Research Guides: Advertising & Public Relations: Find Case Studies

What Is a Case Study?

A case study is an in-depth, detailed investigation of a specific subject, such as a person, group, organization, or event, within its real-world context. Unlike broad surveys or experiments, a case study focuses on a single instance to gain a better understanding of a complex issue.

A case study uses a variety of methods, such as interviews, observing people, and looking at documents, to get a full picture. This approach is used in many fields, from business to medicine, to help illustrate ideas and to come up with new theories to test later.

Emerald Insight

Emerald Insight

A comprehensive collection of peer-reviewed management journals and resources for students and researchers in the management field.

Emerald Insight provides access to peer-reviewed case studies, including:

Emerging Markets Case Studies (EMCS): A growing collection of over 1,500 case studies and accompanying teaching notes from, and about, emerging markets and developing economies.
The Case Journal (TCJ): Containing over 500 double-anonymous, peer-reviewed cases.

To access case studies via Emerald Insight:

From the Emerald Insight homepage, click on the Case Studies link below the search bar.
On the Case Studies webpage, you have the option of:
- Typing in your keywords in the search bar at the top of the page to search All Case Studies, or,
- Browsing Emerald Cases by collection.

Sage Business Cases

Sage Business Cases

More than 5,500 authoritative cases from over 120 countries. Sage curates interdisciplinary cases on in-demand subjects such as entrepreneurship, accounting, healthcare management, leadership, and social enterprise.

Teaching Notes are also available for most case studies, but this feature requires instructors to sign up for a free personal instructor account with Sage and enter a verification code upon registration.

Here are the steps to access the teaching notes:
1. Log in to your profile or create a new profile by clicking "Profile" in the top right corner and following the instructions
2. Tick the box called "SAGE Business Cases Instructor Access"
3. A new box will appear called "Verification Code"
4. Enter your verification code (available from your librarian) and click Save
To obtain this verification code, contact the Arnold Bernhard Library Refdesk@quinnipiac.edu

Sage Business provides access to double-blind peer-reviewed case studies on business topics.

To access case studies via Sage Business:

Search for your keywords in the search bar at the top of the page to search all available cases, or,
Browse by:
- Discipline (e.g., Diversity, Entrepreneurship, etc.)
- Sage Originals (e.g. Digital Entertainment, Music Industry, etc.)
- Enhanced Cases
- Region
- Content Partners
- Browse All Business Cases

ABI/Inform

ABI/Inform Collection

Nearly 1800 worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Expanded international coverage. Fast access to information on 60,000 + companies with business and executive profiles. Now includes The Wall Street Journal.

To access case studies via ABI/Inform:

Click on Advanced Search on the ABI/Inform homepage.
On the Advanced Search page, check off the following boxes to set limiters for your search:
- Full Text (under search bar)
- Peer-Reviewed (under search bar)
- Case Study (under Document Type)
To browse all case studies fitting these parameters, click on Search. You can leave the keyword fields blank if you're just browsing.
To search for specific case studies that fit these parameters, enter your keywords in the search bar at the top of the page before hitting the Search button.