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Today’s guest post is by nonfiction book coach Amy Isaman.

Case studies are real-world narratives that follow a person’s questions, challenges, decisions, and discoveries. Written as stories, their purpose is to describe a problem and analyze it in such a way that the reader understands the question at stake, and, ultimately, why an approach succeeds or fails.

James Clear begins his bestseller Atomic Habits with a captivating tale of almost dying after getting hit in the face with a baseball bat. He not only survives but thrives after adopting a strategy of compounding small habits, establishing a hypothesis he tests using other people’s stories and research throughout his book.

Katy Milkman opens her book How to Change by describing a visit to Google headquarters where the Google VP asks her a key question, a question that Milkman spends much of her book answering.

Both authors use their opening stories to set up a central question their book will resolve, elaborate on the challenges the story raises, analyze the results, and share clear takeaways for the reader. While a compelling story will engage the reader or exemplify a point, a case study does more: it provides clear evidence to support the author’s argument.

In your book, an effective case study will: 1) entertain and engage your reader through story, 2) support and prove your overall argument/point, 3) provide insights and lessons your reader can apply in their personal lives or in their work with clients.

What is a case study in nonfiction?

Traditional case studies bring to mind Jane Goodall’s experiences spending decades in the jungle studying gorillas. These case studies are often more academic and include objective distance and rigorous research. Most contemporary nonfiction books include case studies that don’t meet these standards; instead, they function as teaching stories, providing evidence for the author’s argument by using personal experiences as data, though they may also include more traditional forms of research.

In his book Case Study Research, Robert K. Yin defines three types of case studies: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. I’m loosely borrowing two of his terms, exploratory and explanatory, not as a strict research methodology, but to describe how case studies function in nonfiction books which typically use these two types.

• You can use an exploratory case study to introduce the questions you will be exploring throughout the whole book or a single chapter, similar to Katy Milkman’s and James Clear’s openings. These case studies use a single personal experience that’s worthy of analysis to introduce a hypothesis the author will test throughout the chapter or book as a whole. To qualify as a case study, the opening story and the questions it asks must be answered with evidence. If you never mention the opening story again nor provide evidence to address the questions it elicits, it’s a hook, not a case study.
• You can use explanatory case studies to provide evidence in support of your argument, theory, or framework. Your narrative may be a personal experience, or it may be a story that explains why a strategy or approach works. These case studies end with explicit takeaways or lessons for the reader.

Some authors may use rigorous academic research in their case studies, such as authors Katy Milkman and Adam Grant who wrote Think Again and Hidden Potential. Both of these authors have PhDs and conduct research, but other authors, such as James Clear or Twyla Tharp, author of The Creative Habit, rely on deep analysis of their own lived experience to both introduce and provide evidence for their arguments.

Structure of a Case Study

A solid case study must include:

1. a story with characters who have some sort of a conflict/problem;
2. a clear explanation of what the characters tried and what worked or didn’t work;
3. an analysis of their actions and transformation, or lack thereof, sharing why the characters achieved or failed to achieve their desired results; and
4. a clear takeaway for the reader.

An effective case study is about people who are struggling with something, and they ultimately solve the problem or they don’t. You write the story with a focus on the analysis of what happened to highlight and break down what questions the narrative elicits and later answers with evidence (exploratory case study) or what worked and what didn’t work to solve the problem (explanatory case study).

Structure of an Exploratory Case Study

In Katy Milkman’s opening story about her visit to Google’s main campus in California, she sets up the context by describing the setting, the characters, and the problem which occurs when the Google VP explains that employees aren’t taking advantage of benefit programs. He asks her when Google should offer these programs to increase employee enrollment. Despite her expertise in behavior change, at that point Milkman doesn’t have an adequate answer for him. It wasn’t until she dove into the sparse existing research on the best timing to encourage behavior change that she began conducting her own.

This case study introduces the chapter’s key question: when should an individual make changes in their lives to get those changes to stick? This is a question Milkman comes back to throughout the first chapter and the book. The story and analysis both engage the reader by pulling them into the author’s personal story and introduce the questions she will be answering throughout the chapter.

James Clear’s opening works the same way: his baseball bat injury raises the question of whether small, daily actions can produce major results, a question he spends the rest of Atomic Habits answering using other people’s stories and research.

An exploratory case study shares the story and the questions the story elicits, pulling the reader into the argument.

Structure of an Explanatory Case Study

Following Milkman’s opening case study, she layers in two explanatory case studies to prove her point that when we decide to make changes impacts how well those changes stick.

First, she introduces her colleagues, who will conduct research with her, and she shares the problem they are tackling and her hypothesis about the Fresh Start Effect, “that the start of a new life chapter, no matter how small, might be able to give people the impression of a clean slate.” She uses this personal narrative to define what a fresh start is before diving into a second case study to show what it looks like in real life. This one’s about Ray. She traces what he tried and failed at when it came to quitting smoking and getting healthy. He was unable to quit until he decided to make changes on Jan. 1, 2000, the turn of the century. It was the date, not any change in his methods, that made the changes stick, and he went from broke and unhealthy to running ultra-marathons.

These are case studies because she’s sharing and analyzing these stories to support her argument that when we decide to make significant life changes—the actual moment in time we choose to initiate change—matters. She’s a master at layering and embedding case studies to prove her points in each chapter, and shows how the fresh start effect works in real life.

Finally, Milkman ends each chapter with clear takeaways and advice for the reader. In chapter one, she writes, “If you’re hoping to make a positive change in your life but are pessimistic…my advice is to look for fresh start opportunities. Is there an upcoming date that could represent a clean break with the past?” Providing this takeaway, making the evidence relevant for the reader, is your final responsibility to fulfill. You must include actionable strategies for the reader based on the case studies you’ve shared.

Explanatory Case Study using personal experience

Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit offers a master class in using personal life experiences as case studies to teach how to establish creative habits. In Chapter 11, titled “An ‘A’ in failure,” Tharp argues that failure makes us better artists, and she defines five types of failures before writing about one particular personal failure in great detail. She devotes eight pages to the story and analysis of her Broadway show “Movin’ Out” that failed miserably in Chicago before achieving success in New York.

The purpose of this case study is to show the reader each of the different types of failures in action. Tharp shares what she tried, what worked, what wasn’t working, and a clear analysis as to why she thought her piece failed. Throughout the story she has parenthetical notes to reference the specific type of failure she’s elaborating on, writing “(see, again, denial)” which reminds the readers that she’s analyzing her experience for the types of failures she’s defined.

She also shares what she did to fix her problem. “For one of the few times in my life, I sat in the theater each night and paid as much attention to the audience as I did to the performers onstage. What I saw was simple and clear: They were miserable and confused after Act One…Act Two was working. Act One was not.” She’s conducting qualitative research: studying and analyzing what’s working and what’s not, which is what takes this from a story about a piece she created to a successful case study.

The experience becomes the data that supports her argument in this chapter. It’s a clear explanation of why she achieved success, and the reader’s takeaway is to rely on their own creative habits, which they’ve hopefully begun to establish as they read the book.

Finding case studies

Before you go searching for case studies, define the purpose of your case study. Decide if you’re introducing your hypothesis or framework, in which case you want an exploratory case study. If you’re supporting your argument with someone’s real world experience, you’re looking for an explanatory case study.

Once you’ve chosen the type, the best way to find relevant case studies to support your point is to use your own life experience, that of your clients (with permission), or historical examples.

If you want to introduce the key questions that you will be answering or problems you will be solving, think about what experiences made you ask those questions. What questions did people ask you (like Katy Milkman’s conversation at Google)? Or, if a client comes to you with a compelling story that makes them ask the same questions, ask for permission to share their story. You could even survey your clients or students to collect compelling stories.

If you want to further your argument and provide evidence and write an explanatory case study, think about your own experiences and struggles in relation to your topic. What challenges did you initially face as you came up with your solution? How did you develop your framework or solution?  When did you face a significant challenge and either overcome it or fail to overcome it? Any of these experiences might provide evidence or support for your argument as to what works or doesn’t work for your reader, but you will need to shape your experiences into a compelling story.

Finally, you can use historical examples, but try to find original material or take a completely original angle on a familiar case study. For example, I’d be delighted to never again read an analysis of Henry Ford in a nonfiction book. Some historical figures are overdone. If you use historical examples, be original in your analysis. When Susan Cain shared Rosa Park’s story in her book, Quiet, she included first hand descriptions and evidence describing Ms. Parks’ as introverted, timid, and shy to argue against the assumption that only bold, extroverts can enact change. This was a totally new take on a story we’ve all heard before, and it pulled me right into Cain’s argument that introversion can be a valuable catalyst for change, rather than a barrier.

Writing your case study

Introduce the main character, and describe their problem or challenges. Next, explain what actions they took to try to overcome their problem. Share what worked and what didn’t work. Use the elements of fiction such as describing the setting and emotions. Include dialogue where appropriate.

Then, analyze the character’s actions for the reader and explain why their actions worked to achieve their goal or why they failed.

Finally, provide a key takeaway for the reader. What is the specific lesson that the reader can learn? This is perhaps the most important part, but it should not be too long. Let your case study do the heavy lifting. Your reader should be able to interpret most of the lesson from the story. Your job in the takeaway is to simplify and clarify your point a sentence or two. An effective case study allows your reader to see themselves on the page, to connect with what works and what’s possible for them, and most importantly, keeps them turning pages.