The Art & Craft of the Case Study

Bryane Michael, Linacre College

What is a Symposium?

• Group discussion

• Chance to interact with speaker

• Reflection on the problem addressed by the speaker

Key Values of Symposia

• Brief yet complete – keep presentations and responses short

• Curiosity – questions often more important than diatribes

Presentation

• Strong introduction motivating your presentation• State your thesis forcefully• Argument and exploration

– Should cover the issues comprehensively– But remember is an oral “performance”– Jargon/interest trade-off

• But explore within a framework– The one thing which unifies non post-modern economics and

management is the use of analytical frameworks

• Outline the most important points in your paper, summarize instead of dictate.

• Structure: Tell them what you’re going to say, say it, then tell them what you said.

Tips for Critique

• Disciplinary Choice

• Sub-disciplinary approach

• Methodology

• Missed issues

Disciplinary Choice

• Why did the presenter choose this discipline to address the question? – Economics, politics, sociology

Sub-disciplinary Approach

• The goal or objective– Did the author identify the right problem– Try to use “backward induction” to see if there

are other ways of getting from the goal to a consideration of the activities

– Did author define carefully the goal (ie. Not enough to say “increase capital accumulation” but define who, what, where, when, why and how.

Sub-disciplinary approachDid author identify Main factors or issues?

– Judgment is like a scree plot

• Can also assess importance of factor on 1-10 scale

1 10

% of explanatory power

Factor 1 factor 2 factor 3

Sub-disciplinary Approach

• Did author identify key issues– Can use mind-maps or cognitive maps

around the author’s own

growth

Capital

Labour

Knowledge

X’s theory of capital

Y’s theory of capital

A’s theory of labour

D’s theory of labour

Do you find the Model Convincing?

Models help define the main factors driving phenomenon we are interested inMaybe wrong/ inappropriate model?

Check the author’s assumptions!

S2

S1

D

D1

Different assumptions result in different answersIf you make the wrong assumption, you get the wrong policy advice, decision.

Please always question what you curves look like!

w

L

Arguments

• To make sure presenter’s arguments are sound, you may wish to write the presupposition, the conclusion and make sure the “middle arguments” are coherent. – The statement “knowledge promotes

development” is not sound.

Knowledge Development

Missing elements

Ability to produce

Actual Production

(with other factors)

Higher income

Does author address right part of “everything”?

• Simplicity is eloquence

• Don’t look at everything

Everything

The mostImportant explanation

Important questions to pose during a presentation

– Does the paper flow logically, i.e. does it have a clear, concise and structured thesis?

– Is there data? Is it convincing?– Does the author address objections?– Are there causal arguments, i.e. can BA

instead of AB?– Is there any omitted information?– What is the ultimate point? Is it important?

Some Fallacies and Blind Spots

– Teleological Fallacy – assumes some “natural stages”

“Clearly high tech economies are superiour” – Functionalist Fallacy – assumes parts work

together as a whole“Teacups found at Roman ruins imply that Ancient Romans

were well hydrated.”– Power Fallacy – assumes everything boils down to

the quest for power.This book represents the white, males quest for social and

political legitimacy. – Culturalist Fallacy – assumes everything boils

down to “culture”Well, there are French/American/etc.

How to pose questions

– Concise and to the point• Why did the Italians join in World War II? (STOP). You know

because after all, there were all ready a number of times where Italians were involved in international conflicts as clearly demonstrated by ….. (uuuggg).

– Address only the most important issue• I would like to ask 4 questions, if I may (don’t)

– Mention both positive and negative aspects of presentation/paper

• Adversarial comments get adversarial retorts.

– Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell and making them look forward to the trip.” -- Caskie Stinnett

– Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie!" till you can find a rock. -- Wynn Catlin

How to do the case

• What are the Implications of the author’s paper? – Easiest way is to take the two most salient

factors, define different levels of them and look at their interaction. (what?!?)

Global Local

Efficiency Centralised,

efficiency

biased

(model laws)

Decentralised,

efficiency

biased

(best practice

Responsiveness Centralised,

local-focus

biased

(action plans

Decentralised,

local-focus

biased

How to do the case

• Another way to look at implications is to sketch out pros and cons

pros cons

costlyQuick learning

Not applicable elsewhere

No economies of scope

Seize important niches

Promote org diversity

How to do a case study

• Practice double loop learning– Observe how the presenter argues – Find things you wouldn’t want to do and things

they do well – Write it down in one place over time and refer

to it as needed!

• Economics and Management is as much a way of thought as of content

How to conduct yourself

• Don’t ask long-winded questions– Simplicity is eloquence– Multiple questions are generally pompous…– … so are “the reason I ask the question is….”

• Only be adversarial if you must– “you are wrong”!!!!– Isn’t it true that you might not be completely right?

• Of the 10 questions you probably have, choose only most important

• If speaker doesn’t answer, maybe politely interrupt if the group is small enough

Answering questions

– Repeat the question posed in order to confirm that you understand each other.

– If necessary, jot down notes and ideas of how to answer the question.

– THINK, then give a concise answer.– Do not feel obligated to answer every question as some may

not be relevant to your thesis.• How does the silk trade in Bangladesh affect the demand for

peacock feathers?

– You can say: “That’s a very interesting point. I’ll have to look into it.”

– After response, ask if you answered the question. – Do not feel obligated to speak about issues that do not pertain

to your paper.

The Art of Self-Defence

• It is okay to say “I don’t know”• If the question is vague, ask to repeat. • Can ask “did I answer your question”• Keep responses brief, don’t waffle • “It’s not in my Terms of Reference”• “Good idea for a future paper/presentation”• If the questioner is aggressive, can reply “thank

you for your view” and move on

Most importantly

• Have fun, learn a lot, and stay open to many different ideas for many different perspectives