Case study, Cutback Management in the St. Croix: A RIF in the USDA

Case Study Analysis Guidelines

The case study method is a form of stimulation aimed at providing students with an understanding of the complexities relating to specific circumstances faced on the job. A case study should contain a complete description of an issue including all known events, people, and other impacting factors. It represents a situation/concern to be analyzed and resolved. Case studies should allow students to:

· Ask (or ask themselves) questions that help extract key information from a case

· Diagnose the case

· Define all the different issues involved in the case

· Make well thought out, fact-based decisions

· Formulate principles for handling future cases

In the field of public administration, the case study method is "an action plan" for resolving community issues. It provides clarity of purpose for what needs to be accomplished to effectively connect citizens to governance.

"Few public administrators expect ever to find a 'one size fits all' issue resolving approach for the vast range of circumstances/concerns that they are likely to encounter" (Public Administration - The Profession and the Practice).

Principles for Creating a Case Study Analysis

Each case should focus on a single issue/situation clearly delineated in one or two sentences, at most, and separated from paragraphs so as to easily determine what it is we are about to address.

A case study analysis must contain all the data necessary to arrive at a recommendation for resolution:

· Facts and events of the case

· Feelings, habits, attitudes, and expectations of the key stakeholders

· A clear description of the setting (time, place, and physical and social environment)

Steps in Creating a Case Study

1. Identify the Issue

· Must illustrate one or several specific principles.

· Will constitute the heart of the case study and thus influence all parts including how it is represented.

· Case studies are stories; they teach what stories teach - which happens to be what administrators most need to learn.

· Create an Outline of the Case Study

· Select facts and incidents that will be easily recognized and understood by participants.

· Organize these in a logical sequence. Remove any inflated or exaggerated components that might diminish the authenticity of the case.

2. Identify the Stakeholders

· Clearly identify each stakeholder in terms of his/her position.

· Write up the case study.

· Whether the case study is short or long, present a clear, concise, and coherent portrait of the stakeholders, events, and information.

· Use a writing style that is simple and direct - no long winded dissertations - one that speaks right to the reader.

· Occasionally include brief dialogues to create interest and allow readers to hear what the stakeholders in the case study have to say for themselves.

· In the case introduction, present your key stakeholders and provide information that clearly identifies him/her/them.  Establish the relationship between the stakeholders and the issue under study. Include the organizational context.

· Recount events or incidents in chronological order.

· Occasionally use "flashbacks" to fill in gaps or heighten the sense of realism in the case. In certain case studies, you may have events overlap, occur simultaneously, or repeat themselves.

· In the concluding sentence or paragraph of the case study, point out the need for some form of action: a decision, a recommendation for resolution, a weighing of alternatives, or a combination of these.

· End with a bridge of some sort that leads from your case study presentation to participant discussion. Three types of conclusion are frequently used: 1) open-ended conclusion: the participants define the facts and problems, 2) directed conclusions: specific questions, tasks, or even a quiz following a case study, 3) closed conclusions: a textbook solution is provided at the end of the case study.

3. Identify Stakeholder Perspectives 

· Understand that public administration is politics - not the "obvious politics" of high stakes electioneering and policy making, but the "other politics" of small-scale, behind the scenes problems solving: the nature of administrative casework follows accordingly.

· Stories don't come ready-made but must be formed through selection and shaping from the flow of events: "Case synthesis precedes case analysis."

· Keep your eye on the entire set of interacting decision-makers and interlocking policies: it's there you are most likely to find any lurking problems of under-determination.

· It's usually helpful to break out the goals being pursued, the variables that must be modified to move toward the goals, and the criteria to be borne in mind when pursuing the goals; it's in those criteria that problems of over-determinationare likely to originate.

· Remember Mile's Law: "Where one stands depends on where one sits."

· Search for the paradigm of the case, but expect departures from the underlying pattern; explore the progression of circumstances.

4. Make a Recommendation

· Cases involve choices; in a democracy, choice demands justification, which further implies a process of dialogue and an effort at persuasion.

· An effective administrative analyst must be ready to "speak in tongues;" expect to work in a variety of idioms and vocabularies.

· Most important of all: Trust your own experience and instincts!

"It is the object of administrative study to discover, first, what government can properly and successfully do, and secondly, how it can do these proper things with the utmost possible efficiency and the least possible cost either of money or of energy." - Woodrow Wilson

Case Study Analysis Individual Paper (125 points) - You alone will follow the instructions below, and write and submit an individual paper by the due date found in your Course Syllabus. All individual papers are due on the same date. You may use the information gathered by your group, and you may add to it, and/or change your recommendation. Write this paper alone. This paper is not a group project. Do not collaborate when writing this paper.

What is a Case Study?

Case studies are stories. They are formatted in such a way that at a glance one could easily determine the "issue" about to be discussed. We look to clearly address: who, what, when, where, why, and how to ensure that we have covered the story in its entirety. If you miss one of these factors, you leave the reader guessing and questioning your report. In Public Policy and Administration, our case studies/stories are required to be fact-based. Make sure your research is based on credible information. Verify, verify, verify. If you make a mistake, and/or are challenged on one of your "facts," it could create a host of issues. If you are found to be incorrect, the entire report is incorrect, and your credibility is suspect. Cite your research appropriately.

We call it an "issue" rather than a "problem" because a problem presents a negative image/connotation. Issues are not necessarily negative, and provide the policy analyst with an opportunity to evaluate each issue based on its own merits without taking a position of negative or positive.

What Does a Case Study Look Like?

A case study should be set up similar to story-telling. Do not write this as you would a thesis. You don't want to put in a lot of "fluff and stuff." Think of the reader/listener as a high level administrator whose in-box is full of documents that require review. To catch this administrator's attention, consider what he/she would be concerned with: the "issue" clearly delineated, then the people involved "stakeholders," the "positions" (where one stands depends upon where one sits) of these people/perspectives of the stakeholders, and then a fact-based well thought out "recommendation." Use the first paragraph or two (the video - discuss) to set the tone for the issue under consideration. Once you have the reader’s attention then you are prepared to move onto your 4-step policy analyses.

Why a 4-Step Policy Analysis?

We use the four-step policy analysis because of its simplicity and its thoroughness. There are plenty of other models, some with seven-steps, and others with ten-steps. It is not the number of steps that makes a case study. It is the report itself that stands on merit.

Do not change the language of the 4-steps or add other language, as new headings could change the report and its intent. It is vital that you understand this foundation as it will be used throughout your baccalaureate curriculum. Learning to use this in both your professional and personal lives will help you with your decision making in a variety of ways.

How Do I Begin?

Case studies are complex and may contain a myriad of issues, stakeholders, etc. It is your job to select one issue and then to stay on course as you work through your critical thinking and 4-step policy analysis. Do not say there are "many" issues as this may confuse the reader or leave him/her questioning why you chose one issue over another. Chose one...

Because of the complexity, identifying or defining an issue can be difficult. For our Introduction to Public Policy and Administration course we have provided for you, the student, a fictional case study written up in your  Public Administration - The Profession and the Practice textbook.

The textbook is from 1997, and contains ten case studies for your review and analysis. You may very well question the reason for such an "old" text. The reason for using this textbook is that none of the ten case studies contained within the text have been resolved. You ask, "How can this happen?" This is not an easy process. It is one that demands of the policy analyst the discipline necessary to do their due diligence to understand human behavior, internal and external pressures, resources, leadership, timing, tolerance, politics, and power. You may want to create an outline of the case study to help with organizing all of the information you uncover. Actually write down your findings, and upon completion of "all of the above," you can then, and only then, begin to organize your analysis.

How Should the Case Study Analysis Individual Paper Be Set Up?

Use only APA format, and include citations when completing your individual paper. Refer to  APA Formatting and Style Guide .

· Title Page

· Page numbers are required.

· One or two paragraphs to bring the reader into your story

· The following headers must be included within your paper: Issue, Stakeholders, Stakeholder Perspectives, Expert Interview, Recommendation(s)

· "Issue" in one or two sentences at the most, separated from any paragraphs. Bold your issue so the reader can see at a glance what your case study is.

· Include the history of your case study and any related laws

· Then, do your next steps that include "stakeholders and perspectives." The most common form used by students that sets up nicely is a chart:

Stakeholders	Perspectives
Mayor	The mayor would want…………and supports this……….………

· Paragraph on your "expert" face-to-face interview(s)

· Include face-to-face interview date, time, and location. We reserved the option to follow-up with your expert interviewee to verify your attendance. If we find you did not attend, you will receive a zero for the paper.

· Close with a strong recommendation based on your critical thinking, expert interviews, personal life experience, etc. (Do not call this a solution, etc.)

· Reference Page

· Your Case Study Analysis Individual Paper should be 6 to 10 pages in length, not including the Title and Reference pages, and written in APA format.