Say No to These Mistakes in Case Study Writing
What Are the Top Mistakes in A Case Study Writing?
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When you ask a person to write a case study they might immediately feel overwhelmed. There could be different reasons behind this intimidation. This sort of writing is quite difficult and writing about something as detailed as a case study can be an even more daunting task.
To do well in your course, and on any assignment for that matter, academic experts of case 48 strongly recommend avoiding making mistakes that will detract from the perceived quality of your work. This article discusses common errors that students often make when writing case studies or other academic papers.
Top Mistakes in Case Study Writing
Students, depending upon their academic levels, are likely to make different types of mistakes in their academic tasks, no matter how hard they try to make write-ups error-free.
It’s impossible to fix these errors without identifying them.
Here are the common mistakes that you need to stay away from.
1. No Clear Direction
Writing starts with having something interesting to say! And saying it simply is very hard. If you don’t know what you’re trying to communicate, then no wonder why the reader has difficulty understanding your message!
For example, “this paper examines how leadership styles impact the behavior and performance of teams” is a much clearer sentence than “in this paper, I will discuss what leadership styles do to make people do stuff”.
2. Not Making Your Point Clear
Writing should be simple and precise. If you can’t say it simply, maybe you don’t understand the topic as much as you think (which means that your grade might suffer).
For example, “a leader influences his or her subordinates to achieve goals” would have been more effective if written as “the leader shapes his team’s actions towards specific goals”. In many cases length does not equal difficulty. In this case, less is definitely more!
3. Not Using an Appropriate Tone
Remember that tone depends on your audience. When writing a case study for your professor, you should be professional and formal. Using “dude” or any other casual words will make it seem like you’re not taking the assignment seriously.
Before you start writing, make sure you decide the tone of your write-up. Understand your audience and write according to their level of understanding and interests.
Targeting your readers with a mismatching tone can cause to them lose interest in your document. Writing interestingly so that they never feel tired even if the document is expanded over several pages.
4. Not Giving Credit Where It Is Due
You can’t plagiarize! It’s as simple as that! You have to remember to use quotations when needed and give full credit for any ideas that aren’t your own.
At times, it may be difficult to determine whether an idea is yours or not so ALWAYS cite sources (books, articles, websites, etc.).
5. Formatting The Wrong Way
It’s very important to use appropriate formatting to ensure clarity of thought and understanding for those reading your work.
This means that you need to follow the guidelines provided by your professor (i.e. headings, indents, etc.). Failure to do so will result in poor grades and/or disqualification for assignments.
6. Not Organizing the Paper Well
This goes hand in hand with “not giving credit where it is due”. It’s important to give an overview of what you’re going to write about at the beginning before actually writing.
This way, all ideas are included but not repeated throughout the paper. You should read more here on how case study papers should be properly organized. Follow instructions if your mentor has already provided you with them at the time of assigning the task.
7. Using Complicated Words Instead of Simpler Ones
If you can’t say it simply, don’t say it! If you have a word in mind that isn’t simple, look it up on the web first; chances are there exists another word that is simpler and means exactly what you want to say.
Also, if your instructor is looking for simplicity then they will be more likely to give you good marks if your writing is simple.
8. Being Too Formal
Think about what makes YOU comfortable when reading. Some people like dense text with many big words; others prefer it written in an easy-to-read language (i.e.: using “you”, contractions, etc.).
The point is that whatever YOU like should be whatever YOU use when writing! This can give your paper some personality instead of making it bland and dull.
9. Grammar and Spelling Errors
Proofread. Proofread. Proofread. Then have someone else do the same before you turn it in. Ensure that there are no errors by using resources such as spell checkers or computer grammar checks (which can be found on most word processing programs). Also, if you’re not sure if something is correct, ask!
Your instructor will understand your confusion and give you marks accordingly instead of penalizing you for mistakes that showed up because of lack of knowledge; they probably got it wrong themselves when they were learning English!
10. Labeling Everything Self-Explanatory
Don’t assume too much! Some people like to keep things simple while others like more detail etc. There is a saying that goes “you can’t please everyone all the time” and in this case, it couldn’t be more true.
Therefore, ensure you’ve covered everything in your paper by providing enough (but not too much) detail; otherwise, you will lose marks for making things ambiguous.
Conclusion
To conclude, there are many mistakes when writing a case study assignment but these ones tend to stick out like sore thumbs! Avoid them and your grade should improve (and if not then at least you tried!).
The only way to improve your case study writing skills is to figure out your mistakes. You are not supposed to score