literature review on case study

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Writing a Case Study

Purpose of Guide
Design Flaws to Avoid
Independent and Dependent Variables
Glossary of Research Terms
Narrowing a Topic Idea
Broadening a Topic Idea
Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
Academic Writing Style
Choosing a Title
Making an Outline
Paragraph Development
Executive Summary
The C.A.R.S. Model
Background Information
The Research Problem/Question
Theoretical Framework
Citation Tracking
Content Alert Services
Evaluating Sources
Reading Research Effectively
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Tiertiary Sources
What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
Qualitative Methods
Quantitative Methods
Using Non-Textual Elements
Limitations of the Study
Common Grammar Mistakes
Writing Concisely
Avoiding Plagiarism
Footnotes or Endnotes?
Further Readings
Annotated Bibliography
Dealing with Nervousness
Using Visual Aids
Grading Someone Else's Paper
Types of Structured Group Activities
Group Project Survival Skills
Multiple Book Review Essay
Reviewing Collected Essays
Writing a Case Study
About Informed Consent
Writing Field Notes
Writing a Policy Memo
Writing a Research Proposal
Bibliography

The term case study refers to both a method of analysis and a specific research design for examining a problem, both of which are used in most circumstances to generalize across populations. This tab focuses on the latter--how to design and organize a research paper in the social sciences that analyzes a specific case.

A case study research paper examines a person, place, event, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis in order to extrapolate key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for understanding an important research problem with greater clarity. A case study paper usually examines a single subject of analysis, but case study papers can also be designed as a comparative investigation that shows relationships between two or among more than two subjects. The methods used to study a case can rest within a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method investigative paradigm.

Case Studies . Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010 ; “What is a Case Study?” In Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London: SAGE, 2010.

How to Approach Writing a Case Study Research Paper

General information about how to choose a topic to investigate can be found under the " Choosing a Research Problem " tab in this writing guide. Review this page because it may help you identify a subject of analysis that can be investigated using a single case study design.

However, identifying a case to investigate involves more than choosing the research problem . A case study encompasses a problem contextualized around the application of in-depth analysis, interpretation, and discussion, often resulting in specific recommendations for action or for improving existing conditions. As Seawright and Gerring note, practical considerations such as time and access to information can influence case selection, but these issues should not be the sole factors used in describing the methodological justification for identifying a particular case to study. Given this, selecting a case includes considering the following:

Does the case represent an unusual or atypical example of a research problem that requires more in-depth analysis? Cases often represent a topic that rests on the fringes of prior investigations because the case may provide new ways of understanding the research problem. For example, if the research problem is to identify strategies to improve policies that support girl's access to secondary education in predominantly Muslim nations, you could consider using Azerbaijan as a case study rather than selecting a more obvious nation in the Middle East. Doing so may reveal important new insights into recommending how governments in other predominantly Muslim nations can formulate policies that support improved access to education for girls.
Does the case provide important insight or illuminate a previously hidden problem? In-depth analysis of a case can be based on the hypothesis that the case study will reveal trends or issues that have not been exposed in prior research or will reveal new and important implications for practice. For example, anecdotal evidence may suggest drug use among homeless veterans is related to their patterns of travel throughout the day. Assuming prior studies have not looked at individual travel choices as a way to study access to illicit drug use, a case study that observes a homeless veteran could reveal how issues of personal mobility choices facilitate regular access to illicit drugs. Note that it is important to conduct a thorough literature review to ensure that your assumption about the need to reveal new insights or previously hidden problems is valid and evidence-based.
Does the case challenge and offer a counter-point to prevailing assumptions? Over time, research on any given topic can fall into a trap of developing assumptions based on outdated studies that are still applied to new or changing conditions or the idea that something should simply be accepted as "common sense," even though the issue has not been thoroughly tested in practice. A case may offer you an opportunity to gather evidence that challenges prevailing assumptions about a research problem and provide a new set of recommendations applied to practice that have not been tested previously. For example, perhaps there has been a long practice among scholars to apply a particular theory in explaining the relationship between two subjects of analysis. Your case could challenge this assumption by applying an innovative theoretical framework [perhaps borrowed from another discipline] to the study a case in order to explore whether this approach offers new ways of understanding the research problem. Taking a contrarian stance is one of the most important ways that new knowledge and understanding develops from existing literature.
Does the case provide an opportunity to pursue action leading to the resolution of a problem? Another way to think about choosing a case to study is to consider how the results from investigating a particular case may result in findings that reveal ways in which to resolve an existing or emerging problem. For example, studying the case of an unforeseen incident, such as a fatal accident at a railroad crossing, can reveal hidden issues that could be applied to preventative measures that contribute to reducing the chance of accidents in the future. In this example, a case study investigating the accident could lead to a better understanding of where to strategically locate additional signals at other railroad crossings in order to better warn drivers of an approaching train, particularly when visibility is hindered by heavy rain, fog, or at night.
Does the case offer a new direction in future research? A case study can be used as a tool for exploratory research that points to a need for further examination of the research problem. A case can be used when there are few studies that help predict an outcome or that establish a clear understanding about how best to proceed in addressing a problem. For example, after conducting a thorough literature review [very important!], you discover that little research exists showing the ways in which women contribute to promoting water conservation in rural communities of Uganda. A case study of how women contribute to saving water in a particular village can lay the foundation for understanding the need for more thorough research that documents how women in their roles as cooks and family caregivers think about water as a valuable resource within their community throughout rural regions of east Africa. The case could also point to the need for scholars to apply feminist theories of work and family to the issue of water conservation.

Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. “Building Theories from Case Study Research.” Academy of Management Review 14 (October 1989): 532-550; Emmel, Nick. Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research: A Realist Approach . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013; Gerring, John. “What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?” American Political Science Review 98 (May 2004): 341-354; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Seawright, Jason and John Gerring. "Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research." Political Research Quarterly 61 (June 2008): 294-308.

Structure and Writing Style

The purpose of a paper in the social sciences designed around a case study is to thoroughly investigate a subject of analysis in order to reveal a new understanding about the research problem and, in so doing, contributing new knowledge to what is already known from previous studies. In applied social sciences disciplines [e.g., education, social work, public administration, etc.], case studies may also be used to reveal best practices, highlight key programs, or investigate interesting aspects of professional work. In general, the structure of a case study research paper is not all that different from a standard college-level research paper. However, there are subtle differences you should be aware of. Here are the key elements to organizing and writing a case study research paper.

I. Introduction

As with any research paper, your introduction should serve as a roadmap for your readers to ascertain the scope and purpose of your study . The introduction to a case study research paper, however, should not only describe the research problem and its significance, but you should also succinctly describe why the case is being used and how it relates to addressing the problem. The two elements should be linked. With this in mind, a good introduction answers these four questions:

What was I studying? Describe the research problem and describe the subject of analysis you have chosen to address the problem. Explain how they are linked and what elements of the case will help to expand knowledge and understanding about the problem.
Why was this topic important to investigate? Describe the significance of the research problem and state why a case study design and the subject of analysis that the paper is designed around is appropriate in addressing the problem.
What did we know about this topic before I did this study? Provide background that helps lead the reader into the more in-depth literature review to follow. If applicable, summarize prior case study research applied to the research problem and why it fails to adequately address the research problem. Describe why your case will be useful. If no prior case studies have been used to address the research problem, explain why you have selected this subject of analysis.
How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding? Explain why your case study will be suitable in helping to expand knowledge and understanding about the research problem.

Each of these questions should be addressed in no more than a few paragraphs. Exceptions to this can be when you are addressing a complex research problem or subject of analysis that requires more in-depth background information.

II. Literature Review

The literature review for a case study research paper is generally structured the same as it is for any college-level research paper. The difference, however, is that the literature review is focused on providing background information and enabling historical interpretation of the subject of analysis in relation to the research problem the case is intended to address . This includes synthesizing studies that help to:

Place relevant works in the context of their contribution to understanding the case study being investigated . This would include summarizing studies that have used a similar subject of analysis to investigate the research problem. If there is literature using the same or a very similar case to study, you need to explain why duplicating past research is important [e.g., conditions have changed; prior studies were conducted long ago, etc.].
Describe the relationship each work has to the others under consideration that informs the reader why this case is applicable . Your literature review should include a description of any works that support using the case to study the research problem and the underlying research questions.
Identify new ways to interpret prior research using the case study . If applicable, review any research that has examined the research problem using a different research design. Explain how your case study design may reveal new knowledge or a new perspective or that can redirect research in an important new direction.
Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies . This refers to synthesizing any literature that points to unresolved issues of concern about the research problem and describing how the subject of analysis that forms the case study can help resolve these existing contradictions.
Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research . Your review should examine any literature that lays a foundation for understanding why your case study design and the subject of analysis around which you have designed your study may reveal a new way of approaching the research problem or offer a perspective that points to the need for additional research.
Expose any gaps that exist in the literature that the case study could help to fill . Summarize any literature that not only shows how your subject of analysis contributes to understanding the research problem, but how your case contributes to a new way of understanding the problem that prior research has failed to do.
Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important!] . Collectively, your literature review should always place your case study within the larger domain of prior research about the problem. The overarching purpose of reviewing pertinent literature in a case study paper is to demonstrate that you have thoroughly identified and synthesized prior studies in the context of explaining the relevance of the case in addressing the research problem.

III. Method

In this section, you explain why you selected a particular subject of analysis to study and the strategy you used to identify and ultimately decide that your case was appropriate in addressing the research problem. The way you describe the methods used varies depending on the type of subject of analysis that frames your case study.

If your subject of analysis is an incident or event . In the social and behavioral sciences, the event or incident that represents the case to be studied is usually bounded by time and place, with a clear beginning and end and with an identifiable location or position relative to its surroundings. The subject of analysis can be a rare or critical event or it can focus on a typical or regular event. The purpose of studying a rare event is to illuminate new ways of thinking about the broader research problem or to test a hypothesis. Critical incident case studies must describe the method by which you identified the event and explain the process by which you determined the validity of this case to inform broader perspectives about the research problem or to reveal new findings. However, the event does not have to be a rare or uniquely significant to support new thinking about the research problem or to challenge an existing hypothesis. For example, Walo, Bull, and Breen conducted a case study to identify and evaluate the direct and indirect economic benefits and costs of a local sports event in the City of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of their study was to provide new insights from measuring the impact of a typical local sports event that prior studies could not measure well because they focused on large "mega-events." Whether the event is rare or not, the methods section should include an explanation of the following characteristics of the event: a) when did it take place; b) what were the underlying circumstances leading to the event; c) what were the consequences of the event.

If your subject of analysis is a person. Explain why you selected this particular individual to be studied and describe what experience he or she has had that provides an opportunity to advance new understandings about the research problem. Mention any background about this person which might help the reader understand the significance of his/her experiences that make them worthy of study. This includes describing the relationships this person has had with other people, institutions, and/or events that support using him or her as the subject for a case study research paper. It is particularly important to differentiate the person as the subject of analysis from others and to succinctly explain how the person relates to examining the research problem.

If your subject of analysis is a place. In general, a case study that investigates a place suggests a subject of analysis that is unique or special in some way and that this uniqueness can be used to build new understanding or knowledge about the research problem. A case study of a place must not only describe its various attributes relevant to the research problem [e.g., physical, social, cultural, economic, political, etc.], but you must state the method by which you determined that this place will illuminate new understandings about the research problem. It is also important to articulate why a particular place as the case for study is being used if similar places also exist [i.e., if you are studying patterns of homeless encampments of veterans in open spaces, why study Echo Park in Los Angeles rather than Griffith Park?]. If applicable, describe what type of human activity involving this place makes it a good choice to study [e.g., prior research reveals Echo Park has more homeless veterans].

If your subject of analysis is a phenomenon. A phenomenon refers to a fact, occurrence, or circumstance that can be studied or observed but with the cause or explanation to be in question. In this sense, a phenomenon that forms your subject of analysis can encompass anything that can be observed or presumed to exist but is not fully understood. In the social and behavioral sciences, the case usually focuses on human interaction within a complex physical, social, economic, cultural, or political system. For example, the phenomenon could be the observation that many vehicles used by ISIS fighters are small trucks with English language advertisements on them. The research problem could be that ISIS fighters are difficult to combat because they are highly mobile. The research questions could be how and by what means are these vehicles used by ISIS being supplied to the militants and how might supply lines to these vehicles be cut? How might knowing the suppliers of these trucks from overseas reveal larger networks of collaborators and financial support? A case study of a phenomenon most often encompasses an in-depth analysis of a cause and effect that is grounded in an interactive relationship between people and their environment in some way.

NOTE: The choice of the case or set of cases to study cannot appear random. Evidence that supports the method by which you identified and chose your subject of analysis should be linked to the findings from the literature review. Be sure to cite any prior studies that helped you determine that the case you chose was appropriate for investigating the research problem.

IV. Discussion

The main elements of your discussion section are generally the same as any research paper, but centered around interpreting and drawing conclusions about the key findings from your case study. Note that a general social sciences research paper may contain a separate section to report findings. However, in a paper designed around a case study, it is more common to combine a description of the findings with the discussion about their implications. The objectives of your discussion section should include the following:

Reiterate the Research Problem/State the Major Findings Briefly reiterate the research problem you are investigating and explain why the subject of analysis around which you designed the case study were used. You should then describe the findings revealed from your study of the case using direct, declarative, and succinct proclamation of the study results. Highlight any findings that were unexpected or especially profound.

Explain the Meaning of the Findings and Why They are Important Systematically explain the meaning of your case study findings and why you believe they are important. Begin this part of the section by repeating what you consider to be your most important or surprising finding first, then systematically review each finding. Be sure to thoroughly extrapolate what your analysis of the case can tell the reader about situations or conditions beyond the actual case that was studied while, at the same time, being careful not to misconstrue or conflate a finding that undermines the external validity of your conclusions.

Relate the Findings to Similar Studies No study in the social sciences is so novel or possesses such a restricted focus that it has absolutely no relation to previously published research. The discussion section should relate your case study results to those found in other studies, particularly if questions raised from prior studies served as the motivation for choosing your subject of analysis. This is important because comparing and contrasting the findings of other studies helps to support the overall importance of your results and it highlights how and in what ways your case study design and the subject of analysis differs from prior research about the topic.

Consider Alternative Explanations of the Findings It is important to remember that the purpose of social science research is to discover and not to prove. When writing the discussion section, you should carefully consider all possible explanations for the case study results, rather than just those that fit your hypothesis or prior assumptions and biases. Be alert to what the in-depth analysis of the case may reveal about the research problem, including offering a contrarian perspective to what scholars have stated in prior research.

Acknowledge the Study's Limitations You can state the study's limitations in the conclusion section of your paper but describing the limitations of your subject of analysis in the discussion section provides an opportunity to identify the limitations and explain why they are not significant. This part of the discussion section should also note any unanswered questions or issues your case study could not address. More detailed information about how to document any limitations to your research can be found here .

Suggest Areas for Further Research Although your case study may offer important insights about the research problem, there are likely additional questions related to the problem that remain unanswered or findings that unexpectedly revealed themselves as a result of your in-depth analysis of the case. Be sure that the recommendations for further research are linked to the research problem and that you explain why your recommendations are valid in other contexts and based on the original assumptions of your study.

V. Conclusion

As with any research paper, you should summarize your conclusion in clear, simple language; emphasize how the findings from your case study differs from or supports prior research and why. Do not simply reiterate the discussion section. Provide a synthesis of key findings presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem. If you haven't already done so in the discussion section, be sure to document the limitations of your case study and needs for further research.

The function of your paper's conclusion is to: 1) restate the main argument supported by the findings from the analysis of your case; 2) clearly state the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem using a case study design in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found from reviewing the literature; and, 3) provide a place for you to persuasively and succinctly restate the significance of your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with in-depth information about the topic.

Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is appropriate:

If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize these points for your reader.
If prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the conclusion of your paper to describe your main points and explain their significance.
Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration of the case study's findings that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from your case study findings.

Note that, depending on the discipline you are writing in and your professor's preferences, the concluding paragraph may contain your final reflections on the evidence presented applied to practice or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the subject of analysis you have investigated will depend on whether you are explicitly asked to express your observations in this way.

Problems to Avoid

Overgeneralization One of the goals of a case study is to lay a foundation for understanding broader trends and issues applied to similar circumstances. However, be careful when drawing conclusions from your case study. They must be evidence-based and grounded in the results of the study; otherwise, it is merely speculation. Looking at a prior example, it would be incorrect to state that a factor in improving girls access to education in Azerbaijan and the policy implications this may have for improving access in other Muslim nations is due to girls access to social media if there is no documentary evidence from your case study to indicate this. There may be anecdotal evidence that retention rates were better for girls who were on social media, but this observation would only point to the need for further research and would not be a definitive finding if this was not a part of your original research agenda.

Failure to Document Limitations No case is going to reveal all that needs to be understood about a research problem. Therefore, just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study , you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis. For example, the case of studying how women conceptualize the need for water conservation in a village in Uganda could have limited application in other cultural contexts or in areas where fresh water from rivers or lakes is plentiful and, therefore, conservation is understood differently than preserving access to a scarce resource.

Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings. If you do not, your reader may question the validity of your analysis, particularly if you failed to document an obvious outcome from your case study research. For example, in the case of studying the accident at the railroad crossing to evaluate where and what types of warning signals should be located, you failed to take into consideration speed limit signage as well as warning signals. When designing your case study, be sure you have thoroughly addressed all aspects of the problem and do not leave gaps in your analysis.

Case Studies . Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Gerring, John. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Merriam, Sharan B. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education . Rev. ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998; Miller, Lisa L. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science Research.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14 (2018): TBD; Mills, Albert J., Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Putney, LeAnn Grogan. "Case Study." In Encyclopedia of Research Design , Neil J. Salkind, editor. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010), pp. 116-120; Simons, Helen. Case Study Research in Practice . London: SAGE Publications, 2009; Kratochwill, Thomas R. and Joel R. Levin, editors. Single-Case Research Design and Analysis: New Development for Psychology and Education . Hilldsale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992; Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London : SAGE, 2010; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Los Angeles, CA, SAGE Publications, 2014; Walo, Maree, Adrian Bull, and Helen Breen. “Achieving Economic Benefits at Local Events: A Case Study of a Local Sports Event.” Festival Management and Event Tourism 4 (1996): 95-106.

Writing Tip

At Least Five Misconceptions about Case Study Research

Social science case studies are often perceived as limited in their ability to create new knowledge because they are not randomly selected and findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. Flyvbjerg examines five misunderstandings about case study research and systematically "corrects" each one. To quote, these are:

Misunderstanding 1 : General, theoretical [context-independent knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical (context-dependent) knowledge. Misunderstanding 2 : One cannot generalize on the basis of an individual case; therefore, the case study cannot contribute to scientific development. Misunderstanding 3 : The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses; that is, in the first stage of a total research process, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building. Misunderstanding 4 : The case study contains a bias toward verification, that is, a tendency to confirm the researcher’s preconceived notions. Misunderstanding 5 : It is often difficult to summarize and develop general propositions and theories on the basis of specific case studies [p. 221].

While writing your paper, think introspectively about how you addressed these misconceptions because to do so can help you strengthen the validity and reliability of your research by clarifying issues of case selection, the testing and challenging of existing assumptions, the interpretation of key findings, and the summation of case outcomes. Think of a case study research paper as a complete, in-depth narrative about the specific properties and key characteristics of your subject of analysis applied to the research problem.

Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 12 (April 2006): 219-245.

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A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research

Patricia Anne Brown University of Calgary

Author Biography

Patricia anne brown, university of calgary.

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CC0006 Basics of Report Writing

Structure of a report (case study, literature review or survey).

Structure of report (Site visit)
Citing Sources
Tips and Resources

The information in the report has to be organised in the best possible way for the reader to understand the issue being investigated, analysis of the findings and recommendations or implications that relate directly to the findings. Given below are the main sections of a standard report. Click on each section heading to learn more about it.

Tells the reader what the report is about
Informative, short, catchy

Example - Sea level rise in Singapore : Causes, Impact and Solution

The title page must also include group name, group members and their matriculation numbers.

Content s Page

Has headings and subheadings that show the reader where the various sections of the report are located
Written on a separate page
Includes the page numbers of each section
Briefly summarises the report, the process of research and final conclusions
Provides a quick overview of the report and describes the main highlights
Short, usually not more than 150 words in length
Mention briefly why you choose this project, what are the implications and what kind of problems it will solve

Usually, the abstract is written last, ie. after writing the other sections and you know the key points to draw out from these sections. Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in the report to decide whether it is relevant to their purposes.

Introduction

Discusses the background and sets the context
Introduces the topic, significance of the problem, and the purpose of research
Gives the scope ie shows what it includes and excludes

In the introduction, write about what motivates your project, what makes it interesting, what questions do you aim to answer by doing your project. The introduction lays the foundation for understanding the research problem and should be written in a way that leads the reader from the general subject area of the topic to the particular topic of research.

Literature Review

Helps to gain an understanding of the existing research in that topic
To develop on your own ideas and build your ideas based on the existing knowledge
Prevents duplication of the research done by others

Search the existing literature for information. Identify the data pertinent to your topic. Review, extract the relevant information for eg how the study was conducted and the findings. Summarise the information. Write what is already known about the topic and what do the sources that you have reviewed say. Identify conflicts in previous studies, open questions, or gaps that may exist. If you are doing

Case study - look for background information and if any similar case studies have been done before.
Literature review - find out from literature, what is the background to the questions that you are looking into
Site visit - use the literature review to read up and prepare good questions before hand.
Survey - find out if similar surveys have been done before and what did they find?

Keep a record of the source details of any information you want to use in your report so that you can reference them accurately.

Methodology

Methodology is the approach that you take to gather data and arrive at the recommendation(s). Choose a method that is appropriate for the research topic and explain it in detail.

In this section, address the following: a) How the data was collected b) How it was analysed and c) Explain or justify why a particular method was chosen.

Usually, the methodology is written in the past tense and can be in the passive voice. Some examples of the different methods that you can use to gather data are given below. The data collected provides evidence to build your arguments. Collect data, integrate the findings and perspectives from different studies and add your own analysis of its feasibility.

For CC0006 Group Project, use one of the four methods listed below:

Explore the literature/news/internet sources to know the topic in depth
Give a description of how you selected the literature for your project
Compare the studies, and highlight the findings, gaps or limitations.
An in-depth, detailed examination of specific cases within a real-world context.
Enables you to examine the data within a specific context.
Examine a well defined case to identify the essential factors, process and relationship.
Write the case description, the context and the process involved.
Make sense of the evidence in the case(s) to answer the research question
Gather data from a predefined group of respondents by asking relevant questions
Can be conducted in person or online
Why you chose this method (questionnaires, focus group, experimental procedure, etc)
How you carried out the survey. Include techniques and any equipment you used
If there were participants in your research, who were they? How did you select them and how may were there?
How the survey questions address the different aspects of the research question
Analyse the technology / policy approaches by visiting the required sites
Make a detailed report on its features and your understanding of it

Results and Analysis

Present the results of the study. You may consider visualising the results in tables and graphs, graphics etc.
Analyse the results to obtain answer to the research question.
Provide an analysis of the technical and financial feasibility, social acceptability etc

Discussion, Limitation(s) and Implication(s)

Discuss your interpretations of the analysis and the significance of your findings
Explain any new understanding or insights that emerged as a result of your research
Consider the different perspectives (social, economic and environmental)in the discussion
Explain the limitation(s)
Explain how could what you found be used to make a difference for sustainability

Conclusion and Recommendations

Summarise the significance and outcome of the study highlighting the key points.
Come up with alternatives and propose specific actions based on the alternatives
Describe the result or improvement it would achieve
Explain how it will be implemented

Recommendations should have an innovative approach and should be feasible. It should make a significant difference in solving the issue under discussion.

List the sources you have referred to in your writing
Use the recommended citation style consistently in your report

Appendix (if necessary/any)

Include any material relating to the report and research that does not fit in the body of the report, in the appendix. For example, you may include survey questionnaire and results in the appendix.

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Knowledge Base

Methodology

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.

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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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A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research

This paper presents a review of the literature on case study research and comments on the ongoing debate of the value of case study. A research paradigm and its theoretical framework is described. This review focuses extensively on the positions of

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The paper maps the value of case study in management research. In particular, it deals with the paradigmatic aspects of case study as a research strategy. In order to analyse the convergence and divergence on different dimensions of the case study research, I focus on three well-known methodology experts, namely Robert Yin, Sharan Merriam and Robert Stake. I argue that case study is a comprehensive research strategy. It has the capacity to embrace paradigm plurality representing both inductive and deductive strategies. Because of its epistemological, ontological and methodological flexibility case study has become one of the established research approaches in management. There is no fixed set of methods for the case study research. This depends on the ontological presuppositions of the researchers. The significance of the ontology becomes apparent depending on the nature of the case and the types of the research questions. As case study research is reflexive, flexible and context-specific, it allows emerging contexts to shape methods. That is why it can act as a bridge across the research paradigms. I then look at the considerable influence that the case study approach has on the management research, i.e., the role for case study in the research process. Because of its overarching role, multi-paradigmatic approach can be adopted under case study research. Case study research is, in practice a varied methodology with paradigmatic pluralism covering an array of research methods and techniques and different levels of analysis.

International Leadership Journal

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Extension of theory using a multiple-case study design can contribute value to a particular theoretical perspective and further define the boundaries of the original theory. Most organizations today operate in volatile economic and social environments. Qualitative research plays an essential role in the investigation of leadership and management problems, given that they remain complex social enigmas. The multiple case study design is a valuable qualitative research tool in studying the links between the personal, social, behavioral, psychological, organizational, cultural, and environmental factors that guide managerial and leadership development. Multiple-case studies can be used by both novice and experienced qualitative researchers to contribute original qualitative data to extant theory. Multiple-case study research is particularly suitable for responding to "how" and "why" and what Eisenhardt terms as "big picture" research questions that remain unanswered in the extant leadership and management literature.

Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology

Thakur P R A S A D Bhatta

Case study research though increasingly popular in social sciences for positivist and intrepretivist research, a kind of confusion is prevalent when it is used ignoring its philosophical position. Arguably, the case study research is considered more appropriate for qualitative research because of its foremost strength ˗ the in-depth study of complex issues. This paper, drawing from the literature, discusses the philosophical position of case study research and argues that qualitative case study research is appropriate for theory building. For theory building, this paper follows the inductive approach guided by qualitative research paradigm and argues that it is not appropriate to assess theory building from the perspective of quantitative research. Very similar to other research methods, it is natural that the case study research has certain challenges; however, most of the challenges and misunderstandings overlap causing difficulty to understand the role of case study research. Hence, this paper aims to contribute to the understandings of the challenges and misunderstandings associated with the theory building from case study research. This paper argues that most of the challenges associated with theory building from case study can be addressed employing appropriate research strategies particularly clear understanding of philosophical stance and selection of appropriate case. The misunderstandings, on the other hand, are arisen due to the differences in the researcher's perspectives particularly positivistic thinking of them rather than the shortcomings inherent in the qualitative case study research design.

Florian Kohlbacher

This paper aims at exploring and discus sing the possibilities of applying qualitative content analysis as a (text) interpretation method in case study research. First, case study research as a research strategy within qualitative social research is briefly presented. Then, a basic introduction to (qualitative) content analysis as an interpretation method for qualitative interviews and other data material is given.

Assessment of Qualitative

15th NCVER conference

John Guenther

milton malaya

Lesley Bartlett

casestudies journal

Qualitative case-study research has experienced an upsurge in business management fields of inquiry in the recent past. A methodology is selection, justification and sequential arranging of activities, procedures and tasks in a research project. Research methodology can no longer be confined to a set of universally applicable rules, conventions and traditions. A research paradigm is a set of propositions that explains how the world is perceived. There are three basic paradigms: positivist, interpretive and critical. Qualitative " approaches to research " , " strategies of inquiry " and " varieties of methodologies " classified into five " types " or " traditions " namely; biography, phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography and case study. The major criticism made of qualitative methods is that they are impressionistic and non-verifiable, post-positivists who reject this charge claiming that qualitative data is auditable and therefore dependable. The less structured qualitative methodologies reject many of the positivists " constructions over what constitutes rigour, favouring instead the flexibility, creativity and otherwise inaccessible insights afforded by alternative routes of inquiry that embrace storytelling, recollection, and dialogue. Case study research is not really a " methodology " or a method, rather an approach to research. Case studies can be ethnographic or not and some scholars identified it as a strategy of social inquiry. It is argued that, case studies are more appropriate to investigate causal relationships prevailing both in the business field as well as in wider society in general.

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YSN Doctoral Programs: Steps in Conducting a Literature Review

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Steps in Conducting a Literature Review

What is a literature review?

A literature review is an integrated analysis -- not just a summary-- of scholarly writings and other relevant evidence related directly to your research question. That is, it represents a synthesis of the evidence that provides background information on your topic and shows a association between the evidence and your research question.

A literature review may be a stand alone work or the introduction to a larger research paper, depending on the assignment. Rely heavily on the guidelines your instructor has given you.

Why is it important?

A literature review is important because it:

Explains the background of research on a topic.
Demonstrates why a topic is significant to a subject area.
Discovers relationships between research studies/ideas.
Identifies major themes, concepts, and researchers on a topic.
Identifies critical gaps and points of disagreement.
Discusses further research questions that logically come out of the previous studies.

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1. Choose a topic. Define your research question.

Your literature review should be guided by your central research question. The literature represents background and research developments related to a specific research question, interpreted and analyzed by you in a synthesized way.

Make sure your research question is not too broad or too narrow. Is it manageable?
Begin writing down terms that are related to your question. These will be useful for searches later.
If you have the opportunity, discuss your topic with your professor and your class mates.

2. Decide on the scope of your review

How many studies do you need to look at? How comprehensive should it be? How many years should it cover?

This may depend on your assignment. How many sources does the assignment require?

3. Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches.

Make a list of the databases you will search.

Where to find databases:

use the tabs on this guide
Find other databases in the Nursing Information Resources web page
More on the Medical Library web page
... and more on the Yale University Library web page

4. Conduct your searches to find the evidence. Keep track of your searches.

Use the key words in your question, as well as synonyms for those words, as terms in your search. Use the database tutorials for help.
Save the searches in the databases. This saves time when you want to redo, or modify, the searches. It is also helpful to use as a guide is the searches are not finding any useful results.
Review the abstracts of research studies carefully. This will save you time.
Use the bibliographies and references of research studies you find to locate others.
Check with your professor, or a subject expert in the field, if you are missing any key works in the field.
Ask your librarian for help at any time.
Use a citation manager, such as EndNote as the repository for your citations. See the EndNote tutorials for help.

Review the literature

Some questions to help you analyze the research:

What was the research question of the study you are reviewing? What were the authors trying to discover?
Was the research funded by a source that could influence the findings?
What were the research methodologies? Analyze its literature review, the samples and variables used, the results, and the conclusions.
Does the research seem to be complete? Could it have been conducted more soundly? What further questions does it raise?
If there are conflicting studies, why do you think that is?
How are the authors viewed in the field? Has this study been cited? If so, how has it been analyzed?

Tips:

Review the abstracts carefully.
Keep careful notes so that you may track your thought processes during the research process.
Create a matrix of the studies for easy analysis, and synthesis, across all of the studies.
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Glob J Health Sci
v.8(3); 2016 Mar

Histological Stains: A Literature Review and Case Study

Hani a alturkistani.

1 Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Faris M Tashkandi

Zuhair m mohammedsaleh.

2 Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

The history of histology indicates that there have been significant changes in the techniques used for histological staining through chemical, molecular biology assays and immunological techniques, collectively referred to as histochemistry. Early histologists used the readily available chemicals to prepare tissues for microscopic studies; these laboratory chemicals were potassium dichromate, alcohol and the mercuric chloride to harden cellular tissues. Staining techniques used were carmine, silver nitrate, Giemsa, Trichrome Stains, Gram Stain and Hematoxylin among others.

The purpose of this research was to assess past and current literature reviews, as well as case studies, with the aim of informing ways in which histological stains have been improved in the modern age. Results from the literature review has indicated that there has been an improvement in histopathology and histotechnology in stains used. There has been a rising need for efficient, accurate and less complex staining procedures. Many stain procedures are still in use today, and many others have been replaced with new immunostaining, molecular, non-culture and other advanced staining techniques. Some staining methods have been abandoned because the chemicals required have been medically proven to be toxic. The case studies indicated that in modern histology a combination of different stain techniques are used to enhance the effectiveness of the staining process. Currently, improved histological stains, have been modified and combined with other stains to improve their effectiveness.

1. Introduction

Histology is the microscopic study of animal and plant cell and tissues through staining and sectioning and examining them under a microscope (electron or light microscope). There are various methods used to study tissue characteristics and microscopic structures of the cells. Histological studies are used in forensic investigations, autopsy, diagnosis and in education. In addition, histology is used extensively in medicine especially in the study of diseased tissues to aid treatment ( Black, 2012 ).

Histological staining is a series of technique processes undertaken in the preparation of sample tissues by staining using histological stains to aid in the microscope study ( Anderson, 2011 ). The process of histological staining takes five key stages which involve; fixation, processing, embedding, sectioning and staining ( Titford, 2009 ). Great changes have been done on techniques used for histological staining through chemical, molecular biology assays and immunological techniques collectively and have facilitated greatly in the study of organs and tissues ( Shostak, 2013 ).

2. Specific Aspects of Histopathology

2.1 staining.

Staining is used to highlight important features of the tissue as well as to enhance the tissue contrast. Hematoxylin is a basic dye that is commonly used in this process and stains the nuclei giving it a bluish color while eosin (another stain dye used in histology) stains the cell's nucleus giving it a pinkish stain. However, there are other several staining technicques used for particular cells and components ( Black, 2012 ). Staining is a commonly used medical process in the medical diagnosis of tumors in which a dye color is applied on the posterior and anterior border of the sample tissues to locate the diseased or tumorous cells or other pathological cells ( Musumeci, 2014 ). In biological studies staining is used to mark cells and to flag nucleic acids, proteins or the gel electrophoresis to aid in the microscopic examination ( Jackson & Blythe, 2013 ). In some cases, various multiple staining methods are used such as differential staining, double staining or the multiple staining ( Iyiola & Avwioro, 2011 ).

2.2 Fixation

In histology, fixation refers to the use of chemicals to preserve the natural tissue structure and maintain the cell structure from degradation. Mostly, neutral buffered formalin is used in this case when a light microscope is to be used to conduct the study. Fixatives enhance the preservation of tissues and cells through an irreversible process through cross-linking proteins. However, while the process serves to preserve the structure of the cell for the purpose of histological studies, it has been found to destroy and denature proteins rendering them dysfunctional ( Young, O’Dowd, & Stewart, 2010 ). Formalin fixation denatures the DNA, miRNA and the mRNA tissues and extraction of these components for the purpose of histology may lead to flawed results ( Anderson, 2011 ).

The fixation phase retains the chemical composition of the tissues, hardens the cells or tissues for sectioning and delays degradation ( Titford, 2009 ). In addition, fixatives changes tissue penetration and influence antigen exposures which may be productive or detrimental ( Iyiola & Avwioro, 2011 ). These fixatives are administered in two ways: through perfusion and immersion of the prepared tissue. These fixatives are infused in the animals’ body through diffusion. Perfusion is a slower process, require more time and only one fixative can be used at a time ( Shostak, 2013 ). There are a number of fixatives in use, but the formaldehyde fixatives are the most commonly used ( Black, 2012 ). The neutral buffered formalin (NBF) stabilizes amino acids in proteins and offers good tissues and cell structure preservation. The paraffin-formalin (paraformaldehyde- PFA) is effective in immunostaining but requires it to be freshly prepared to enhance its effectiveness ( Iyiola & Avwioro, 2011 ). The Bouin fixative has been found to be effective in delicate and soft tissues such as small tissues, embryo and brain tissues ( Musumeci, 2014 ). Bouin fixative offers good preservation of nuclei and the glycogen, but its penetrations are slow and distorts mitochondria and the kidney tissues ( Weiss, Delcour, Meyer, & Klopfleisch, 2010 ).

Dehydration: In this step, the aim is to remove water from the selected tissues to solidify them and facilitate the cutting of thin sections of slides, more thinly for use in light microscopes and thick for the electron microscope. Water is removed from the tissues through the dehydration method through ethanol ( Shostak, 2013 ). The process is repeated through a hydrophobic clearing substance such as xylene to remove the alcohol and paraffin wax and the infiltrated agent. Resins are used to enhance cutting of thin sections of the tissues ( Titford, 2009 ).

Embedding: In staining, the process of embedding is done using paraffin wax to enhance easier extraction of cellular structures. In complex cellular tissues, plastic resin or wax is used, or combinations of fixatives are used to produce good morphology ( Musumeci, 2014 ). However, these fixatives may lead to degradation of the cell and tissue structures due to prolonged heating, and this may lead to problems when conducting the hybridization process arising from the unstable RNA. In the same line, the infiltration of paraffin wax leads to inhibition of the penetration of antibody, chemical other fixatives. In order to alleviate this problem, freezing of tissues after the embedding, removing wax after staining and the use of PFA fixatives offers a reliable solution to improved morphology ( Titford, 2009 ).

Sectioning: In histology sectioning refers to the preparation of ‘ribbon’ like microtomes of a tissue for the purpose of mounting it on a microscope slide for examination ( Cai, Caswell, & Prescott, 2014 ). In this case, a series of thin sections of tissues of required thickness are cut and prepared through the paraffin method.

Antigens Retrieval: This is the next process after fixation and embedding and focuses on retrieving antigens that have been masked. When formalin fixatives are used as well as other aldehyde fixations the cross-linking of proteins leads to masking of the antigen sites, and this leads to weaker immunohistochemical staining. The antigen retrieval process serves to break protein cross-links and unmask the epitopes and the antigens that were fixed and embedded using formalin and paraffin ( Titford, 2009 ). The overall strategy is to improve on the staining intensity of the antibodies ( Cai, Caswell, & Prescott, 2014 ).

The commonly used antigen retrieval techniques are through heat-induced and proteolytic retrieval methods. The proteolysis digestion process should take the minimal dosage and time possible to avoid over digestion that may denature the tissue structures and the epitopes ( Musumeci, 2014 ). The heat method leads to protein denaturalization and in some cases antigens are lost ( Black, 2012 ). Similarly, heating may lead to the reversal of the chemical modifications induced during the fixation period. Heating from such devices as microwaves leads to chemical reactions of the protein structure ( Shostak, 2013 ). However, a combination of enzymatic and heat retrieval methods lead to effective staining intensity ( Godwin, 2011 ).

2.3 Gross and Microscopic Examination

The gross examination is a laboratory procedure in which pathological and medical examination is done through visible aspects of the eye. In microscopic examinations, pathological changes are done using a microscope (light or electronic microscope) ( Musumeci, 2014 ). In most aspects, gross examination precedes microscopic examination in the identification of samples for microscopic examination. For instance, gross examination helps the pathologist identify the cells or tissues that have lumps (possibly cancer) but microscopic examination is used to confirm.

2.4 Some Advanced Histological Techniques

In the modern age of histology there have been significant improvements in histological stains and techniques. Advanced histological techniques are immunohistochemistry, antibody binding and electron microscopy ( Titford, 2009 ). In the same line, advanced stains include: immunohistochemical (IHC), routine hematoxylin eosin (H&E) and the in situ hybridization ( Musumeci, 2014 ). Modern stains used are;

Masson's Stain used in connective tissues
Golgi Stain used in neuronal fibresnnnn
Toluidine Blue
Immunological labeling that have fluorescent or enzymatic stains
Kluver-Barrera Stain used in Lipofuscin
Mallory's CT Stainssss
Periodic Acid-Schiff (PAS) Stain used in carbohydrates

2.5 Regulations of Histologic in Different Countries

Most countries have standards and organizations that collaborate with national and international groups involved in the control and standardization of biological staining methods. Standardization is important in setting uniform criteria, methods and technical specifications of the stains used. The objective is to enhance establishment of procedures that produce stain substances that produce microscopic results capable of been reproducible in different countries in areas of cytology, bacteriology, histopathology and hematology ( Lyon & Horobin, 2010 ).

Formal regulatory bodies that standardize stains and are independent of manufacturers are: International Organization for Standardization (ISO), European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Other bodies involved in the standardization of staining substances are: the USA Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association (EDMA) among others. These regulatory bodies accredit, evaluate and approve manufacture and the use of staining dyes, antibodies, fluorochromes and the nucleic acid probes ( Lyon & Horobin, 2010 ).

2.6 Objectives of the Study

A background study on commonly used histological staining techniques and stains indicate that some fixatives and techniques used in the histological processes are effective. However, some stains and processes are ineffective, and this leads to denaturalizationof tissues and cells which inhibit effective histological studies. The objective of this research was to assess past and current literature reviews and cases in the aim of informing ways in which histological stains have been improved in the modern histopathology. As a result, this study focuses on conducting an extensive and qualitative case study of past and present histological processes with the aim of understanding how histological strains could be improved.

3. Methodology

The research used an extensive exploration and review of historical, recent and current medical research studies and case studies in order to collect quantitative and qualitative data in regard to histological stains used in the past and recent cases ( Silverman, 2011 ). In this case, a database of clinical pathology journals involving past and recent usage of histological stains was made. The identified pathological journals, articles, and case studies were reviewed, analyzed, and important trends in the use of histological stains were made. As such, through integrative and intensive literature and case study reviews rich, data were collected in regard to stains used in the past and present to consider how histological stains should be improved. This triangulation helps to gather and assess in-depth data on past, present and future stain and staining techniques ( Silverman, 2011 ).

4. Literature Review

4.1 historical histological staining techniques in medicine and biological studies.

The history of staining indicates that the application of histological techniques is a relatively new area of diseases diagnosis ( Rodrigues et al., 2009 ). Historical staining techniques by early pathologists and surgeons were borrowed from a seventeen scientist Leeuwenhoek, who was instrumental in histology using substances such as Madder, indigo and saffron to stain tissues and using rudimentary microscopes to study them ( Titford, 2009 ). These categories of early researchers used the microanatomy to draw a relationship among differences in cells as well as delineating a normal plant cell structure from that of the animal ( Bancroft & Layton, 2013 ).

Later, newer techniques were devised to enhance the study of cell structure in detail using various laboratory chemicals to preserve tissues in their natural form before staining ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). Joseph Von Gerlach was viewed as the pioneer of microscopical staining in 1858 when he used ammoniacal carmine successfully to stain cerebellum cells ( Costa, Brito, Gomes, & Caliari, 2010 ).

The early histologists used the readily available chemicals to prepare tissues for microscopic studies; these laboratory chemicals were potassium dichromate, alcohol and the mercuric chloride to hard cellular tissues ( Iyiola & Avwioro, 2011 ). These fixatives and staining agents were ingenious and after a period colored staining agents were developed which are still applicable in current laboratory staining techniques ( Black, 2012 ). Examples of these ingenious colored stains still in use include the trichrome that is used in the liver and renal biopsies as well as the silver nitrate that is used in other organisms ( Musumeci, 2014 ).

Great development in histologic stains was shaped by the improved technologic development of microscopes and the establishment of the histologic stains (aniline dye) in 1856 in Germany which manufacture a variety of new histological stains ( Shostak, 2013 ). At the same time, research and knowledge relating to anatomy and tissues of the human body increased, and this knowledge was used to further research into new-histological techniques for the study of diseased tissue ( Titford, 2009 ).

In the wake of the nineteenth century, many medical centers hired physicians, pathologists and surgeons to handle surgical issues ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). It is this crop of pathologists who devised intraoperative staining techniques for frozen tissues sections by adapting a special staining technique in histopathology. It is during this time that the paraffin infiltration staining technique was devised ( Shostak, 2013 ). Owing to this achievement, the non-malignant and the malignant tumors were studied, and a bacterium was identified as the causal organism of the disease in the nineteenth century ( Godwin, 2011 ).

The Gram staining method was named after a Danish inventor Hans Christian Gram, who invented it as an approach to differentiating bacteria species in 1875 ( Anderson, 2011 ). It is while working at the city morgue with his colleagues that Gram devised the technique of staining for the purpose of distinguishing the type of bacterium infection and also as a way of making the bacteria visible on selected and stained lung tissues during examination ( Black, 2012 ). Although this technique was found unsuitable for certain bacterium organisms, it is still used today and competes fairly with modern molecular techniques of histology ( Shostak, 2013 ).

4.2 Important Histological Stains Used in the Past and Present

It is a commonly used stain in histology used by early botanists such as John Hill in their studies in 1770s ( Jackson & Blythe, 2013 ). The stain was used to study microscopic tissue structures when in ammoniacal solution form and it is still used today in histologic studies. In particular, the stain was used widely by Rudolph Virchow (1821–1902) in microscopic studies; Virchow is considered as the ‘father of pathology’ ( Musumeci, 2014 ).

Hematin and Hematoxylin

These are naturally occurring substances that have been in use in the history of histopathology ( Titford, 2009 ). The stain was developed by Wilhelm von Waldeyer in 1863 and was obtained from a log tree found in Central America. Hematoxylin is a weak stain and is used with a combination of other solutions in oxidized form ( Shostak, 2013 ).

In particular, the stain is combined with an oxidizer mordant to enhance its differentiating capacity of cell components; these solutions are called Hematoxylin. The versatility of the stain has enhanced the development of various Hematoxylin methods ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). Historically, Hematoxylin was made into a nuclear stain that had shorter staining time and was resistant to acidic solutions; this made it suitable for histologic stain techniques requiring several steps ( Anderson, 2011 ).

Silver Nitrate

Silver Nitrate has had a long usage in historical staining techniques and is still used in modern pathology. Initially, early researchers used silver nitrate to enhance the visibility of the tissue structure while studying it; this was done by applying solid silver nitrate on a tissue and then studying it ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). The stain substance has been developed for many compounds, and confirmatory tests are needed when silver nitrate is used ( Shostak, 2013 ). Silver nitrate stain has also been found to be reduced by argentaffin cells found in the epithelial linings of lungs, intestines, melanin and others ( Musumeci, 2014 ).

However, methods have been devised to ‘tailor’ these tissues to avoid argyrophilic reactions when silver nitrate is used during staining process ( Titford, 2009 ). In particular, methods such as the Gomori reticulin methods and the Grocott-Gomori method were devised to assess missing tissues and diseases in the liver and the rectum ( Nadworny, Wang, Tredget, & Robert, 2010 ).

Other Staining Procedures That Were Developed Recently

The Hematoxylin and Eosin Procedures

Although historically used, there have been great laboratory changes in Hematoxylin stains; nearly all tissue specimens are treated with Hematoxylin and Eosin today ( Bancroft & Layton, 2013 ). In addition, various Hematoxylin methods have been developed but all follow the same approach of staining tissue specimens in a hematoxylin, alcohol and tap or alkaline water to clear argentaffin agents. It has been found that most histopathological processes could be studied using the Hematoxylin and Eosin procedures ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). In the same line, the method is quick to execute, cheap and can be altered. However, the Hematoxylin and Eosin are inefficient in that not all features of a substance can be received and special stains must be used ( Musumeci, 2014 ).

Romanowsky Stains–Giemsa Stains

They were developed in the 1891 by Dimitri Romanowsky and popular for its multicolor in identifying blood parasites. The Giemsa Stains procedure is still used today. There has been great improvement in the stains, and its various methods make it applicable in paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed and bone marrow biopsies ( Musumeci, 2014 ).

The Gram staining method was named after a Danish inventor Hans Christian Gram, who invented it as an approach to differentiating bacteria species in 1875 ( Musumeci, 2014 ). Gram devised the technique of staining for the purpose of distinguishing the type of bacterium infection and also as a way of making the bacteria visible on selected and stained lung tissues during examination ( Shostak, 2013 ). Although this technique was found unsuitable for certain bacterium organisms, it is still used today and competes fairly with modern molecular techniques of histology ( Rudijanto, 2007 ). However, Gram technique is infallibly limited in the application on matters of environmental microbiology ( Titford, 2009 ). That aside, Gram techniques had had success when performed on biopsy of infected parts and produced results quickly especially when there is a significant difference in prognosis and treatment. The method is often used in modern histology especially in paraffin fixatives for tissue sectioning ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). In a recent case in Kuwait, the Gram staining technique was particularly effective in the diagnosis of Gonorrhea giving 99.4% effective results ( Iyiola & Avwioro, 2011 ). The method is still used today especially with paraffin sections and has been modified to suit different substances.

Trichrome Stains

Historical assessment on the use of various stains in histology indicates that most pathologists were attracted by stains that gave multicolored results on the tissue specimens. As such, trichrome stains were developed from this need ( Shostak, 2013 ). There have been various multiple stains such as blue–eosin, “triacid stain” by Ehrlich's (1888) and Masson's trichrome stain that has been popular in the modern histology. Trichrome stains show how complex the staining methods have become in the search of an efficient and consistent stain that would show fine, differentiated tissues ( Musumeci, 2014 ).

4.3 Case Study Reviews

Case Study 1

This study was done in order to compare different staining methods and assess their effectiveness. The specific aim was to assess if the newly developed staining methods, the Helicobacter pylori silver stain HpSS methods and the modified McMullen's methods in the identification of H pylori organism. The method involved selecting tissue sections of gastric biopsies of 63 patients diagnosed with dyspepsia. The section tissues were stained using the four staining methods. In all the 63 cases, 30 sections tested positive for Helicobacter pylori while 30 tested negative for all cases of pylori infection while the remaining were tested using a combination of five histological tests ( Anderson, 2011 ). The results indicated that, the interobserver stain method was the best for antibodies at 98%, followed by Giemsa at 87%, then the HpSS at 85%. At gold standard level, it was found that the Giemsa stain method was the best followed by McMullen's method ( Rotimi, Cairns, Gray, Moayyedi, & Dixon, 2000 ). The study conclusions were that in all cases of staining, the H pylori infection was revealed; however, the modified Giemsa stain was the most effective for its sensitivity, ease of use, reproducibility and cost-effectiveness.

Case Study 2

The aim was to investigate the difference in capacity among different stains: Hematoxylin and Eosin, toluidine blue Stain, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) immunostaining and the S 100 protein. These stains were applied to assess the presence of neurons and mast cells in acute appendices Specimens were collected from clinically acute appendices categorized as histologically positive and negative. In the study all the 50 appendix specimens sections were subjected to Hematoxylin and Eosin, toluidine blue Stain, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) immunostaining and the S 100 protein. Hematoxylin and Eosin were applied as a routine stain for general study of the tissues while Toluidine blue stain was applied to enhance the easier study of mast cells. In addition, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) immunostaining was used as a marker and as well as the S 100 protein.

The results indicated that when comparing Hematoxylin and Eosin stain with S 100 they? showed 100% accuracy in identifying the denatured mucosal cells. However, the combination of these different staining methods resulted in a supplementary technique effective than the conventional staining method in observing changes and the pattern of diseased cells as well as the morphological shape of nerve fibers in the inflamed appendices ( Russell & Gordon, 2009 ). In addition, the use of the several staining methods aided in confirming results of earlier stain diagnosis.

5. Results and Discussion

The literature review on staining techniques indicates that there has been great improvement in the histopathology and histotechnology. Historically, staining techniques used were carmine, silver nitrate, Giemsa, Trichrome Stains, Gram Stain and Hematoxylin among others ( Titford & Bowman, 2012 ). These staining techniques are still in use although several modifications have been made to improve their efficiency. In other cases, some stain methods used earlier have been abandoned as they were toxic. Several staining techniques have been established to improve the staining methods.

There has been a rising need for efficient, accurate and less complex staining procedures ( Harris & McCormick, 2010 ). The histopathology lab today is laden with a great work load and different types of histological assignments ( Musumeci, 2014 ). As such, most histologists are more trained on special stains for particular works to give efficient results ( Morelli, Porazzi, Ruspini, Restelli, & Banfi, 2013 ). In the history of histology, a great shift and development in histologic stains were shaped by improved technologic development of microscopes and the establishment of the histologic stains factory (aniline dye) in 1856 in Germany which manufactured variety of new-histological stains ( Godwin, 2011 ).

These pathologists devised intraoperative staining techniques for frozen tissues sections by adapting a special staining technique in histopathology ( Loreto, Leonardi, Musumeci, Pannone, & Castorina, 2013 ). It is during this time that the paraffin infiltration staining technique was devised ( Titford, 2009 ). While these changes have taken place, there are old stain procedures that are still in use today and many others have been replaced with new immunal or staining techniques.

Additionally, the complexity of stains has been enhanced for the purpose of efficient and consistent staining processes that show fine and differentiated tissues ( Ntziachristos, 2010 ).

Histological staining is a commonly used medical process in pathological diagnosis and forensic studies. The process of histological staining takes five key stages, and they include fixation, processing, embedding, sectioning and staining. Early histologists used the readily available chemicals to prepare tissues for microscopic studies; these laboratory chemicals were potassium dichromate, alcohol and the mercuric chloride to hard cellular tissues. These fixatives and staining agents were ingenious and after a period colored staining agents were developed which are still applicable in the laboratory staining techniques today.

Staining techniques used were; carmine, silver nitrate, Giemsa, Trichrome Stains, Gram Stain and Hematoxylin among others. There have been great changes in the techniques used for histological staining through chemical, molecular biology assays and immunological techniques collectively referred to us histochemistry and have facilitated greatly in the study of organs and tissues. Hematoxylin is a basic dye that is commonly used in this process and stains the nuclei giving it a bluish color while eosin (another stain dye used in histology) stains the cell's nucleus giving it a pinkish stain ( Victor, 2013 ). While these changes have taken place, there are old stain procedures that are still in use today and many others have been replaced with new immunalstaining or staining techniques ( Sine, 2014 ).

Some staining methods have been abandoned because the chemicals required have been medically proven to be toxic. Similarly, there have been great changes in workload requiring more advanced technics of staining. The case studies indicate that, in the modern histology a combination of different stain techniques are used to enhance the effectiveness of the staining process. In the modern histologic as a way of improving histological stains, several stains have been modified and combined with other stains to improve their effectiveness.

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How to use a case study in a literature review?

I am writing a literature review and I may need to include three case studies. What is the best way to go about it? Am I allowed to include the whole case study for the reader's review and then analyze the points made?

Thank you for your advice in advance.

literature-review

What do you mean by 'include the whole case study'? – henning no longer feeds AI Commented Jan 3, 2019 at 19:13
To copy and paste it as it is, word for word. Then reference it. – Sambo Commented Jan 3, 2019 at 19:29
I don't know about your field, but in mine, case studies are full-length articles. These you couldn't cite verbatim from beginning to end. – henning no longer feeds AI Commented Jan 3, 2019 at 20:28
Noted with thanks! For clarity, I'm looking to use mini-case studies which are not that long. Hence why i am using three. But I do see your point. – Sambo Commented Jan 4, 2019 at 6:58
Why would you include a case study in your literature review? – user2768 Commented Jan 5, 2019 at 15:39

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Literature review as a key step in research processes: case study of MA dissertations written on EFL of Saudi context

Saudi Journal of Language Studies

ISSN : 2634-243X

Article publication date: 1 June 2022

Issue publication date: 4 August 2022

The aim of this study is to find out the most common types of literature review and the accuracy of citing information related to topic in question among Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) postgraduate students at Al-Baha University. This study also aims at revealing the quality of the literature review written by researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study used content analysis to investigate 15 unpublished Master of Arts (MA) dissertations written on EFL of Saudi context. They were analyzed qualitatively using criteria modified from Snyder's (2019) model which is considered a potential method for making theoretical and practical contributions of literature review.

The findings of the study showed that students favored the systematic review over the integrative. Additionally, data showed that students were lacking in paraphrasing and organizing cited information coherently and appropriately. Moreover, students' performance was better in design, conduct, and data abstraction and analysis criterion, whereas they seemed rather weak in structuring and writing the review criteria.

Originality/value

The significance of the study is to provide researchers with methodological guidance and reference to write a comprehensive and appropriate literature review. Based on the findings, this study concluded with some implications that aim to assist researchers in carrying out their studies professionally. Furthermore, the findings provide decision-makers in higher education institutions with important practical implications. In light of the study's findings, it is suggested to carry out further research investigating postgraduate students to find out their perceptions and attitudes regarding the quality standards of scientific research writing and the paraphrasing strategies.

MA students
Literature review

Integrative review

Semi-systematic review.

Systematic review
Literature review quality
Paraphrasing

Alsalami, A.I. (2022), "Literature review as a key step in research processes: case study of MA dissertations written on EFL of Saudi context", Saudi Journal of Language Studies , Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 153-169. https://doi.org/10.1108/SJLS-04-2022-0044

Emerald Publishing Limited

Published in Saudi Journal of Language Studies . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction

The way a researcher is building his/her research and linking it to current knowledge is like building a block of academic research activity, no matter which discipline it relates to, thus it is a priority step ( Snyder, 2019 ). In a definition by Liberati et al. (2009) cited in Snyder (2019) “ A systematic review can be explained as a research method and process for identifying and critically appraising relevant research, as well as for collecting and analyzing data from said research .” (p. 334). A literature review is an important part of any research as it is considered a foundation of the type of research.

As in Snyder (2019) , literature review is a written text of a published study that includes current knowledge and up-to-date information about the latest findings of science on a particular topic, including substantial discoveries as well as theoretical and practical contributions from scholarly research groups. A literature review as defined by Hart (1998) (Cronin et al ., 2008 cited in Ramdhani et al ., 2014 ) “ is an objective and thorough summary and critical analysis of the relevant, available research and non-research literature on the topic being studied ” (p. 48). A literature review requires a compound series of abilities to learn topics to explore and acquire and retrieve literature searching skills. Additionally, it requires the ability to develop, analyze and synthesize data to be keen on reporting and writing normally at a limited scale of time. Scholars divided the literature review into two types. The first is “Traditional or Narrative Literature Review”. This type of review criticizes and summarizes the body of the literature to draw conclusions about the topic under consideration. The basic aim of this review is to support a reviewer with a complete review to understand the knowledge and to show the implication of new inquiries. The second one is “Systematic Literature Review” which reviews the literature in a specific subject area to employ a more rigorous and well-defined approach. A systematic literature review is often used to solve a specific medical practice question ( Parahoo, 2006 ; Davis et al ., 2014 ; Almelhes, 2020 ). Some studies regard “meta-analysis” as a type of systematic review, which is primarily a statistical method that entails evaluating the research results among many studies on the very same topic using standardized statistical tests in drawing conclusions and identify patterns and trends between research results ( Polit and Beck, 2006 ; Dundar and Fleeman, 2017 ; Almelhes, 2020 ).

The most common types of literature review among Saudi EFL postgraduate students in Al-Baha University,

The accuracy of citing information related to the topic in question and

The quality of the literature review written by the MA researchers at Al-Baha University.

What are the most common types of literature review among Saudi EFL students at Al-Baha University?

To what extent is the accuracy of citing information related to the topic in question?

To what extent is the quality of the literature review written by the MA researchers at Al-Baha University?

Steps and phases of doing a literature review

Designing the review.

Why should this literature be reviewed? Do we really need literature in this area of our topic? And what literature review would be the great type for contribution? Indeed, these questions would be better borne in the mind of a researcher before starting to review the literature because they determine the likelihood of the review and the impact it might have on the research community ( Antons and Breidbach, 2018 ). As it is a hard work to conduct a literature review, the topic must interest both author and the reader. Hence, first of all, it is better to scan the points to relate to existing knowledge. Moreover, Palmatier et al . (2018) stated that any criterion related to the on-focus topic should be directed by the research questions.

Conducting the review

Conducting a review is required after deciding on the purpose, questions and type of approach that better suits the topic in question. Additionally, it is better to appropriately test the review process and protocol before performing the main review. To ensure the quality and reliability of the search protocol, it is important to use two reviewers to select articles depending on the nature and scope of the review ( Antons and Breidbach, 2018 ; Almelhes, 2020 ).

Analyzing the literature

To conduct appropriate analysis, it is important to consider how the articles will be used. Meanwhile, abstracting information needs to be professionally measured ( Palmatier et al ., 2018 ). They can be put into descriptive information (e.g. authors, year of publication, topic or type of study), or in effects and findings format, conceptualizations or theoretical perspective. Additionally, it is better to avoid any differences in coding and monitoring the data abstraction carefully during the review process in order to ensure quality and reliability. Researchers should ensure that their literature is appropriate to answer the selected research question.

Writing a review

The final review of any article depends on an approach that requires types of different information and different levels of details like standards and guidelines that explicitly address how literature reviews should be reported and structured (see Table 1 , below). Standards and guidelines for systematic narrative reviews ( Wong et al. , 2013 ) or guidelines for integrative reviews ( Torraco, 2005 ) should be considered in the final review too. Moreover, how literature was identified, analyzed, synthesized and reported by a researcher is necessary to describe transparently the process of designing the review literature. Literature reviews can result in a historical analysis of the development within a research field ( Carlborg et al ., 2014 ; Almelhes, 2020 ) or can be any agendas for further research ( McColl-Kennedy et al. , 2017 ), besides, conceptual model or categorization ( Snyder et al. , 2016 ; Witell et al ., 2016 ), or can be evidence of an effect ( Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999 ).

The process of undertaking a literature review

Regardless of the method used to carry out the literature review, there seems to be a myriad of activities to be carried out and decisions made in order to build an assessment that satisfies the criteria for publication (for specific considerations with regards to each phase, as seen in Table 2 ). There are four phases that demonstrate and discuss the essential decisions and questions associated with conducting a literature review (as in Table 2 below): (1) designing the review, (2) conducting the review, (3) analysis and (4) structuring and writing the review ( Snyder, 2019 ). This procedure arose from real-world and practical experience and is a synthesis of and impact by diverse rules and specifications for literature reviews (e.g. Liberati et al. , 2009 ; Tranfield et al. , 2003 ; Wong et al. , 2013 ).

Types of literature review

Systematic literature review.

As described by Davis et al. , (2014) and later by Dundar and Fleeman (2017) , systematic reviews have first developed within medical sciences to synthesize research findings in a systematic, transparent and reproducible way. It can be a process for identifying and critically appraising relevant research for collecting and analyzing data from previous studies ( Liberati et al. , 2009 ; Almelhes, 2020 ). It aimed at identifying all empirical evidence that fits the pre-specified inclusion criteria to answer a particular research question or hypothesis. Bias can be minimized to provide reliable findings from conclusions and decisions ( Liberati et al. , 2009 ). Often statistical approaches are used to integrate the results of the topics in question. It combines results from different studies to evaluate and compare and identify patterns, disagreements or relationships ( Davis et al. , 2014 ) to assess them. It can be used to determine the continuity of effects across studies and to discover types of future studies that are required to be conducted to demonstrate the effect. Besides, techniques were used to discover which study-level or sample characteristics affect the phenomenon ( Davis et al. , 2014 ). The primary goal of a systematic review is to provide as comprehensive a list as possible of all studies whether published or unpublished, and these studies concerning a specific subject ( Ryan et al ., 2007 ; Dundar and Fleeman, 2017 ).

A systematic review needs to use standards as a roadmap for collecting studies ( Livinski et al ., 2015 ). Systematic review design has covered the following criteria: (1) studies related to students' attitudes; (2) the engagement of the learning process and (3) the outcomes of studies regarding speaking, writing and reading skills ( Antons and Breidbach, 2018 ; Almelhes, 2020 ).

The semi-systematic or narrative review approach hinders a full systematic review process. It is designed for different conceptualized and various studies that were studied by groups of researchers within various disciplines ( Wong et al. , 2013 ; Dundar and Fleeman, 2017 ).

Since it is hard to review every single article relevant to the topic, a different strategy must be developed ( McColl-Kennedy et al. , 2017 ). It aims at overviewing a topic and how research has progressed over time and developed. Generally, it seeks to identify and understand all potentially relevant research traditions and synthesize them by measuring effect size ( Wong et al. , 2013 ) and provides a considerate understanding of complex areas. It is potentially contributed to a useful analysis for detecting themes, and theoretical viewpoints of specific research disciplines as well as to identifying components of a theoretical concept ( Ward et al ., 2009 ). Thus, gain the ability to map a field of research, synthesize the state of knowledge and create an agenda for further research or the ability to provide a historical overview of a specific topic.

An integrative review is closely related to the semi-structured (integrative or critical review) approach. Usually, it has a different purpose from the semi-structured review which aims to assess, critique, and synthesize the literature in a way to develop new theoretical frameworks and perspectives ( Torraco, 2005 ). Generally, integrative literature reviews are intended to address mature or new topics. Additionally, seek to emerge topics to overview the knowledge base, critically review and potentially reconceptualize and expand on the theoretical foundation of the specific topic. It requires a more creative collection of data ( Whittemore and Knafl, 2005 ). A review of good literature does not summarize the sources, but rather analyzes, collects and evaluates them accurately to form a clear and general picture of existing knowledge or science on this topic.

Text borrowing skills

Text borrowing and incorporating other people's written ideas into one's own scholarly work are useful qualities to have in the world of academia, particularly for those pursuing higher education. Text borrowing expertise widely used in academic writing includes direct quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing. When contrasted to paraphrasing, directly quoting from the primary material is far more feasible, easier and less complex. There is really nothing inappropriate with integrating quotations; nevertheless, as Davis and Beaumont (2007) point out, overusing quotations does not really represent highly proficient writing. Rather, academic writing motivates the use of paraphrasing, drawing conclusions or synthesizing skill sets.

Paraphrasing is described as reiterating a statement in such a manner that both sentences are lexically and syntactically distinct whilst also remaining semantically equivalent ( Amoroso, 2007 ; Davis and Beaumont, 2007 ; McCarthy et al ., 2009 ). At least two echoes are implied by this description: reading process skills and writing ability. As a result, according to McCarthy et al . (2009) , paraphrasing is often used to aid comprehension, enhance previous knowledge and assist the development of writing skills.

According to cognitive psychology literature, paraphrasing is mentally demanding. As the content to be paraphrased has become more complicated, students are more likely to use simplified processing, resulting in patchwork written text (Marsh, Landau and Hick in Walker, 2008 ). Walker adds that just imagining about paraphrasing takes a substantial amount of cognitive vitality, and when the physical writing process starts, individuals have restricted opportunity to undertake thoughtful, systematic processing to ascertain if they paraphrased correctly. These complicated characteristics of paraphrasing cause some challenges. In the Japanese context, Iwasaki (1999) discovered four major areas of difficulty: varying behavioral patterns of parts of speech, subject limitation, context-specific paraphrasing and “blank” locating. There seems to be little proof, and data obtained from extensive research dedicated to examining paraphrasing-related concerns in the Indonesian context. Despite an abundance of survey participants, Kusumasondjaja's (2010) survey did not test students' paraphrasing abilities. It appears that paraphrasing is not represented, is described vaguely or is purely regarded as changing the existing source without stating the extent of adjustment.

In the Saudi context, Alaofi (2020) investigated the key problems that Saudi graduate students usually face when summarizing and paraphrasing source texts in EFL. Nine Saudi students attending university degrees in multiple fields were questioned using a qualitative approach. The study's findings revealed that a variety of barriers may exacerbate students' challenges with the skills under examination. These were students' insufficient English proficiency is the first root of complexities in summarizing and paraphrasing original text, followed by issues with students' writing styles and, finally, poor reading comprehension skillsets.

Methodology

As mentioned above, the purpose of this study is to analyze and synthesize findings from the content that is written in the literature review section of 15 unpublished MA studies. These studies were written in the Saudi context and conducted by MA postgraduate students of Al-Baha University. Additionally, to find out the most common types of literature review used by Saudi EFL postgraduate students in Al-Baha University, and to measure the accuracy of citing information related to topics in question, besides finding out the criteria and assess the quality of literature review written by MA researchers, to come out with rich findings that can guide undergraduate students in writing and reviewing knowledge related to their theses and research papers. Additionally, it can help postgraduates and other academic researchers to build a tidy content of literature and coherent procedures for research writing. Thus, this research is done qualitatively using content analysis taking into account the discipline, type of literature review, and contribution to see how successfully these researchers attract readers' attention and satisfy their needs, and in the long run, increase the quality of research and to develop better and more accurate hypotheses and questions.

To measure the research questions, 15 MA dissertations were selected randomly and carefully analyzed accordingly. The analysis of these 15 studies focused mainly on finding out the common types of literature review used by Saudi EFL students in Al-Baha University, and finding the accuracy of citing information, besides assessing the quality of the literature review of the selected MA research. Synder's (2019) model for assessing the quality of literature review is used as a criterion to analyze these MA studies. All are written in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) settings. Therefore, it will be a potential step in making theoretical and practical contributions to literature review as a method to clarify what a literature review is, how it can be used and what criteria should be used to evaluate its quality. Thus, in this paper, the contribution differentiates between several types of literature review methodologies such as systematic, semi-systematic, and traditional/integrative approaches and how the procedures and the quality were shown (see Appendix ). Besides, presenting real practices that may be met when reviewing literature in EFL research. Additionally, it provides context and guidance to students and academics to use the literature review as a method to synthesize their research in question.

As in Appendix , the criteria used contained four phases: (1) design (includes 6 dimensions); (2) conduct (includes 5 dimensions); (3) data abstraction and analysis (includes 5 dimensions); and (4) structuring and writing the review (includes 5 dimensions). To show that the criterion has been met, the researcher used the symbol (√) as an indication system or vice versa (×) if it was not. The 15 kinds of research were coded using numbers (i.e. each research was given a number from 1 to 15). Then each research was checked according to the dimension of each criterion of each quality. These 15 unpublished MA studies were collected from the College of Arts and Humanities in Al Aqiq main campus, where the postgraduate dissertations were archived, and these studies were conducted during the period from 2013 to 2018. The reason for not selecting newer studies after 2018 is that this paid master's program has been discontinued and has resumed in mid-2021. To ensure the quality of the assessment and the analysis according to Synder's standard, the researcher got help from jury members of three PhD holders (voluntarily) who work in the Department of English at the College of Science and Arts in Qilwah. They had more than ten years of experience in the field of teaching and scientific research. The research took place in a round-held table for a number of meetings and asked them to review and evaluate the MA research according to Synder's criteria. The evaluation continued for three months, and each phase and its dimensions were discussed in separate sessions. The evaluation and discussion took place during the first term of the academic year 2021. Step by step the researcher continuously discussed with the jury members their evaluation (see Appendix ).

The analysis section was divided into two parts. The first part displayed the data gathered to measure the first and the second questions, whereas the second part displayed the third question.

Discovering common types of literature review and evaluating the accuracy of citing information

Part 1 : The main types of literature review (traditional or narrative, systematic, meta-analysis and meta-synthesis) were scrutinized and analyzed in light of their qualities and procedures. In this paper, three types are chosen to be judged accordingly. They are systematic, semi-systematic and traditional/integrative approaches. As mentioned above, the 15 MA projects were handed over to the reviewers (the researcher's colleagues). After long and regular sessions, they concluded their results to the researcher. They revealed that studies 1, 10 and 15 showed a masterpiece reflection of the systematic review approach. In this sense, these studies synthesized and compared evidence between the two studies. Another example is that these studies in the introduction section produced a clear and rationale connection between the topic and literature written in the same field of the study. These studies also showed that the information provided is reliable and based on proven facts. Additionally, the information is verified against other reliable sources. To be more realistic, we must evaluate all sources before deciding whether to incorporate what was found into the literature review ( Synder, 2019 ). Moreover, resources need to be evaluated to make sure that they contain information, which is valuable and pertinent, in this point, this study is consistent with what was found by other researchers ( Liberati et al. , 2009 ; Tranfield et al. , 2003 ; Wong et al. , 2013 ; Synder, 2019 ). These studies presented a rich literature that is displayed in various types of periodicals that include scholarly journals of high impact factors and intensive readability.

Generally, studies (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15) used systematic reviews to answer their highly structured and specific research questions. They undertook a more rigorous approach in reviewing the literature they presented in their research. In contrast, a traditional or narrative literature review usually adopts a critical approach in a way that analyzes and summarizes to address intensive information to shed light on new ideas, bridge gaps or/and cover weaknesses of previous research, studies endeavored a very high and accurate criterion of evaluating literature review Ryan et al. (2007) . On the other hand, studies (2, 5, 7 and 9) used both semi-systematic and integrative/traditional literature reviews. This clearly showed that the research questions were broad. On the other hand, in the introduction section, these studies used a semi-systematic literature review. For accuracy purposes, these studies presented a piece of reliable information. All the information displayed in these studies was error-free. Additionally, it is easy to say that the information shown was based on proven facts and can be verified against other reliable sources. All that cited in these studies in the literature review section was taken from famous and well-known periodicals. They can be completely described as facts shown without any bias. When looking back to what the researchers presented, it is easy to see that information presented was currently published to show the currency matter of the researchers' topics. The coverage of information has met in-depth the information needed to build up a literature review process. Accordingly, the researchers reviewed rich and accurate literature written about the focus topics to rationalize their objectives in conducting their research. All the information shown by researchers was presented without any bias. Thus, each study presented more than four references to show the accurateness of the literature. Additionally, the information presented is highly met and covered the needed information, and provided a basic and in-depth coverage. To meet the aims of systematic review (as in Dundar and Fleeman, 2017 ), to some extent, these studies provided a complete list of all possible published and unpublished studies relating to the researcher's subject matter.

To deal with the accuracy of citing information, in studies (2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15) one can find that, from the beginning, in the introduction section, these studies started citing from very recently published researches. Most interestingly, the researchers used the paraphrasing method to cite information related to the researchers' topic. However, they did not paraphrase appropriately. These studies used a paraphrasing method to make the information cited more reliable, error-free, based on proven facts and can be verified against other reliable sources. In this sense, these studies presented information that can be more accurate. But unexpectedly, those who used the paraphrasing method lacked professionality in treating the original text and formulating it using their own words (i.e. there is an apparent weakness in meaning between the original source and the paraphrased text). Again, the studies showed that researchers intended the purpose of the information in a precise way initiating that in the introduction. The studies also presented facts that were proven by famous writers.

Assessing the quality of a literature review

Part 2: As empirical research, literature reviews need assessment and evaluation ( Palmatier et al. , 2018 ). The literature review quality must have both depth and rigor to determine a suitable strategy for choosing topics and apprehending data and insights and to recite previous studies slightly. The quality of the literature review needs to be replicable to make the reader easily replicate the topic and reaches similar findings. Additionally, they must be useful for scholars and practitioners. Normally, the evaluation of different types of literature reviews is considered to be challenging. However, some guidelines could be used as a starting point to help researchers in evaluating literature reviews, to examine and to assess the review criteria for rigor and depth. To assess the literature review quality related to MA studies (the 15 selected samples) in question, Snyder (2019 , p. 338) suggested some guidelines as seen in Appendix .

Therefore, to find out a suitable step-by-step approach that can guide students and academics in undertaking a valid, comprehensive and helpful literature review, appropriate literature reviews have been gathered for this inquiry to investigate the criteria and quality of literature presented by selected MA studies (see Appendix ). Depending on the purpose of the topic, various literature studies may be highly useful to suggest which strategy may suit the analysis and synthesis stages that greatly help in the selection and writing of the literature review on EFL context, mainly Saudi context. Thus, the selected reviews were scrutinized and analyzed considering their qualities and procedures. In this paper, only 15 MA studies were chosen to be measured accordingly.

As in Appendix , the quality of these projects was checked and graded by the reviewers (the researchers' colleagues). Looking at the reviewers' evaluation of these dissertations, one can easily find that only one out of the 15 showed complete performance and was valuable in all criteria. Meanwhile, the others showed strength in the first and second dimensions of the design criteria. However, their performance in the other parameters deteriorated greatly. In total, seven out of them performed moderately in design criteria (i.e. they achieved in dimensions, 1, 2 and 6, whereas they failed in the other 3, 4 and 5); as the other seven researchers performed in four dimensions moderately. Concerning the conduct criteria, they did very well. Therefore, ten out of the fifteen researchers fulfilled perfectly in all dimensions, however, only five performed somehow moderately in only four out of the five dimensions in the conduct criteria. Additionally, seven out of the fifteen achieved in all dimensions in data abstraction and analysis, whereas three contented in only four dimensions, meanwhile other three of them fulfilled only three, while the other two achieved two dimensions. Although researchers did very well in design, conduct, and data abstraction and analysis criterion, they seemed very weak in structuring and writing the review. They only achieved in the fourth and fifth dimensions of this criteria. However, they got zero achievements in the first dimension. Additionally, only six out of the fifteen researchers fulfilled the third dimension, whereas only five achieved the second one.

Findings and discussion

As mentioned above, the purpose of this study is to find out the common types of literature review used by Saudi EFL postgraduate students in Al-Baha University; and to find out the accuracy of citing information related to the topics in question; as well as to assess the quality of the literature review written by selected researchers. From the analysis, it was found that most researchers (11 out of 15) used a systematic review of the literature. Systematic reviews are the thorough and openly transparent type of literature review. Moreover, the most reliable and comprehensive statement about what works is that systematic reviews embark on identification, synthesis and assessment of the available proof, or qualitative and/or quantitative, as a way of generating a well-researched, and empirically derived answer to a specified research question (Petrosino et al. , cited in van der Knaap, 2008 ). The analysis also showed that most researchers utilized paraphrasing in their citing information. Even though it eases work for the researcher, paraphrasing may poorly present information if not used well. As advised, it is better to understand the readings and put them in your own words to preserve the accuracy of the information. Thus, understanding information and then properly paraphrasing will make the work look more original and refined. In this study, the researchers in many parts of the research failed to do an accurate performance in paraphrasing (i.e. there is an apparent weakness in meaning between the original source and the paraphrased text). This demonstrated that there was no accuracy in the paraphrasing used to cite information on the topics in question.

Regarding the quality of the literature review written by selected researchers, the data were gathered using a checklist by the evaluators who voluntarily distributed it into the inquiry to help the researcher to rate the performance of the 15 MA students in their dissertations. Generally, the results showed that students (the MA researchers) were keen on the conduct phase and then to some extent on data abstraction and analysis. Therefore, they know how to conduct their research, especially they have proper measures to ensure quality data abstraction. Moreover, chose data analysis techniques appropriately concerning the overall research questions and the data abstracted. Thus, they accurately search the process for types of reviews, and they did the inclusion and exclusion processes of articles transparent which makes their sample appropriate and in concordance with the overall purpose of the review. Additionally, in the design, concerning the relationship to the overall research field, their literature review was needed, and it makes a substantial, practical and theoretical contribution; the motivation, the purpose and the research questions were clearly stated and motivated; the methodology and the search strategy were clearly and transparently described. On the other hand, they were weak in phase 1 (design), item 3 “Does the review account for the previous literature review and other relevant literature ?”, and they did not clearly state the approaches for the literature review. Finally, the study found that they showed a weak achievement in structuring and writing the review, especially they did not organize articles coherently about the overall approach and research question, and the overall method of conducting the literature review was not sufficiently described, thus their studies could not be replicated.

Therefore, as shown in the purpose of this research, the review of intellectual production is most often the introduction to various theses or peer-review research articles, before presenting the methods and results, and its use is common in most academic research. Thus, the literature review represents one of the important parts of the scientific research plan ( Baumeister and Leary, 1997 ; Torraco, 2005 ). It is the second part that is related to the theoretical framework of the presented research methodology. Meanwhile, it is directly and closely related to the topic. Additionally, it represents an information-rich ground for those who have the desire to know all aspects of the problem or hypothesis in question. It consumes time and requires strong analytical skills from the researchers to make a great contribution successfully as mentioned by other scholars ( Boyd and Solarino, 2016 ; Mazumdar et al. , 2005 , pp. 84–102; Rodell et al ., 2016 ). As in the study questions, and to rationalize the topic, the findings concluded in this paper showed that the analysis and criticism of the literature review may require personal experiences, and others depend on the methodological foundations. The analysis and the criticism should include various dimensions (content, methodology, the sample, reliability and results). This was evident in the performance of these students in analyzing, criticizing and citing the previous studies they refer to. Thus, a researcher should have appropriate insight and wisdom to comment on previous studies and critique them constructively through compelling scientific evidence as well as to be objective and distant from any internal ideologies or personal bias. Therefore, some ideas and techniques that contribute to the process of editing, analyzing and criticizing literature review must be known by researchers ( MacInnis, 2011 ). Additionally, more attention should be given to structuring and writing the review mainly the organization of the review in relation to the overall approach and research questions.

Implications

The study came up with some implications that can help researchers in conducting their studies skillfully. These implications were drawn from the study's findings which may be very important for practice or conducting a literature review.

First: How to criticize the literature?

When looking at the literature review, one should focus on five main points that a study can follow. They are (1) content, (2) methodology, (3) the study sample, (4) credibility and (5) results. Content criticism: in this case, the researcher must express his/her point of view that the content of the previous studies does not include the technical framework that must be followed, and in that case, the study loses the advantage of comprehensiveness and moves away from objectivity in the way it is refuted.

Criticism related to methodology

Here, the researcher must clarify the negative and positive points in the scientific method followed in previous studies, and it is not a requirement that the literature might be negative or positive in its entirety. Accordingly, this is subject to the researcher's opinion, which is an expression of his/her point of view, and he/she has to present this according to convincing evidence which varies from one researcher to another.

Criticism related to the study sample

The researcher must mention any deficiencies in the sample under study which may be ineffective in judging previous literature, and it was possible to increase the sample size. To clarify a matter related to the research problem, the sample may not be represented in an appropriate statistical way, etc.

Credibility criticism

The researcher must verify the reliability of previous studies, and the method of ascertaining. This differs according to the methodology followed by the review studies (i.e. there is the descriptive, experimental and historical approach. For example, the historical method is distinguished by its credibility from others, and the researcher must refute that matter and follow the precise criteria in judging that, etc.). To judge the reliability of literature, the researcher must be familiar with all scientific research methods, their advantages and disadvantages, and the research hypotheses and theories that are compatible with those approaches.

Results criticism

The researcher may disagree with the results shown in previous studies. Because there is an error in the method of analyzing and presenting the data, so, the researcher must clarify the comparison between his/her findings and what was presented in other studies and indicate the extent of objectivity in each of them ( Snyder et al ., 2016 ; Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999 ; Witell et al. , 2016 ). Additionally, the researcher should address only the previous studies related to the research topic, and the link must be clear to the reader, so it makes no sense to refer to previous research or studies that do not touch the research problem from near or far.

Second: How to comment on literature?

Previous studies help clarify the theoretical foundations of the subject of the research to be carried out by the researcher.

They save time and effort for the researcher by choosing the framework for the topic of the research plan.

They are a wake-up call for the researcher when writing a paper by defining a method that would avoid the researcher making mistakes made by previous researchers.

Present the correct methodological approach to the topic of research in general.

They give the researcher an exemplary method to extract recommendations, findings and other proposals related to the research.

Literature helps the researcher in identifying references for his/her research and facilitates the process of writing.

They have an important role in the researcher's comparison process between the research he provides and those studies and sources.

As many EFL MA researchers find it difficult to choose and handle a suitable literature review that approves their writing quality, thus, this study was conducted to find out a suitable step-by-step approach that can help to undertake a valid, comprehensive and helpful literature review. In conclusion, EFL MA researchers need to search for the quality and trustworthiness of their reviews to build a rich and adequate literature review. As found in this paper, it is seen that most MA Saudi researchers favored using the systematic review rather than the integrative type. More or less, they try to avoid comparing the review rather than identifying and synthesizing, as it may seem a more complicated process. Obviously, reviewing any article that could be relevant to the topic is not a simple task; therefore, a different strategy must be developed and used carefully to fulfill the quality of literature review along with the topic in question. More interestingly and generally, the researcher found that a semi-systematic review method often possesses similarities to approaches used in qualitative research ( Dundar and Fleeman, 2017 ), but it can also be combined with a statistical meta-analysis approach. Due to the integrative approach liability to yield a creative collection of data, it is widely used to combine perspectives and insights from previous research. Thus, the integrative approach seems to be the best method that can be used in the field of EFL because its purpose is to compare and combine rather than cover all related topics. Additionally, as the study found that students did not accurately paraphrase/summarize appropriately from other sources, additional sessions impeding paraphrasing procedures and processes will have valuable benefits and will make students better at writing research in the future. Concerning the phases of the quality of conducting research, it is important to ensure the proper measurement that qualifies the quality of data abstraction and analysis techniques that deal with the overall research questions accurately. Furthermore, searching for proper types of reviews, article transparency and the appropriate sample should fit the purpose of the review. Finally, among the broader implications of the study, it is expected that the construction of master's programs (courses path) should be reviewed, and focus should be given to teach students the quality standards of research writing and how to analyze and critique them in a better way.

Approaches to literature reviews

Approach	Systematic	Semi-systematic	Integrative
Typical purpose	Synthesize and compare evidence	Overview research area and track development over time	Critique and synthesize
Research questions	Specific	Broad	Narrow or broad
Search strategy	Systematic	May or may not be systematic	Usually not systematic
Sample characteristics	Quantitative articles	Research articles	Research articles, books, and other published texts
Analysis and evaluation	Quantitative	Qualitative/quantitative	Qualitative
Examples of contribution	Evidence of effect	State of knowledge	Taxonomy or classification
	Inform policy and practice	Themes in literature	Theoretical model or framework
		Historical overview
		Research agenda
		Theoretical model

Adopted from , p. 334)

MA dissertations No	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15

1	In relationship to the overall research field, is this literature review needed and does it make a substantial, practical or theoretical contribution?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
2	Are the motivation, the purpose, and the research question(s) clearly stated and motivated?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
3	Does the review account for the previous literature review and other relevant literature?	√	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	√	√	×	×	×	√	√
4	Is the approach/methodology for the literature review clearly stated?	√	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	√	×	×	×	×	√
5	Is this the most appropriate approach to address the research problem?	√	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	√	√	×	×	×	√	√
6	Are the methodology and the search strategy clearly and transparently described and motivated (including search terms, databases used, and explicit inclusion and exclusion criteria)?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
Total	6	2	3	3	2	3	3	3	5	6	3	3	3	5	6

1	Is the search process appropriate for this type of review?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
2	Is the practical search process accurately described and accounted for?	√	√	√	√	×	×	×	√	√	√	×	×	√	√	√
3	Is the process of the inclusion and exclusion of articles transparent?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
4	Have proper measures been taken to ensure research quality?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
5	Can it be trusted that the final sample is appropriate and in concordance with the overall purpose of the review?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
Total	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	5	5	5

1	Is the data abstracted from the article appropriate in concordance with the overall purpose of the review?	√	√	√	√	×	×	×	√	√	√	×	×	√	√	√
2	Is the process for abstracting data accurately described?	√	√	√	√	√	×	×	√	√	√	×	√	√	√	√
3	Have proper measures been taken to ensure quality data abstraction?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
4	Is the chosen data analysis technique appropriate concerning the overall research question and the data abstracted?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
5	Is the analysis process properly described and transparent?	√	√	√	×	×	√	×	×	√	√	×	×	×	√	√
Total	5	5	5	4	3	3	2	4	5	5	2	3	4	5	5

1	Is the review article organized coherently in relation to the overall approach and research question?	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×	×
2	Is the overall method of conducting the literature review sufficiently described? Can the study be replicated?	√	×	×	×	√	×	×	×	√	×	×	×	×	√	√
3	Is the result of the review reported in an appropriate and clear way?	√	√	×	×	√	×	×	×	√	√	×	×	×	×	√
4	Does the article synthesize the findings of the literature review into a clear and valuable contribution to the topic?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
5	Are questions or directions for further research included? Are the results from the review useable?	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
Total	4	3	2	2	4	2	2	2	4	3	2	2	2	3	4

IMAGES

(PDF) A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research
A Quick Overview: Differences Among Desk, Literature, and Learning Reviews
Criteria for Writing a Good Literature Review: A Case Study
Case Studies on Multisectoral Programming for Children: A literature review on select countries
LITERATURE REVIEW AND CASE STUDY FOR RESIDENCE DESIGN
LITERATURE REVIEW AND CASE STUDY FOR RESIDENCE DESIGN

VIDEO

NSUOCO Residency Program
Approaches to Literature Review
Future effects on children review
Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP)
Dimorphic anemia #anemia #pathology @Path_Pulse
Clinical Research FAQs

COMMENTS

Case Study Methodology of Qualitative Research: Key Attributes and
A case study is one of the most commonly used methodologies of social research. This article attempts to look into the various dimensions of a case study research strategy, the different epistemological strands which determine the particular case study type and approach adopted in the field, discusses the factors which can enhance the effectiveness of a case study research, and the debate ...
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Examples of literature reviews. Step 1 - Search for relevant literature. Step 2 - Evaluate and select sources. Step 3 - Identify themes, debates, and gaps. Step 4 - Outline your literature review's structure. Step 5 - Write your literature review.
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Although case studies have been discussed extensively in the literature, little has been written about the specific steps one may use to conduct case study research effectively (Gagnon, 2010; Hancock & Algozzine, 2016).Baskarada (2014) also emphasized the need to have a succinct guideline that can be practically followed as it is actually tough to execute a case study well in practice.
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Case studies are designed to suit the case and research question and published case studies demonstrate wide diversity in study design. There are two popular case study approaches in qualitative research. The first, proposed by Stake ( 1995) and Merriam ( 2009 ), is situated in a social constructivist paradigm, whereas the second, by Yin ( 2012 ...
Methodology or method? A critical review of qualitative case study reports
Study design. The critical review method described by Grant and Booth (Citation 2009) was used, which is appropriate for the assessment of research quality, and is used for literature analysis to inform research and practice.This type of review goes beyond the mapping and description of scoping or rapid reviews, to include "analysis and conceptual innovation" (Grant & Booth, Citation 2009 ...
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A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research
This paper presents a review of the literature on case study research and comments on the ongoing debate of the value of case study. A research paradigm and its theoretical framework is described. This review focuses extensively on the positions of Merriam (1998), Yin (1981, 1984, 1994, 1999, 2003a, 2003b, 2005), and Stake (1978/2000, 1994, 1995, 2005, 2008) as foundational writers in the area ...
Structure of a report (Case study, Literature review or Survey
Literature review Explore the literature/news/internet sources to know the topic in depth; Give a description of how you selected the literature for your project; Compare the studies, and highlight the findings, gaps or limitations. Case study An in-depth, detailed examination of specific cases within a real-world context.
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The number of references should be limited to maximum of 30 for journal of orthopaedic case reports. This will again require authors to review select the most relevant articles from the literature search. Try and include the most recent articles and also from the most relevant authors and medical centres.
What Is a Case Study?
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. ... To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related ...
A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research
Ricardo D'Ávila. This paper presents a review of the literature on case study research and comments on the ongoing debate of the value of case study. A research paradigm and its theoretical framework is described. This review focuses extensively on the positions of. See Full PDF.
Steps in Conducting a Literature Review
A literature review is an integrated analysis-- not just a summary-- of scholarly writings and other relevant evidence related directly to your research question. That is, it represents a synthesis of the evidence that provides background information on your topic and shows a association between the evidence and your research question ...
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PDF | On Jan 1, 2015, Leidy Tatiana Rodriguez Torres and others published Open Innovation Practices: A Literature Review of Case Studies | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
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The research used an extensive exploration and review of historical, recent and current medical research studies and case studies in order to collect quantitative and qualitative data in regard to histological stains used in the past and recent cases (Silverman, 2011). In this case, a database of clinical pathology journals involving past and ...
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citations
To copy and paste it as it is, word for word. Then reference it. I don't know about your field, but in mine, case studies are full-length articles. These you couldn't cite verbatim from beginning to end. Noted with thanks! For clarity, I'm looking to use mini-case studies which are not that long.
What Is a Case, and What Is a Case Study?
Résumé. Case study is a common methodology in the social sciences (management, psychology, science of education, political science, sociology). A lot of methodological papers have been dedicated to case study but, paradoxically, the question "what is a case?" has been less studied.
Literature review as a key step in research processes: case study of MA
The literature review quality must have both depth and rigor to determine a suitable strategy for choosing topics and apprehending data and insights and to recite previous studies slightly. The quality of the literature review needs to be replicable to make the reader easily replicate the topic and reaches similar findings.
Growing OkraOut: A Case Study
Literature Review. As mentioned, the information needs of LGBTQ+ students in academic libraries is an emerging focus of LIS literature. Strategies, case studies, and best practices for providing library support and services to specialized student populations are responses to this need. The authors have included similar studies within this ...
Literature Review and Case Study Final SCHOOL
The document provides a literature review and case studies on school design. It discusses 4 key areas: 1) A literature review covering analysis of users, learning environments, space planning and zoning, programs, and site selection criteria. 2) 4 case studies of international, regional, national, and local schools. 3) Design guidelines covering colors, lighting, privacy, and circulation. 4 ...
Writing a Case Study
The literature review for a case study research paper is generally structured the same as it is for any college-level research paper. The difference, however, is that the literature review is focused on providing background information and enabling historical interpretation of the subject of analysis in relation to the research problem the case ...
Literature Review and Case Study On Mixed Useby Semahegn Demeke 1
This document is a literature review and case study on mixed-use buildings. It discusses the history of mixed-use buildings from Trajan's Market in ancient Rome to modern developments. It defines mixed-use buildings and outlines their benefits, types, and design considerations. The document also includes case studies of the Burj Al Arab building and a local mixed-use development in Addis Ababa ...
A study case in Malaysia
The data in this study were obtained from literature review and expert evaluation. ... Hui, L. C. et al. Impact of Covid-19 on renewable energy sector and lessons learned: A case study on Malaysia.
Full article: The emergency remote teaching experience during the COVID
Literature review. Emergency remote teaching vs. online learning. The use of ERT was suddenly necessary to cope with the current crisis. The main question asked by everyone in this situation was: Is ERT different from online distance teaching? ... This case study highlights AGU and CGS's strategic and thoughtful approach toward embedding ERT in ...
Challenges in Residual Bearing Removal: A Rare Case of Mobile Bearing
This study presents the case of fracture of a polyethylene insert that occurred 12 years after mobile bearing medial UKA in a 75-year-old overweight woman who then underwent surgical intervention at our institution. ... We have also conducted a comprehensive literature review of similar cases to deepen our understanding of this rare ...
Applied Sciences
Lastly, the authors present a case study of their most recent efforts of a circuit model development of relative humidity (RH) sensors based on heterogeneous mixed metal oxide (MMO) nanostructures, used to understand and identify existing contributions to the overall electrical response of the sensors to moisture; in their case, the electrical ...
An Extensive Classification of 5G Network Jamming Attacks
The paper introduces a pioneering taxonomy for 5G jamming attacks, meticulously crafted through diverse research methodologies, including literature review, case studies, incident database analysis, and network architecture assessment. This taxonomy is ...

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: Writing a Case Study

How to Approach Writing a Case Study Research Paper

Structure and Writing Style

Writing Tip

A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research

Author Biography

Developed By

Information

CC0006 Basics of Report Writing

Content s Page

Introduction

Literature Review

Methodology

Results and Analysis

Discussion, Limitation(s) and Implication(s)

Conclusion and Recommendations

Appendix (if necessary/any)

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What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

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A Review of the Literature on Case Study Research

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What is a literature review?

APA7 Style resources

1. Choose a topic. Define your research question.

2. Decide on the scope of your review

3. Select the databases you will use to conduct your searches.

4. Conduct your searches to find the evidence. Keep track of your searches.

Review the literature

Histological Stains: A Literature Review and Case Study

Faris M Tashkandi

1. Introduction

2. Specific Aspects of Histopathology

2.2 Fixation

2.3 Gross and Microscopic Examination

2.4 Some Advanced Histological Techniques

2.5 Regulations of Histologic in Different Countries

2.6 Objectives of the Study

3. Methodology

4. Literature Review

4.2 Important Histological Stains Used in the Past and Present

4.3 Case Study Reviews

5. Results and Discussion

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