how to answer case study question

100 Best Case Study Questions for Your Next Customer Spotlight

Published: November 29, 2022

Case studies and testimonials are helpful to have in your arsenal. But to build an effective library, you need to ask the right case study questions. You also need to know how to write a case study .

Case studies are customers' stories that your sales team can use to share relevant content with prospects . Not only that, but case studies help you earn a prospect's trust, show them what life would be like as your customer, and validate that your product or service works for your clients.

Before you start building your library of case studies, check out our list of 100 case study questions to ask your clients. With this helpful guide, you'll have the know-how to build your narrative using the " Problem-Agitate-Solve " Method.

What makes a good case study questionnaire?

The ultimate list of case study questions, how to ask your customer for a case study, creating an effective case study.

Certain key elements make up a good case study questionnaire.

A questionnaire should never feel like an interrogation. Instead, aim to structure your case study questions like a conversation. Some of the essential things that your questionnaire should cover include:

• The problem faced by the client before choosing your organization.
• Why they chose your company.
• How your product solved the problem clients faced.
• The measurable results of the service provided.
• Data and metrics that prove the success of your service or product, if possible.

You can adapt these considerations based on how your customers use your product and the specific answers or quotes that you want to receive.

What makes a good case study question?

A good case study question delivers a powerful message to leads in the decision stage of your prospective buyer's journey.

Since your client has agreed to participate in a case study, they're likely enthusiastic about the service you provide. Thus, a good case study question hands the reins over to the client and opens a conversation.

Try asking open-ended questions to encourage your client to talk about the excellent service or product you provide.

Free Case Study Templates

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Categories for the Best Case Study Questions

• Case study questions about the customer's business
• Case study questions about the environment before the purchase
• Case study questions about the decision process
• Case study questions about the customer's business case
• Case study questions about the buying team and internal advocates
• Case study questions about customer success
• Case study questions about product feedback
• Case study questions about willingness to make referrals
• Case study question to prompt quote-worthy feedback
• Case study questions about the customers' future goals

Showcase your company's success using these three free case study templates.

• Data-Driven Case Study Template
• Product-Specific Case Study Template
• General Case Study Template

You're all set!

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Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business

Knowing the customer's business is an excellent way of setting the tone for a case study.

Use these questions to get some background information about the company and its business goals. This information can be used to introduce the business at the beginning of the case study — plus, future prospects might resonate with their stories and become leads for you.

• Would you give me a quick overview of [company]? This is an opportunity for the client to describe their business in their own words. You'll get useful background information and it's an easy prompt to get the client talking.
• Can you describe your role? This will give you a better idea of the responsibilities they are subject to.
• How do your role and team fit into the company and its goals? Knowing how the team functions to achieve company goals will help you formulate how your solution involves all stakeholders.
• How long has your company been in business? Getting this information will help the reader gauge if pain points are specific to a startup or new company vs. a veteran company.
• How many employees do you have? Another great descriptor for readers to have. They can compare the featured company size with their own.
• Is your company revenue available? If so, what is it? This will give your readers background information on the featured company's gross sales.
• Who is your target customer? Knowing who the target audience is will help you provide a better overview of their market for your case study readers.
• How does our product help your team or company achieve its objectives? This is one of the most important questions because it is the basis of the case study. Get specifics on how your product provided a solution for your client. You want to be able to say "X company implemented our solution and achieved Y. "
• How are our companies aligned (mission, strategy, culture, etc.)? If any attributes of your company's mission or culture appealed to the client, call it out.

How many people are on your team? What are their roles? This will help describe key players within the organization and their impact on the implementation of your solution.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Environment Before the Purchase

A good case study is designed to build trust. Ask clients to describe the tools and processes they used before your product or service. These kinds of case study questions will highlight the business' need they had to fulfill and appeal to future clients.

• What was your team's process prior to using our product? This will give the reader a baseline to compare the results for your company's product.
• Were there any costs associated with the process prior to using our product? Was it more expensive? Was it worth the cost? How did the product affect the client's bottom line? This will be a useful metric to disclose if your company saved the client money or was more cost-efficient.
• What were the major pain points of your process prior to using our product? Describe these obstacles in detail. You want the reader to get as much information on the problem as possible as it sets up the reasoning for why your company's solution was implemented.
• Did our product replace a similar tool or is this the first time your team is using a product like this? Were they using a similar product? If so, having this information may give readers a reason to choose your brand over the competition.
• What other challenges were you and your team experiencing prior to using our product? The more details you can give readers regarding the client's struggles, the better. You want to paint a full picture of the challenges the client faced and how your company resolved them.
• Were there any concerns about how your customers would be impacted by using our product? Getting answers to this question will illustrate to readers the client's concerns about switching to your service. Your readers may have similar concerns and reading how your client worked through this process will be helpful.
• Why didn't you buy our product or a similar product earlier? Have the client describe any hesitations they had using your product. Their concerns may be relatable to potential leads.
• Were there any "dealbreakers" involved in your decision to become a customer? Describing how your company was able to provide a solution that worked within those parameters demonstrates how accommodating your brand is and how you put the customer first. It's also great to illustrate any unique challenges the client had. This better explains their situation to the reader.
• Did you have to make any changes you weren't anticipating once you became a customer? Readers of your case study can learn how switching to your product came with some unexpected changes (good or bad) and how they navigated them. If you helped your client with troubleshooting, ask them to explain that here.

How has your perception of the product changed since you've become a customer? Get the interviewee to describe how your product changed how they do business. This includes how your product accomplished what they previously thought was impossible.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Decision Process

Readers of the case study will be interested in which factors influenced the decision-making process for the client. If they can relate to that process, there's a bigger chance they'll buy your product.

The answers to these questions will help potential customers through their decision-making process.

• How did you hear about our product? If the client chose to work with you based on a recommendation or another positive case study, include that. It will demonstrate that you are a trusted brand with an established reputation for delivering results.
• How long had you been looking for a solution to this problem? This will add to the reader's understanding of how these particular challenges impacted the company before choosing your product.
• Were you comparing alternative solutions? Which ones? This will demonstrate to readers that the client explored other options before choosing your company.
• Would you describe a few of the reasons you decided to buy our product? Ask the interviewee to describe why they chose your product over the competition and any benefits your company offered that made you stand out.
• What were the criteria you used when deciding to buy our product? This will give readers more background insight into the factors that impacted their decision-making process.
• Were there any high-level initiatives or goals that prompted the decision to buy? For example, was this decision motivated by a company-wide vision? Prompt your clients to discuss what lead to the decision to work with you and how you're the obvious choice.
• What was the buying process like? Did you notice anything exceptional or any points of friction? This is an opportunity for the client to comment on how seamless and easy you make the buying process. Get them to describe what went well from start to finish.
• How would you have changed the buying process, if at all? This is an opportunity for you to fine-tune your process to accommodate future buyers.
• Who on your team was involved in the buying process? This will give readers more background on the key players involved from executives to project managers. With this information, readers can see who they may potentially need to involve in the decision-making process on their teams.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business Case

Your case study questions should ask about your product or solution's impact on the customer's employees, teams, metrics, and goals. These questions allow the client to praise the value of your service and tell others exactly what benefits they derived from it.

When readers review your product or service's impact on the client, it enforces the belief that the case study is credible.

• How long have you been using our product? This will help readers gauge how long it took to see results and your overall satisfaction with the product or service.
• How many different people at your company use our product? This will help readers gauge how they can adapt the product to their teams if similar in size.
• Are there multiple departments or teams using our product? This will demonstrate how great of an impact your product has made across departments.
• How do you and your team currently use the product? What types of goals or tasks are you using the product to accomplish? Get specifics on how the product actively helps the client achieve their goals.
• If other teams or departments are using our product, do you know how they're using it? With this information, leads can picture how they can use your product across their teams and how it may improve their workflow and metrics.
• What was the most obvious advantage you felt our product offered during the sales process? The interviewee should explain the benefits they've gained from using your product or service. This is important for convincing other leads you are better than the competition.
• Were there any other advantages you discovered after using the product more regularly? Your interviewee may have experienced some additional benefits from using your product. Have them describe in detail what these advantages are and how they've helped the company improve.
• Are there any metrics or KPIs you track with our product? What are they? The more numbers and data the client can provide, the better.
• Were you tracking any metrics prior to using our product? What were they? This will allow readers to get a clear, before-and-after comparison of using your product.
• How has our product impacted your core metrics? This is an opportunity for your clients to drive home how your product assisted them in hitting their metrics and goals.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Buying Team and Internal Advocates

See if there are any individuals at the customer's company who are advocates for your product.

• Are there any additional team members you consider to be advocates for our product? For example, does anyone stick out as a "power user" or product expert on your team? You may want to interview and include these power users in your case study as well. Consider asking them for tips on using your service or product.
• Is there anyone else on your team you think we should talk to? Again, the more people can share their experience using your product, the better.
• Are there any team members who you think might not be the biggest fans of our product or who might need more training? Providing extra support to those struggling with your product may improve their user experience and turn into an opportunity to not only learn about their obstacles but turn them into a product fan
• Would you share some details about how your team implemented our product? Get as much information as possible about the rollout. Hopefully, they'll gush about how seamless the process was.
• Who from your company was involved in implementing our product? This will give readers more insight into who needs to be involved for a successful rollout of their own.
• Were there any internal risks or additional costs involved with implementing our product? If so, how did you address them? This will give insight into the client's process and rollout and this case study question will likely provide tips on what potential leads should be on the lookout for.
• Is there a training process in place for your team's use of our product? If so, what does it look like? If your company provided support and training to the client, have them describe that experience.
• About how long does it take a new team member to get up to speed with our product? This will help leads determine how much time it will take to onboard an employee to your using your product. If a new user can quickly get started seamlessly, it bodes well for you.
• What was your main concern about rolling this product out to your company? Describing their challenges in detail will provide readers with useful insight.

Case Study Interview Questions About Customer Success

Has the customer found success with your product? Ask these questions to learn more.

• By using our product can you measure any reduced costs? If it has, you'll want to emphasize those savings in your case study.
• By using our product can you measure any improvements in productivity or time savings? Any metrics or specific stories your interviewee can provide will help demonstrate the value of your product.
• By using our product can you measure any increases in revenue or growth? Again, say it with numbers and data whenever possible.
• Are you likely to recommend our product to a friend or colleague? Recommendations from existing customers are some of the best marketing you can get.
• How has our product impacted your success? Your team's success? Getting the interviewee to describe how your product played an integral role in solving their challenges will show leads that they can also have success using your product.
• In the beginning, you had XYZ concerns; how do you feel about them now? Let them explain how working with your company eliminated those concerns.
• I noticed your team is currently doing XYZ with our product. Tell me more about how that helps your business. Illustrate to your readers how current customers are using your product to solve additional challenges. It will convey how versatile your product is.
• Have you thought about using our product for a new use case with your team or at your company? The more examples of use cases the client can provide, the better.
• How do you measure the value our product provides? Have the interviewee illustrate what metrics they use to gauge the product's success and how. Data is helpful, but you should go beyond the numbers. Maybe your product improved company morale and how teams work together.

Case Study Interview Questions About Product Feedback

Ask the customer if they'd recommend your product to others. A strong recommendation will help potential clients be more open to purchasing your product.

• How do other companies in this industry solve the problems you had before you purchased our product? This will give you insight into how other companies may be functioning without your product and how you can assist them.
• Have you ever talked about our product to any of your clients or peers? What did you say? This can provide you with more leads and a chance to get a referral.
• Why would you recommend our product to a friend or client? Be sure they pinpoint which features they would highlight in a recommendation.
• Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. Your interviewee may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
• What is your advice for other teams or companies who are tackling problems similar to those you had before you purchased our product? This is another opportunity for your client to talk up your product or service.
• Do you know someone in X industry who has similar problems to the ones you had prior to using our product? The client can make an introduction so you can interview them about their experience as well.
• I noticed you work with Company Y. Do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.
• Does your company participate in any partner or referral programs? Having a strong referral program will help you increase leads and improve customer retention.
• Can I send you a referral kit as a thank-you for making a referral and give you the tools to refer someone to us? This is a great strategy to request a referral while rewarding your existing customers.
• Are you interested in working with us to produce additional marketing content? The more opportunities you can showcase happy customers, the better.

Case Study Interview Questions About Willingness to Make Referrals

• How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or client? Ideally, they would definitely refer your product to someone they know.
• Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Again, your interviewee is a great source for more leads. Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. They may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
• I noticed you work with Company Y; do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.

Case Study Interview Questions to Prompt Quote-Worthy Feedback

Enhance your case study with quotable soundbites from the customer. By asking these questions, prospects have more insight into other clients and their success with your product — which helps build trust.

• How would you describe your process in one sentence prior to using our product? Ideally, this sentence would quickly and descriptively sum up the most prominent pain point or challenge with the previous process.
• What is your advice to others who might be considering our product? Readers can learn from your customer's experience.
• What would your team's workflow or process be like without our product? This will drive home the value your product provides and how essential it is to their business.
• Do you think the investment in our product was worthwhile? Why? Have your customer make the case for the value you provide.
• What would you say if we told you our product would soon be unavailable? What would this mean to you? Again, this illustrates how integral your product is to their business.
• How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend? Your customers can often distill the value of your product to their friends better than you can.
• What do you love about your job? Your company? This gives the reader more background on your customer and their industry.
• What was the worst part of your process before you started using our product? Ideally, they'd reiterate how your product helped solve this challenge.
• What do you love about our product? Another great way to get the customer's opinion about what makes your product worth it.
• Why do you do business with us? Hopefully, your interviewee will share how wonderful your business relationship is.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customers' Future Goals

Ask the customer about their goals, challenges, and plans for the future. This will provide insight into how a business can grow with your product.

• What are the biggest challenges on the horizon for your industry? Chances are potential leads within the same industry will have similar challenges.
• What are your goals for the next three months? Knowing their short-term goals will enable your company to get some quick wins for the client.
• How would you like to use our product to meet those challenges and goals? This will help potential leads understand that your product can help their business as they scale and grow.
• Is there anything we can do to help you and your team meet your goals? If you haven't covered it already, this will allow your interviewee to express how you can better assist them.
• Do you think you will buy more, less, or about the same amount of our product next year? This can help you gauge how your product is used and why.
• What are the growth plans for your company this year? Your team? This will help you gain insight into how your product can help them achieve future goals.
• How can we help you meet your long-term goals? Getting specifics on the needs of your clients will help you create a unique solution designed for their needs.
• What is the long-term impact of using our product? Get their feedback on how your product has created a lasting impact.
• Are there any initiatives that you personally would like to achieve that our product or team can help with? Again, you want to continue to provide products that help your customers excel.
• What will you need from us in the future? This will help you anticipate the customer's business needs.
• Is there anything we can do to improve our product or process for working together in the future? The more feedback you can get about what is and isn't working, the better.

Before you can start putting together your case study, you need to ask your customer's permission.

If you have a customer who's seen success with your product, reach out to them. Use this template to get started:

Thank you & quick request

Hi [customer name],

Thanks again for your business — working with you to [solve X, launch Y, take advantage of Z opportunity] has been extremely rewarding, and I'm looking forward to more collaboration in the future.

[Name of your company] is building a library of case studies to include on our site. We're looking for successful companies using [product] to solve interesting challenges, and your team immediately came to mind. Are you open to [customer company name] being featured?

It should be a lightweight process — [I, a product marketer] will ask you roughly [10, 15, 20] questions via email or phone about your experience and results. This case study will include a blurb about your company and a link to your homepage (which hopefully will make your SEO team happy!)

In any case, thank you again for the chance to work with you, and I hope you have a great week.

[Your name]

If one of your customers has recently passed along some praise (to you, their account manager, your boss; on an online forum; to another potential customer; etc.), then send them a version of this email:

Hey [customer name],

Thanks for the great feedback — I'm really glad to hear [product] is working well for you and that [customer company name] is getting the results you're looking for.

My team is actually in the process of building out our library of case studies, and I'd love to include your story. Happy to provide more details if you're potentially interested.

Either way, thank you again, and I look forward to getting more updates on your progress.

You can also find potential case study customers by usage or product data. For instance, maybe you see a company you sold to 10 months ago just bought eight more seats or upgraded to a new tier. Clearly, they're happy with the solution. Try this template:

I saw you just [invested in our X product; added Y more users; achieved Z product milestone]. Congratulations! I'd love to share your story using [product] with the world -- I think it's a great example of how our product + a dedicated team and a good strategy can achieve awesome results.

Are you open to being featured? If so, I'll send along more details.

Case Study Benefits

• Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.
• Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.
• Case studies are easily sharable.
• Case studies build rapport with your customers.
• Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

1. Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.

If you haven't noticed, customers aren't always quick to trust a brand's advertisements and sales strategies.

With every other brand claiming to be the best in the business, it's hard to sort exaggeration from reality.

This is the most important reason why case studies are effective. They are testimonials from your customers of your service. If someone is considering your business, a case study is a much more convincing piece of marketing or sales material than traditional advertising.

2. Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.

Your business isn't the only one that benefits from a case study. Customers participating in case studies benefit, too.

Think about it. Case studies are free advertisements for your customers, not to mention the SEO factor, too. While they're not promoting their products or services, they're still getting the word out about their business. And, the case study highlights how successful their business is — showing interested leads that they're on the up and up.

3. Case studies are easily sharable.

No matter your role on the sales team, case studies are great to have on hand. You can easily share them with leads, prospects, and clients.

Whether you embed them on your website or save them as a PDF, you can simply send a link to share your case study with others. They can share that link with their peers and colleagues, and so on.

Case studies can also be useful during a sales pitch. In sales, timing is everything. If a customer is explaining a problem that was solved and discussed in your case study, you can quickly find the document and share it with them.

4. Case studies build rapport with your customers.

While case studies are very useful, they do require some back and forth with your customers to obtain the exact feedback you're looking for.

Even though time is involved, the good news is this builds rapport with your most loyal customers. You get to know them on a personal level, and they'll become more than just your most valuable clients.

And, the better the rapport you have with them, the more likely they'll be to recommend your business, products, or services to others.

5. Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

Data is the difference between a case study and a review. Customer reviews are typically based on the customer's opinion of your brand. While they might write a glowing review, it's completely subjective and there's rarely empirical evidence supporting their claim.

Case studies, on the other hand, are more data-driven. While they'll still talk about how great your brand is, they support this claim with quantitative data that's relevant to the reader. It's hard to argue with data.

An effective case study must be genuine and credible. Your case study should explain why certain customers are the right fit for your business and how your company can help meet their specific needs. That way, someone in a similar situation can use your case study as a testimonial for why they should choose your business.

Use the case study questions above to create an ideal customer case study questionnaire. By asking your customers the right questions, you can obtain valuable feedback that can be shared with potential leads and convert them into loyal customers.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Writing a Case Study

What is a case study?

A Case study is: 

• An in-depth research design that primarily uses a qualitative methodology but sometimes​​ includes quantitative methodology.
• Used to examine an identifiable problem confirmed through research.
• Used to investigate an individual, group of people, organization, or event.
• Used to mostly answer "how" and "why" questions.

What are the different types of case studies?

Note: These are the primary case studies. As you continue to research and learn

about case studies you will begin to find a robust list of different types. 

Who are your case study participants?

What is triangulation ? 

Validity and credibility are an essential part of the case study. Therefore, the researcher should include triangulation to ensure trustworthiness while accurately reflecting what the researcher seeks to investigate.

How to write a Case Study?

When developing a case study, there are different ways you could present the information, but remember to include the five parts for your case study.

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Key Study Skills

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• Allocating time and using the marking system
• Using the reading time effectively
• Answering multi-choice and short answer questions
• Answering essay and case study questions in exams
• Managing exam stress
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Answering essay questions in exams

Writing an essay in an exam is similar in many ways to writing an essay for an assignment: It needs to be clearly structured, and your ideas need to be linked and supported by evidence.

Essay questions in exams

• Read the question through carefully to make sure you are answering what has been asked.  Missing one part of a question can cost you a lot of marks.
• Make a quick plan of the points you want to include in your answer.
• Use essay structure: introduction, points, conclusion.  But if you run out of time, it can be a good idea to write notes.
• Get right to the point from the beginning.  Use the words from the question to write your first sentence. For example:

Question: What do you think is the most important intercultural communication issue in New Zealand? First sentence: At present in New Zealand the most important intercultural communication issue is...

• Remember to include one idea per paragraph, and to begin each paragraph with a clear topic sentence.
• Make sure your writing is legible.
• Grammar, punctuation and spelling are not as important as in an assignment but should still be of a good standard.

Answering case study questions

Exam questions that ask you to anlayse case studies (also called scenarios) are usually designed to test your ability to relate theories and concepts to real-world situations.

Preparing for case studies before the exam:

• Start by identifying the theories and concepts covered in your course.  Organise and review the information you have on these theories/concepts so you understand them.
• Practice reading case studies and identifying relevant information. It's probably useful to practice doing this with a time limit as you will have one in your exam.
• Practice relating concepts and theories to real-world situations: ask lecturers and check textbooks for practice examples. It is also worth checking past exams for your course to see if there are examples of case study questions.

During the exam

• Take time to plan: Have a clear idea of how much time you have to answer the question. Then plan to spend some time reading the exam question, the case study and planning your answer. Take time to make sure you have understood the case study and know what the exam question is asking you to do:
• Read the exam question(s)
• Then skim read the case study to get the general idea. Highlight or underline key points
• Reread the question to make sure you understand it and to focus your attention when you reread the case study.
• Reread the case study carefully. Make a note of any ideas that you think of.
• Answer the question linking relevant theories and concepts to specific information from the case study. Usually you will need to write your answers in clearly formed paragraphs which have a clear topic that is well-supported with evidence and examples.
• Instead of simply describing or restating information from the case itself, use specific details or examples to support the points you are trying to make. This is where you link theory to the facts from the case study.
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How to Answer Case Study: few tips

Here are a few tips on how to answer questions relating to case studies;

1)Read the case-study carefully: Case-studies will run up to many lines. So, do not think twice about spending time on reading the question. Read it the second time if [o haven’t understood clearly.

We Will Write a Custom Case Study Specifically For You For Only $13.90/page!

2)Read the questions relating to the case: After a first time reading of the case study, reading the questions pertaining to it, will help you know what to look out for in the case. Underline these instances in the case study for later reference.

3)Make notes of key points: While reading through your case study, make notes of key points (in bullet format).

This will help you to assess and analyses the facts for arriving at the right solution.

4)Look for cues: Sometimes, the answer may be hidden in the question itself. Certain Norms, or conjunctions in the sentence will give away the answer, if you read between them. Remember to look for these cues.

5)Background preparation: attempting case studies questions will be easier if you have enough exposure to solving these question types earlier.

Browse through detent portals or your university online interface to get better insights about case studies, and the mode to solve them.

Case studies are a vital part of testing management expertise and are woven into the distance learning MBA programs, which follow industry-standards. With the above tips, you can practice such type of questions with a new approach and get the expected results. Identification of issues ; problems There are three steps involved in the identification and analysis of issues and problems.

What are The Steps of Writing Content Analysis Case Study ?

Step 1 – overview of the case study (background context)

Understanding the background issues helps to understand the context of the case study. Read the case study to gain an overview and ask and answer the following questions as you read.

* What background facts influence the current problems? * What are the constraints or obstacles of the situation?

Step 2 – identifying the problems Identifying the major problems and their causes at this stage is vital to identify appropriate solutions later. Re-read the case study and summaries or list the issues and / or problems in your own words.

Make sure you: * sort he major problems from the minor problems * identify evidence from the case study which relates to each of the problems * identify underlying causes of the problems. A setup strategy is to represent the problems and their relationships as a mind.

Step 3 – linking theory to problems and case evidence Relating the identified issues / or problems to theory is vital when answering case studies.

This is where you demonstrate your knowledge of the theory in your course and your ability to relate it to practical situations.

If you are afraid to be expelled or think that you will not pass the plagiarism of your work, then it is better to ask for help in writing the case study with us.

Use your readings to select appropriate theories to match the identified problems. * Home * Identifying issues * Solutions * Recommendations I Antispasmodics can be a useful strategy to summaries / organism problems and to show their relationships to each other. The example below is a representation of the problems of the management case study.

Example I * Home * Identifying issues * Solutions * Recommendations I Integrating theory in a case strangulating relevant theory into your case study answer is vital. His allows you to demonstrate how theory relates to the actual issues / problems mound in the case study, as well as demonstrate your understanding of your course content. The following example shows how the theory and issues have been woven together. Example I * Home * Identifying issues * Solutions * Recommendations I Solution’s section evaluates potential solutions for the identified key problems. Often there is more than one solution, so it is useful to evaluate each solution in terms of its advantages and disadvantages.

This will also assist in determining your recommendations.

Things that may need to be considered are: * costs * time * sources * expertise. Structures section should be clear and concise. Recommended structure: * use headings and subheadings where possible * bullet points or numbered lists can also be used to list the advantages and disadvantages. Example I Recommendation’s section should outline your recommendations based upon the given solutions for each of the identified problems.

It may also need to include an action plan, egg what should be done by whom and the associated timeliness, but check with your teacher / lecturer for specific requirements.

Each recommendation would be realistic, ‘e practical and achievable, and be linked back to relevant and supporting theory. Structuralizes and subheadings should be used in this section. For example:communication * Staff constitutionalism the recommendations based on the identified solutions and supported by relevant theory. * Staff meetinghouse the recommendations based on the identified solutions and supported by relevant theory.

Leadership * Team bloodletting the theory. * Participative leadership storyline the recommendations based on the Identified solutions and supported by relevant theory. I

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Home » Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Case Study – Methods, Examples and Guide

Table of Contents

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

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

Types of Case Study

Types and Methods of Case Study are as follows:

Single-Case Study

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

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

Multiple-Case Study

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

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

Exploratory Case Study

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

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

Descriptive Case Study

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

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

Instrumental Case Study

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

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

Case Study Data Collection Methods

Here are some common data collection methods for case studies:

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

Observations

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

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

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

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

How to conduct Case Study Research

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

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

Examples of Case Study

Here are some examples of case study research:

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

Application of Case Study

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

Business and Management

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

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

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

Social Sciences

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

Law and Ethics

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

Purpose of Case Study

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

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

Case studies can also serve other purposes, including:

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

Advantages of Case Study Research

There are several advantages of case study research, including:

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

Limitations of Case Study Research

There are several limitations of case study research, including:

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

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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How To Answer A Case Study

We totally understand the dire need of students to find credible help with their case studies. Whether they are the students of a college or a university, time and again, you will be asked to make your case studies effectively. This brings to the question as to who will answer a case study impressively? Students can find several online companies that guarantee some great tips for answering your case studies nicely, but not all of them are to rely on.

We bet we have the best step to step guide with us that can easily get you to the end of your case study solutions . The following tips will promise to help you efficiently with your case, irrespective of how difficult they are. Precisely, when it comes to the question of how to answer a case study, it’s all about words. So, do not hesitate in using the correct and researched words to leave a lasting impact.

How To Answer A Consulting Case Study On Three Major Types

Case studies are not an easy task to fulfill in your academic life. If students dare to take it lightly, chances are you will not be able to impress your teachers. However, case studies do not come as easy as they sound. There are three significant types of case studies that are popular among students.

1. Legal Case Study

2. Nursing Case Study

3. Management Case Study

These are the common subjects that will lead to stress in your college or university life. With so much other stuff to do, students don’t feel happy about the pressure of finding a fruitful answer to the case study. There is no doubt it’s quite a challenging situation for any student who has to make a flawless case study. That’s why we usually advise our students to get online help for their case study writing. Because of it, they can have fewer chances of flunking in these exams.

The Helpful 15 Tips On How To Answer A Case Study

When students have no option but to write a persuasive case study, it is preferable to set out on a journey to get external help for it. You can get easy help online. You will be pleased to know that our writing help has some best case study assignment writers who can distress you in a matter of a few hours. But, the most vital thing to know is that a student should know the basic formulas to find good answers to your case studies on their own.

We have collected some fabulous notable tips for our students can help them for years with their case studies:

1. Use Conventional Tone: The foremost thing while writing case studies is to use a professional tone to have a lasting impact on your papers.

2. Use Your Words Only: It is equally important for a student to use simple and their wording while writing case studies.

3. Don’t Be Too Precise: Sometimes, providing proper sentences gives an understandable image to your case studies. Hence, soon use shorter or confusing sentences.

4. Use Examples: The students should support their case studies with relevant examples. The examples can be given through a video, statements which should prove your opinions as well.

5. Accurate Grammar: Your writing is the crucial thing, Don’t engage in poorly written content. Use proper English without any grammatical errors or spelling mistakes.

6. No Acronyms: Students should avoid using acronyms while writing their case studies.

7. Use Life Experiences: Your practical life experiences are important to make a compelling case study. Try to use live examples to give a more impactful expression to your case studies.

8. Justified Statements Are Necessary: The best way to answer a case study is to agree or disagree with the justified statements.

9. Make Complete Sentences: It is also an important point to make a flawless case study paper. While writing, try to make complete sentences.

10. No Spelling Flaws: Bad grammar or wrong spellings are not tolerable. Hence, students should do keen writing with no spelling mistakes.

11. Proper Answers: Try to give proper answers to the questions.

12. Adequate Justifications: Justifications are crucial. Make adequate justifications to avoid any confusion.

13. Sufficient Reasoning: The reasoning should be enough while writing a case study.

14. No indefinite Answers: Indefinite answers cause a hell of a lot of confusion and complexity in a case study. That’s why the students should avoid making indefinite answers.

15. Provide Proper Conversations: It is also vital to contribute as much as possible in conversations.

How To Properly Answer A Case Study

Precisely, a good case study is a scenario that students will analyze out of a professional concept. However, it is blended with useful questions that demand definite answers. There can be a sample case study assignment online that can always help a student while writing one but, it is equally important to know the proper way of answering a case study.

• Reading a case study is the foremost important thing. Later analyze the question carefully too.
• It is mandatory to identify the issue of the case study thoroughly
• A bridge is vital to link the theory to practice
• Planning of the answers comes next.
• Start making your case study answers
• Proofread and edit it carefully to avoid mistakes
• Submit the case studies to your tutors.

How To Answer A Case Study Interview

This aspect is a bit tricky. In a case study interview, you will be given a case and will be asked to analyze the situation with possible solutions.

Here are some common and most useful tips about answering the interview questions:

• Listening carefully to the questions is the key
• Asl the proper questions
• Highlight your approach
• do brainstorming
• Don't lose focus
• Be attentive to feedback
• Prove your quantitative skills
• Summarize in detail

To write a productive case study is hard, but if you choose online help for it, this task becomes really easy. Be a smarter version of yourself and find great ways of handling the answers to your case study problems. We have a proficient team that can make this hectic task to answer your case study a piece of cake. Don’t be late to avail of our quality help.

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9 Types of Questions in Actual Case Interviews

Case interviews at management consulting firms are among the most difficult job interviews, but they are also quite predictable. Once you know the types of questions they ask, preparation is straightforward.

Using years of experience at McKinsey, as well as field reports from thousands of candidates, I’ve crafted a list of 8 common case interview questions, and in this article, I’ll show you how to answer each of them.

Case interview questions – Overview

Types of case interview questions .

Most questions in case interviews belong to one of these 9 types:

1. Framework/issue tree questions 2. Market-sizing and guesstimate questions 3. Valuation questions 4. Brain teaser questions 5. Chart insight questions 6. Value proposition questions 7. Information questions 8. Math problems 9. Solution-finding questions

In this article, we’ll discuss how to answer each question, along with the necessary tips and tricks.

How to answer case interview questions

There are the fo ur basic steps to answer case interview questions:

• Step 1: Clarify any unclear points in the question
• Step 2: Announce approach and ask for time
• Step 3: Draw issue trees to solve the given problem
• Step 4: Pitch your answer and end with a takeaway conclusion.

This general outline may vary depending on each type and each question – for example, brain teasers or information questions need only the last step, while market-sizing and framework questions need all four steps to deliver the perfect answer.

Type 1 – Framework/Issue tree questions

These are on top of the list among popular case interview questions!

If the interviewer asks you to identify factors contributing to a problem or to break down an entity (such as the revenue of a business), he/she is telling you to draw an issue tree.

And to draw a spot-on issue tree, you need to master consulting problem-solving foundations , the MECE principle , and common consulting frameworks . You should check out our other articles on these topics before moving on, because mastering the issue tree is the key to acing every possible case interview.

You also need good business intuition to draw good issue trees, so that’s all the more reason to start reading every day.

Gastronomia – a gourmet restaurant chain has found the turnover rate among its highly-skilled chefs increasing dramatically for the last 3 years; this has led to a noticeable decline in food quality and increased training costs, among other negative effects.

Which factors would you consider when tackling this turnover problem?

Job: Factors from the job itself. Further divided into 3 sub-branches

• Compensations: are the salaries, bonuses, and benefits attractive enough?
• Difficulty: is the job too difficult?
• Nature: is the job too boring, too unengaging, too repetitive…?

Company: Factors from the work environment within the restaurant chain, surrounding the affected jobs. Further divided into 2 sub-branches

• Cultural environment: is the culture at Gastronomia compatible with the chefs?
• Physical environment: is the physical working environment at Gastronomia safe, comfortable, convenient…?

Competitors: Factors from outside the restaurant chain, related to competing job offers. Further divided into 2 sub-branches.

• Inside industry: are other restaurant chains competing with Gastronomia for skilled personnel?
• Outside industry: are there new career options or changes in existing alternatives that draw chefs away from restaurant chains like Gastronomia?

For detailed guides on issue trees, frameworks and their principles, see the articles on Issue Trees , Case Interview Frameworks, and MECE Principle

Type 2 – Market-sizing & guesstimate

These questions go along the lines of “How many trees are there in Central Park?” or “What’s the market size of pick-up trucks in the USA?”

The key to nailing market-sizing and guesstimate questions lies in not the closest results, but the most logical and structured approaches. In fact, the interviewer expects you to follow these four steps:

Step 1: Clarify: Make sure you and the interviewer are on the same page regarding every detail and terminology, so you won’t be answering the wrong question.

Step 2: Break down the problem: Break the item in the question (number of trees in Central Park, market size of pickup trucks) down into smaller, easy-to-estimate pieces.

Step 3: Solve each piece: Estimate each small piece one at a time; each estimation should be backed by facts, figures, or at least observations.

Step 4: Consolidate the pieces: Combine the previous estimations to arrive at a final result; be quick with the math, but don’t rush it if you aren’t confident.

Unless you come up with something about 10 times the reasonable estimate, don’t worry about being “wrong” – the interviewer is unlikely to have a “correct” number in mind, he/she just wants to see your structured mindset.

This question type is so common, we devote a whole article to it, and our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program have a separate package on these questions. Check out our comprehensive guide on Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions for more details!

Now, here’s a quick example for you to try and get used to this type:

How many smartphones are sold each year, globally?

• Smartphones are phones using exclusively touch-screens.
• “Sold” means sold to the end-consumers. 
• The market size is calculated at present.

Break down the problem:

The global smartphone market can be divided into three segments – developed countries, developing countries, and undeveloped countries.

In each segment, the annual unit sales of smartphones depend on four variables:

• The percentage of “phone-owning age” people among the population
• The percentage of smartphone owners within the “phone-owning age” group.
• The average, annual, per capita “consumption” of smartphones for those owners.

Solve each piece:

• The population is 1.5 billion in developed countries, 5.5 billion in developing countries, and 1 billion in undeveloped countries.
• 80% of the world population is in the “phone-owning age” (Global life expectancy is 70 and everyone older than 15 years counts towards the “phone-owning age” group)
• 100% of the phone-owning age in developed countries will own a smartphone; the figure in developing countries is 75%, while in undeveloped countries it’s 10%.
• The average smartphone user replaces their phone every 3 years – so they “consume” 0.33 phones each year.

=> Estimated global smartphone market: 1.53 billion units per year

=> Actual 2019 global smartphone sales:  1.37 billion units (error margin: 11.7%).

This market-sizing question is solved using a four-step process, which is explained in this article:  Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions

Type 3 – Valuation questions

Valuation questions are about estimating the monetary value of a business, and these are very popular in case interviews too!

Valuation questions are a blend of guesstimation/market-sizing, math, and business. They also require basic finance knowledge. There are three ways to estimate the value of a business:

• The NPV Method: take the net cash flow generated by the business, and discount it to the present to account for time value of money. Basically “this company is worth X dollars because it gives me Y dollars over Z years”. This approach works best when the cash flow from the business is positive and stable.
• The Market Method: take one index of the firm (which can be stocks or anything depending on the industry) and multiply it with an industry multiple (the value of one unit of the said index). In other words, “this company is worth AxB dollars because it has A traffic and each traffic is worth B dollars”. This approach works best when the market is transparent and data on similar firms are accessible – usually with major, established industries such as commercial airlines.

In real case interviews, you have to justify your approach then ask the interviewer to give you the necessary data.

Our client wants to sell his organic-food restaurant (called “Cato’s Cabbage Farm”) to retire. How much is his restaurant worth?

(Supposed the interviewer gives you the following data: his current income from the restaurant is $100,000 per year; two other restaurants in the neighborhood – one with 2 times more customers, and another about 0.75 times, have been sold at $1,800,000 and $1,000,000 respectively).

NPV Method: Cato’s Cabbage Farm value = $100,000 / 10% = $1,000,000

Market Method:

Assume the number of customers for Cato’s Cabbage Farm is 1 “customer unit”, then the two neighborhood restaurants get 2 and 0.75 “customer units”.

• Industry multiple: ($1,800,000+$1,000,000) / (2+0.75) = ~$1,018,182
• Cato’s Cabbage Farm value = $1,018,182 x 1 = $1,018,182

Type 4 – Brain teasers

Brain teasers are the least predictable case interview questions – but even these can be learned!

Brain teasers are riddles designed to test unconventional, creative, and logical thinking. A famous example of this is Accenture’s “How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?”.

Although not as popular as before, brain teasers might still appear in consulting interviews; therefore, you should spend some time to prepare.

Most brain teasers can be allocated into these seven types:

• Logical questions are pure logic riddles – there’s no trick, no illusion, no creativity.

In our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program , there are +200 brain teasers to help you prepare for these “unpredictable” questions. You can also read our article about Case Interview Brain Teasers for insights on all of these exciting brain teasers, as well as 30 example questions and answers!

How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?

Open the fridge, put the giraffe in, then close the fridge. The question never says how big the fridge or the giraffe is.

For the logic and approach behind each kind of brain teasers, see the article on Brain Teasers.

Type 5 – Chart insight questions

You can’t be a management consultant without mastering the use of charts – the complex, scary-looking real-world charts such as those included in our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program.

In management consulting and case interviews, most charts are one (or a combination) of these four basic types:

• Bar charts compare the values of several items at one point in time, or 1-2 items at several time intervals.
• Line charts illustrate time-series data, i.e trends in data over a continuous period.
• Pie charts illustrate proportions, i.e “parts of a whole” analyses.
• Scatter-plots use data points to visualize how two variables relate to each other.

To read these charts and answer chart-insights questions effectively, you must follow a structured, comprehensive process:

You can find a more detailed guide in the Charts section in our article about Consulting Math.

What can you draw from the following chart?

Trends in chart:

• Steady rise in the number of confirmed deaths to about 70-80 per million;
• Both changes started around March 10-11.
• These sudden rises can be explained by events occurring in early-March, and 2.
• If number of cases is kept low, the threat from COVID-19 will remain minimal, considering a mortality rate of only 2%.

Type 6 – Value proposition questions

No business or consulting candidate can succeed without understanding the customers!

Value-proposition questions are not only about correctly identifying customer preferences, but also about analyzing and delivering the answer in a structured fashion. The former relies heavily on business knowledge and intuition, but the latter can be trained methodically and quickly. Personally, I use a “double issue-tree” – essentially a table with customer segments on one axis and proposed values on the other:

For segmenting customers, you can use the following table. However, don’t over-rely on it, since there may be more relevant and insightful question-specific segmentations.

In some cases, clarification is also necessary – both to avoid “answering the wrong question” and to narrow down the range of customers/values you need to cover in the answer.

What will a customer consider when buying a Toyota sedan?

Clarification: A sedan must be branded “Toyota” to be a Toyota sedan – cars with other Toyota-owned brands such as Lexus or Ranz do not count in this question.

Situational Assessment:

Toyota sedans occupy the entry-level and mid-range price segments, so Toyota customers will be more price-conscious than, for example, Lexus customers.

They are also less likely to lean considerably towards one particular factor, so achieving a balance is extremely important.

Functionality factors:

• Comfort: Toyota sedans are mostly for everyday use, so customers should feel comfortable being inside the car.
• Utility: Toyota sedans are used for multiple purposes, so convenience for a wide range of uses is important.

Cost factors

• Purchase price: A car can be an expensive investment while Toyota’s low-to-mid-range customers are more price-conscious, so having a cheap/reasonable price is important.
• Fuel and maintenance: Maintenance and fuel costs over time are likewise inversely related to the decision to buy a Toyota sedan.

Physical factors

• Performance: Customers are usually drivers themselves, who often pay attention to the technical characteristics of the car (speed, acceleration, handling, etc.)
• Visual design: The car should possess the same level of visual appeal as other competitors in the same segment.
• Build quality: Parts of the car should be assembled in a reasonably good manner.

Emotional factors

• Branding: The car should come from a well-known, reputable brand
• Personal preferences: Some customers choose specific cars simply because they “like” the car.

Type 7 – Information questions

In any problem-solving process, information is one of the overarching concerns!

“Information questions” essentially ask if the piece of data you use is obtainable in the first place. In real consulting work, data is not always available – client team members may refuse to cooperate or there’s simply no data on the subject.

There are many kinds of information sources in case interviews/consulting works, but I’ll divide them into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources means you must do the research yourself (or pay someone else to do it for you), such as customer surveys or mystery shoppings. If someone already did that research, and you use their results, it’s called a secondary source – you can get these from the client , the consulting firm you work for, or third-parties such as market research firms or external industry experts.

You can find out more about these sources and how to cite them in real case interviews through this free Prospective Candidate Starter Pack, which contains a glossary of data sources in consulting.

Our Prospective Candidate Starter Pack has a sheet containing all the possible sources of information in case interviews and consulting projects, among numerous other free resources; you can download and use it to answer these questions, by subscribing to our newsletter at the end of this article.

How do you assess your target customer’s preferences for sports cars?

Primary sources: customer survey, customer interviews, Secondary sources: industry reports, client sales reports, third-party expert interview, client expert interview

Type 8 – Math problems

A lot of information in case interviews and consulting work comes in the quantitative form, so you won’t escape Math by joining the consulting industry!

When you have to do the math, perform back-of-the-envelope calculations in a structured fashion, and say out loud what you’re writing. For one thing, it’s safe; for another, you show that you’re careful, organized, and reliable – just like actual consultants.

We have a Math Practice Tool right here! Use it every day, and you’ll be a master of mental calculations in no time flat!

We have a dedicated article on Consulting Math, which you should definitely read.

Type 9 – Solution-finding questions

What’s the point of analyzing a problem, if not to solve it?!

When dealing with solution questions, keep these four points in mind:

• Firstly, in case interviews as well as real consulting projects, solutions must always solve every root cause of a problem, so remember to check if your solutions are relevant and comprehensive.
• Secondly, every solution must be actionable – if your solutions are too expensive, too time-consuming, etc. for the client, they’re useless.
• Thirdly, the interview expects a highly-structured answer; so segment your solutions based on their characteristics (long-term vs short-term is the easiest segmentation)

Last but not least, deliver at least two solutions, preferably three to five. Otherwise, you’ll appear uncreative and lazy to the interviewer’s eyes.

Nailing these questions relies on having excellent business intuition; our Case Interview End-to-End Program has a dedicated Business Intuition package, but you should also train a habit of reading consulting and business articles daily, to sharpen your business mind.

A restaurant that relies solely on on-premise dining found the loss of adjacent parking space (due to termination of contract) harming their revenue. How can they fix that?

The solutions for the restaurant’s parking space problem can be divided into two types:

• Short-term solutions: Find new parking space around the neighborhood, or renegotiate for old parking space (possibly at a higher price).
• Long-term solutions: Introduce takeaway items and off-premise dining.

Reminders on case interview questions

The questions are not clear-cut in candidate-led cases.

There are two extremes in consulting case interview format: interviewer-led (McKinsey) and candidate-led (BCG, Bain).

Interviewer-led cases, on one hand, consist of multiple, clear-cut questions in a larger business case context; the candidate navigates through these questions to arrive at the solutions.

Candidate-led cases, on the other hand, have one big problem, which the candidate must break down into small pieces to identify the root causes and deliver solutions.

This list, therefore, is much more relevant to the interviewer-led format; nonetheless, this guide is still quite beneficial for candidate-led cases, because when solving that big problem, you’ll have to tackle small issues similar to the 8 aforementioned question types.

Mastering the fundamentals is crucial to consistent performance

Although it’s good to study the case interview questions, it is no substitute for mastering the fundamental principles.

Learning the exercises without the basics is like building a house without a foundation. My poor neighbor’s house developed a huge crack right down the center because of its weak foundation, so make sure to build your case interview prep a strong one by knowing the basics first.

Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’ll become much more flexible – this quality is getting increasingly important because case interviews are getting less predictable, and more realistic.

If you haven’t, I advise you to read these articles (especially the first 4) before practicing the question types:

• Case Interview 101
• Issue Tree – The Complete Guide
• MECE Principle
• Case Interview Frameworks
• McKinsey Case Interview – Interviewer-led Format
• BCG & Bain Case Interview – Candidate-led Format

Expect the unexpected

If you study those nine question types, rest assured that you’ve covered the majority of questions in case interviews.

However, these are not all the possible questions you might be given. In actual cases, there are always questions that cannot be categorized neatly. If you do not prepare for these questions, it’s easy to be thrown off-balance.

So, how do you prepare for “the unexpected”?

• Master the basics: Focus your efforts on the basics, once you’ve mastered them it’d be comfortable to move on to higher, more sophisticated levels.
• Business Intuition : You need business intuition for a business-related job, it’s simple as that. Nearly every case concerns business in one way or another – even public sector cases. This is why we also teach business intuition in our Case Interview E2E Secret Program.
• Have mock case interviews : Practice case interviews with ex-consultants will help you get a sense of what might happen or how you might be evaluated in actual cases. Highly experienced coaches from MConsultingPrep will review your performance, giving you the most valuable feedback and actionable tips & techniques.

Scoring in the McKinsey PSG/Digital Assessment

The scoring mechanism in the McKinsey Digital Assessment

Related product

Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program

Elevate your case interview skills with a well-rounded preparation package

Six types of charts in case interview are: Bar/Column chart, Line chart, Percentage chart, Mekko chart, Scatter plot chart, Waterfall chart.

A case interview is where candidates is asked to solve a business problem. They are used by consulting firms to evaluate problem-solving skill & soft skills

Case interview frameworks are methods for addressing and solving business cases.  A framework can be extensively customized or off-the-shelf for specific cases.

Online Case Study Answer Generator for Students

Here Is Your Case Study Analysis

If you want to quickly and effectively carry out case study analyses, you’ve come to the right place. Just for you, we’ve created a free AI-powered tool that can analyze case studies on any subject!

Our app will be the perfect solution for those who don’t want to spend a ton of time structuring their texts and looking for examples. Use it to save time and nerves!

• ️🎉 Benefits of Our Generator
• ️🤖 How to Use
• ️✨ Case Study Definition
• ️🔎 Structure of a Case Study
• ️✍️ Writing Steps
• ️🔝 Top 12 Topics & Examples
• ️🔗 References

🎉 Benefits of Our Case Study Analysis Generator

Our generator is one of the best, and there are many reasons for us to say so:

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• Paste your case study into the field.
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Keep in mind that the results provided by the tool are to be used for reference purposes only.

✨ Case Study Analysis Definition

A case study analysis is used to examine a problem and find a solution to it. This type of analysis is typically used in business as well as in other spheres, such as education, healthcare, and social sciences. The main feature of such a study is that it’s rooted in a real-life context.

Researchers use direct observations, interviews, tests, and samples to gather data for their case studies. This information is then used to develop solutions and recommendations backed with evidence.

🔎 Structure of a Case Study Analysis

Usually, a case study analysis consists of 6 parts. Each one is dedicated to a particular aspect and serves its own purpose. Let’s take a closer look at them and see how they differ.

Introduction

An introduction describes the context of the examined topic and provides substantial background on the case study’s subject. When you write it, keep in mind the following questions:

• What is your case study about?
• What is the primary goal of your research?
• Why is it important?

Problem Statement

The next part introduces the main problem or issue the study will be focusing on. Typically, it’s concerned with a challenge faced by an individual or organization in question. The problem statement provides a clear focus for the whole research.

Now, it’s time for the most interesting part—the analysis itself. When it comes to business problems, students can use various approaches, such as:

This part presents several ways to resolve the issue in question. The solutions must be realistic and achievable. It’s also worth to mention their pros and cons and thus identify the most potent ones.

Recommendations

This part focuses on the best possible solutions to the problem identified in the previous section. It explains how to implement it in practice and how it will help eliminate the issue. It may also suggest ways to deal with other, minor problems involved in the case.

Conclusions

Now, it’s time for the final part of the analysis: your conclusions . Here is what you need to do:

• Summarize the results of your case study analysis and explain how they relate to the research’s main problem.
• Be sure to emphasize how vital your study is and how it helps to make the issue more manageable.
• Make further suggestions based on your findings.

✍️ How to Write a Case Study

Now you know what to include in your case study. But how do you write one that is truly outstanding? Just follow our step-by-step guide:

1. Pick a Case to Explore

Choosing the right topic is essential. You need to do it early on to ensure that the research subject is sufficiently explored.

For example, suppose you want to examine how COVID-19 has affected the hospitality sector. In that case, you can choose either a representative case, such as a large hotel chain, or an outlier case, such as a small Bed and Breakfast that has managed to survive the pandemic. The latter case may sound more interesting, but if there's not enough information available on it, it's best to choose the former.

2. Formulate a Problem Statement

Now, you should clearly and concisely formulate the central problem you will be focusing on. To do it, answer the 5 Ws:

• What is the problem you’re researching?
• Who is affected by it?
• Where does it occur?
• When did the problem arise?
• Why is this issue significant?

If you need help with this part of your analysis, you can always use our research problem generator .

3. Gather Evidence & Collect Data

Data gathering can be done through both primary and secondary sources of information . You can use a range of research techniques, such as observations, surveys, and interviews. It is crucial to make sure the data you’ve collected is pertinent to the case study.

4. Describe Your Findings & Analyze Them

Next, you analyze trends and themes in your data. This analysis must be supported by facts and evidence. Use various analysis methods to make your study more in-depth.

5. Provide Solutions & Recommendations

Develop several possible solutions using the information you’ve gathered. Once you’ve done it, answer the following questions:

• What are the pros and cons of these solutions?
• Which one can be the most beneficial?
• How can the entity you’re analyzing implement it in practice?

The more detailed your recommendations are, the better. If possible, try to include aspects such as timeline, resource allocation, and KPIs for monitoring.

🔝 Top 12 Case Study Topics & Examples

Want inspiration for your analysis? Or maybe you need help picking a case to explore? Check out this list of topics with examples!

• Operations and Information Management: A Case Study of CC Music
• Netflix and Blockbuster: Case Study
• Strategic Planning Case Study: Process Management
• HRM Incident: Case Study Analysis
• Case Study Summary: Hiring a Sustainable Development Specialist
• Organizational Change: Qatargas Case Study
• Childhood Development Case Study
• Case Study of Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant and Workplace
• Strategic Marketing: Amazon Go Case Study
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Case Study
• Social Determinants of Health: Case Study
• Recovering Supply Chain Operations: A Case Study of Nissan

Now you know how to complete a case study! Remember that the tiring process of analyzing can be effectively streamlined if you use our free case study answer generator. Try it out—you won’t regret it!

We also recommend using our transition words maker and personal statement generator to enhance your writing.

❓ Case Study Analysis Generator: FAQ

❓ what questions to answer in a case study.

A case study must either prove or disprove an existing theory. It also aims to find a solution to the research's central question. This question can vary depending on your topic and subject. You present the answer in your research findings and conclusions.

❓ How Do You Write a Case Study Analysis?

First, you introduce your case and provide its background. Then, you gather information and analyze it to develop several solutions. Finally, you propose the best solution and give recommendations on how to implement it. Also, remember to explain how your case study will deepen the existing knowledge.

❓ What Are the 4 Most Important Parts of Case Study?

Every case study begins with the introduction of a topic and its background. Then, you present an analysis of sources that can provide knowledge on the case. The third part is the analysis of collected data. Your case study ends with conclusions based on your findings.

❓ What Are Some Examples of Case Studies?

Case studies are frequently used in psychology to shed light on peculiar circumstances. Famous case study examples include Sigmund Freud's Little Hans as well as John Martin Marlow's study of Phineas Gage, the man who had a railroad spike driven through his brain.

🔗 References

• Case Study: Definition, Examples, Types, and How to Write: Verywell Mind
• What Is a Case Study?: Evidence Based Nursing
• What the Case Study Method Really Teaches: Harvard Business Review
• Using Case Studies to Teach: Boston University
• What Is a Case Study? Definition, Elements and 15 Examples: Indeed
• Writing a Case Study: University of Southern California
• Writing a Case Study – Student Academic Success: Monash University

IRIS MABRY-HERNANDEZ, MD, MPH, Medical Officer, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

SUSAN J. CHING, DO, Preventive Medicine Resident, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Am Fam Physician. 2024;109(5):457-458

Related editorial:   Anxiety Screening Is Unlikely to Improve Mental Health Outcomes

Related USPSTF Clinical Summary:   Screening for Anxiety Disorders in Adults

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

A 34-year-old patient (gravida 2, para 2) presents for a well-woman examination and Papanicolaou smear. She feels healthy and has no significant medical history, aside from her uncomplicated pregnancies, which did not include postpartum depression or anxiety. She reports increased stress at home due to an upcoming move and some difficulty sleeping.

Case Study Questions

1 . According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation, which one of the following is advised for this patient?

A. Screen for anxiety disorder.

B. Assess her anxiety in 6 months.

C. Refer her to an obstetrician-gynecologist for postpartum anxiety screening.

D. Recommend melatonin.

E. Refer her to a behavioral health professional for sleep management.

2 . According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 5th ed. (DSM-5), which of the following can be categorized as anxiety disorders?

A. Generalized anxiety disorder.

B. Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

C. Separation anxiety disorder.

D. Social anxiety disorder.

3 . Which one of the following populations should be screened for anxiety disorders, according to the USPSTF recommendation?

A. People already diagnosed with anxiety or another mental health disorder.

B. People younger than 18 years.

C. People older than 65 years.

D. People with no recognized signs or symptoms of anxiety disorders.

The correct answer is A . The USPSTF recommends screening all adults 19 to 64 years of age for anxiety disorder, including those who are pregnant and postpartum. The USPSTF notes there is little evidence for the ideal timing and frequency of anxiety screening for perinatal and general adult populations. 1 However, clinical judgment, particularly considering risk factors, comorbid conditions, and life events, can determine whether additional screening of high-risk patients is warranted. There is a lack of evidence on screening rates for anxiety disorders. Underdetection appears to be common. Patients with anxiety disorders may present with other concerns, such as sleep disturbances or somatic issues.

The correct answers are A, C, and D . The DSM-5 recognizes the following types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, substance or medication-induced anxiety disorder, anxiety disorder due to another medical condition, and anxiety not otherwise specified. 2 Obsessive-compulsive disorder is not considered an anxiety disorder.

The correct answer is D . The USPSTF recommendation statement applies to adults (defined as those 19 to 64 years of age), including people who are pregnant or postpartum, who do not have a diagnosed mental health disorder and are not showing recognized signs or symptoms of anxiety disorders. 2 For people 65 years or older, the USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against screening for anxiety disorders.

The views expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

This PPIP quiz is based on the recommendations of the USPSTF. More information is available in the USPSTF Recommendation Statement and supporting documents on the USPSTF website ( https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org ). The practice recommendations in this activity are available at https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/anxiety-adults-screening .

O’Connor EA, Henninger ML, Perdue LA, et al. Anxiety screening: evidence report and systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. 2023;329(24):2171-2184.

Barry MJ, Nicholson WK, Silverstein M, et al. Screening for anxiety disorders in adults: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA. 2023;329(24):2163-2170.

This series is coordinated by Joanna Drowos, DO, contributing editor.

A collection of Putting Prevention Into Practice published in AFP is available at https://www.aafp.org/afp/ppip.

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This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP.  See permissions  for copyright questions and/or permission requests.

Copyright © 2024 American Academy of Family Physicians. All Rights Reserved.

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When Is the Best Time to Work Out?

It’s an age-old question. But a few recent studies have brought us closer to an answer.

By Alexander Nazaryan

What is the best time of day to exercise?

It’s a straightforward question with a frustrating number of answers, based on research results that can be downright contradictory.

The latest piece of evidence came last month from a group of Australian researchers, who argued that evening was the healthiest time to break a sweat, at least for those who are overweight. Their study looked at 30,000 middle-aged people with obesity and found that evening exercisers were 28 percent less likely to die of any cause than those who worked out in the morning or afternoon.

“We were surprised by the gap,” said Angelo Sabag, an exercise physiologist at the University of Sydney who led the study. The team expected to see a benefit from evening workouts, but “we didn’t think the risk reduction would be as pronounced as it was.”

So does that mean that evening swimmers and night runners had the right idea all along?

“It’s not settled,” said Juleen Zierath, a physiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. “It’s an emerging area of research. We haven’t done all the experiments. We’re learning a lot every month.”

No single study can dictate when you should exercise. For many people, the choice comes down to fitness goals, work schedules and plain old preferences. That said, certain times of day may offer slight advantages, depending on what you hope to achieve.

The case for morning exercise

According to a 2022 study , morning exercise may be especially beneficial for heart health. It may also lead to better sleep .

And when it comes to weight loss, there have been good arguments made for morning workouts. Last year, a study published in the journal Obesity found that people who exercised between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. had a lower body mass index than counterparts who exercised in the afternoon or at night, though it did not track them over time, unlike the Australian study, which followed participants for an average of eight years.

Of course, the biggest argument for morning exercise may be purely practical. “For a lot of people, the morning is more convenient,” said Shawn Youngstedt, an exercise science professor at Arizona State University. Even if rising early to work out can be challenging at first , morning exercise won’t get in the way of Zoom meetings, play dates or your latest Netflix binge.

The case for afternoon exercise

A few small studies suggest that the best workout time, at least for elite athletes, might be the least convenient for many of us.

Body temperature, which is lower in the morning but peaks in late afternoon, plays a role in athletic performance. Several recent small studies with competitive athletes suggest that lower body temperature reduces performance (though warm-ups exercises help counter that) and afternoon workouts help them play better and sleep longer .

If you have the luxury of ample time, one small New Zealand study found that it can help to nap first. As far as the rest of us are concerned, a Chinese study of 92,000 people found that the best time to exercise for your heart was between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“The main difference is our population,” Dr. Sabag said. While his study was restricted to obese people, the Chinese study was not. “Individuals with obesity may be more sensitive to the time-of-day effects of exercise,” he said.

The case for evening exercise

This latest study may not settle the debate, but it certainly suggests that those struggling with obesity might benefit from a later workout.

Exercise makes insulin more effective at lowering blood sugar levels, which in turn fends off weight gain and Type 2 diabetes, a common and devastating consequence of obesity.

“In the evening, you are most insulin resistant,” Dr. Sabag said. “So if you can compensate for that natural change in insulin sensitivity by doing exercise,” he explained, you can lower your blood glucose levels, and thus help keep diabetes and cardiovascular disease at bay.

One persistent concern about evening exercise is that vigorous activity can disturb sleep. However, some experts have argued that these concerns have been overstated.

The case that it may not matter

While many of these studies are fascinating, none of them is definitive. For one thing, most are simply showing a correlation between exercise times and health benefits, not identifying them as the cause.

“The definitive study would be to actually randomize people to different times,” Dr. Youngstedt said, which would be phenomenally expensive and difficult for academics.

One thing public health experts do agree on is that most Americans are far too sedentary. And that any movement is good movement.

“Whenever you can exercise,” Dr. Sabag urged. “That is the answer.”

In a recent edition of his newsletter that discussed the Australian study, Arnold Schwarzenegger — bodybuilder, actor, former governor — seemed to agree. He cited a 2023 study suggesting that there really isn’t any difference in outcomes based on which time of day you exercise. In which case, it’s all about what works best for you.

“I will continue to train in the morning,” the former Mr. Universe wrote. “It’s automatic for me.”

Alexander Nazaryan is a science and culture writer who prefers to run in the early evening.

Let Us Help You Pick Your Next Workout

Looking for a new way to get moving we have plenty of options..

To get the most out of your strength training, you need to let go of routine and try progressive overload .

What is the best time of day to exercise? A few recent studies have brought us closer to an answer .

Sprinting, at least for short distances, can be a great way to level up your workout routine .

Cycling isn’t just fun. It can also deliver big fitness gains with the right gear and strategy .

Is your workout really working for you? Take our quiz to find out .

Pick the Right Equipment With Wirecutter’s Recommendations

Want to build a home gym? These five things can help you transform your space  into a fitness center.

Transform your upper-body workouts with a simple pull-up bar  and an adjustable dumbbell set .

Choosing the best  running shoes  and running gear can be tricky. These tips  make the process easier.

A comfortable sports bra can improve your overall workout experience. These are the best on the market .

Few things are more annoying than ill-fitting, hard-to-use headphones. Here are the best ones for the gym  and for runners .

Artificial intelligence  is being used in healthcare for everything from answering patient questions to assisting with surgeries and developing new pharmaceuticals.

According to  Statista , the artificial intelligence (AI) healthcare market, which is valued at $11 billion in 2021, is projected to be worth $187 billion in 2030. That massive increase means we will likely continue to see considerable changes in how medical providers, hospitals, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and others in the healthcare industry operate.

Better  machine learning (ML)  algorithms, more access to data, cheaper hardware, and the availability of 5G have contributed to the increasing application of AI in the healthcare industry, accelerating the pace of change. AI and ML technologies can sift through enormous volumes of health data—from health records and clinical studies to genetic information—and analyze it much faster than humans.

Healthcare organizations are using AI to improve the efficiency of all kinds of processes, from back-office tasks to patient care. The following are some examples of how AI might be used to benefit staff and patients:

• Administrative workflow:  Healthcare workers spend a lot of time doing paperwork and other administrative tasks. AI and automation can help perform many of those mundane tasks, freeing up employee time for other activities and giving them more face-to-face time with patients. For example, generative AI can help clinicians with note-taking and content summarization that can help keep medical records as thoroughly as possible. AI might also help with accurate coding and sharing of information between departments and billing.
• Virtual nursing assistants:  One study found that  64% of patients  are comfortable with the use of AI for around-the-clock access to answers that support nurses provide. AI virtual nurse assistants—which are AI-powered chatbots, apps, or other interfaces—can be used to help answer questions about medications, forward reports to doctors or surgeons and help patients schedule a visit with a physician. These sorts of routine tasks can help take work off the hands of clinical staff, who can then spend more time directly on patient care, where human judgment and interaction matter most.
• Dosage error reduction:  AI can be used to help identify errors in how a patient self-administers medication. One example comes from a study in  Nature Medicine , which found that up to 70% of patients don’t take insulin as prescribed. An AI-powered tool that sits in the patient’s background (much like a wifi router) might be used to flag errors in how the patient administers an insulin pen or inhaler.
• Less invasive surgeries:  AI-enabled robots might be used to work around sensitive organs and tissues to help reduce blood loss, infection risk and post-surgery pain.
• Fraud prevention:  Fraud in the healthcare industry is enormous, at $380 billion/year, and raises the cost of consumers’ medical premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. Implementing AI can help recognize unusual or suspicious patterns in insurance claims, such as billing for costly services or procedures that are not performed, unbundling (which is billing for the individual steps of a procedure as though they were separate procedures), and performing unnecessary tests to take advantage of insurance payments.

A recent study found that  83% of patients  report poor communication as the worst part of their experience, demonstrating a strong need for clearer communication between patients and providers. AI technologies like  natural language processing  (NLP), predictive analytics, and  speech recognition  might help healthcare providers have more effective communication with patients. AI might, for instance, deliver more specific information about a patient’s treatment options, allowing the healthcare provider to have more meaningful conversations with the patient for shared decision-making.

According to  Harvard’s School of Public Health , although it’s early days for this use, using AI to make diagnoses may reduce treatment costs by up to 50% and improve health outcomes by 40%.

One use case example is out of the  University of Hawaii , where a research team found that deploying  deep learning  AI technology can improve breast cancer risk prediction. More research is needed, but the lead researcher pointed out that an AI algorithm can be trained on a much larger set of images than a radiologist—as many as a million or more radiology images. Also, that algorithm can be replicated at no cost except for hardware.

An  MIT group  developed an ML algorithm to determine when a human expert is needed. In some instances, such as identifying cardiomegaly in chest X-rays, they found that a hybrid human-AI model produced the best results.

Another  published study  found that AI recognized skin cancer better than experienced doctors.  US, German and French researchers used deep learning on more than 100,000 images to identify skin cancer. Comparing the results of AI to those of 58 international dermatologists, they found AI did better.

As health and fitness monitors become more popular and more people use apps that track and analyze details about their health. They can share these real-time data sets with their doctors to monitor health issues and provide alerts in case of problems.

AI solutions—such as big data applications, machine learning algorithms and deep learning algorithms—might also be used to help humans analyze large data sets to help clinical and other decision-making. AI might also be used to help detect and track infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, tuberculosis, and malaria.

One benefit the use of AI brings to health systems is making gathering and sharing information easier. AI can help providers keep track of patient data more efficiently.

One example is diabetes. According to the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 10% of the US population has diabetes. Patients can now use wearable and other monitoring devices that provide feedback about their glucose levels to themselves and their medical team. AI can help providers gather that information, store, and analyze it, and provide data-driven insights from vast numbers of people. Using this information can help healthcare professionals determine how to better treat and manage diseases.

Organizations are also starting to use AI to help improve drug safety. The company SELTA SQUARE, for example, is  innovating the pharmacovigilance (PV) process , a legally mandated discipline for detecting and reporting adverse effects from drugs, then assessing, understanding, and preventing those effects. PV demands significant effort and diligence from pharma producers because it’s performed from the clinical trials phase all the way through the drug’s lifetime availability. Selta Square uses a combination of AI and automation to make the PV process faster and more accurate, which helps make medicines safer for people worldwide.

Sometimes, AI might reduce the need to test potential drug compounds physically, which is an enormous cost-savings.  High-fidelity molecular simulations  can run on computers without incurring the high costs of traditional discovery methods.

AI also has the potential to help humans predict toxicity, bioactivity, and other characteristics of molecules or create previously unknown drug molecules from scratch.

As AI becomes more important in healthcare delivery and more AI medical applications are developed, ethical, and regulatory governance must be established. Issues that raise concern include the possibility of bias, lack of transparency, privacy concerns regarding data used for training AI models, and safety and liability issues.

“AI governance is necessary, especially for clinical applications of the technology,” said Laura Craft, VP Analyst at  Gartner . “However, because new AI techniques are largely new territory for most [health delivery organizations], there is a lack of common rules, processes, and guidelines for eager entrepreneurs to follow as they design their pilots.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) spent 18 months deliberating with leading experts in ethics, digital technology, law, and human rights and various Ministries of Health members to produce a report that is called  Ethics & Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health . This report identifies ethical challenges to using AI in healthcare, identifies risks, and outlines six  consensus principles  to ensure AI works for the public’s benefit:

• Protecting autonomy
• Promoting human safety and well-being
• Ensuring transparency
• Fostering accountability
• Ensuring equity
• Promoting tools that are responsive and sustainable

The WHO report also provides recommendations that ensure governing AI for healthcare both maximizes the technology’s promise and holds healthcare workers accountable and responsive to the communities and people they work with.

AI provides opportunities to help reduce human error, assist medical professionals and staff, and provide patient services 24/7. As AI tools continue to develop, there is potential to use AI even more in reading medical images, X-rays and scans, diagnosing medical problems and creating treatment plans.

AI applications continue to help streamline various tasks, from answering phones to analyzing population health trends (and likely, applications yet to be considered). For instance, future AI tools may automate or augment more of the work of clinicians and staff members. That will free up humans to spend more time on more effective and compassionate face-to-face professional care.

When patients need help, they don’t want to (or can’t) wait on hold. Healthcare facilities’ resources are finite, so help isn’t always available instantaneously or 24/7—and even slight delays can create frustration and feelings of isolation or cause certain conditions to worsen.

IBM® watsonx Assistant™ AI healthcare chatbots  can help providers do two things: keep their time focused where it needs to be and empower patients who call in to get quick answers to simple questions.

IBM watsonx Assistant  is built on deep learning, machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) models to understand questions, search for the best answers and complete transactions by using conversational AI.

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