In yesterdays post you learned that case studies are used to add personal layers to your proposal. Case studies are also used to make your proposal more evidence based. Instead of using your own stories as marketing tools and creating your own case studies, you can also use case studies created by researchers to support your claims and make them more legit. They can add justification to your approach and back up your assumptions.
A case study in science and research is a detailed look into one particular situation, entity or circumstance. In social science, this could be one community, one event, one action, one city or even one family. The case study describes the case in a specific time and place and looks at its circumstances.
How can I use scientific case studies in my proposal?
Scientific case studies are a very good way to back up your claims. To be published in a scientific magazine, a case study has to be of high quality. If you can use this data to show the donor that your approach or your idea has good potential, it gives a lot of credibility to your proposal. Furthermore, it shows that you did a lot of research yourself before writing the proposal and are an expert in your field.
Scientific case studies are especially helpful when you propose a new or different approach. Sometimes you want to propose something that has never been done in your country or your field of work. In this case it is very good if there is experience in other countries with this approach.
You can cite the studies in your text or in a separate box. It could look like this:
We decided to promote the specific agricultural technique xy in our project area. This technique is new to our country, but a case study from xx from the year 20xx about the use of said technique in country yy showed great success and promise. As our circumstances are similar, we are convinced that it will also work for our project.
Keep in mind
When working with scientific case studies in your proposal though, make sure that it is appropriate. If the case study does not really prove your case, it looks unprofessional. This also applies if it does not cover your exact field of work. When you use a case study from a different country, make sure that the circumstances are similar enough to make comparisons.
Also, read the entire article about the case study and make sure you understand it before you decide to include it in your proposal. It is tempting to only read the summary, but you may miss an important point if you do that. Also, make sure that you pick timely studies that are up to date. Scientific case studies do not always necessarily have the word “case study” in the title, so do not be discouraged by that as long as the content applies to you.
