 ), is derived from entropy. It refers to the number of additional “bits” needed when a non-optimal encoding is used. Relative entropy is actually the expected discrimination information and it is used to measure the loss and gain of information. That is why it can measure diachronic changes in language. Formally, given two probability distributions p ( x ) and q ( x ) over a discrete random variable X , the relative entropy given by D ( p || q ) is defined as follows:

D ( p || q ) (KLD) can also be understood as a measure of the information gained by revising one’s beliefs from the prior probability distribution q to the posterior probability distribution p . KLD is therefore taken to measure cognitive surprise. When we talk about distribution information discrimination, KLD is closely associated with loss/gain of information. However, when we emphasize language users or readers cognitive experience, we speak of cognitive surprise (or Bayesian surprise). Here p typically represents the “true” distribution of data or observations, while p typically represents an ideal data or theoretic data. The order of p and q in ( 1 ) cannot be reversed. Note that KLD is applied over the same underlying set of events.

A recent strand of data-driven approaches in the analysis of diachronic change applies KLD measures. For instance, Murdock et al. ( 2017 ) applied KLD to find that there is a correlation between the major intellectual periods in Darwin’s career as identified both by scholarship and his own self-commentary in his reading notes. Barron et al. ( 2018 ), using KLD between sequential speeches, found the contours of a new rhetorical space in the French Revolution. KLD was used to analyze the linguistic development of scientific writing (the PTRS) over time in order to discern change specific to scientific writings (Degaetano-Ortlieb and Teich 2018 ).

We can use the KLD method of a sliding window (e.g. 10 years) to detect changes in units of language. Specifically, KLD is used to compare preceding (pre period) and subsequent (post period) years in the sliding window. We can obtain Eq. ( 2 ) based on Eq. ( 1 ):

Diachronic word concreteness

Words can roughly be classified into two groups: concrete and abstract. Concrete words usually denote relatively concrete entities, events, or actions. In contrast, abstract words denote feelings, ideas, social concepts, and introspective states. Generally, concreteness evaluates the degree to which the concept denoted by a word refers to a perceptible entity. Numerous studies have tried to examine the effect of concreteness and abstractness on psycholinguistics and cognitive studies, including cognitive processing, effects in working memory, storage and retrieval (Brysbaert et al. 2014 ; Hill et al. 2014 ). Concreteness and abstractness have been successfully used to detect linguistic diachronic changes (Hills and Adelman 2015 ; Snefjella et al. 2019 ). Changes of concreteness definitely reflect a tendency towards using abstract, difficult diction and terms in scientific writings. Such changes, or the lack therefore, can also show whether articles in the PTRS became more professional and specialized or not. Furthermore, although concreteness is the main measure, another dimension, that of imageability , will be measured so as to allow comparisons and so to test the validity of concreteness. Imageability represents the degree of effort involved in generating a mental image of something (imageable, unimageable). The core textual items are likely to be made up of highly imageable words. Although imageability is strongly correlated with concreteness (Paivio et al. 1968 ), the two have seldom been used to capture distinct semantic aspects of a word (Scott et al. 2019 ). In a similar vein, changes of imageability also reflect a tendency towards abstraction in scientific discourse. When the degree of imageability is lower, this means that more difficult and less imageable words are used. The changes of both concreteness and imageability can show whether the PTRS became increasingly professional and specialized or not.

Quantitative use relies on the concreteness and imageability norms. The recent collection of large-scale concreteness norms has been provided by online participants who ranked concreteness (Brysbaert et al. 2014 ). For instance, concreteness ratings in the database of Brysbaert et al. ( 2014 ) were obtained from over 4000 participants by means of collecting subjective norms and it also used the Amazon Mechanical Turk for data collection, all of whom self-identified as native speakers of American English residing in the U.S. Each participant was given one or more lists of words and was asked to rate each word using a 5-point rating scale going from most abstract to most concrete. The database collection of imageability (Scott et al. 2019 ) was done online via an in-house experimental platform by 100 native English speakers from the University of Glasgow.

However, the method for assessing the concreteness of an individual word is fairly distinct from the method for measuring the degree of concreteness of a corpus (text/document). To date, there have been the three main methods used to assess concreteness degree of a corpus (text/document). The first method involves searching for the words (lemmatized tokens) in a corpus and then retrieving the rating norms for these words in the concreteness database and finally calculating the mean of all rating norms of these words in this corpus. The second method proposed by Hills and Adelman ( 2015 ) estimates the concreteness of a word according to the word’s concreteness rating as weighted by the word’s frequency of occurrence in a corpus. The third method by Hamilton et al. ( 2016a ) and Snefjella et al. ( 2019 ) is to measure the semantic similarity between “seed words” and all words in this corpus in order to calculate the concreteness degree of each word in a corpus. The following compares these three methods.

Using the first method, the Coh-Metrix tool (Graesser et al. 2004 ) was created to calculate the degree of word concreteness (and the other word properties) for the content words in a corpus. Another tool for Automatic Analysis of Lexical Sophistication (TAALES) (Kyle et al. 2018 ) was used to compute lexical features related to word concreteness and it employed a similar method to Coh-Metrix. However, this approach is potentially problematic with regard to this mean because the degree of concreteness for a corpus is not equal to the mean of the summation of the scores of all (unique) content words in this corpus. The first possible deficiency concerns the frequency with which a word is considered in this method. The description of word frequency cannot be found in the relevant literature on the two tools, which strongly suggests that word frequency was not considered in this method. Secondly, even if all the content words were included, the final score is still potentially problematic. This be because the status of the remaining words in this corpus is unknown. The degree of given concreteness in a corpus must consider all the words in this corpus, including function words. For example, Brysbaert et al. ( 2014 ) provided the database of concreteness norms for function words such as numbers, pronouns, determiners, propositions and the other types of function words. Overall, this method is hardly capable of precisely measuring the concreteness of a corpus.

The second method by Hills and Adelman ( 2015 ) assessed the linguistic concreteness of historical changes in a corpus according to a word’s concreteness ratings as weighted by the word’s frequency of occurrence in this corpus. The method is potentially better than the first method for summing up the concreteness scores of words in a corpus. The reason for this is that the method in Hills and Adelman ( 2015 ) solved the problem of neglecting words that occur twice or more. However, if there had been an abrupt change in the meanings of many words or a periodic fluctuation in meanings of many words over time, this method would not have been able to account for this. In this sense, the second method is a “static” approach to evaluating historical changes.

Before reviewing the third method, we need to introduce one crucial concept. The meanings of words can be represented using vectors, as part of a high-dimensional “semantic space”, and these vectors are called “word embeddings”. i.e. word embeddings are numbers which are converted from texts (or corpus). Word embeddings can represent co-occurrences of words in a corpus, and each vector represents the typical context for one word. The currently popular algorithm is the word2vec (Mikolov et al. 2013 ). This is a program that is especially predictive with regard to learning word embeddings from raw text. In this sense, word embeddings contain the semantic information on word meanings, word frequency, word meaning and context etc. In addition to this, word embeddings have been widely applied in natural language processing, cognitive sciences and language studies (ref. Bakarov 2018 ). Word embeddings are also widely used to explore diachronic changes in language and culture (Hamilton et al. 2016b ; Garg et al. 2018 ). However, these studies are based on word association or semantic similarity. A key problem in the current context that must be taken into consideration is that of ascertaining which words are crucial in sciences that have a variety of subfields. Clearly, it is very hard to ascertain the crucial words when we, as in this study, are exploring in a variety of disciplines spanning two centuries. Instead of using word association, an examination of the change of word concreteness is a simple and reliable way of detecting linguistic changes.

The advantage of word embeddings has fostered the third method for calculating word concreteness. Hamilton et al. ( 2016a ) proposed a new method for quantifying language changes based on the notion of word embeddings. Snefjella et al. ( 2019 ) borrowed the algorithms of Hamilton et al. ( 2016a , b ) to measure the diachronic changes of linguistic concreteness. If the method of Hills and Adelman ( 2015 ) is “static”, the method of Hamilton et al. ( 2016b ) is “dynamic”. The “dynamic” method of Snefjella et al. ( 2019 ) is potentially better than the “static” one. The current study explores the possibility of extending this dynamic method to the assessment of diachronic concreteness and imageability among historical sub-corpora of the PTRS.

The relation between the two methods

As mentioned above, either relative entropy or concreteness/imageability has frequently been used to detect language changes and to discern the evolutionary pattern in language changes. The current study will merge these two types of methods because of their unique strengths in detecting language changes. This will allow us to discern whether or not language in the PTRS evolved towards an increasing professionalization and specialization. The second reason for the merger is that the two methods can cross-verify with each other, thus increasing the validity and reliability of the results.

In addition to the advantages of the convergence of the different measures, there is another substantial benefit that arises from the merging of the two methods, i.e., the two methods can be merged because these methods complement each other. According to Saussure’s system, word function is dependent on a large degree on knowledge of both the syntagmatic and paradigmatic structure of language (De Saussure 2011 ). A syntagmatic relation is a type of semantic relation between words that co-occur in the same sentence or text. A paradigmatic relation is a different type of semantic relation between such words that can be substituted with another word in the same category. Syntagmatic relations allow probabilistic predictions. KLD gives the actually expected discrimination information and this is used to measure the loss and gain of information for the same set of linguistic units. The information discrimination (KLD) for a set of linguistic units over two periods is really helpful in discerning whether language has evolved towards a high degree of difficulty for language users or not. In this sense, the KLD approach can calculate the difference of the information distribution concerning one linguistic unit over two periods, which can measure language knowledge from the perspectives of both language communication and syntagmatic relation. By contrast, the paradigmatic structure captures semantic similarity. Word embeddings can be applied to measure word semantics which latter is essentially a kind of paradigmatic relation. The measure of concreteness/imageability based on word embeddings take advantage of semantic similarity (paradigmatic relation) is capable of incorporating the word semantics on the paradigmatic level from the perspectives of semantics and paradigmatic relation.

Moreover, as mentioned above, relative entropy is capable of measuring whether or not language has become more difficult for language users to process from the perspective of cognitive surprise. And as we know, diachronic concreteness/imageability is also able to estimate whether language has evolved towards a higher degree of difficulty/abstraction or not. This means that the two methods can be merged to detect whether the language has become more difficult and abstract or not. This is also the fourth reason that the two computational methods were merged to form a new paradigm.

When the two methods are applied to conceptually distinct relations that involve different dimensions of linguistic structure, an integrated approach allows the exploration of diachronic linguistic changes in PTRS in a comprehensive manner. The diachronic trend in scientific discourse can be represented in linguistic data and therefore can be detected through measuring the changes of relative entropy and linguistic concreteness/imageability. After relative entropy and word-embedding concreteness/imageability are merged into a new paradigm, the paradigm is able to detect linguistic changes comprehensively. In this sense, this study will create a novel methodology for examining evolutionary patterns of language.

Full-text analysis in scientometrics

The increasing availability of full text from scientific articles provides more methods in scientometrics. For instance, Glenisson et al. ( 2005 ) first combined full-text analysis and traditional bibliometric methods. In-text citations and entity metrics are typical examples of full-text analysis in scientometrics (Ding et al. 2013 ). However, it will be effective to analyze the other metrics analyzing full-texts. Full text contains additional information that has not been available in bibliographic data. Full text also contains a relatively high level of detail about motivation, methods, data, instruments, results, and conclusions that authors typically report when documenting and submitting their work for publication (Boyack et al. 2013 ).

Full-text analysis in scientometrics mainly focused on in-text citations, such as reference position (e.g. Boyack et al. 2018 ), citation contexts or sentiments (e.g. Liu and Chen 2013 ; Ding et al. 2014 ; Lu et al. 2017 ), entity metrics (e.g. Ding et al. 2013 ; Mckeown et al. 2016 ), etc. Recently, linguistic complexity of scientific writing styles and scientific impacts (e.g. Lu et al. 2019a , b ; Chen et al. 2020 ) have been studied to connect with characteristics of a highly cited article (e.g. Elgendi 2019 ) and author cultural background (Lu et al. 2019a , b ).

However, full-text analysis has seldom been used to explore in changes in linguistic phenomena over time (i.e., diachronic analysis), that is, most full-text studies focused on synchronic studies. These studies on full-text analysis focused on how linguistic complexity varies with the changes of scientific impacts or authors cultural background. As a matter of fact, the present study has some similarity with these studies of linguistic complexity to some degree. As a matter of fact, our study uses similar criteria for classifying authors. The present study seeks to find out how language styles changed with authors who are grouped together in terms of decades. How language styles of scientific writings in journals changed in authors who are clustered by different decades. This will be quite useful in better understanding how the scientific literature evolved. Further, the scientific writings in the PTRS (1665–1869) did not use in-text citations and did not include the modern style abstracts and keywords. In this case, there have been no databases on bibliometric factors regarding the PTRS. Without the databases containing bibliometric factors on the PTRS, the traditional scientometrics methods seem to be difficult to implement in the present study. Despite this, seeking to understand how writing style evolved in scientific journals is consistent with a broadly-defined scientometrics approach which concerns itself with measuring and analyzing scientific literature.

Materials and methods

The PTRS (1665–1869) can be taken as representative of scientific journals in 17th, 18th and even early 19th centuries. Moreover, there were few scientific journals before 1800s. Journals play a uniquely important role in the history of science communication, so for this reason alone they are worthy of research. It is interesting and worthwhile to see how the writing in journals looked in earlier times and to see what changes such journal writings underwent. Consistent records of scientific development should provide solid linguistic data for tracing the patterns of scientific development and the evolution of scientific culture. The PTRS furnishes perhaps the best material for investigating these issues.

This study made use of The Royal Society Corpus (RSC) which collected all papers published in the PTRS from 1665 to 1869. The RSC materials are in a well-formed XML format (cf. vrt-format) including meta-data (e.g. author(s), text type, year of publication, text ID, and title, etc.) and ultimately form a corpus with 35 million tokens (cf. Kermes et al. 2016 ). The corpus is tokenized and linguistically annotated for lemma and part-of-speech (POS) using TreeTagger (Schmid 1999 ). In the vrt-format (vertical text format) annotations on the token level (positional attributes, e.g. word, pos, lemma) are represented one-word-per-line with TAB delineated columns for each positional attribute. Annotations beyond the token level (structural attributes, e.g. texts, sentences, pages) are represented as SGML-tags with possible attribute-value pairs. Metadata are encoded as attributes of the < text >- element . (More information on the annotation of the corpus is available at https://fedora.clarin-d.uni-saarland.de/rsc/annotation.html .)

The following discusses why the PTRS published before 1880s was chosen. In 1887, the PTRS split into series “A” and “B”, dealing with the physical and biological sciences respectively, afterwards into still further series again. From 1893, the Proceedings, another journal which is similar to the PTRS, began to include full research papers in its own right. The Proceedings split in two in 1905. Notes and records was established in 1938. The Royal Society later launched even more journals. The PTRS was divided into several sections and each section began to become more specialized. However, these series replaced the treatment of specific issues in the early PTRS. After the 1880s, the PTRS became very complicated. In short, it was no longer a single comprehensive journal. The PTRS published before 1880s is different from its succeeding series. This indicates that after 1880s the PTRS should not be treated as being the same journal that was published under this name prior to the 1880s.

The RSC contains all documents from this journal (1665–1869)l. These consist of four types of articles. But because book reviews, obituaries and abstracts are not real research papers, the present study only uses the full-length articles as its material. The total number of full-length papers is 7283, and the number of tokens per paper is 3223. After downloading RSC, we processed the corpus carefully and only extracted the texts of full-length articles. In terms of the tag of “decade of publication” in the RSC, we divided the whole corpus into twenty-one sections according to each decade. Twenty-one sub-corpora were therefore obtained. The following example illustrates the division. The article published in the year of 1810 was annotated as belonging to the decade “1810”. Another article published in the year 1815 was also annotated as belonging to the decade “1810”. That means that full-length articles published between 1810 and 1819 are included in the decade “1810”. The two articles are therefore classified into the sub-corpus of “1810s”. This classification also suggests that the corpus is split with authors who are grouped by different decades. The following table is the basic information on the PTRS that was processed in this study. In Table 1 , “tokens” means all words, while “types” refers to the lemma. For example, “ran”, “run”, “running” are treated as one lemma (type), but they are three different tokens. “Embeddings” refers to words that have vectors processed by FastText which will be discussed below. The four items in Table 1 shows an increase in historical frequency.

Although both methods were implemented in these twenty-two sub-corpora, each method is used independently. We need to extract some “linguistic units” from each sub-corpora with respect to “relative entropy”. In contrast, concreteness/imageability requires transforming each sub-corpus (texts) into word embeddings so as to compute the semantic similarity between each word and the “seed word”. The road map for this study is shown in Fig. 1 .

Road map for this study

Relative entropy: lemma and POS trigram

As we know, KLD is used to compare preceding (pre period) and subsequent (post period) years in the sliding window. As shown in Eq. ( 2 ), there are three components: unit, post and pre . “Post” and “pre” represent the preceding and subsequent periods respectively, whereas “unit” here refers to linguistic units. In order to compute relative entropy, we have to specify the periods and linguistic units.

Here “pre” might have two cases: only some of the previous years (e.g. a decade); the average of all previous years. “Post” can be understood in the same way. We use the KLD method of 10 years to detect changes in units of language. A decade unit was chosen because scientific progress and the corresponding linguistic changes can be clearly seen over the period of a decade. Further the journal had existed for two hundred years prior to 1869, which divides into twenty-two decade units. For instance, if “1800s” is a “pre” period, “1810s” is a “post” period.

Relative entropy (KLD) in Eq. ( 2 ) measures the average amount of additional bits per linguistic unit needed to encode the same linguistic unit distributed according to “post” by using an encoding optimized for “pre”. Applied to the comparison of sub-corpora of PTRS, KLD serves as a strong indication of the degree of difference between two sub-corpora (representing two different periods) measured in bits as well as the linguistic units that are primarily associated with a difference, That is to say, the difference of KLD indicates that linguistic units need high amounts of additional bits for encoding. After sliding over the time line of the PTRS comparing adjacent time periods (one decade) we can find KLD as indicators of change.

“Linguistic units”

The other concern here is that of the options of the “linguistic unit”. When we speak of a linguistic unit in this study, the term here is confined to “lemma” and “POS trigram” for their typicality. The “lemma” (i.e. uni-gram form) refers to the canonical form, or dictionary form of a set of words. For instance, “take” is the lemma of “takes”, “taking”, “took” and “taken”. On the other hand, the POS trigram here refers to a bundle consisting of three words marked by parts of speech. e.g. “the quantity of” is a trigram and the trigram’s POS (part of speech) is Determiner-NOUN-Preposition (abbreviated as “DT-NN-IN”). Footnote 1 According to Jurafsky and Martin ( 2008 : 24), it is more common in practice to use trigram models in the field of natural language processing, because a trigram model depends on the previous two words rather than the previous word. Additionally, according to Biber et al. ( 1999 : 994–995), 3-word lexical bundles have a much higher frequency than 4-word or 5-word lexical bundle. Although the scope of lexical bundles is smaller than n -gram, its frequency can still reflect users’ preferences. Because of these, we use the trigram POS to present grammar and detect its changes. We wish to obtain those specific lemmas or POS trigrams that make the largest contribution in pre period. This allows us to differentiate the post period.

In order to work efficiently with relative entropy, a frequency difference between “pre” (a decade) and “post” (a subsequent decade) periods and p value in Welch’s t test are used to select the lemmas or the POS trigrams that are involved in change. It is noted that all frequencies are standard ones, based on one million words. The frequency of POS trigrams is not as great as that of lemmas. Accordingly, we employ two different procedures so as to make them work efficiently.

With respect to lemmas, all strings containing digits or symbols were removed in order to preserve pure texts for each decade. After 119 common stopwords Footnote 2 were removed from lemmas in each sub-corpus, the lemmas were filtered again by choosing these lemmas with a length greater than 2. Afterwards, lemma candidates were filtered again through the Welch’s t test to determine significant differences between the relative frequencies of these units in a preceding decade and its subsequent decade ( p value < 0.01). After the selection, each pair of consecutive decades has the same vocabulary for calculating the KLD.

With regard to the POS trigram, after obtaining all forms of POS trigram, we deleted those strings containing digits, punctuation and special marks (e.g. the mark of sentence ending, SENT, SYM). The most frequent and common POS trigram patterns were identified over the course of twenty-two decades and 87 POS trigram patterns were treated as “stopwords”. Footnote 3 After these stopword-style POS trigrams were removed, we made use of the two measures for selecting those POS trigrams that help to calculate the KLD between one decade: the frequency difference and Welch’s t test result ( p value < 0.01). Similar to the lemma, after the selection, each pair of consecutive decades has the same repository of the POS trigram for calculating KLD.

As mentioned in “ Background ” section, KLD can be used to measure cognitive surprise (or Bayesian surprise). Specifically, KLD can quantify cognitive surprise through detecting distinctions in information between two periods (Murdock et al. 2017 ; Sayood 2018 ; Itti and Baldi 2009 ) and a high KLD indicates linguistic novelty in comparison with the past. KLD is also associated with a change in the reader’s reactions when encountering the unexpected. It is therefore used to examine the evolution of cognitive surprise in the PTRS. In addition to giving an account of the discrimination of information distribution, “pre” and “post” in the equation above can be understood as cognitive surprise. That means the “pre” is the distribution of linguistic phenomena that readers have encountered before and “post” is the new distribution that readers will encounter. Footnote 4 When KLD tends to become larger over time, it suggests that language users find it more difficult to process these language units over this period.

Dynamic approach to concreteness/imageability

We have reviewed the strengths of the “dynamic” approach. We will use this method to compute the degree of concreteness/imageability in the twenty-two sub-corpora of the PTRS. This following will describe how this method is implemented in detail. It will accordingly explain how this method works in general and how “seed words” are selected.

Word embeddings

First, the preparation work consists in dividing a corpus into several small sub-corpora according to their historical time span and the transformation of each sub-corpus into a database of word embeddings by FastText (Bojanowski et al. 2017 ). The currently popular algorithm is the word2vec (Mikolov et al. 2013 ). This is a program that is especially predictive with regard to learning word embeddings from raw text. However, FastText considers morphological factors and it is suitable for small corpora. This study therefore makes use of FastText to obtain word embeddings that have 300 dimensions. The regular dimension number for word embeddings is usually 100 or 300. 100 dimensions might be a fit for small corpora. However, 300 dimensions might be more helpful for large-scale corpora. The database of word embeddings for this sub-corpus contains the vectors of all the words occurring in this corpus. The word embeddings of this sub-corpus actually contain the information on frequency of each word in this sub-corpus. We then selected a small set of seed words (the number of seed words can be reset according to the corpus size) by considering the factors which will be discussed below.

Implementing dynamic computation

The implementation of this dynamic method is briefly introduced in the following. First, as mentioned above, the FastText algorithm was used to derive word embeddings with 300 dimensions from the sub-corpus. Second, an essential component in this method is called the “Sentiment Propagation” (“ SentProp ”) (Hamilton et al. 2016a ), SentProp is used to produce two random walks over a graph of semantic similarities between each word in this sub-corpus (the database of word embeddings of this corpus) and the “seed words”. A weighted lexical graph was constructed. In this graph, the nodes are words and edges are constructed by connecting each word to its n nearest semantic neighbors as based on the cosine distance . Afterwards, the SentProp package randomly samples subsets of seed words for each sub-corpus and then it uses word embeddings to calculate the scores with sampled seed words. Fourth, after the graph has been built, the semantic similarities are transformed into probabilities. We therefore obtain a transition matrix. This matrix provides information on the probability of randomly moving from a word to one of its semantic neighbors [More details can be seen in Hamilton et al. ( 2016a )]. Two polarity scores are computed in each word and a random subset of seeds: abstraction ( a ) and concreteness ( c ). The final score is c /( c + a ). The final score is between 0 and 1. When the score of a word approaches 1, this means that the concreteness of this word is high and vice versa. We can obtain the mean concreteness score for each sub-corpus if the sum of the scores of all the words in each sub-corpus is divided by the number of words in this sub-corpus. The mean concreteness score is treated as the degree of concreteness. When the mean concreteness score approaches 0, this means that the concreteness degree is low and vice versa. The great advantage of the method is that it produces a concreteness value that reflects the usage within a specific corpus, i.e. the historical period of use or genre.

A simplified example is used to illustrate our method. Here n is set to 2 and the two nearest semantic neighbors of “sheep” are “dog” and “animal”. In the weighted lexical graph, “sheep” will be connected to “dog” and “animal” with an edge weighted by the semantic similarity between them. In the transition matrix, the probabilities of moving from “sheep” to “dog” and “animal” add up to 1, with a higher probability of moving to “dog” because of its stronger semantic connection with “sheep”. Now, supposing that two concrete (e.g., “crop” and “cow”) and two abstract (e.g., “thought” and “philosophy”) seed words are taken. We will not do any random sampling of the seed words here given the small number of seed words used but will perform 100 random walks on the transition matrix from each of the four seed words. One random walk starting from “crop” can be traced as follows: the first step takes us from “crop” to one of its two nearest neighbors (say “farm”), the second step from “farm” to one of its two nearest neighbors (say “animal”), and this procedure was repeated until a specified number of steps (e.g. 1500) have been taken. After the words traversed in the random walk are recorded the next walk is then performed. Among the 100 random walks, the probability of moving from any word to one of its two neighbors will be decided by the transition probabilities in the transition matrix. In general, a random walk from a concrete seed word tend to land on more concrete words than abstract words given that concrete words are more likely to have other concrete walks as their nearest neighbors. The opposite is true for a random walk from an abstract seed word. When 100 walks have been performed from all four seed words, the proportion of walks from the two concrete seed words and the two abstract words landing on “sheep” can be calculated as c (say 0.64) and a (say 0.15), respectively. The concreteness score of “sheep” can then be computed as c /( c + a ) = 0.64/(0.64 + 0.15) = 0.81. The concreteness score of the corpus is the average of the concreteness scores of all words in the corpus.

Word embeddings can represent co-occurrences of each word with other words in a corpus such that each vector describes the typical context of one word. Compared to the first two methods mentioned above, this method which uses word embeddings not only takes word frequency into account but, because of its semi-supervised nature, effectively eliminates the coverage problem by analyzing all words in the corpus, function words included. More importantly, the approach taken by the method is a dynamic one, in that the degree of concreteness of each word is allowed to vary across sub-corpora representing different time periods.

A number of “seed words” that should have a high frequency in each corpus represent the highest and lowest score of concreteness in the corpora that are to be compared here. We use the database of Brysbaert et al. ( 2014 ) (40,000 English word lemmas) to obtain the concreteness scores of “seed words” used in our method. The largest database of imageable subjective norms is the Glasgow database, which contains 5500 words (Scott et al. 2019 ). Similarly, we use this database of “imageability” to obtain the imageability scores for “seed words”. Our method of computing concreteness/imageability is a semi-supervised method: semi-supervised methods require only minimal human supervision (in the form of seed words). In the following, we will discuss how to choose “seed words”.

“Seed words”

Snefjella et al. ( 2019 ) took fifteen concrete and abstract words as “seed words”. They chose seed words that (i) occurred with high frequency in each decade between 1850 and 2000 and were associated with (ii) extreme concrete or abstract ratings. We also applied such criteria to choose seed words. We set up the word frequency (> 200 occurrences) in each decade between 1665 and 1869 and chose words with high concrete or abstract ratings. These “seed words” should be words used frequently in the different sub-corpora. Otherwise, they will cease to be representative of these sub-corpora. In addition to this, we have used the topic modeling (Blei et al. 2003 ; Hornik and Grün 2011 ) to train in this corpus in order to obtain “topics”. Topic modeling concerns the finding of essential words/terms in a collection of documents that best represents the collection. After that, we obtained a collection of 200 topics (words) which are essential in these scientific papers in this corpus. Moreover, we have considered other factors: (i) these seed words should be covered in a multiple of disciplines; (ii) the concrete “seed words” we have must be found in the collection of topics; otherwise, they will be removed; (iii) meanwhile, we also considered the fact that those words have undergone few changes in meaning. In this sense, these seed words are optimally selected and representative of concreteness, topics and terminologies in diversified disciplines.

The “seed words” should be the same in each sub-corpus that is to be investigated. That is to say, the “seed words” depend on the given number of sub-corpora examined. For example, the number of words shared by all word embeddings transformed by sub-corpora in PTRS is 2149. We then searched for the twenty words of the 980 with highest concreteness scores and for the twenty words with lowest concreteness scores according to the database of concreteness. Meanwhile, the frequency (> 10) and “topics” will be considered in order to remove these unqualified words. The process will continue until forty words with high and low concreteness scores are yielded. The “seed words” of imageability are selected using the same method.

Ultimately, these twenty concrete seed words are water, body, air, blood, fig, paper, ship, table, moon, foot, glass, tube, telescope, earth, salt, sea, eye, head, ship, paper, sun . The other group of twenty abstract words are: hope, enough, belong, extent, justice, manner, theory, value, probable, purpose, contrary, imagine, purpose, believe, certainty, suppose, moment, spirit, circumstances, analogy . The twenty imageable words in the imageability group are hand, dog, water, sheep, ear, mountain, horse, nose, coat, eye, table, sky, moon, plant, bird, grass, finger, snow, circle, yellow . The other group of twenty imageless words are instance, disposition, philosophy, notion, phenomenon, least, mind, opinion, language, fact, value, chance, process, moment, truth, necessity, origin, theory, advantage, hypothesis . We use two different sets of “seed words” derived from the two different databases for two measures in order to guarantee the validity of our method.

Diachronic changes of relative entropy

The first result concerns the changes of lemmas and POS trigrams in the PTRS and it refers to changes of relative entropy. A starting year (1710) and a sliding window (10 years) were selected for this. As the early years (1665–1700) and the final years (1850–1869) might manifest instability and non-typicality with respect to the history of this journal, these two periods were removed. At the lexical level, these candidates of lemma for comparison were selected from those lemmas that were filtered over time. At the grammatical level, those discriminative and significant POS trigrams ranked over time were selected for comparison. The result is shown in Fig. 2 .

KLD for POS trigram and lexicon. Lemmas fluctuate in a relatively wild fashion. The KLD of lemmas from 1710 to 1750 exhibited a downward tendency, relatively speaking. Afterwards it remained relatively stable with slight fluctuations between 1760 and 1790. However, after 1790, the KLD began to rise quickly. By contrast, the POS trigram underwent a dramatic drop in spite of some fluctuations

The right panel in Fig. 2 shows that lemmas fluctuate in a relatively wild fashion, which indicates that the journal had a period of lexical expansion and reduction. In contrast, the left panel in this figure demonstrates that POS trigram undergoes a dramatic drop, indicating that the POS trigrams had a period of consolidation. This tendency becomes clearer in the 19th century. This indicates that grammar might have changed less and became simpler in the PTRS. The evolution of grammatical simplification is quite apparent here. It is widely acknowledged that modern scientific writings were characterized by simple grammar (Gross et al. 2002 : 230; Mack 2015 ). Obviously, the change in the KLD of the POS trigrams accords with widespread expectation about the trend.

We have mentioned the general trends of becoming specialized and professional in scientific discourse. Generally speaking, scientific writings move towards a specialized genre in order to differentiate from other genres. For instance, the massive use of specialized technical terms can strengthen their specialization. Scientific writings need efficient means of presenting and communicating their findings. For instance, by simplifying grammar in order to aid easy understanding, as well as to partly compensate for the use of specialized terms, scientific discourse became professional. Additionally, scientific writings took their readership into consideration by presenting arguments based on objective analysis rather than merely reporting subjective observations. The following will analyze how our data supports this thesis of a trend towards specialization and professionalization. This evolutionary trend has also partly been confirmed by Degaetano-Ortlieb and Teich ( 2018 ). However, the trends of lexicon and POS trigram KLD in our study are partly different from Degaetano-Ortlieb and Teich ( 2018 ).

KLD-related measures of probability distributions are also related to the cognitive surprise that readers would experience over time. Cognitive surprise or reader novelty can be used to interpret these changes and these may be helpful in understanding these changes. The continuous decline of the KLD for POS trigrams shows that the degree to which POS trigrams elicit surprise has decreased during the period. In other words, because the POS trigrams have been consolidated and simplified during the period, readers gradually experienced less surprise in encountering them. This means that readers gradually found them easier to process. On the other hand, the KLD of the lexicon fluctuated wildly. From 1710 to 1750, this exhibited a downward tendency, relatively speaking. Afterwards, it remained relatively stable with slight fluctuations between 1760 and 1790. However, after 1790, the KLD began to rise quickly. In the first stage, readers would gradually feel less surprised in encountering the lexicon. The second stage is a little complicated, but in the third stage readers gradually felt surprised in encountering the lexicon. The main reason is that the changes of the KLD for lemmas might have been influenced by how many new words or terms were used or introduced. When fewer new terms were introduced, the KLD exhibited a downward trend, showing that readers did not feel surprised or find the terms difficult. Otherwise, the KLD rose, showing that readers felt surprised or found the terms difficult to process. The data on the changes in the lexicon KLD also demonstrates that specialized and technical terms were used on a large scale in late 19th century and the use of these technical terms reinforced the trend towards specialization in this journal. Footnote 5

Unlike grammar, a dramatic degree of lexical change occurred during the period between the end of 1700s and 1850. The change of the KLD in the lexicon is quite clear during the 19th century. This might indicate that the PTRS largely used specialized technical terms to increase its degree of specialization. The continuous decline of the KLD for POS trigrams, on the other hand, indicates that the PTRS became grammatically simpler, thus allowing for more efficient communication and also increasing its degree of professionalization. The changes in readers’ cognitive surprise also reflect the general evolutionary direction. The changes of entropy in the PTRS for POS trigram and lexicon support the thesis that the journal followed the evolutionary trend of gradual increasing professionalization and specialization in authors who are grouped by different decades.

However, the inconsistency between the POS trigram and lexicon might suggest that this tendency did not take place in a straightforward way but that external factors may well have also interfered with this process. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these issues, we now explore this phenomenon with reference to linguistic concreteness.

Diachronic changes of linguistic concreteness/imageability

First, we need to test the reliability and validity of our computed concreteness and imageability. Figure 3 Specifically, our unsupervised model’s concreteness scores correlate with Brysbaert et al. ( 2014 ) at rho = 0.62 and the imageability scores correlate with Scott et al. ( 2019 ) at rho = 0.56. The accuracy is similar to Snefjella et al. ( 2019 ) ( rho = 0.70, p < 0.001). Overall, the highly significant medium to large correlations (Cohen 1992 ) suggested a good level of validity to the scores computed by our dynamic method. This supports the claim of computed scores to reliability and validity.

The correlations between aggregated (1680–1860) computed concreteness/imageability scores and human ratings in concreteness/imageability

After using the method of concreteness and imageability, we plot Fig. 4 , which represents diachronic changes of linguistic concreteness and imageability respectively in the PTRS. In general, the curve of concreteness is basically consistent with the curve of imageability in each decade. This also proves that the method of using concreteness in detecting language changes is valid and reliable.

Linguistic concreteness/imageability of PTRS historically considered. The shape of curve of concreteness and the shape of imageability curve are basically similar. It indicates that the two types of data basically converge. The curves can be divided into four phases . The linguistic concreteness/imageability fluctuated stably from 1665 to 1710. The period from the mid-1710s to the mid-1750s saw a gradual increase in the concreteness/imageability, although both were constantly interrupted by fluctuations. The concreteness/imageability remained relatively stable until the beginning of the 19th century. The 19th century shows a drastic drop in concreteness/imageability

Figure 4 shows that the diachronic change of linguistic concreteness is not linear and it does not move towards abstraction in a straightforward way. The diachronic change of linguistic imageability is not linear either and it does not directly tend towards a decrease in imageability. Linguistic concreteness and imageability exhibits stable fluctuations from 1665 to 1710. The period from about the mid-1710s to the mid-1750s saw a gradual increase in concreteness and imageability although both were constantly interrupted by fluctuations. The two measures then remained relatively stable until the beginning of the 19th century. The following decades in the 19th century saw a drastic drop in concreteness. However, imageability had a slightly different status to concreteness during this period because imageability remained stable until 1820s. After the 1820s, it began to decrease rapidly. This is the only noticeable difference between the two curves of concreteness and imageability. However, both curves look similar, forming a parabola-like shape. Generally, the trend towards an increase or decrease in either concreteness or imageability in Fig. 4 would last for an extended period instead of forming a see-saw shape produced by a quick increase or decrease. These changes might have been influenced by external factors. These changes also show that scientists might have used more abstract words in journal writings in 18th century, but after 1800s scientists gradually tended to use more concrete words in journal writings. However, the other social-cultural factors could have influenced this trend. To gain further insight into the causes of these changes, we need to review the important events in the history of the PTRS to see if they are associated with these changes.

Historical events that may have interrupted the evolutionary pattern

Significant historical events in the ptrs.

This journal was launched by Henry Oldenburg, the first secretary of the Royal Society in 1665. The early journal relied on Oldenburg’s prodigious network of natural-philosophical contacts. After his death, editorial and financial responsibility for the journal was unofficially assumed by his Secretarial successors. After 1713, the journal began to be controlled by Newtonians who were mostly supported by Newton or who highly praised Newton’s theories.

The PTRS officially became a Royal Society publication after 1752 and it began to be edited by a committee. A number of highly diverse scientific societies were established on a continually basis after the end of 18 century, such as, the Linnean Society (1788), the Royal Institution (1800), the Horticultural Society (1804) and the Geological Society (1807) amongst others. These newly established specialist scientific societies and institutions began to organize meetings and they launched their own journals. The greater number of scientific journals broke the PTRS’s “monopoly” on scientific publications, forcing the PTRS to make great changes, such as expanding its scope and restating its goal. By the 1830s, the journal responded by introducing expert peer review . Later in 1886 PTRS split into an ‘A’ and ‘B’ series for increased specialization.

We can summarize the history of PTRS during the period from 1665 to 1869 by saying that the significant historical events included changes of editors, publication topics, reviewing policies, and becoming more scientifically professional. These changes will be represented in Fig. 5 . It can be assumed that these historical events had great impact on every aspect of this scientific journal, including its language. By comparing Fig. 4 and these events, we found that the changes of linguistic concreteness approximately match the important events in the history of PTRS.

Concreteness/imageability and historical events. The historical events had an impact on the changes of linguistic concreteness/imageability in the PTRS. These events divide the whole curve of concreteness into four phases, as shown in Fig. 4

The convergence of KLD and concreteness/imageability coinciding with historical events

By combining the plotted concreteness and the historical events in Fig. 5 , we can better see how historical events influenced language use in the PTRS. We also noticed that these historical events were interwoven with the broader socio-cultural environment, thus effecting and influencing language use in scientific discourse.

The specific analysis is contained in the following. After launching the PTRS in 1665, Oldenburg was responsible for editing each issue; after his death, with the exception of the immediate aftermath, which was the notably unstable transition period from 1677 to 1710, the journal remained in continuous publication. Correspondingly, from 1677 to 1710, linguistic concreteness fluctuated mildly, as did linguistic imageability.

In 1713, the editorship was controlled by Newtonians. The journal came out on a quarterly basis for most of this period. In 1718 the Society published a pamphlet that was mainly intended as an advertisement of its accomplishments. This short pamphlet showed which research topics were considered important in this period. This journal not only focused on the issues that Newtonians were interested in, but expanded the number of topics they regarded as significant. These new topics mostly concerned accurate accounts of all uncommon appearances in natural phenomena, new discoveries in natural history as well as new experiments. The papers concerning novelties and innovations were usually constituted by plain descriptions rather than highly technical writings (more details in Atkinson 1998 : 22–24). The selection of papers was also influenced by the changes of editors. The ideological shift in the journal contributed to linguistic shifts. Under the influence of editorial policy and the scientific environment, the scientific papers at this stage preferred plain language and a “descriptive” style. This could have brought about a relatively rapid increase in both concreteness and imageability during the period (1713–1753), but with some fluctuations. By contrast, from Fig. 2 , we found that the KLD of lemmas from 1710 to 1750 exhibited a relatively downward tendency. Due to the frequent use of common words, the KLD of lemmas declined quickly during the period.

The journal was controlled by the Committee of Papers of the Royal Society rather than the secretary after 1753. The committee mostly based its judgments about the publication and rejection of papers based on the short abstracts read during its weekly meetings. This policy made the choice of topics and style preferences relatively consistent and fair, in contrast to decisions made on the basis of the preferences of an individual (editor). The implementation of a review panel by the journal may have led to stability in concreteness during the period between 1760 and 1800, albeit with some fluctuations. The similar stability in imageability with fluctuations can also be seen over the same period. Unlike the previous stage, very few new findings were marked for publication, so the concreteness hardly increased and remained at a fairly stable level. Interestingly, the KLD of the lemma performed similarly to the concreteness/imageability. It remained relatively stable with some fluctuations between 1760 and 1790

The early journals published papers that can be called “descriptive”. A scientist would typically report that “First, I saw this, and then I saw that” or “First, I did this, and then I did that” (Gross et al. 2002 ). The articles often intended to establish the credibility of these eye-witness accounts. This descriptive style was appropriate to the kind of science that was then reported, as particularly shown in these papers reported in the PTRS under the editorship of the Newtonians (1713–1752). However, the language, style and structure of scientific writings changed massively in the 19th century.

At the start of the 19th century, other journals from other societies were created, competing with the PTRS. Other journals began to specialize in their own fields and the papers in these journals were fairly professional and scientific. In this situation, the PTRS had to adjust through series of strategic changes, including the use of the peer review. The policy of peer review was taken up in 1835 and the journal settled on a very clear goal: that of making the journal abstract. These strategies were quite effective. They made the journal more scientific, and thus, more competitive in the field of science journals. The other effect of these strategies was that of making the language in papers more professional and technical. The drop in linguistic concreteness, which conformed with the journal’s goal, was likely the result of these strategies. However, this effected imageability after 1820s, i.e. 20 years later than the changes in concreteness. The inconsistency between concreteness and imageability might be caused by the different “seed words” selected in our method.

It is commonly acknowledged that by the 19th century, science was beginning to move fast and in increasingly sophisticated ways and that the practice of science became more professionalized and institutionalized in a manner that continued throughout the 20th century. According to the study of Cahan ( 2003 ), during the 19th century, much of the modern scientific enterprise took shape: scientific disciplines were formed and institutions and communities were founded. Many of these organizations began to publish journals and proceedings. These journals started specializing in the different disciplines, as detailed above. The scientific writings became a presentation of an argument rather than a simple report or description. The professionalization and specialization of science forced scientific discourse to become professional and specialized in its language and structure, for example, using technical terms rather than plain words and having a structured argument. These changes had great impact on language in scientific writings. The data show that the following decades in the 19th century therefore exhibited a drastic drop in the concreteness and imageability in the PTRS. On the contrary, the KLD underwent a rapid rise during the period due to the frequent use of specialized and technical expressions. These changes are described quite well by Mack ( 2015 ).

Early on there was little technical vocabulary, and scientific literature could be read by any educated person. The growth of science led to specialization, which led to the invention of a specialized vocabulary. In the 18th and 19th centuries… the language of early science articles was full of complicated clauses and long sentences….Today, scientific language is characterized by simple sentence structures and simple verbs… full of technical terms only understood by similarly informed readers. (Mack 2015 )

As mentioned above, the rapid increase of the KLD in the lexicon during the 19th century reflects the dramatic change in lexical uses that occurred during the period between the end of 18th century and 1850. Meanwhile, linguistic concreteness underwent a rapid decline during the same period. Similarly, linguistic imageability also underwent a rapid decline over this period although it was stable in the initial 20 years of this period. The performance of the KLD of the lemma and concreteness shows that the PTRS largely used specialized technical terms in order to become increasely specialized. The continuous decline of KLD for POS trigrams, on the other hand, suggests that the PTRS simplified grammar to enable efficient communication, helping to realize its professionalization.

To sum up, when Figs. 2 and 5 were combined, it was clear that the two data groups were well mapped. The changes of KLD for the lexicon are almost inversely consistent to the changes of linguistic concreteness/imageability. The right panel of Fig. 2 (lexicon KLD) looks like a parabola(u-shaped). By contrast, Fig. 4 (concreteness/imageability) looks like an anti-parabola ( n -shaped). Basically, the shapes in two figures have two reversed orientations. This indicates that the data from two computational methods can be well mapped (converged) to support the argument that this journal followed the evolutionary trend of becoming more professionalized and specialized. But it also shows that the journal was greatly influenced by historical events associated with broader social-cultural changes. Although the POS trigram cannot represent all grammatical constructions, it is at least a fairly typical and largely grammatical structure. The KLD of POS trigrams had been decreasing during the period of the 18th and 19th centuries. This indicates that the grammar was becoming simpler. This accords the general expectation described by Mack ( 2015 ). We therefore think that the results analyzed here are very helpful in understanding how scientific culture was interwoven with human cognition and culture.

In the introductory section, we put forward the hypothesis that the evolutionary trend in science writings ought to be relatively linear and that slight fluctuations therein would be caused by socio-cultural factors. However, the real evolutionary route is not linear. This evolutionary route was interrupted by external factors far more than we had initially expected. This meant we had underestimated the role of external factors. This also shows that external socio-cultural factors exerted an immeasurable impact on the developmental process of scientific discourse. However, and in accordance with our initial hypothesis, the overall evolutionary trend is ultimately one in which the language in PTRS became increasingly abstract and less imageable, thus conforming to our initial hypothesis. That is the main finding of the present study.

Our findings are partly consistent with the previous studies. For instance, Banks ( 2008 ) used 30 research articles from the PTRS (1700–1980) to investigate their development. He found that the frequency of nominalization increased in the period in question. The frequent use of nominalization indicates that the word abstractness increased. However, the number of research articles was rather small and these thirty articles were not evenly distributed over the 280 year period. This makes it difficult for the study to detect the changes in nominalization in each decade. In addition to this, the PTRS was split into an ‘A’ and ‘B’ series in 1886 and afterwards into still further series again. This indicates that after 1880s the PTRS should not be treated as being the same as that which was published under this name prior to the 1880s. Biber and Gray ( 2016 ) investigated changes of linguistic styles in academic writing from the 18th century to the present. Biber and Gray ( 2016 ) also found an increase of frequency in nominalization and common nouns. The increase in nominalization and common nouns supports the thesis that scientific writings became ever more abstract. Meanwhile, Biber and Gray ( 2016 ) emphasize changes in phrases. They found that the following aspects of phrases increased in frequency: noun phrase pre-modifiers, specific phrase prepositions and phrasal devices modifying head nouns. They concluded that the grammatical style of academic research writing was characterized by a compression of structure (the compression of phrase structures). Their finding is consistent with our finding concerning the KLD of POS trigrams, namely that POS trigrams were consolidated and simplified during the period shown in the left panel of Fig. 2 . Our finding has also partly been confirmed by Degaetano-Ortlieb and Teich ( 2018 ). In addition, the trend of using more abstract terms in scientific writings seems to continue after 1870s. After analyzing abstracts published between 1881 and 2015 from 123 scientific journals, Plavén-Sigray et al. ( 2017 ) found there might have been a growing use of general scientific terms. This trend can be confirmed as occurring after the 1800s and as continuing after the 1900s.

Although the two types of methods represent different dimensions, both groups of data can help cross-verify the evolutionary pattern of language in a scientific genre and address the questions raised in the Introduction. As shown in piecewise-linear sections in the plots (Figs. 2 , 5 ) of the two measures in KLD and linguistic concreteness/imageability, they coincide with historical periods that would influence the language produced in the PTRS. The consistency between concreteness and imageability shows that the method of diachronic concreteness is reliable and effective. The trends described in these plots purportedly support a narrative of increasing professionalization and specialization in science over the first two hundred years of the PTRS. All these clearly demonstrate how external factors influenced language use in the PTRS and how language in PTRS changed to become more professionalized and abstract in the 19th century.

After some long-term and unexpected fluctuations, scientific writings did become more abstract and less imageable in the 19th century. To be exact, after 1800s, a continuous and rapid increase of the KLD for the lexicon also indicates that authors introduced more technical terms in their writings. By contrast, authors tended to use simpler grammar in the PTRS. Clearly, two groups of data are matched to support our revised argument which is based on the initial hypothesis we proposed in the Introduction. Although the PTRS just is one example of scientific writings overall, its changes should still accord with the general evolutionary pattern of the scientific world. However, this pattern was violently interrupted by the external factors that were mentioned above. These factors mainly involve three domains: the journal itself, the overall development of science, as well as the broader social-cultural changes analyzed above. Factors in the three domains interacted with each other to influence the evolution of scientific discourse. Very interestingly, the degree of abstractness/imageability (or lexicon KLD) of the PTRS in 19th century returned to the same level it was at in the 1670s. This process is clearly interrupted by the various factors we have discussed. The finding seems to support the idea of Gross et al. ( 2002 : 138) “Stylistically, 19th-century scientific prose appears to more closely resemble its 17th century origins than the highly compressed, neutral, monotonal prose of the late 20th century.” However, it does not mean that scientific writings return to the status of writings in 17th century. But this is an issue that deserves to be researched more closely.

The evolutionary pattern in scientific writings did not take place in a straightforward way, but rather it fluctuated wildly. These fluctuations were clearly influenced by the events from the aforementioned three domains. The two groups of data (the KLD in the lexicon and linguistic concreteness/imageability) are well mapped with historical events in this journal. Specifically, scientific writings did not experience a direct movement towards becoming a professionalized and specific genre. Contrary to the widespread belief, the evolutionary direction of language in this journal is not necessarily a linear one. In fact, the direction of linguistic evolution in this journal was greatly influenced by external social-cultural factors. Generally, the diachronic changes in relative entropy and linguistic concreteness/imageability in the PTRS actually help in revealing the overall development of science in the last 300 years.

This novel quantitative method is capable of examining the diachronic changes in the language of scientific discourse. By analyzing full-text documents in the PTRS, we find that language in the PTRS evolved towards an increasing professionalization and specialization in the authors who are grouped together by decades. In fact, this quantitative method is effective in analyzing full texts. This method is as useful as linguistic complexity in analyzing scientific writings (Lu et al. 2019a , b ; Chen et al. 2020 ). We believe that this quantitative method will reveal yet more scientometrics findings when the bibliometric data becomes available and can make a great contribution to full-text analysis. For instance, relative entropy and linguistic concreteness can be applied to investigating how either of the measures (or both) varies with the changes of scientific impacts or authors with different background.

However, some limitations in the current study should be noted. First, the current findings are based on “the limited sample”. That is to say, the size of the PTRS (1665–1869) is a bit small for scientific writings in journals over the history. The limited availability of more scientific writings might constraint quantitative studies. The second limitation is that we did not include the other types of scientific writings (books, reports, etc.) during this period. It would perhaps be interesting to look at samples from other kinds of scientific writings, and make comparisons between the PTRS and the other types of scientific writings. Third, after the PTRS split into series “A” and “B” in 1880s, more changes later are fantastic steps of scientific progress. It should be amazing to make a diachronic study of the PTRS after 1880s. However, the current study only considered the PTRS published before 1869. Forth, some traditional bibliometric factors (e.g., keyword frequency/ratio, bibliographic coupling, co-word analysis, citation) could be included, and this could show the significance of this research. However, without databases containing bibliometric factors on the PTRS, these bibliometric studies would be difficult to implement. We can make further studies by considering these factors, such as changes of topic words, co-authors etc., to such investigations in scientific writings published in modern journals by using the methods proposed in the current study.

Concluding remarks

By combining the two computational approaches (relative entropy and word-embedding concreteness/imageability), this study created a novel quantitative method for examining the diachronic changes in the language of scientific discourse (the PTRS) over two hundred years. Because the two methods are mutually complementary, an integrated approach can explore diachronic linguistic changes in the PTRS in a comprehensive manner. The diachronic trend in scientific discourse can be represented in linguistic data and therefore can be detected through measuring the changes of entropy and linguistic concreteness. Our research thus creates a novel quantitative methodology and applies this to the examination of diachronic changes in language. This is the main contribution of the present study.

After the whole Royal Society Corpus was divided into twenty-two sub-corpora according to one decade, the KLD measures were used to detect the diachronic changes of POS trigram and lemma among the twenty-two sub-corpora, as well as to quantify the changes in cognitive surprise between the two decades in order to estimate whether readers encountered more/less difficulties in processing the language used. Linguistic concreteness and imageability based on word embeddings produced by the word embedding algorithm were also used to quantify the diachronic changes of word concreteness and imageability over the twenty decades. The data from the two separate methods were consistent. Based on the analysis of the data, we found that the evolutionary direction was not necessarily linear but rather that it was interrupted by social and cultural factors. Linguistic concreteness/imageability and the KLD of lexicon changed in the light of such events. In contrast, the simplification of grammar continued almost uninterrupted. The data from both methods are consistent in supporting the thesis that this journal followed the evolutionary trend of becoming increasingly professionalized and specialized, but that this process was also greatly influenced by historical events and broader social-cultural factors. This finding is distinct from the initial hypothesis that scientific discourse in journals underwent a linear evolutionary process of increasing professionalization and specialization.

Overall, this study clearly demonstrated how the language of scientific writings in early journals followed an inherent evolutionary pattern and how its evolutionary route was greatly influenced by external factors. The current study uncovered the general developments in science writing over the last 300 years and it thus helps in understanding how scientific culture was interwoven with human cognition and culture. This study provides a perspective to overview language style of scientific writings in early journals (i.e., in 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries). The quantitative methods proposed by the current study provide a new perspective in full-text analysis. Footnote 6 However, this study has the limitations of sample size and bibliographic factors. In future, we can make further scientometrics studies of further factors. We believe that further interesting findings can be yielded with respect to these other variables.

Part-of-speech tags are accordance with Penn Treebank Tagset. This is available at https://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Fall_2003/ling001/penn_treebank_pos.html .

In natural language processing, stop words are the most common words in a language. These words are usually regarded as less useful in most natural language processing tasks. These stopwords are mostly short function words, such as the, is, at, which, and so on. There is no single universal list of stop words available. The length of different stopword lists vary greatly. Here we choose a short list that is widely used in natural language processing and that is available at https://www.textfixer.com/tutorials/common-english-words.txt .

The most frequent POS trigrams among the twenty-two sub-corpora have been chosen. “DT-NN-IN” is one of them. Just like “stopwords”, these trigram POS patterns are commonly used over this period and they are not significantly discriminative from the perspective of trigrams.

Although Degaetano-Ortlieb and Teich ( 2018 ) reported the changes for different types of lexicon and trigrams by the use of KLD, they did not provide the details and codes on how they implemented the KLD method. After having replicated their study repeatedly, we always failed and therefore attempted to contact them via emails several times. However, they have not responded. This could indicate that their results are unlikely to be replicated. We therefore had to work out several problem-solving strategies. The specific strategies include how to preprocess the corpus, how to remove special characters and symbols (scientific writings are always filled with them), the removal of stop words (the regular way in NLP), as well as how to set up the parameters to select candidate words. Besides these, a “decade” window in our work makes it impossible to carry out comparison with their work using a "two-year" window. We think that the lexicon change could be observed clearly during two decades instead of four years . The more serious problem is that the data presented (the changes of lexicon KLD) in their study cannot directly support their claim that scientific writings became more professional. Overall, their study cannot be treated as the baseline and the comparisons between their study and the current study are almost impossible.

The Jensen–Shannon Divergence (JSD) (Nielsen 2010 ) is a symmetric and smoothed version of the KL divergence. JSD is another method of measuring the similarity between two probability distribution. We have run all data on the Jensen-Shannon divergence. The results are the same as KLD.

All programming codes (Perl, Linux shell and R) and data used in this study are available in https://osf.io/n9cj5 .

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the ERC (European Research Council) advanced Grant (No. 742545). We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments on the paper. We also express our sincere gratitude to the editor-in-chief to give us opportunities to improve this paper.

ERC advanced Grant (No. 742545). Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

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Sun, K., Liu, H. & Xiong, W. The evolutionary pattern of language in scientific writings: A case study of Philosophical Transactions of Royal Society (1665–1869). Scientometrics 126 , 1695–1724 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03816-8

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The Development of Blended Learning Model Combined With Project-Based Learning Model in Indonesian Students’ Scientific Writing

Santi Oktarina Sriwijaya University

This research aims to describe the practicality of the blended learning model combined with the project-based learning model when Indonesian students write scientific papers. This research employs the research and development method but focuses only on the small group testing stage. The subjects of this research are students taking scientific writing courses in the study program of Indonesian Language and Literature Education, Indonesia. The data were collected through tests, a questionnaire, and an interview and analyzed by means of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The research results show that in general, this learning model is practical to be used in learning scientific writing. Furthermore, the post-test results show significantly higher scores than those of the pre-test results in students' scientific writing (34.59). Additionally, based on the results of the questionnaire distributed to students, all components of the blended learning model combined with the project-based learning model that have been developed, namely the learning structure, reaction principles, social systems, and support systems are considered by students to be appropriate and very appropriate. However, the results of the interview reveal that there are weaknesses in the learning model being developed. These weaknesses will be addressed so that its effectiveness is well tested in the next stage, namely the large group test.

Author Biography

Santi oktarina, sriwijaya university.

Indonesian Language and Literature Education Study Program

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v.43(9); 2017 Sep 7

Scientific writing

A guide to publishing scientific research in the health sciences.

1 Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, ON

2 School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

4 Injury Prevention Research Center, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China

Effective communication of scientific research is critical to advancing science and optimizing the impact of one’s professional work. This article provides a guide on preparing scientific manuscripts for publication in the health sciences. It is geared to health professionals who are starting to report their findings in peer-reviewed journals or who would like to refresh their knowledge in this area. It identifies five key steps. First, adopt best practices in scientific publications, including collaborative writing and ethical reporting. Second, strategically position your manuscript before you start to write. This is done by identifying your target audience, choosing three to five journals that reach your target audience and then learning about the journal requirements. Third, create the first draft of your manuscript by developing a logical, concise and compelling storyline based on the journal requirements and the established structure for scientific manuscripts. Fourth, refine the manuscript by coordinating the input from your co-authors and applying good composition and clear writing principles. The final version of the manuscript needs to meet editorial requirements and be approved by all authors prior to submission. Fifth, once submitted, be prepared for revision. Rejection is common; if you receive feedback, consider revising the paper before submitting it to another journal. If the journal is interested, address all the requested revisions. Scientific articles that have high impact are not only good science; they are also highly readable and the result of a collective and often synergistic effort.

Introduction

The publication of the findings of scientific research is important for two reasons. First, the progression of science depends on the publication of research findings in the peer-reviewed literature. Second, the publication of research is important for career development. The old dictum “publish or perish” suggests the critical role publishing research has, especially for those in academia. The newer version, “publish and flourish”, suggests that publishing solid scientific research is good for individual researchers and good for the scientific community. With good research, there is the potential for everyone to be better off.

The publication of scientific work is not easy. There are many books on how to write a scientific article ( 1 - 5 ); however, the level of detail may be overwhelming and there is a tendency to focus more on the technical aspects, such as the structure of a scientific manuscript and what to include in each section, and less on the process aspects, such as what constitutes authorship and how to choose the most appropriate journal. There is a need for a basic overview for those who would like to start publishing or refresh their knowledge in this area. The objective of this article is to provide health professionals with an overview on how to prepare manuscripts for publication.

Adopt best practices in scientific publications

Anyone who would like to author scientific publications should know about these two best practices before they begin: work collaboratively and observe ethical reporting practices.

Practice collaborative writing

Research and scientific publishing are collective enterprises that call for collaboration as a best practice. Research usually involves a research team. New research projects build on previous research done by others. It involves input from peers on both protocol development before the research is done, as well as the review of manuscripts once the research is completed. The Cochrane Collaboration is one important example of this ( 6 ). To optimize the success of your research team, cultivate strong interpersonal skills and choose your collaborators wisely. Areas to consider when you are choosing with whom to work include such things as collaborator availability, similar research interests, track record and personal suitability.

Given that a scientific publication is meant to contribute to knowledge, a good research question is essential, as is identifying the optimal scientific method to answer that question and observing ethical practices in the conduct of your research.

Once these items have been addressed, what do you need to know before you start to write?

Observe ethical reporting practices

The ethics of scientific publications can be summarized by two best practices: complete and accurate reporting and appropriate attribution of everyone’s contributions ( 7 ).

Ensure complete and accurate reporting

Unethical scientific publication practices include incomplete reporting, the reporting of fraudulent data, plagiarism, duplicate publication and overlapping publications. Some people consider failure to publish the results of clinical trials as unethical ( 8 ), as it can create bias in the published record. Incomplete reporting can include selective reporting of findings or not reporting at all. It is important to report negative data, or any unexpected finding.

Falsification or fabrication of data is the most obvious breach of research ethics. One example is the fraudulent study linking autism to vaccine ( 9 ), which caused untold harm by undermining public confidence in routine childhood vaccines.

Plagiarism must be carefully avoided. Incorporating others’ ideas or research results into any manuscript you write needs to be done with appropriate referencing. Journal editors routinely check manuscripts with antiplagiarism software before determining a manuscript’s appropriateness for peer review. Free software programs are available for authors to check for inadvertent duplication of content such as CopyScape, DupliChecker, Plagiarisma, Plagium, Search Engine Reports, SEOTools, Site Liner and Unplag.

Duplicate publication is publishing an article that is the same or overlaps substantially with another article by the author or publisher ( 8 ). It is considered redundant, and may result in double-counting of data. This is to be distinguished from co-publication, which is when the same article is published in more than one journal at approximately the same time to increase reach to different disciplines ( 8 ). It meets specific criteria and is done with complete transparency.

Overlapping publication is a variant of duplicate publication. It typically occurs with multi-centre trials and is characterized by publications from single centres, several centres as well as all centres. This is considered unethical as it can lead to double-counting and distorts the perception of the weight of the evidence ( 10 ). It may be appropriate to have more than one publication come from a multi-centre trial, but this is usually to address secondary outcomes. Secondary publications should cite the primary analysis and all publications of trials should identify the trial registration number ( 8 ).

Give appropriate attribution

It is important to acknowledge the work of everyone who contributed to a scientific publication. Central to ethical publication is appropriate authorship. A best practice is to identify the role of each author. Authorship has been defined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) as those who meet all of the following four criteria: substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the work; drafting the initial manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; final approval of the version to be published; and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved ( 11 ).

Of note, the collection of data or the development of software for a study are not criteria for authorship, nor is securing research funding; however, these are important contributions that should be acknowledged—either in the Acknowledgements section or, if there is one, in the Contributors section. It is best practice to ensure everyone mentioned in an Acknowledgements or Contributors section is aware he/she has been identified, and is in agreement with being identified. Contractors paid to perform parts of a study (e.g., laboratory testing, software development or drafting the manuscript) are often, by definition, not authors but still merit being identified in the Acknowledgements or Contributors section.

Some unethical practices in authorship include guest authorship and ghost authorship. Guest authorship is including someone as an author who does not meet the ICMJE criteria and ghost authorship is excluding someone as an author who does meet the ICMJE criteria. Basically, ethical attribution is all about transparency.

There can be a lot of debate on the sequencing of authors. The ordering of authors differs by discipline ( 12 ). In the health sciences, the first author has the most weight; the final author also carries weight as this is often the principal or most senior investigator. In contrast, in economics, authors are usually listed alphabetically, implying equal contribution to the research work. It is useful to discuss authorship early in the manuscript planning process, and then again near the completion of the manuscript. This discussion should include an assessment of authorship against the ICMJE criteria and consideration of authorship sequence, which may change over time if there were changes in the level of input from what was originally planned.

Position your manuscript

Once your research is completed, you need to identify appropriate journals for publication. Not every manuscript can or should be published in a prestigious, high-impact journal. People can waste a lot of time and effort sending manuscripts to journals that will promptly send back a polite rejection letter, or will keep it for several months before declining it, based on the peer review. So how do you choose which journal to submit to? Discuss with your co-researchers or peers: Who is the target audience? Who will want to know about this research? What is the best journal to reach that audience? And what are those journals’ specific requirements for manuscript submissions?

Identify your target audience

Before writing up results of your study, think about your potential readers. Are your research findings most appropriate for a general readership or a specialty group? This affects the choice of journal for submission, and the writing style you adopt for the manuscript.

Choose three to five journals

Based on your target readership, develop a list of three to five journals, and then order by journal impact factor. The impact factor is the average number of citations per article published in that journal, based on the performance in the previous two years ( 13 ). Submit your manuscript to one journal at a time, starting from the top of the list. If you receive a rejection letter from your “Plan A” journal, you have a ready “Plan B” journal to submit to right away. This avoids having the rejected manuscript languish on your desk.

Learn about the journal requirements

Every journal has instructions for authors that are listed online. These instructions describe the types of articles that the journal publishes and provides specific advice about format, word length, as well as what needs to be included in a cover letter at the time of submission. Consult some past issues of the targeted journals to see examples of the different types of articles that are published.

Create the first draft

Now that you have identified your target audience, what journal you are targeting first, and what its requirements are, you are ready to create the first draft. To begin you want to develop a high-level summary that establishes a logical, compelling storyline that follows the established structure for a scientific manuscript. Then, before you start to write the text, check for any reporting guides for the type of study you have done to ensure you address any specific reporting requirements.

There is a common misconception that scientific publications are simply dispassionate reports of the methods and results of research. But consider this: There are more than 30,000 biomedical journals ( 14 ). We are living in an age of information overload, so people become very selective in what they read and ask themselves “Is this important for me to read?” The objective reporting of research findings is necessary, but not sufficient. Effective authors will also provide an appropriate context and present their work in such a way that readers find it interesting and easy to understand. The sections that follow identify several ways to best present the context, data and implications of your work.

Develop a compelling storyline

The use of the term storyline here does not mean you endeavour to entertain the reader. It is how you “present your case” in the court of scientific opinion. It maps on to the basic structure of scientific articles and includes the rationale for the study, the research question, how that question was addressed, what was found and why these findings are important ( 3 ). After working for months (and sometimes years) on a research project, it is easy to get lost in the details. Establishing a clear, logical underlying structure to your scientific manuscript from the outset not only helps to avoid going off on tangents, it also vastly increases its readability. The abstract is an excellent place to set out the storyline of your manuscript. You want to respond to the questions: What is this research about? (background and objective); What did you do to answer your research question? (methods); What did you find? (results); and What are the implications and next steps? (discussion and conclusion). Then, much like establishing the theme, each section is developed in the manuscript. A well-written abstract gives readers a “road map”; after reading it they will know what you will be covering in the article.

One way to strengthen the logic of your manuscript is to use the same terms and the same sequencing of information in each section. For example, if your research objective was to assess acceptability and adherence to a treatment regimen, what you do not want to do is describe the willingness to start a treatment in the Introduction, note how you measured compliance and adherence in the Methods and then describe how many people followed the treatment regime after agreeing to start it in the Results. If your research objective is to assess acceptability and adherence, define acceptability and then adherence in the Introduction, identify how you measured acceptance and then adherence in the Methods, and describe your findings for acceptance and then adherence in the Results. When you use the same terms in the same sequence in the Introduction, Methods and Results sections, it is much easier for the reader to quickly grasp what you did and what was found.

In addition, there are several writing techniques that help make your manuscript more compelling to engage the reader. The first is to have “a hook”, or interesting start that draws the reader in. Titles can be a hook; for example, a recent article from the New England Journal of Medicine was entitled: “The Other Victims of the Opioid Epidemic” ( 15 ). It might catch your attention, as you immediately ask yourself “Who are the victims and who are the other victims?” A compelling title may pose a question that motivates people to read the article: “Can scientists and policymakers work together?” ( 16 ). Readers are also engaged by the first sentence of the abstract; for example: “The emergence and prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing cause of death worldwide, resulting in a global call to action.” ( 17 ). This is a good first sentence as it gives a sense of urgency and makes the reader curious about what the call to action is. One must be careful to not sensationalize, but when there is an urgent health issue, it is important to describe why we need to be aware of it and change what we do if necessary.

Check for reporting guides

As a final step before starting to write the manuscript in full, check if there are specific reporting requirements for the type of research you have done; for example, if you have done an experimental study, you will need to mention research ethics board approval and informed consent ( 18 ). If you have done a systematic review, include a flow diagram of the included and excluded studies ( 19 ). Some journals provide author checklists to identify what is important to include in different sections for different types of studies ( 20 , 21 ). The Equator Network (Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research) brings together a number of reporting guidelines and is a useful resource ( 22 ).

Use the IMRAD approach

When you start to write the text, use the classic structure of a scientific article: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, which is often referred to by the acronym IMRAD. But, rather than writing down everything you know that relates to your study, use each section strategically to tell the story of your research.

A good Introduction section has the structure of an inverted triangle. This means that you start with a broad topic, and then narrow down the readers’ focus in logical steps until you arrive at your research question. This can be facilitated by answering the following questions:

What is the issue?
Why is it important?
What do we know to date?
What are the gaps in our knowledge?
What is the research question that will address this gap?
What was the objective of the research?

At this point, the reader will want to know “So what happened?” and they will keep reading. The summary of the literature is done in the present tense, as it represents generally accepted facts and principles. Define all abbreviations on first use but use only commonly-accepted ones. Too many abbreviations decrease readability. The introduction is described in the present tense (as it describes established facts).

The Methods section describes how the study was conducted. It is important to explain how the methods address the research objective. Give enough detail so that others can duplicate your study, if needed, to confirm that your results are consistent and reliable. It is useful to have subtitles. For a clinical trial, for example, this could include study population, intervention, outcome measures and analysis. Avoid the temptation to provide results in the Methods section. For example, the sampling methodology belongs to the Methods section, the response rate of the study belongs in the Results section. The Methods section is described in the past tense (as it describes what you did).

The Results section describes what was found in the study (in the same sequence of information established in the Introduction and the Methods sections). Avoid the temptation to discuss or analyze results in the Results section. For example, you can state: “there were more men than women in this study”, but exploring the reason for this belongs in the Discussion section. Results are described in the past tense (as they describe what you found).

Many readers find the Discussion section to be the most interesting part of the article. The first sentence is an opportunity to summarize the most important findings of your study; for example: “Surveillance data from four Nordic countries suggested that at least 25% of gonorrhea infections were related to travel” ( 23 ). Interpret your findings in light of possible biases or sources of errors. Then it is important to consider both the strengths and weaknesses of your study; compare it to other studies with similar or different findings, consider the implications and identify the next steps. The Discussion section is an opportunity to situate your findings within the larger body of knowledge and to consider what is needed to further advance scientific understanding. The discussion is described in past, present or future tense depending on context.

Develop tables and figures to highlight key findings

There are two best practices to consider when creating tables and figures. First, to address the classic evidence-based medicine question—Are these results applicable to my patient population?—you need to describe your study population ( 24 ). The first table in a clinical study, for example, often compares the demographic characteristics of the research subjects to what is known about the study population. This helps readers assess how representative the study sample was. Second, use tables and figures to highlight your key findings. Resist the temptation to present all the data you have in tables and figures which may overwhelm the reader. You want to keep the focus on the study objective and the answer to your research question.

Tables are useful to present large quantities of data and figures are preferred to show trends over time. Titles of tables and figures should be able to “stand alone”; i.e., they are self-explanatory and complete. To be complete, include the study population, type of data presented and dates of the study. In tables, ensure each column has a heading. Make sure all data is validated and that all research subjects are accounted for (i.e., the percentages add up to 100%). Further resources on preparation of tables and figures are available ( 25 , 26 ). See Table 1 for some highlights of the “Dos and Don’ts” when writing scientific manuscripts.

Item	Dos	Don’ts
Title	Use accurate, interesting, and catchy titles. Example: “Can scientists and policymakers work together?”	Do not use titles that are too long, such as: “A multi-sectoral mixed model study to examine the facilitators and barriers in the collaboration of scientists and policymakers in joint efforts using qualitative and quantitative methods”.
Abstract	Use the abstract to attract readers and summarize your story line.	Do not include content that is not found in the article.
Introduction (Why?)
Objectives	Carefully state your objective, as everything should follow logically from the objective.	Do not leave out the objective or just tie it in loosely to the rest of the article.
Methods (How?)
Appropriateness	Ensure and explain how the research method addresses the research objectives. Describe the methods in sufficient detail so other people can repeat the study.	Do not use a cross- sectional study to examine causal associations because it cannot. Do not state: “our study used conventional methods” without giving a reference.
Results (What?)
Sequencing	Order the sequence of information so that the Results section addresses the objective in a logical way.	Do not present results in a random fashion or include results that are irrelevant.
Other information	Include only results of your study in the Results section.	The results of other studies belong either in the introduction (to provide context) or the discussion (to compare with your results).
Use of tables and figures	Tables and figures should highlight key study findings. Text in the Results section should complement tables and figures; for example, if a table shows “relative risk=8.5, =0.02”, the text might read “a strong, statistically significant association was found.”	Do not simply repeat data from tables and figures in the text of the Results section; for example, “the relative risk was 8.5 and the -value was 0.02” is repetitive of the information already provided in the table, and provides no additional information for the readers.
Discussion and conclusion (So What?)
Main findings	The first sentence of the Discussion section should address your research objective and highlight the key findings of your study.	Do not simply summarize the results a second time without interpretation.
Unexpected results	If results contradict expectation, look for possible sources of bias, such as selection of subjects, methods of data collection and confounding factors.	Do not delete results simply because they contradict expectation. These may be the most important results of your study.
Contribution to knowledge	Describe the new knowledge provided by this study.	Do not just say “our study confirmed the results of previous studies”.
Strengths and limitations	Discuss strengths and limitations of the study in a few paragraphs.	Do not overstate the limitations but do not hide them either.
Implications	Describe how the study may inform current practice. Suggest future research directions.	Do not just say “our study has made important contributions to science”. Do not just say “this study indicates that future studies are needed”.

Refine the manuscript

Most manuscripts are a team effort, so once a manuscript has been drafted, it then needs to be circulated for input by all the co-authors. Consider your own internal peer review process and then refine the manuscript for clarity before submitting it to a peer-reviewed journal. If your first language is not English, consider having the manuscript copy-edited before you submit it to a journal.

Circulate to co-authors and peers

Each research team works out their own way of writing and revising. Usually the first author develops the first draft, and then sends to other authors to provide comments (usually using the tracked changes function). The first author will then incorporate comments and produce a second draft for a second round of comments. This process continues until all authors agree on the structure and wording of the manuscript. It is also possible to have different authors draft different sections of the manuscript, once there has been consensus on the storyline and the structure. A common challenge with circulating drafts of a manuscript is version control. You may want to have only one author working on a draft at a time. If there is simultaneous feedback from multiple authors, they should all be sent to the first author by a set due date. You may also want to conduct your own internal peer review process. After being steeped in a project for months and a manuscript for weeks, it is easy to lose perspective. An unblinded internal peer review may help strengthen your manuscript before undergoing the blind external peer review that is conducted by the editorial office of scientific journals.

Apply clear writing principles

The hallmark of good scientific writing is precision and clarity ( 5 ). Based on the classic, The Elements of Style , here are some tips that will help bring clarity to your writing ( 27 ). Check the first sentence of each paragraph. These should signal to the reader the progression of the logic of your manuscript and introduce what the paragraph contains. When appropriate, use the active voice. To say “We developed a protocol” is more engaging than the passive voice: “A protocol was developed”. Edit out needless words, such as “as noted above”. When possible, use parallel construction or the repetition of a grammatical form within a sentence. For example, the phrase “Children aged 4–6 years should be given vaccine A; the administration of vaccine B is advised for those who are 13–18 years old” can be made clearer using parallel construction: “Children aged 4–6 years should be given vaccine A; adolescents aged 13–18 should be given vaccine B”. Make definitive assertions; arouse interest of the reader by reporting the details that matter. In addition, you do not want to be overly complex; resources are available to help describe things in plain language ( 28 ).

Submit and be ready to revise

Once all the authors sign off on the final version, submit to your journal of choice with a short cover letter noting that your manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration by any other journal. It is also useful to identify why your manuscript is relevant to the journal’s readership. This may influence the editor’s decision on whether to send your manuscript for external peer review.

Once the manuscript is submitted, brace yourself for a number of possible responses. You may receive a polite rejection letter. Or the Editor may have comments on the manuscript that need to be addressed before it is peer-reviewed. If this is the case, it is good to address these promptly. Another possibility is that the manuscript is peer-reviewed and then declined. There are two reasons why you should carefully consider all the peer-reviewer comments, even though the journal is not interested in your manuscript. First, this is free advice, often from top-notch experts in the field, so why not use it to improve your success rate with another journal? Second, only a limited number of researchers participate in the journal peer review process. When you submit to a second journal, what you do not want to hear back is “I was the peer reviewer of this manuscript for another journal, and I see that none of my previous comments were considered by the authors”. If you do decide to revise the manuscript to address reviewer comments, do not forget to review the instructions for authors for the new journal and reformat as necessary. Finally, after peer-review has been completed, you may receive a tentative acceptance letter from the editor, accompanied by a request for minor revisions. Or you could receive a “reject and resubmit” letter, which means that extensive revisions are needed. In either case, it indicates an interest in a revised manuscript.

Requested revisions are usually discussed jointly among the co-authors until there is consensus on how to address them. Making the revisions can either be allocated among the authors, or coordinated through one person. Usually once the revisions are underway, they do not seem as formidable as they first appeared, and the manuscript ends up being stronger and clearer as a result. Once revised, do a final check of the abstract to ensure it still reflects the revised text. Again, sign-off is needed from all the authors before submitting the revised manuscript to the journal.

To advance science, research needs to be published. To optimize the chances of your research getting published and having an impact, it is important to demonstrate objectivity, and present your work in a way that is interesting and compelling. To do this you need clarity, logic and the use of rhetorical techniques to engage the reader in your research. This includes positioning your manuscript to reach your target audience, developing a logical, compelling storyline within the confines of the IMRAD structure, having an effective iterative approach among your co-authors to develop the manuscript and being ready to complete revisions to meet journal requirements.

Effective scientific writing rarely comes from innate talent. Writing is a skill that needs to be honed over one’s professional career. Cultivate an interest in what makes good writing. As you read other peoples’ work, ask yourself what makes some articles easier to read than others. Consider becoming a peer-reviewer for scientific journals to assess the manuscripts of others.

It is thoroughly satisfying to publish compelling research that influences people and makes a contribution to science. This is most often achieved through the synergy of collaboration with others and having a common goal of advancing the collective progression of science.

Authors’ statement

Both authors worked on the conception and design together, PH developed the first draft, both contributed to multiple drafts and signed off on the final version. Dr. Patricia Huston is the Editor-in-Chief of CCDR and recused herself from taking any editorial decisions on this manuscript. Decisions were taken by the Editorial Fellow, Toju Ogunremi, with the support of the Editorial Board member, Dr. Michel Deilgat.

Acknowledgements

Our thanks to Andrea Currie and Katie Rutledge-Taylor who developed the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Field Epidemiology writing curriculum. We had a number of interesting discussions on the art and science of scientific writing that informed this work, including the concept of the inverted triangle for the structure of an effective introduction.

Conflict of Interest: None.

A woman in a blazer and lanyard speaks to a man who is seated across from her

Employers should use science to optimize job interviews instead of relying on outdated misconceptions

Assistant Professor, Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management, Wilfrid Laurier University

Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary

Disclosure statement

Timothy Wingate receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Joshua Bourdage receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

University of Calgary provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.

University of Calgary provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

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Job interviews are an essential part of hiring. In Canada, interviews are the most popular hiring tool . However, there is a concerning gap between the science of interviewing and the way interviews are commonly practiced in workplaces.

Employers often hold misconceptions about their ability to evaluate a job candidate accurately without the use of a structured set of interview questions and a formal scoring procedure for evaluating the candidate’s answers. We put too much stock in our ability to evaluate an applicant based on casual conversation . These misconceptions can lead employers to ignore the most effective interviewing strategies .

At the same time, researchers need to do a better job of addressing the real-world challenges of interviewing that employers face.

As researchers in human resource management and industrial-organizational psychology, we study how to optimize interviews for employers and job seekers.

In a recent study , we spoke to experienced interviewers in various fields across Canada to understand how employers plan and carry out their interviews. Our findings challenge some common assumptions about the best ways to interview.

Interviews are more than just tests

Interviews can serve multiple purposes. Employers not only use them to assess job candidates (known as selection), but also to attract candidates to accept job offers (known as recruitment) and inform candidates about the job (known as socialization).

To meet these different goals, the employers we spoke to designed their interviews differently. Some employers changed goals within a single interview, while others tried to balance multiple goals simultaneously.

A man and a woman look pensively at a piece of paper being held by the woman. They are both in office attire and are sitting at a desk in an office building.

Depending on an employer’s needs — to assess, attract or inform — the interview can play various roles in the staffing system. There is no single best way to interview, and success depends on the specific goals an employer aims to achieve.

We explored how employers designed their interviews to achieve their goals. From our study, it was clear that interviewers faced challenges trying to balance multiple goals in a single interview.

We identified many of these challenges, such as honestly disclosing the difficult aspects of the job while also trying to keep the applicant interested in accepting an offer. To help address these challenges, we also focused on interviewing tactics that can help interviewers achieve multiple goals.

Finally, we explored additional factors that complicate the design and use of interviews. These include characteristics about the hiring organization, interviewers’ beliefs about judging job candidates and concerns about ensuring fairness in the hiring process. Understanding and addressing these factors is necessary for improving interview practices.

Conducting more effective interviews

Drawing on our research and the science of interviewing, there are three critical, but often overlooked, ways employers can improve their interview practices.

First, employers need to align their interviewing strategies with their staffing goals. Many of the interviewers in our study designed interviews based on habit, organizational norms or intuition.

Instead, interviewers should be deliberate about their hiring goals and tailor their interviews to meet those objectives. This could involve using targeted, structured behavioural questions for assessment, building rapport for recruitment or providing a realistic overview of job expectations.

Rear view of a young woman taking notes in a notebook while on a video call with someone

Avoid pursuing too many goals

Second, employers should resist the impulse to pursue too many goals at once. It can be tempting to try to assess and attract an applicant in the same interview, but these goals often require different strategies that can conflict. For instance, while unstructured conversations can help with recruiting, they undermine accurate assessments.

However, an assessment-focused interview doesn’t have to be cold or off-putting. Interviewers can begin with a warm welcome and explain that certain procedures are in place to ensure the fairness and accuracy of the hiring process.

Similarly, informing an applicant about job details can be compatible with assessing and attracting candidates, so long as interviewers follow a standard protocol to support assessment or speak positively about their organization to support recruitment.

Employers can also conduct multiple interviews, each for a specific purpose. For example, an initial interview might focus on assessment, while a later interview might focus on recruitment once a candidate offer is being considered.

Dispelling interviewing myths

Lastly, interviewers should be aware of common interviewing myths. Some of the employers we spoke to still held outdated beliefs that scientific research has thoroughly debunked.

Some of these myths included valuing “gut feelings” over rigorous scoring procedures , trying to catch applicants “off-guard” instead of asking direct questions, and using “oddball” questions instead of job-relevant ones .

If the highest-scoring candidate is different from the one an interviewer prefers, the score is likely more accurate than the interviewer’s preference. Interview training that targets these misconceptions may improve interview practices.

Interviews are a valuable hiring tool, but are often misused or under-utilized. With intentionality and evidence-based approaches, interviews can be used to make fairer, more accurate decisions while recruiting and informing candidates.

Job interviews
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Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, and Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement : An interview with Summer Stipends recipient Joanna Wuest

In Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, and Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement (University of Chicago Press, 2023), sociolegal scholar Joanna Wuest analyzes decades of scientific studies, legal documents, media coverage, and advocacy pamphlets to detail the inception and ongoing life of the “born this way” defense of LGBTQ+ rights.

As Wuest tells it, “born this way” has exhibited a surprising plasticity, but at its heart lies the assertion that LGBTQ+ identities are in some sense biologically rooted. Wuest writes about the reasons for this ideology’s allure, potency, and adaptability, and also, as she puts it, “the promises and problems of scientific authority.” Along the way, she shows us how the “born this way” argument’s path to near ubiquity was shaped by economic, social, and political forces. In other words, she demonstrates how the ideology as it stands today was not simply born this way. I had the opportunity to ask Wuest about her work.

Slight edits have been made by staff for length and clarity.

Where did the project start for you?

The seed of this book was planted in a graduate seminar I took with Professor Adolph Reed Jr. at the University of Pennsylvania. That class focused on the history of “race science,” meaning that we read all sorts of horrible scientific studies from the late nineteenth century when scientific researchers were studying individuals’ skulls, facial features, and other biological properties, aiming to discover their “true” nature. I was stunned that the same set of premises that had justified brutal Jim Crow segregationist laws and restrictive immigration policies —that is, biology can neatly sort us into a taxonomy that speaks to our deepest essential truths—were being promoted by Lady Gaga and the Human Rights Campaign to defend LGBTQ+ rights.

That sent me on a nearly decade-long effort to understand how the “born this way” narrative was created and how all the stories that we tell about human difference and biology are inherently political stories. This means that “bioessentialist” theories—those that place the determinative role concerning what it means to be a man or a woman, gay or straight, cisgender or trans on factors like genetics and brain structures—are always weaving together biological findings and premises with inherently political questions about minority groups and the polity writ large.

Of the “the promises and problems of scientific authority” covered in the book, which have had the greatest impact on LGBTQ+ lives?

The scientific study of sexuality and gender has had an enormous impact on LGBTQ+ people’s lives—and not always a salutary one. In fact, the modern U.S. gay and lesbian rights movement that formed in the 1950s and 1960s spent much of its time opposing the leading psychiatric research of the day, which held that queer people were mentally ill, perhaps even dangerous sexual psychopaths. Because that scientific opinion influenced lawmakers, those early activists thought it was necessary to develop an alternative story.

Luckily, reformers in sexology like Alfred Kinsey and the psychologist Evelyn Hooker were producing new research that held homosexuality to be “normal” or nonpathological. By 1973, like-minded leaders of the American Psychiatric Association worked with gay rights advocates to remove homosexuality from their influential list of mental disorders. During that same moment, behavioral researchers like Charles Silverstein and Gerald Davison began to (slowly) turn the mental health professions away from so-called “conversion therapy” practices (which today are called “sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts” to signal that such practices are not legitimate therapies). The defeat of the pathological model of homosexuality was an enormous triumph, one which has been very effective in campaigns for equal rights ever since. It was also the ground upon which the “born this way” argument was eventually built, which has remained a more difficult thing to prove than “not sick.”

Throughout the book, you work to reintroduce economic, social, political, and other factors that have been left aside in both the use of “born this way” as an ideology and the recounting of its development. First, why is it important to situate scientific knowledge in its broader context and, second, what approach(es) did you take in building this nuance?

As I remind my students each semester, science is a “human practice,” meaning that biological studies, genomic data, brain scans, measures of hormonal balances, and medical knowledge as a whole can never be totally disentangled from our societal commitments and political conflicts. Science is also never divorced from political economy; capital investments in biotechnologies and databases are also decisions made by human beings, sometimes for profit-motivated reasons. For example, I write about the DNA home testing firm 23andMe’s role in “born this way” politics today. A simpler way of putting this is that scientists and medical experts are human beings who bring their beliefs, biases, hopes, dreams, career aspirations, and fears into the lab with them.

Circling back to your second question, this is all essential for understanding how “change efforts” came to be seen as a dangerous pseudoscience. It is true that, after decades of researching and practicing attempts at “conversion,” mental health experts have come to see such practices as coercive and extremely harmful to those who are subjected to them. That is partially because change efforts have proven so dangerous and largely ineffective, but it’s also because our notion of “harm” has changed. An older generation of psychiatrists was also concerned with harm, but they were more worried about their gay clients’ life prospects given that being branded a homosexual could cost a person their job, family, children, and even their welfare or veteran benefits. Today, mental health professionals are duly concerned about the harms of coercive change efforts and societal discrimination. So, the scientific record has surely transformed—and in radical ways—but so have our values.

Did anything surprise you as the project developed?

I was most surprised by the fact that the “born this way” idea has been so adaptable. I say that because, not that long ago, there were activists and scholars who feared that the narrative would only work for gays and lesbians, leaving bisexual and trans people in the dust. However, that has not been the case at all, especially for trans people. For the past decade or so, civil rights attorneys have repeatedly brought gender identity clinicians, endocrinologists, neuroscientists, and other medical experts to testify in favor of trans civil rights. And many of those testimonies have featured quite strong claims about the biological roots of gender identity.

This has had some pretty powerful effects on trans civil rights law. In the book, I show how last decade’s legal war over “bathroom bills” were heavily textured by biology. Making the case that trans people should be allowed to use sex-segregated facilities that match their gender identities, some civil rights lawyers argued that brain scans and other studies illustrate that gender identity is not just one component of biological sex (as are chromosomes and genitals, for example), but is instead “sex itself.” This is where the law comes in. While U.S. federal statutory law lacks strong protections for trans people and LGBTQ+ people more generally, there are many laws and judicial decisions that prohibit “sex” discrimination. If you can slot your identity claims into that existing legal category using biology, then you have access to all kinds of protections against discrimination.

Some trans advocates disagree with this approach, citing the importance of antidiscrimination laws that explicitly protect trans people. Others lament the fact that biological arguments erase the autonomy to self-define. That is, if only biology, clinical papers, and gender dysphoria diagnoses can prove one’s “trans-ness,” then we’ve strayed quite far from visions of a less stringently gendered world. And if trans identity can be subjected to objective measures of biology, then we’re still stuck in a paradigm where folks often question whether a person is “truly” trans or perhaps a misdiagnosed “trans trender” or given some other false yet clinical-sounding alternative diagnosis. Such suspicion has become a common trope that has been wielded against gender-affirming health care and trans rights.

Early on, you write, “That we now conceive of LGBTQ+ identities as discrete, stable, and relatively innate extends from how tightly entwined the fight for equal rights and the science of sexuality and gender have become.” Why this tendency towards discreteness and stability? What are its ramifications?

Although we think about each part of that acronym as signifying a very specific kind of person who is easily distinguished from those people signified by an adjacent letter, that is a very historically contingent phenomenon. Back in the 1860s, the German sexologist Karl Ulrichs wrote about “urnings” who constituted a third sex; an urning was described as possessing the body of a man and the psyche or soul of a woman. Whereas Ulrichs was mostly talking about people today who we would think about as gay men, this sounds a lot more like some prominent contemporary notions of what it means to be a trans woman.

The modern LGBTQ+ movement owes its shape and logic to a few different factors. When it first formed in the 1950s, the modern gay and lesbian rights movement was often keen to present its identities as “respectable” and assimilable, meaning that the men wore suits, the women wore dresses, and their demands for equal rights would not disrupt the existing gendered state of affairs. For decades, gay and lesbian political organizing was quite distinct from those agitating for what we might call trans civil rights today.

As for the notion of “stability,” the law also played a role here. In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Frontiero v. Richardson that (cis) women deserved equal protection under the law because biological sex was “an immutable characteristic determined solely by the accident of birth.” Gay rights groups began to argue similarly that sexual orientation was immutable and, therefore, merited additional legal protections.

The last point I want to stress has to do with liberal pluralism. Taking inspiration from the mid-twentieth-century African American and women’s civil rights movements, the gay and lesbian movement organized itself into identity-based organizations that fought mainly for what we call formal antidiscrimination rights. That is, while some leaders in each one of these civil rights movements fought for more substantive agendas—ones which included a federal jobs guarantee, a universal health care system, and other economic programs that could create a more egalitarian society for all—they all became somewhat narrowly focused on the right from discrimination rather than the rights for some kind of broader equality. That narrower focus is a hallmark of liberal pluralism, which focuses much more on assimilating marginalized and oppressed groups without changing the rest of society, not least its class hierarchies. Ideologically, that project is cohered by the message that the most important feature of a person’s identity has to do with one’s racial, gender, or sexual status; that argument adroitly erases the immense class differences within a group like “the LGBTQ+ community,” and instead portrays antidiscrimination laws in employment and housing, for instance, as benefiting the entire community (even if many queer people cannot afford an apartment, which means that antidiscrimination protections won’t do very much for them).

One of the things that makes scientific evidence so potent is the sense that if done right, science can deliver simple, unquestionable truths. You call for heightened attention to this impulse, writing, “We ought then to be cognizant about how the desire ‘to know’ is textured by our circumstances.” What are some of the ways our circumstances can texture our desire for knowledge?

This is a good moment to say that there is not much evidence for the strongest “born this way” narrative. That is, our genetics, hormonal balances, and brain structures are likely not the reason that we identify or are identified as gay or straight, cis or trans, man or woman. Those are mainly social categories. That’s not a new perspective either; just look to famous assertions by mid twentieth century women’s liberationists like Kate Millett and the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir as well as the statements made by gay liberationist organizations like the Gay Liberation Front in the 1970s.

We should be careful to note that taking an anti-bioessentialist position does not require one to accept a radical version of “choice.” As a society, we do not conceive of religious affiliation as a biological category, but we generally accept that it is inhumane to force someone to betray their beliefs, especially if they do not cause harm to others. Just the same, one need not take an essentialist view of queer identity to see that attempts to forcibly “convert” or to otherwise disaffirm one’s sexuality or gender can be monstrous.

So then to the second part of your question, context is everything. When municipal reformers and eugenicists alike sought to quash so-called “deviant” sexual and gender practices in American cities and to “protect” the Anglo-Saxon white nuclear family from “barbarians,” they promoted pathological ideas about what it meant to be a non-cisgender, non-heterosexual individual (in fact, heterosexuality as a concept owes its character to these scientific and political efforts to distinguish queer people from the rest of society). And so, it is no surprise that politically mobilized queer people eventually assembled a bench of reformist scientists and mental health professionals who could contest the pathological thesis, both in medical practice and in the law. As one early lesbian leader expressed in the 1965, “ours is a science-oriented society, and scientists are God to most people.” Ergo, it can be politically expedient—and even existential—to “know” that queer people are not deranged or violent; even stronger, perhaps they are simply born that way.

Joanna Wuest is an incoming assistant professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University. Wuest was awarded an NEH Summer Stipends grant ( FT-278744-21 ) in 2021 to support her work on Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, & Inequality in the American LGBTQ+ Movement (University of Chicago Press, 2023). Born This Way has been featured on WNYC’s Radiolab and received honorable mention for the 2024 Rachel Carson Prize, awarded by the Society for Social Studies of Science.

The NEH Summer Stipends program promotes the creation and dissemination of advanced research in the humanities that is of value to scholars, the public, or both. The award funds two consecutive months of full-time work and is open to a wide range of individuals with projects at any stage of development. For more information on the Summer Stipends program, or to apply, see the program’s resource page . Contact @email with questions.

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Guidelines to the writing of case studies
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Born This Way: Science, Citizenship, and Inequality in the American
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Writing a case report in 10 steps

First steps

Getting consent

Information gathering

Coming up with a title

Background research

How your case is different

Writing an abstract

Designing and Conducting Case Studies

Definition and Overview

Educational Applications

Types and Design Concerns

Types of Case Studies

Identifying a Theoretical Perspective

Designing a Case Study

Conducting Case Studies

Method: Single or Multi-modal?

Participant Selection

Data Collection

Data Analysis

Composing the Case Study Report

Issues of Validity and Reliability

Commentary on Case Studies

Strengths and Weaknesses of Case Studies

Concerns about Reliability, Validity, and Generalizability

Annotated Bibliography

Related Links

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How to Write Case Reports and Case Series

INTRODUCTION

WHY ARE CASE REPORTS PUBLISHED?

ETHICAL ISSUES

HOW TO START?

COMPONENTS OF a CASE REPORT

Introduction

Describing the case

Figures and tables

Discussion including review

CASE SERIES - WHAT IS DIFFERENT?

ABSTRACT OF a CASE REPORT

REFERENCES IN a CASE REPORT

CHOOSING THE RIGHT JOURNAL

PUBLISHING THE CASE REPORT/SERIES AS a LETTER TO EDITOR/IMAGE SERIES

GUIDELINES FOR CASE REPORTS

AUTHORSHIP IN CASE REPORTS

CONCLUSIONS

Financial support and sponsorship

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