Qualitative case study data analysis: an example from practice

Affiliation.

  • 1 School of Nursing and Midwifery, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland.
  • PMID: 25976531
  • DOI: 10.7748/nr.22.5.8.e1307

Aim: To illustrate an approach to data analysis in qualitative case study methodology.

Background: There is often little detail in case study research about how data were analysed. However, it is important that comprehensive analysis procedures are used because there are often large sets of data from multiple sources of evidence. Furthermore, the ability to describe in detail how the analysis was conducted ensures rigour in reporting qualitative research.

Data sources: The research example used is a multiple case study that explored the role of the clinical skills laboratory in preparing students for the real world of practice. Data analysis was conducted using a framework guided by the four stages of analysis outlined by Morse ( 1994 ): comprehending, synthesising, theorising and recontextualising. The specific strategies for analysis in these stages centred on the work of Miles and Huberman ( 1994 ), which has been successfully used in case study research. The data were managed using NVivo software.

Review methods: Literature examining qualitative data analysis was reviewed and strategies illustrated by the case study example provided. Discussion Each stage of the analysis framework is described with illustration from the research example for the purpose of highlighting the benefits of a systematic approach to handling large data sets from multiple sources.

Conclusion: By providing an example of how each stage of the analysis was conducted, it is hoped that researchers will be able to consider the benefits of such an approach to their own case study analysis.

Implications for research/practice: This paper illustrates specific strategies that can be employed when conducting data analysis in case study research and other qualitative research designs.

Keywords: Case study data analysis; case study research methodology; clinical skills research; qualitative case study methodology; qualitative data analysis; qualitative research.

  • Case-Control Studies*
  • Data Interpretation, Statistical*
  • Nursing Research / methods*
  • Qualitative Research*
  • Research Design

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Methodology

  • What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

  • Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
  • Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
  • Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
  • Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

  • Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
  • Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
  • Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

  • Normal distribution
  • Degrees of freedom
  • Null hypothesis
  • Discourse analysis
  • Control groups
  • Mixed methods research
  • Non-probability sampling
  • Quantitative research
  • Ecological validity

Research bias

  • Rosenthal effect
  • Implicit bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Selection bias
  • Negativity bias
  • Status quo bias

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10 Real World Data Science Case Studies Projects with Example

Top 10 Data Science Case Studies Projects with Examples and Solutions in Python to inspire your data science learning in 2023.

10 Real World Data Science Case Studies Projects with Example

BelData science has been a trending buzzword in recent times. With wide applications in various sectors like healthcare , education, retail, transportation, media, and banking -data science applications are at the core of pretty much every industry out there. The possibilities are endless: analysis of frauds in the finance sector or the personalization of recommendations on eCommerce businesses.  We have developed ten exciting data science case studies to explain how data science is leveraged across various industries to make smarter decisions and develop innovative personalized products tailored to specific customers.

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Walmart Sales Forecasting Data Science Project

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Table of Contents

Data science case studies in retail , data science case study examples in entertainment industry , data analytics case study examples in travel industry , case studies for data analytics in social media , real world data science projects in healthcare, data analytics case studies in oil and gas, what is a case study in data science, how do you prepare a data science case study, 10 most interesting data science case studies with examples.

data science case studies

So, without much ado, let's get started with data science business case studies !

With humble beginnings as a simple discount retailer, today, Walmart operates in 10,500 stores and clubs in 24 countries and eCommerce websites, employing around 2.2 million people around the globe. For the fiscal year ended January 31, 2021, Walmart's total revenue was $559 billion showing a growth of $35 billion with the expansion of the eCommerce sector. Walmart is a data-driven company that works on the principle of 'Everyday low cost' for its consumers. To achieve this goal, they heavily depend on the advances of their data science and analytics department for research and development, also known as Walmart Labs. Walmart is home to the world's largest private cloud, which can manage 2.5 petabytes of data every hour! To analyze this humongous amount of data, Walmart has created 'Data Café,' a state-of-the-art analytics hub located within its Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters. The Walmart Labs team heavily invests in building and managing technologies like cloud, data, DevOps , infrastructure, and security.

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Walmart is experiencing massive digital growth as the world's largest retailer . Walmart has been leveraging Big data and advances in data science to build solutions to enhance, optimize and customize the shopping experience and serve their customers in a better way. At Walmart Labs, data scientists are focused on creating data-driven solutions that power the efficiency and effectiveness of complex supply chain management processes. Here are some of the applications of data science  at Walmart:

i) Personalized Customer Shopping Experience

Walmart analyses customer preferences and shopping patterns to optimize the stocking and displaying of merchandise in their stores. Analysis of Big data also helps them understand new item sales, make decisions on discontinuing products, and the performance of brands.

ii) Order Sourcing and On-Time Delivery Promise

Millions of customers view items on Walmart.com, and Walmart provides each customer a real-time estimated delivery date for the items purchased. Walmart runs a backend algorithm that estimates this based on the distance between the customer and the fulfillment center, inventory levels, and shipping methods available. The supply chain management system determines the optimum fulfillment center based on distance and inventory levels for every order. It also has to decide on the shipping method to minimize transportation costs while meeting the promised delivery date.

iii) Packing Optimization 

Also known as Box recommendation is a daily occurrence in the shipping of items in retail and eCommerce business. When items of an order or multiple orders for the same customer are ready for packing, Walmart has developed a recommender system that picks the best-sized box which holds all the ordered items with the least in-box space wastage within a fixed amount of time. This Bin Packing problem is a classic NP-Hard problem familiar to data scientists .

Whenever items of an order or multiple orders placed by the same customer are picked from the shelf and are ready for packing, the box recommendation system determines the best-sized box to hold all the ordered items with a minimum of in-box space wasted. This problem is known as the Bin Packing Problem, another classic NP-Hard problem familiar to data scientists.

Here is a link to a sales prediction data science case study to help you understand the applications of Data Science in the real world. Walmart Sales Forecasting Project uses historical sales data for 45 Walmart stores located in different regions. Each store contains many departments, and you must build a model to project the sales for each department in each store. This data science case study aims to create a predictive model to predict the sales of each product. You can also try your hands-on Inventory Demand Forecasting Data Science Project to develop a machine learning model to forecast inventory demand accurately based on historical sales data.

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Amazon is an American multinational technology-based company based in Seattle, USA. It started as an online bookseller, but today it focuses on eCommerce, cloud computing , digital streaming, and artificial intelligence . It hosts an estimate of 1,000,000,000 gigabytes of data across more than 1,400,000 servers. Through its constant innovation in data science and big data Amazon is always ahead in understanding its customers. Here are a few data analytics case study examples at Amazon:

i) Recommendation Systems

Data science models help amazon understand the customers' needs and recommend them to them before the customer searches for a product; this model uses collaborative filtering. Amazon uses 152 million customer purchases data to help users to decide on products to be purchased. The company generates 35% of its annual sales using the Recommendation based systems (RBS) method.

Here is a Recommender System Project to help you build a recommendation system using collaborative filtering. 

ii) Retail Price Optimization

Amazon product prices are optimized based on a predictive model that determines the best price so that the users do not refuse to buy it based on price. The model carefully determines the optimal prices considering the customers' likelihood of purchasing the product and thinks the price will affect the customers' future buying patterns. Price for a product is determined according to your activity on the website, competitors' pricing, product availability, item preferences, order history, expected profit margin, and other factors.

Check Out this Retail Price Optimization Project to build a Dynamic Pricing Model.

iii) Fraud Detection

Being a significant eCommerce business, Amazon remains at high risk of retail fraud. As a preemptive measure, the company collects historical and real-time data for every order. It uses Machine learning algorithms to find transactions with a higher probability of being fraudulent. This proactive measure has helped the company restrict clients with an excessive number of returns of products.

You can look at this Credit Card Fraud Detection Project to implement a fraud detection model to classify fraudulent credit card transactions.

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Let us explore data analytics case study examples in the entertainment indusry.

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Netflix started as a DVD rental service in 1997 and then has expanded into the streaming business. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Netflix is the largest content streaming company in the world. Currently, Netflix has over 208 million paid subscribers worldwide, and with thousands of smart devices which are presently streaming supported, Netflix has around 3 billion hours watched every month. The secret to this massive growth and popularity of Netflix is its advanced use of data analytics and recommendation systems to provide personalized and relevant content recommendations to its users. The data is collected over 100 billion events every day. Here are a few examples of data analysis case studies applied at Netflix :

i) Personalized Recommendation System

Netflix uses over 1300 recommendation clusters based on consumer viewing preferences to provide a personalized experience. Some of the data that Netflix collects from its users include Viewing time, platform searches for keywords, Metadata related to content abandonment, such as content pause time, rewind, rewatched. Using this data, Netflix can predict what a viewer is likely to watch and give a personalized watchlist to a user. Some of the algorithms used by the Netflix recommendation system are Personalized video Ranking, Trending now ranker, and the Continue watching now ranker.

ii) Content Development using Data Analytics

Netflix uses data science to analyze the behavior and patterns of its user to recognize themes and categories that the masses prefer to watch. This data is used to produce shows like The umbrella academy, and Orange Is the New Black, and the Queen's Gambit. These shows seem like a huge risk but are significantly based on data analytics using parameters, which assured Netflix that they would succeed with its audience. Data analytics is helping Netflix come up with content that their viewers want to watch even before they know they want to watch it.

iii) Marketing Analytics for Campaigns

Netflix uses data analytics to find the right time to launch shows and ad campaigns to have maximum impact on the target audience. Marketing analytics helps come up with different trailers and thumbnails for other groups of viewers. For example, the House of Cards Season 5 trailer with a giant American flag was launched during the American presidential elections, as it would resonate well with the audience.

Here is a Customer Segmentation Project using association rule mining to understand the primary grouping of customers based on various parameters.

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In a world where Purchasing music is a thing of the past and streaming music is a current trend, Spotify has emerged as one of the most popular streaming platforms. With 320 million monthly users, around 4 billion playlists, and approximately 2 million podcasts, Spotify leads the pack among well-known streaming platforms like Apple Music, Wynk, Songza, amazon music, etc. The success of Spotify has mainly depended on data analytics. By analyzing massive volumes of listener data, Spotify provides real-time and personalized services to its listeners. Most of Spotify's revenue comes from paid premium subscriptions. Here are some of the examples of case study on data analytics used by Spotify to provide enhanced services to its listeners:

i) Personalization of Content using Recommendation Systems

Spotify uses Bart or Bayesian Additive Regression Trees to generate music recommendations to its listeners in real-time. Bart ignores any song a user listens to for less than 30 seconds. The model is retrained every day to provide updated recommendations. A new Patent granted to Spotify for an AI application is used to identify a user's musical tastes based on audio signals, gender, age, accent to make better music recommendations.

Spotify creates daily playlists for its listeners, based on the taste profiles called 'Daily Mixes,' which have songs the user has added to their playlists or created by the artists that the user has included in their playlists. It also includes new artists and songs that the user might be unfamiliar with but might improve the playlist. Similar to it is the weekly 'Release Radar' playlists that have newly released artists' songs that the listener follows or has liked before.

ii) Targetted marketing through Customer Segmentation

With user data for enhancing personalized song recommendations, Spotify uses this massive dataset for targeted ad campaigns and personalized service recommendations for its users. Spotify uses ML models to analyze the listener's behavior and group them based on music preferences, age, gender, ethnicity, etc. These insights help them create ad campaigns for a specific target audience. One of their well-known ad campaigns was the meme-inspired ads for potential target customers, which was a huge success globally.

iii) CNN's for Classification of Songs and Audio Tracks

Spotify builds audio models to evaluate the songs and tracks, which helps develop better playlists and recommendations for its users. These allow Spotify to filter new tracks based on their lyrics and rhythms and recommend them to users like similar tracks ( collaborative filtering). Spotify also uses NLP ( Natural language processing) to scan articles and blogs to analyze the words used to describe songs and artists. These analytical insights can help group and identify similar artists and songs and leverage them to build playlists.

Here is a Music Recommender System Project for you to start learning. We have listed another music recommendations dataset for you to use for your projects: Dataset1 . You can use this dataset of Spotify metadata to classify songs based on artists, mood, liveliness. Plot histograms, heatmaps to get a better understanding of the dataset. Use classification algorithms like logistic regression, SVM, and Principal component analysis to generate valuable insights from the dataset.

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Below you will find case studies for data analytics in the travel and tourism industry.

Airbnb was born in 2007 in San Francisco and has since grown to 4 million Hosts and 5.6 million listings worldwide who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Airbnb is active in every country on the planet except for Iran, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea. That is around 97.95% of the world. Using data as a voice of their customers, Airbnb uses the large volume of customer reviews, host inputs to understand trends across communities, rate user experiences, and uses these analytics to make informed decisions to build a better business model. The data scientists at Airbnb are developing exciting new solutions to boost the business and find the best mapping for its customers and hosts. Airbnb data servers serve approximately 10 million requests a day and process around one million search queries. Data is the voice of customers at AirBnB and offers personalized services by creating a perfect match between the guests and hosts for a supreme customer experience. 

i) Recommendation Systems and Search Ranking Algorithms

Airbnb helps people find 'local experiences' in a place with the help of search algorithms that make searches and listings precise. Airbnb uses a 'listing quality score' to find homes based on the proximity to the searched location and uses previous guest reviews. Airbnb uses deep neural networks to build models that take the guest's earlier stays into account and area information to find a perfect match. The search algorithms are optimized based on guest and host preferences, rankings, pricing, and availability to understand users’ needs and provide the best match possible.

ii) Natural Language Processing for Review Analysis

Airbnb characterizes data as the voice of its customers. The customer and host reviews give a direct insight into the experience. The star ratings alone cannot be an excellent way to understand it quantitatively. Hence Airbnb uses natural language processing to understand reviews and the sentiments behind them. The NLP models are developed using Convolutional neural networks .

Practice this Sentiment Analysis Project for analyzing product reviews to understand the basic concepts of natural language processing.

iii) Smart Pricing using Predictive Analytics

The Airbnb hosts community uses the service as a supplementary income. The vacation homes and guest houses rented to customers provide for rising local community earnings as Airbnb guests stay 2.4 times longer and spend approximately 2.3 times the money compared to a hotel guest. The profits are a significant positive impact on the local neighborhood community. Airbnb uses predictive analytics to predict the prices of the listings and help the hosts set a competitive and optimal price. The overall profitability of the Airbnb host depends on factors like the time invested by the host and responsiveness to changing demands for different seasons. The factors that impact the real-time smart pricing are the location of the listing, proximity to transport options, season, and amenities available in the neighborhood of the listing.

Here is a Price Prediction Project to help you understand the concept of predictive analysis which is widely common in case studies for data analytics. 

Uber is the biggest global taxi service provider. As of December 2018, Uber has 91 million monthly active consumers and 3.8 million drivers. Uber completes 14 million trips each day. Uber uses data analytics and big data-driven technologies to optimize their business processes and provide enhanced customer service. The Data Science team at uber has been exploring futuristic technologies to provide better service constantly. Machine learning and data analytics help Uber make data-driven decisions that enable benefits like ride-sharing, dynamic price surges, better customer support, and demand forecasting. Here are some of the real world data science projects used by uber:

i) Dynamic Pricing for Price Surges and Demand Forecasting

Uber prices change at peak hours based on demand. Uber uses surge pricing to encourage more cab drivers to sign up with the company, to meet the demand from the passengers. When the prices increase, the driver and the passenger are both informed about the surge in price. Uber uses a predictive model for price surging called the 'Geosurge' ( patented). It is based on the demand for the ride and the location.

ii) One-Click Chat

Uber has developed a Machine learning and natural language processing solution called one-click chat or OCC for coordination between drivers and users. This feature anticipates responses for commonly asked questions, making it easy for the drivers to respond to customer messages. Drivers can reply with the clock of just one button. One-Click chat is developed on Uber's machine learning platform Michelangelo to perform NLP on rider chat messages and generate appropriate responses to them.

iii) Customer Retention

Failure to meet the customer demand for cabs could lead to users opting for other services. Uber uses machine learning models to bridge this demand-supply gap. By using prediction models to predict the demand in any location, uber retains its customers. Uber also uses a tier-based reward system, which segments customers into different levels based on usage. The higher level the user achieves, the better are the perks. Uber also provides personalized destination suggestions based on the history of the user and their frequently traveled destinations.

You can take a look at this Python Chatbot Project and build a simple chatbot application to understand better the techniques used for natural language processing. You can also practice the working of a demand forecasting model with this project using time series analysis. You can look at this project which uses time series forecasting and clustering on a dataset containing geospatial data for forecasting customer demand for ola rides.

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7) LinkedIn 

LinkedIn is the largest professional social networking site with nearly 800 million members in more than 200 countries worldwide. Almost 40% of the users access LinkedIn daily, clocking around 1 billion interactions per month. The data science team at LinkedIn works with this massive pool of data to generate insights to build strategies, apply algorithms and statistical inferences to optimize engineering solutions, and help the company achieve its goals. Here are some of the real world data science projects at LinkedIn:

i) LinkedIn Recruiter Implement Search Algorithms and Recommendation Systems

LinkedIn Recruiter helps recruiters build and manage a talent pool to optimize the chances of hiring candidates successfully. This sophisticated product works on search and recommendation engines. The LinkedIn recruiter handles complex queries and filters on a constantly growing large dataset. The results delivered have to be relevant and specific. The initial search model was based on linear regression but was eventually upgraded to Gradient Boosted decision trees to include non-linear correlations in the dataset. In addition to these models, the LinkedIn recruiter also uses the Generalized Linear Mix model to improve the results of prediction problems to give personalized results.

ii) Recommendation Systems Personalized for News Feed

The LinkedIn news feed is the heart and soul of the professional community. A member's newsfeed is a place to discover conversations among connections, career news, posts, suggestions, photos, and videos. Every time a member visits LinkedIn, machine learning algorithms identify the best exchanges to be displayed on the feed by sorting through posts and ranking the most relevant results on top. The algorithms help LinkedIn understand member preferences and help provide personalized news feeds. The algorithms used include logistic regression, gradient boosted decision trees and neural networks for recommendation systems.

iii) CNN's to Detect Inappropriate Content

To provide a professional space where people can trust and express themselves professionally in a safe community has been a critical goal at LinkedIn. LinkedIn has heavily invested in building solutions to detect fake accounts and abusive behavior on their platform. Any form of spam, harassment, inappropriate content is immediately flagged and taken down. These can range from profanity to advertisements for illegal services. LinkedIn uses a Convolutional neural networks based machine learning model. This classifier trains on a training dataset containing accounts labeled as either "inappropriate" or "appropriate." The inappropriate list consists of accounts having content from "blocklisted" phrases or words and a small portion of manually reviewed accounts reported by the user community.

Here is a Text Classification Project to help you understand NLP basics for text classification. You can find a news recommendation system dataset to help you build a personalized news recommender system. You can also use this dataset to build a classifier using logistic regression, Naive Bayes, or Neural networks to classify toxic comments.

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Pfizer is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York, USA. One of the largest pharmaceutical companies globally known for developing a wide range of medicines and vaccines in disciplines like immunology, oncology, cardiology, and neurology. Pfizer became a household name in 2010 when it was the first to have a COVID-19 vaccine with FDA. In early November 2021, The CDC has approved the Pfizer vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11. Pfizer has been using machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop drugs and streamline trials, which played a massive role in developing and deploying the COVID-19 vaccine. Here are a few data analytics case studies by Pfizer :

i) Identifying Patients for Clinical Trials

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are used to streamline and optimize clinical trials to increase their efficiency. Natural language processing and exploratory data analysis of patient records can help identify suitable patients for clinical trials. These can help identify patients with distinct symptoms. These can help examine interactions of potential trial members' specific biomarkers, predict drug interactions and side effects which can help avoid complications. Pfizer's AI implementation helped rapidly identify signals within the noise of millions of data points across their 44,000-candidate COVID-19 clinical trial.

ii) Supply Chain and Manufacturing

Data science and machine learning techniques help pharmaceutical companies better forecast demand for vaccines and drugs and distribute them efficiently. Machine learning models can help identify efficient supply systems by automating and optimizing the production steps. These will help supply drugs customized to small pools of patients in specific gene pools. Pfizer uses Machine learning to predict the maintenance cost of equipment used. Predictive maintenance using AI is the next big step for Pharmaceutical companies to reduce costs.

iii) Drug Development

Computer simulations of proteins, and tests of their interactions, and yield analysis help researchers develop and test drugs more efficiently. In 2016 Watson Health and Pfizer announced a collaboration to utilize IBM Watson for Drug Discovery to help accelerate Pfizer's research in immuno-oncology, an approach to cancer treatment that uses the body's immune system to help fight cancer. Deep learning models have been used recently for bioactivity and synthesis prediction for drugs and vaccines in addition to molecular design. Deep learning has been a revolutionary technique for drug discovery as it factors everything from new applications of medications to possible toxic reactions which can save millions in drug trials.

You can create a Machine learning model to predict molecular activity to help design medicine using this dataset . You may build a CNN or a Deep neural network for this data analyst case study project.

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9) Shell Data Analyst Case Study Project

Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies with over 80,000 employees in around 70 countries. Shell uses advanced technologies and innovations to help build a sustainable energy future. Shell is going through a significant transition as the world needs more and cleaner energy solutions to be a clean energy company by 2050. It requires substantial changes in the way in which energy is used. Digital technologies, including AI and Machine Learning, play an essential role in this transformation. These include efficient exploration and energy production, more reliable manufacturing, more nimble trading, and a personalized customer experience. Using AI in various phases of the organization will help achieve this goal and stay competitive in the market. Here are a few data analytics case studies in the petrochemical industry:

i) Precision Drilling

Shell is involved in the processing mining oil and gas supply, ranging from mining hydrocarbons to refining the fuel to retailing them to customers. Recently Shell has included reinforcement learning to control the drilling equipment used in mining. Reinforcement learning works on a reward-based system based on the outcome of the AI model. The algorithm is designed to guide the drills as they move through the surface, based on the historical data from drilling records. It includes information such as the size of drill bits, temperatures, pressures, and knowledge of the seismic activity. This model helps the human operator understand the environment better, leading to better and faster results will minor damage to machinery used. 

ii) Efficient Charging Terminals

Due to climate changes, governments have encouraged people to switch to electric vehicles to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, the lack of public charging terminals has deterred people from switching to electric cars. Shell uses AI to monitor and predict the demand for terminals to provide efficient supply. Multiple vehicles charging from a single terminal may create a considerable grid load, and predictions on demand can help make this process more efficient.

iii) Monitoring Service and Charging Stations

Another Shell initiative trialed in Thailand and Singapore is the use of computer vision cameras, which can think and understand to watch out for potentially hazardous activities like lighting cigarettes in the vicinity of the pumps while refueling. The model is built to process the content of the captured images and label and classify it. The algorithm can then alert the staff and hence reduce the risk of fires. You can further train the model to detect rash driving or thefts in the future.

Here is a project to help you understand multiclass image classification. You can use the Hourly Energy Consumption Dataset to build an energy consumption prediction model. You can use time series with XGBoost to develop your model.

10) Zomato Case Study on Data Analytics

Zomato was founded in 2010 and is currently one of the most well-known food tech companies. Zomato offers services like restaurant discovery, home delivery, online table reservation, online payments for dining, etc. Zomato partners with restaurants to provide tools to acquire more customers while also providing delivery services and easy procurement of ingredients and kitchen supplies. Currently, Zomato has over 2 lakh restaurant partners and around 1 lakh delivery partners. Zomato has closed over ten crore delivery orders as of date. Zomato uses ML and AI to boost their business growth, with the massive amount of data collected over the years from food orders and user consumption patterns. Here are a few examples of data analyst case study project developed by the data scientists at Zomato:

i) Personalized Recommendation System for Homepage

Zomato uses data analytics to create personalized homepages for its users. Zomato uses data science to provide order personalization, like giving recommendations to the customers for specific cuisines, locations, prices, brands, etc. Restaurant recommendations are made based on a customer's past purchases, browsing history, and what other similar customers in the vicinity are ordering. This personalized recommendation system has led to a 15% improvement in order conversions and click-through rates for Zomato. 

You can use the Restaurant Recommendation Dataset to build a restaurant recommendation system to predict what restaurants customers are most likely to order from, given the customer location, restaurant information, and customer order history.

ii) Analyzing Customer Sentiment

Zomato uses Natural language processing and Machine learning to understand customer sentiments using social media posts and customer reviews. These help the company gauge the inclination of its customer base towards the brand. Deep learning models analyze the sentiments of various brand mentions on social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, and Facebook. These analytics give insights to the company, which helps build the brand and understand the target audience.

iii) Predicting Food Preparation Time (FPT)

Food delivery time is an essential variable in the estimated delivery time of the order placed by the customer using Zomato. The food preparation time depends on numerous factors like the number of dishes ordered, time of the day, footfall in the restaurant, day of the week, etc. Accurate prediction of the food preparation time can help make a better prediction of the Estimated delivery time, which will help delivery partners less likely to breach it. Zomato uses a Bidirectional LSTM-based deep learning model that considers all these features and provides food preparation time for each order in real-time. 

Data scientists are companies' secret weapons when analyzing customer sentiments and behavior and leveraging it to drive conversion, loyalty, and profits. These 10 data science case studies projects with examples and solutions show you how various organizations use data science technologies to succeed and be at the top of their field! To summarize, Data Science has not only accelerated the performance of companies but has also made it possible to manage & sustain their performance with ease.

FAQs on Data Analysis Case Studies

A case study in data science is an in-depth analysis of a real-world problem using data-driven approaches. It involves collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data to extract insights and solve challenges, offering practical insights into how data science techniques can address complex issues across various industries.

To create a data science case study, identify a relevant problem, define objectives, and gather suitable data. Clean and preprocess data, perform exploratory data analysis, and apply appropriate algorithms for analysis. Summarize findings, visualize results, and provide actionable recommendations, showcasing the problem-solving potential of data science techniques.

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
  • Group Presentations
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  • Types of Structured Group Activities
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  • Writing a Case Study
  • About Informed Consent
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  • Generative AI and Writing
  • Acknowledgments

Definition and Introduction

Case analysis is a problem-based teaching and learning method that involves critically analyzing complex scenarios within an organizational setting for the purpose of placing the student in a “real world” situation and applying reflection and critical thinking skills to contemplate appropriate solutions, decisions, or recommended courses of action. It is considered a more effective teaching technique than in-class role playing or simulation activities. The analytical process is often guided by questions provided by the instructor that ask students to contemplate relationships between the facts and critical incidents described in the case.

Cases generally include both descriptive and statistical elements and rely on students applying abductive reasoning to develop and argue for preferred or best outcomes [i.e., case scenarios rarely have a single correct or perfect answer based on the evidence provided]. Rather than emphasizing theories or concepts, case analysis assignments emphasize building a bridge of relevancy between abstract thinking and practical application and, by so doing, teaches the value of both within a specific area of professional practice.

Given this, the purpose of a case analysis paper is to present a structured and logically organized format for analyzing the case situation. It can be assigned to students individually or as a small group assignment and it may include an in-class presentation component. Case analysis is predominately taught in economics and business-related courses, but it is also a method of teaching and learning found in other applied social sciences disciplines, such as, social work, public relations, education, journalism, and public administration.

Ellet, William. The Case Study Handbook: A Student's Guide . Revised Edition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2018; Christoph Rasche and Achim Seisreiner. Guidelines for Business Case Analysis . University of Potsdam; Writing a Case Analysis . Writing Center, Baruch College; Volpe, Guglielmo. "Case Teaching in Economics: History, Practice and Evidence." Cogent Economics and Finance 3 (December 2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977.

How to Approach Writing a Case Analysis Paper

The organization and structure of a case analysis paper can vary depending on the organizational setting, the situation, and how your professor wants you to approach the assignment. Nevertheless, preparing to write a case analysis paper involves several important steps. As Hawes notes, a case analysis assignment “...is useful in developing the ability to get to the heart of a problem, analyze it thoroughly, and to indicate the appropriate solution as well as how it should be implemented” [p.48]. This statement encapsulates how you should approach preparing to write a case analysis paper.

Before you begin to write your paper, consider the following analytical procedures:

  • Review the case to get an overview of the situation . A case can be only a few pages in length, however, it is most often very lengthy and contains a significant amount of detailed background information and statistics, with multilayered descriptions of the scenario, the roles and behaviors of various stakeholder groups, and situational events. Therefore, a quick reading of the case will help you gain an overall sense of the situation and illuminate the types of issues and problems that you will need to address in your paper. If your professor has provided questions intended to help frame your analysis, use them to guide your initial reading of the case.
  • Read the case thoroughly . After gaining a general overview of the case, carefully read the content again with the purpose of understanding key circumstances, events, and behaviors among stakeholder groups. Look for information or data that appears contradictory, extraneous, or misleading. At this point, you should be taking notes as you read because this will help you develop a general outline of your paper. The aim is to obtain a complete understanding of the situation so that you can begin contemplating tentative answers to any questions your professor has provided or, if they have not provided, developing answers to your own questions about the case scenario and its connection to the course readings,lectures, and class discussions.
  • Determine key stakeholder groups, issues, and events and the relationships they all have to each other . As you analyze the content, pay particular attention to identifying individuals, groups, or organizations described in the case and identify evidence of any problems or issues of concern that impact the situation in a negative way. Other things to look for include identifying any assumptions being made by or about each stakeholder, potential biased explanations or actions, explicit demands or ultimatums , and the underlying concerns that motivate these behaviors among stakeholders. The goal at this stage is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the situational and behavioral dynamics of the case and the explicit and implicit consequences of each of these actions.
  • Identify the core problems . The next step in most case analysis assignments is to discern what the core [i.e., most damaging, detrimental, injurious] problems are within the organizational setting and to determine their implications. The purpose at this stage of preparing to write your analysis paper is to distinguish between the symptoms of core problems and the core problems themselves and to decide which of these must be addressed immediately and which problems do not appear critical but may escalate over time. Identify evidence from the case to support your decisions by determining what information or data is essential to addressing the core problems and what information is not relevant or is misleading.
  • Explore alternative solutions . As noted, case analysis scenarios rarely have only one correct answer. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that the process of analyzing the case and diagnosing core problems, while based on evidence, is a subjective process open to various avenues of interpretation. This means that you must consider alternative solutions or courses of action by critically examining strengths and weaknesses, risk factors, and the differences between short and long-term solutions. For each possible solution or course of action, consider the consequences they may have related to their implementation and how these recommendations might lead to new problems. Also, consider thinking about your recommended solutions or courses of action in relation to issues of fairness, equity, and inclusion.
  • Decide on a final set of recommendations . The last stage in preparing to write a case analysis paper is to assert an opinion or viewpoint about the recommendations needed to help resolve the core problems as you see them and to make a persuasive argument for supporting this point of view. Prepare a clear rationale for your recommendations based on examining each element of your analysis. Anticipate possible obstacles that could derail their implementation. Consider any counter-arguments that could be made concerning the validity of your recommended actions. Finally, describe a set of criteria and measurable indicators that could be applied to evaluating the effectiveness of your implementation plan.

Use these steps as the framework for writing your paper. Remember that the more detailed you are in taking notes as you critically examine each element of the case, the more information you will have to draw from when you begin to write. This will save you time.

NOTE : If the process of preparing to write a case analysis paper is assigned as a student group project, consider having each member of the group analyze a specific element of the case, including drafting answers to the corresponding questions used by your professor to frame the analysis. This will help make the analytical process more efficient and ensure that the distribution of work is equitable. This can also facilitate who is responsible for drafting each part of the final case analysis paper and, if applicable, the in-class presentation.

Framework for Case Analysis . College of Management. University of Massachusetts; Hawes, Jon M. "Teaching is Not Telling: The Case Method as a Form of Interactive Learning." Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education 5 (Winter 2004): 47-54; Rasche, Christoph and Achim Seisreiner. Guidelines for Business Case Analysis . University of Potsdam; Writing a Case Study Analysis . University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center; Van Ness, Raymond K. A Guide to Case Analysis . School of Business. State University of New York, Albany; Writing a Case Analysis . Business School, University of New South Wales.

Structure and Writing Style

A case analysis paper should be detailed, concise, persuasive, clearly written, and professional in tone and in the use of language . As with other forms of college-level academic writing, declarative statements that convey information, provide a fact, or offer an explanation or any recommended courses of action should be based on evidence. If allowed by your professor, any external sources used to support your analysis, such as course readings, should be properly cited under a list of references. The organization and structure of case analysis papers can vary depending on your professor’s preferred format, but its structure generally follows the steps used for analyzing the case.

Introduction

The introduction should provide a succinct but thorough descriptive overview of the main facts, issues, and core problems of the case . The introduction should also include a brief summary of the most relevant details about the situation and organizational setting. This includes defining the theoretical framework or conceptual model on which any questions were used to frame your analysis.

Following the rules of most college-level research papers, the introduction should then inform the reader how the paper will be organized. This includes describing the major sections of the paper and the order in which they will be presented. Unless you are told to do so by your professor, you do not need to preview your final recommendations in the introduction. U nlike most college-level research papers , the introduction does not include a statement about the significance of your findings because a case analysis assignment does not involve contributing new knowledge about a research problem.

Background Analysis

Background analysis can vary depending on any guiding questions provided by your professor and the underlying concept or theory that the case is based upon. In general, however, this section of your paper should focus on:

  • Providing an overarching analysis of problems identified from the case scenario, including identifying events that stakeholders find challenging or troublesome,
  • Identifying assumptions made by each stakeholder and any apparent biases they may exhibit,
  • Describing any demands or claims made by or forced upon key stakeholders, and
  • Highlighting any issues of concern or complaints expressed by stakeholders in response to those demands or claims.

These aspects of the case are often in the form of behavioral responses expressed by individuals or groups within the organizational setting. However, note that problems in a case situation can also be reflected in data [or the lack thereof] and in the decision-making, operational, cultural, or institutional structure of the organization. Additionally, demands or claims can be either internal and external to the organization [e.g., a case analysis involving a president considering arms sales to Saudi Arabia could include managing internal demands from White House advisors as well as demands from members of Congress].

Throughout this section, present all relevant evidence from the case that supports your analysis. Do not simply claim there is a problem, an assumption, a demand, or a concern; tell the reader what part of the case informed how you identified these background elements.

Identification of Problems

In most case analysis assignments, there are problems, and then there are problems . Each problem can reflect a multitude of underlying symptoms that are detrimental to the interests of the organization. The purpose of identifying problems is to teach students how to differentiate between problems that vary in severity, impact, and relative importance. Given this, problems can be described in three general forms: those that must be addressed immediately, those that should be addressed but the impact is not severe, and those that do not require immediate attention and can be set aside for the time being.

All of the problems you identify from the case should be identified in this section of your paper, with a description based on evidence explaining the problem variances. If the assignment asks you to conduct research to further support your assessment of the problems, include this in your explanation. Remember to cite those sources in a list of references. Use specific evidence from the case and apply appropriate concepts, theories, and models discussed in class or in relevant course readings to highlight and explain the key problems [or problem] that you believe must be solved immediately and describe the underlying symptoms and why they are so critical.

Alternative Solutions

This section is where you provide specific, realistic, and evidence-based solutions to the problems you have identified and make recommendations about how to alleviate the underlying symptomatic conditions impacting the organizational setting. For each solution, you must explain why it was chosen and provide clear evidence to support your reasoning. This can include, for example, course readings and class discussions as well as research resources, such as, books, journal articles, research reports, or government documents. In some cases, your professor may encourage you to include personal, anecdotal experiences as evidence to support why you chose a particular solution or set of solutions. Using anecdotal evidence helps promote reflective thinking about the process of determining what qualifies as a core problem and relevant solution .

Throughout this part of the paper, keep in mind the entire array of problems that must be addressed and describe in detail the solutions that might be implemented to resolve these problems.

Recommended Courses of Action

In some case analysis assignments, your professor may ask you to combine the alternative solutions section with your recommended courses of action. However, it is important to know the difference between the two. A solution refers to the answer to a problem. A course of action refers to a procedure or deliberate sequence of activities adopted to proactively confront a situation, often in the context of accomplishing a goal. In this context, proposed courses of action are based on your analysis of alternative solutions. Your description and justification for pursuing each course of action should represent the overall plan for implementing your recommendations.

For each course of action, you need to explain the rationale for your recommendation in a way that confronts challenges, explains risks, and anticipates any counter-arguments from stakeholders. Do this by considering the strengths and weaknesses of each course of action framed in relation to how the action is expected to resolve the core problems presented, the possible ways the action may affect remaining problems, and how the recommended action will be perceived by each stakeholder.

In addition, you should describe the criteria needed to measure how well the implementation of these actions is working and explain which individuals or groups are responsible for ensuring your recommendations are successful. In addition, always consider the law of unintended consequences. Outline difficulties that may arise in implementing each course of action and describe how implementing the proposed courses of action [either individually or collectively] may lead to new problems [both large and small].

Throughout this section, you must consider the costs and benefits of recommending your courses of action in relation to uncertainties or missing information and the negative consequences of success.

The conclusion should be brief and introspective. Unlike a research paper, the conclusion in a case analysis paper does not include a summary of key findings and their significance, a statement about how the study contributed to existing knowledge, or indicate opportunities for future research.

Begin by synthesizing the core problems presented in the case and the relevance of your recommended solutions. This can include an explanation of what you have learned about the case in the context of your answers to the questions provided by your professor. The conclusion is also where you link what you learned from analyzing the case with the course readings or class discussions. This can further demonstrate your understanding of the relationships between the practical case situation and the theoretical and abstract content of assigned readings and other course content.

Problems to Avoid

The literature on case analysis assignments often includes examples of difficulties students have with applying methods of critical analysis and effectively reporting the results of their assessment of the situation. A common reason cited by scholars is that the application of this type of teaching and learning method is limited to applied fields of social and behavioral sciences and, as a result, writing a case analysis paper can be unfamiliar to most students entering college.

After you have drafted your paper, proofread the narrative flow and revise any of these common errors:

  • Unnecessary detail in the background section . The background section should highlight the essential elements of the case based on your analysis. Focus on summarizing the facts and highlighting the key factors that become relevant in the other sections of the paper by eliminating any unnecessary information.
  • Analysis relies too much on opinion . Your analysis is interpretive, but the narrative must be connected clearly to evidence from the case and any models and theories discussed in class or in course readings. Any positions or arguments you make should be supported by evidence.
  • Analysis does not focus on the most important elements of the case . Your paper should provide a thorough overview of the case. However, the analysis should focus on providing evidence about what you identify are the key events, stakeholders, issues, and problems. Emphasize what you identify as the most critical aspects of the case to be developed throughout your analysis. Be thorough but succinct.
  • Writing is too descriptive . A paper with too much descriptive information detracts from your analysis of the complexities of the case situation. Questions about what happened, where, when, and by whom should only be included as essential information leading to your examination of questions related to why, how, and for what purpose.
  • Inadequate definition of a core problem and associated symptoms . A common error found in case analysis papers is recommending a solution or course of action without adequately defining or demonstrating that you understand the problem. Make sure you have clearly described the problem and its impact and scope within the organizational setting. Ensure that you have adequately described the root causes w hen describing the symptoms of the problem.
  • Recommendations lack specificity . Identify any use of vague statements and indeterminate terminology, such as, “A particular experience” or “a large increase to the budget.” These statements cannot be measured and, as a result, there is no way to evaluate their successful implementation. Provide specific data and use direct language in describing recommended actions.
  • Unrealistic, exaggerated, or unattainable recommendations . Review your recommendations to ensure that they are based on the situational facts of the case. Your recommended solutions and courses of action must be based on realistic assumptions and fit within the constraints of the situation. Also note that the case scenario has already happened, therefore, any speculation or arguments about what could have occurred if the circumstances were different should be revised or eliminated.

Bee, Lian Song et al. "Business Students' Perspectives on Case Method Coaching for Problem-Based Learning: Impacts on Student Engagement and Learning Performance in Higher Education." Education & Training 64 (2022): 416-432; The Case Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. Grand Valley State University; Georgallis, Panikos and Kayleigh Bruijn. "Sustainability Teaching using Case-Based Debates." Journal of International Education in Business 15 (2022): 147-163; Hawes, Jon M. "Teaching is Not Telling: The Case Method as a Form of Interactive Learning." Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education 5 (Winter 2004): 47-54; Georgallis, Panikos, and Kayleigh Bruijn. "Sustainability Teaching Using Case-based Debates." Journal of International Education in Business 15 (2022): 147-163; .Dean,  Kathy Lund and Charles J. Fornaciari. "How to Create and Use Experiential Case-Based Exercises in a Management Classroom." Journal of Management Education 26 (October 2002): 586-603; Klebba, Joanne M. and Janet G. Hamilton. "Structured Case Analysis: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in a Marketing Case Course." Journal of Marketing Education 29 (August 2007): 132-137, 139; Klein, Norman. "The Case Discussion Method Revisited: Some Questions about Student Skills." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 30-32; Mukherjee, Arup. "Effective Use of In-Class Mini Case Analysis for Discovery Learning in an Undergraduate MIS Course." The Journal of Computer Information Systems 40 (Spring 2000): 15-23; Pessoa, Silviaet al. "Scaffolding the Case Analysis in an Organizational Behavior Course: Making Analytical Language Explicit." Journal of Management Education 46 (2022): 226-251: Ramsey, V. J. and L. D. Dodge. "Case Analysis: A Structured Approach." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 27-29; Schweitzer, Karen. "How to Write and Format a Business Case Study." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-write-and-format-a-business-case-study-466324 (accessed December 5, 2022); Reddy, C. D. "Teaching Research Methodology: Everything's a Case." Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods 18 (December 2020): 178-188; Volpe, Guglielmo. "Case Teaching in Economics: History, Practice and Evidence." Cogent Economics and Finance 3 (December 2015). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2015.1120977.

Writing Tip

Ca se Study and Case Analysis Are Not the Same!

Confusion often exists between what it means to write a paper that uses a case study research design and writing a paper that analyzes a case; they are two different types of approaches to learning in the social and behavioral sciences. Professors as well as educational researchers contribute to this confusion because they often use the term "case study" when describing the subject of analysis for a case analysis paper. But you are not studying a case for the purpose of generating a comprehensive, multi-faceted understanding of a research problem. R ather, you are critically analyzing a specific scenario to argue logically for recommended solutions and courses of action that lead to optimal outcomes applicable to professional practice.

To avoid any confusion, here are twelve characteristics that delineate the differences between writing a paper using the case study research method and writing a case analysis paper:

  • Case study is a method of in-depth research and rigorous inquiry ; case analysis is a reliable method of teaching and learning . A case study is a modality of research that investigates a phenomenon for the purpose of creating new knowledge, solving a problem, or testing a hypothesis using empirical evidence derived from the case being studied. Often, the results are used to generalize about a larger population or within a wider context. The writing adheres to the traditional standards of a scholarly research study. A case analysis is a pedagogical tool used to teach students how to reflect and think critically about a practical, real-life problem in an organizational setting.
  • The researcher is responsible for identifying the case to study; a case analysis is assigned by your professor . As the researcher, you choose the case study to investigate in support of obtaining new knowledge and understanding about the research problem. The case in a case analysis assignment is almost always provided, and sometimes written, by your professor and either given to every student in class to analyze individually or to a small group of students, or students select a case to analyze from a predetermined list.
  • A case study is indeterminate and boundless; a case analysis is predetermined and confined . A case study can be almost anything [see item 9 below] as long as it relates directly to examining the research problem. This relationship is the only limit to what a researcher can choose as the subject of their case study. The content of a case analysis is determined by your professor and its parameters are well-defined and limited to elucidating insights of practical value applied to practice.
  • Case study is fact-based and describes actual events or situations; case analysis can be entirely fictional or adapted from an actual situation . The entire content of a case study must be grounded in reality to be a valid subject of investigation in an empirical research study. A case analysis only needs to set the stage for critically examining a situation in practice and, therefore, can be entirely fictional or adapted, all or in-part, from an actual situation.
  • Research using a case study method must adhere to principles of intellectual honesty and academic integrity; a case analysis scenario can include misleading or false information . A case study paper must report research objectively and factually to ensure that any findings are understood to be logically correct and trustworthy. A case analysis scenario may include misleading or false information intended to deliberately distract from the central issues of the case. The purpose is to teach students how to sort through conflicting or useless information in order to come up with the preferred solution. Any use of misleading or false information in academic research is considered unethical.
  • Case study is linked to a research problem; case analysis is linked to a practical situation or scenario . In the social sciences, the subject of an investigation is most often framed as a problem that must be researched in order to generate new knowledge leading to a solution. Case analysis narratives are grounded in real life scenarios for the purpose of examining the realities of decision-making behavior and processes within organizational settings. A case analysis assignments include a problem or set of problems to be analyzed. However, the goal is centered around the act of identifying and evaluating courses of action leading to best possible outcomes.
  • The purpose of a case study is to create new knowledge through research; the purpose of a case analysis is to teach new understanding . Case studies are a choice of methodological design intended to create new knowledge about resolving a research problem. A case analysis is a mode of teaching and learning intended to create new understanding and an awareness of uncertainty applied to practice through acts of critical thinking and reflection.
  • A case study seeks to identify the best possible solution to a research problem; case analysis can have an indeterminate set of solutions or outcomes . Your role in studying a case is to discover the most logical, evidence-based ways to address a research problem. A case analysis assignment rarely has a single correct answer because one of the goals is to force students to confront the real life dynamics of uncertainly, ambiguity, and missing or conflicting information within professional practice. Under these conditions, a perfect outcome or solution almost never exists.
  • Case study is unbounded and relies on gathering external information; case analysis is a self-contained subject of analysis . The scope of a case study chosen as a method of research is bounded. However, the researcher is free to gather whatever information and data is necessary to investigate its relevance to understanding the research problem. For a case analysis assignment, your professor will often ask you to examine solutions or recommended courses of action based solely on facts and information from the case.
  • Case study can be a person, place, object, issue, event, condition, or phenomenon; a case analysis is a carefully constructed synopsis of events, situations, and behaviors . The research problem dictates the type of case being studied and, therefore, the design can encompass almost anything tangible as long as it fulfills the objective of generating new knowledge and understanding. A case analysis is in the form of a narrative containing descriptions of facts, situations, processes, rules, and behaviors within a particular setting and under a specific set of circumstances.
  • Case study can represent an open-ended subject of inquiry; a case analysis is a narrative about something that has happened in the past . A case study is not restricted by time and can encompass an event or issue with no temporal limit or end. For example, the current war in Ukraine can be used as a case study of how medical personnel help civilians during a large military conflict, even though circumstances around this event are still evolving. A case analysis can be used to elicit critical thinking about current or future situations in practice, but the case itself is a narrative about something finite and that has taken place in the past.
  • Multiple case studies can be used in a research study; case analysis involves examining a single scenario . Case study research can use two or more cases to examine a problem, often for the purpose of conducting a comparative investigation intended to discover hidden relationships, document emerging trends, or determine variations among different examples. A case analysis assignment typically describes a stand-alone, self-contained situation and any comparisons among cases are conducted during in-class discussions and/or student presentations.

The Case Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. Grand Valley State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Ramsey, V. J. and L. D. Dodge. "Case Analysis: A Structured Approach." Exchange: The Organizational Behavior Teaching Journal 6 (November 1981): 27-29; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2017; Crowe, Sarah et al. “The Case Study Approach.” BMC Medical Research Methodology 11 (2011):  doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-11-100; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing; 1994.

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case analysis of data

The Convergence Blog

The convergence - an online community space that's dedicated to empowering operators in the data industry by providing news and education about evergreen strategies, late-breaking data & ai developments, and free or low-cost upskilling resources that you need to thrive as a leader in the data & ai space., data analysis case study: learn from humana’s automated data analysis project.

Lillian Pierson, P.E.

Lillian Pierson, P.E.

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Got data? Great! Looking for that perfect data analysis case study to help you get started using it? You’re in the right place.

If you’ve ever struggled to decide what to do next with your data projects, to actually find meaning in the data, or even to decide what kind of data to collect, then KEEP READING…

Deep down, you know what needs to happen. You need to initiate and execute a data strategy that really moves the needle for your organization. One that produces seriously awesome business results.

But how you’re in the right place to find out..

As a data strategist who has worked with 10 percent of Fortune 100 companies, today I’m sharing with you a case study that demonstrates just how real businesses are making real wins with data analysis. 

In the post below, we’ll look at:

  • A shining data success story;
  • What went on ‘under-the-hood’ to support that successful data project; and
  • The exact data technologies used by the vendor, to take this project from pure strategy to pure success

If you prefer to watch this information rather than read it, it’s captured in the video below:

Here’s the url too: https://youtu.be/xMwZObIqvLQ

3 Action Items You Need To Take

To actually use the data analysis case study you’re about to get – you need to take 3 main steps. Those are:

  • Reflect upon your organization as it is today (I left you some prompts below – to help you get started)
  • Review winning data case collections (starting with the one I’m sharing here) and identify 5 that seem the most promising for your organization given it’s current set-up
  • Assess your organization AND those 5 winning case collections. Based on that assessment, select the “QUICK WIN” data use case that offers your organization the most bang for it’s buck

Step 1: Reflect Upon Your Organization

Whenever you evaluate data case collections to decide if they’re a good fit for your organization, the first thing you need to do is organize your thoughts with respect to your organization as it is today.

Before moving into the data analysis case study, STOP and ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS – just to remind yourself:

  • What is the business vision for our organization?
  • What industries do we primarily support?
  • What data technologies do we already have up and running, that we could use to generate even more value?
  • What team members do we have to support a new data project? And what are their data skillsets like?
  • What type of data are we mostly looking to generate value from? Structured? Semi-Structured? Un-structured? Real-time data? Huge data sets? What are our data resources like?

Jot down some notes while you’re here. Then keep them in mind as you read on to find out how one company, Humana, used its data to achieve a 28 percent increase in customer satisfaction. Also include its 63 percent increase in employee engagement! (That’s such a seriously impressive outcome, right?!)

Step 2: Review Data Case Studies

Here we are, already at step 2. It’s time for you to start reviewing data analysis case studies  (starting with the one I’m sharing below). I dentify 5 that seem the most promising for your organization given its current set-up.

Humana’s Automated Data Analysis Case Study

The key thing to note here is that the approach to creating a successful data program varies from industry to industry .

Let’s start with one to demonstrate the kind of value you can glean from these kinds of success stories.

Humana has provided health insurance to Americans for over 50 years. It is a service company focused on fulfilling the needs of its customers. A great deal of Humana’s success as a company rides on customer satisfaction, and the frontline of that battle for customers’ hearts and minds is Humana’s customer service center.

Call centers are hard to get right. A lot of emotions can arise during a customer service call, especially one relating to health and health insurance. Sometimes people are frustrated. At times, they’re upset. Also, there are times the customer service representative becomes aggravated, and the overall tone and progression of the phone call goes downhill. This is of course very bad for customer satisfaction.

Humana wanted to use artificial intelligence to improve customer satisfaction (and thus, customer retention rates & profits per customer).

Humana wanted to find a way to use artificial intelligence to monitor their phone calls and help their agents do a better job connecting with their customers in order to improve customer satisfaction (and thus, customer retention rates & profits per customer ).

In light of their business need, Humana worked with a company called Cogito, which specializes in voice analytics technology.

Cogito offers a piece of AI technology called Cogito Dialogue. It’s been trained to identify certain conversational cues as a way of helping call center representatives and supervisors stay actively engaged in a call with a customer.

The AI listens to cues like the customer’s voice pitch.

If it’s rising, or if the call representative and the customer talk over each other, then the dialogue tool will send out electronic alerts to the agent during the call.

Humana fed the dialogue tool customer service data from 10,000 calls and allowed it to analyze cues such as keywords, interruptions, and pauses, and these cues were then linked with specific outcomes. For example, if the representative is receiving a particular type of cues, they are likely to get a specific customer satisfaction result.

The Outcome

Customers were happier, and customer service representatives were more engaged..

This automated solution for data analysis has now been deployed in 200 Humana call centers and the company plans to roll it out to 100 percent of its centers in the future.

The initiative was so successful, Humana has been able to focus on next steps in its data program. The company now plans to begin predicting the type of calls that are likely to go unresolved, so they can send those calls over to management before they become frustrating to the customer and customer service representative alike.

What does this mean for you and your business?

Well, if you’re looking for new ways to generate value by improving the quantity and quality of the decision support that you’re providing to your customer service personnel, then this may be a perfect example of how you can do so.

Humana’s Business Use Cases

Humana’s data analysis case study includes two key business use cases:

  • Analyzing customer sentiment; and
  • Suggesting actions to customer service representatives.

Analyzing Customer Sentiment

First things first, before you go ahead and collect data, you need to ask yourself who and what is involved in making things happen within the business.

In the case of Humana, the actors were:

  • The health insurance system itself
  • The customer, and
  • The customer service representative

As you can see in the use case diagram above, the relational aspect is pretty simple. You have a customer service representative and a customer. They are both producing audio data, and that audio data is being fed into the system.

Humana focused on collecting the key data points, shown in the image below, from their customer service operations.

By collecting data about speech style, pitch, silence, stress in customers’ voices, length of call, speed of customers’ speech, intonation, articulation, silence, and representatives’  manner of speaking, Humana was able to analyze customer sentiment and introduce techniques for improved customer satisfaction.

Having strategically defined these data points, the Cogito technology was able to generate reports about customer sentiment during the calls.

Suggesting actions to customer service representatives.

The second use case for the Humana data program follows on from the data gathered in the first case.

In Humana’s case, Cogito generated a host of call analyses and reports about key call issues.

In the second business use case, Cogito was able to suggest actions to customer service representatives, in real-time , to make use of incoming data and help improve customer satisfaction on the spot.

The technology Humana used provided suggestions via text message to the customer service representative, offering the following types of feedback:

  • The tone of voice is too tense
  • The speed of speaking is high
  • The customer representative and customer are speaking at the same time

These alerts allowed the Humana customer service representatives to alter their approach immediately , improving the quality of the interaction and, subsequently, the customer satisfaction.

The preconditions for success in this use case were:

  • The call-related data must be collected and stored
  • The AI models must be in place to generate analysis on the data points that are recorded during the calls

Evidence of success can subsequently be found in a system that offers real-time suggestions for courses of action that the customer service representative can take to improve customer satisfaction.

Thanks to this data-intensive business use case, Humana was able to increase customer satisfaction, improve customer retention rates, and drive profits per customer.

The Technology That Supports This Data Analysis Case Study

I promised to dip into the tech side of things. This is especially for those of you who are interested in the ins and outs of how projects like this one are actually rolled out.

Here’s a little rundown of the main technologies we discovered when we investigated how Cogito runs in support of its clients like Humana.

  • For cloud data management Cogito uses AWS, specifically the Athena product
  • For on-premise big data management, the company used Apache HDFS – the distributed file system for storing big data
  • They utilize MapReduce, for processing their data
  • And Cogito also has traditional systems and relational database management systems such as PostgreSQL
  • In terms of analytics and data visualization tools, Cogito makes use of Tableau
  • And for its machine learning technology, these use cases required people with knowledge in Python, R, and SQL, as well as deep learning (Cogito uses the PyTorch library and the TensorFlow library)

These data science skill sets support the effective computing, deep learning , and natural language processing applications employed by Humana for this use case.

If you’re looking to hire people to help with your own data initiative, then people with those skills listed above, and with experience in these specific technologies, would be a huge help.

Step 3: S elect The “Quick Win” Data Use Case

Still there? Great!

It’s time to close the loop.

Remember those notes you took before you reviewed the study? I want you to STOP here and assess. Does this Humana case study seem applicable and promising as a solution, given your organization’s current set-up…

YES ▶ Excellent!

Earmark it and continue exploring other winning data use cases until you’ve identified 5 that seem like great fits for your businesses needs. Evaluate those against your organization’s needs, and select the very best fit to be your “quick win” data use case. Develop your data strategy around that.

NO , Lillian – It’s not applicable. ▶  No problem.

Discard the information and continue exploring the winning data use cases we’ve categorized for you according to business function and industry. Save time by dialing down into the business function you know your business really needs help with now. Identify 5 winning data use cases that seem like great fits for your businesses needs. Evaluate those against your organization’s needs, and select the very best fit to be your “quick win” data use case. Develop your data strategy around that data use case.

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Data Analytics Case Study Guide (Updated for 2023)

Data Analytics Case Study Guide (Updated for 2023)

What are data analytics case study interviews.

When you’re trying to land a data analyst job, the last thing to stand in your way is the data analytics case study interview.

One reason they’re so challenging is that case studies don’t typically have a right or wrong answer.

Instead, case study interviews require you to come up with a hypothesis for an analytics question and then produce data to support or validate your hypothesis. In other words, it’s not just about your technical skills; you’re also being tested on creative problem-solving and your ability to communicate with stakeholders.

This article provides an overview of how to answer data analytics case study interview questions. You can find an in-depth course in the data analytics learning path .

How to Solve Data Analytics Case Questions

Check out our video below on How to solve a Data Analytics case study problem:

Data Analytics Case Study Vide Guide

With data analyst case questions, you will need to answer two key questions:

  • What metrics should I propose?
  • How do I write a SQL query to get the metrics I need?

In short, to ace a data analytics case interview, you not only need to brush up on case questions, but you also should be adept at writing all types of SQL queries and have strong data sense.

These questions are especially challenging to answer if you don’t have a framework or know how to answer them. To help you prepare, we created this step-by-step guide to answering data analytics case questions.

We show you how to use a framework to answer case questions, provide example analytics questions, and help you understand the difference between analytics case studies and product metrics case studies .

Data Analytics Cases vs Product Metrics Questions

Product case questions sometimes get lumped in with data analytics cases.

Ultimately, the type of case question you are asked will depend on the role. For example, product analysts will likely face more product-oriented questions.

Product metrics cases tend to focus on a hypothetical situation. You might be asked to:

Investigate Metrics - One of the most common types will ask you to investigate a metric, usually one that’s going up or down. For example, “Why are Facebook friend requests falling by 10 percent?”

Measure Product/Feature Success - A lot of analytics cases revolve around the measurement of product success and feature changes. For example, “We want to add X feature to product Y. What metrics would you track to make sure that’s a good idea?”

With product data cases, the key difference is that you may or may not be required to write the SQL query to find the metric.

Instead, these interviews are more theoretical and are designed to assess your product sense and ability to think about analytics problems from a product perspective. Product metrics questions may also show up in the data analyst interview , but likely only for product data analyst roles.

Data Analytics Case Study Question: Sample Solution

Data Analytics Case Study Sample Solution

Let’s start with an example data analytics case question :

You’re given a table that represents search results from searches on Facebook. The query column is the search term, the position column represents each position the search result came in, and the rating column represents the human rating from 1 to 5, where 5 is high relevance, and 1 is low relevance.

Each row in the search_events table represents a single search, with the has_clicked column representing if a user clicked on a result or not. We have a hypothesis that the CTR is dependent on the search result rating.

Write a query to return data to support or disprove this hypothesis.

search_results table:

search_events table

Step 1: With Data Analytics Case Studies, Start by Making Assumptions

Hint: Start by making assumptions and thinking out loud. With this question, focus on coming up with a metric to support the hypothesis. If the question is unclear or if you think you need more information, be sure to ask.

Answer. The hypothesis is that CTR is dependent on search result rating. Therefore, we want to focus on the CTR metric, and we can assume:

  • If CTR is high when search result ratings are high, and CTR is low when the search result ratings are low, then the hypothesis is correct.
  • If CTR is low when the search ratings are high, or there is no proven correlation between the two, then our hypothesis is not proven.

Step 2: Provide a Solution for the Case Question

Hint: Walk the interviewer through your reasoning. Talking about the decisions you make and why you’re making them shows off your problem-solving approach.

Answer. One way we can investigate the hypothesis is to look at the results split into different search rating buckets. For example, if we measure the CTR for results rated at 1, then those rated at 2, and so on, we can identify if an increase in rating is correlated with an increase in CTR.

First, I’d write a query to get the number of results for each query in each bucket. We want to look at the distribution of results that are less than a rating threshold, which will help us see the relationship between search rating and CTR.

This CTE aggregates the number of results that are less than a certain rating threshold. Later, we can use this to see the percentage that are in each bucket. If we re-join to the search_events table, we can calculate the CTR by then grouping by each bucket.

Step 3: Use Analysis to Backup Your Solution

Hint: Be prepared to justify your solution. Interviewers will follow up with questions about your reasoning, and ask why you make certain assumptions.

Answer. By using the CASE WHEN statement, I calculated each ratings bucket by checking to see if all the search results were less than 1, 2, or 3 by subtracting the total from the number within the bucket and seeing if it equates to 0.

I did that to get away from averages in our bucketing system. Outliers would make it more difficult to measure the effect of bad ratings. For example, if a query had a 1 rating and another had a 5 rating, that would equate to an average of 3. Whereas in my solution, a query with all of the results under 1, 2, or 3 lets us know that it actually has bad ratings.

Product Data Case Question: Sample Solution

product analytics on screen

In product metrics interviews, you’ll likely be asked about analytics, but the discussion will be more theoretical. You’ll propose a solution to a problem, and supply the metrics you’ll use to investigate or solve it. You may or may not be required to write a SQL query to get those metrics.

We’ll start with an example product metrics case study question :

Let’s say you work for a social media company that has just done a launch in a new city. Looking at weekly metrics, you see a slow decrease in the average number of comments per user from January to March in this city.

The company has been consistently growing new users in the city from January to March.

What are some reasons why the average number of comments per user would be decreasing and what metrics would you look into?

Step 1: Ask Clarifying Questions Specific to the Case

Hint: This question is very vague. It’s all hypothetical, so we don’t know very much about users, what the product is, and how people might be interacting. Be sure you ask questions upfront about the product.

Answer: Before I jump into an answer, I’d like to ask a few questions:

  • Who uses this social network? How do they interact with each other?
  • Has there been any performance issues that might be causing the problem?
  • What are the goals of this particular launch?
  • Has there been any changes to the comment features in recent weeks?

For the sake of this example, let’s say we learn that it’s a social network similar to Facebook with a young audience, and the goals of the launch are to grow the user base. Also, there have been no performance issues and the commenting feature hasn’t been changed since launch.

Step 2: Use the Case Question to Make Assumptions

Hint: Look for clues in the question. For example, this case gives you a metric, “average number of comments per user.” Consider if the clue might be helpful in your solution. But be careful, sometimes questions are designed to throw you off track.

Answer: From the question, we can hypothesize a little bit. For example, we know that user count is increasing linearly. That means two things:

  • The decreasing comments issue isn’t a result of a declining user base.
  • The cause isn’t loss of platform.

We can also model out the data to help us get a better picture of the average number of comments per user metric:

  • January: 10000 users, 30000 comments, 3 comments/user
  • February: 20000 users, 50000 comments, 2.5 comments/user
  • March: 30000 users, 60000 comments, 2 comments/user

One thing to note: Although this is an interesting metric, I’m not sure if it will help us solve this question. For one, average comments per user doesn’t account for churn. We might assume that during the three-month period users are churning off the platform. Let’s say the churn rate is 25% in January, 20% in February and 15% in March.

Step 3: Make a Hypothesis About the Data

Hint: Don’t worry too much about making a correct hypothesis. Instead, interviewers want to get a sense of your product initiation and that you’re on the right track. Also, be prepared to measure your hypothesis.

Answer. I would say that average comments per user isn’t a great metric to use, because it doesn’t reveal insights into what’s really causing this issue.

That’s because it doesn’t account for active users, which are the users who are actually commenting. A better metric to investigate would be retained users and monthly active users.

What I suspect is causing the issue is that active users are commenting frequently and are responsible for the increase in comments month-to-month. New users, on the other hand, aren’t as engaged and aren’t commenting as often.

Step 4: Provide Metrics and Data Analysis

Hint: Within your solution, include key metrics that you’d like to investigate that will help you measure success.

Answer: I’d say there are a few ways we could investigate the cause of this problem, but the one I’d be most interested in would be the engagement of monthly active users.

If the growth in comments is coming from active users, that would help us understand how we’re doing at retaining users. Plus, it will also show if new users are less engaged and commenting less frequently.

One way that we could dig into this would be to segment users by their onboarding date, which would help us to visualize engagement and see how engaged some of our longest-retained users are.

If engagement of new users is the issue, that will give us some options in terms of strategies for addressing the problem. For example, we could test new onboarding or commenting features designed to generate engagement.

Step 5: Propose a Solution for the Case Question

Hint: In the majority of cases, your initial assumptions might be incorrect, or the interviewer might throw you a curveball. Be prepared to make new hypotheses or discuss the pitfalls of your analysis.

Answer. If the cause wasn’t due to a lack of engagement among new users, then I’d want to investigate active users. One potential cause would be active users commenting less. In that case, we’d know that our earliest users were churning out, and that engagement among new users was potentially growing.

Again, I think we’d want to focus on user engagement since the onboarding date. That would help us understand if we were seeing higher levels of churn among active users, and we could start to identify some solutions there.

Tip: Use a Framework to Solve Data Analytics Case Questions

Analytics case questions can be challenging, but they’re much more challenging if you don’t use a framework. Without a framework, it’s easier to get lost in your answer, to get stuck, and really lose the confidence of your interviewer. Find helpful frameworks for data analytics questions in our data analytics learning path and our product metrics learning path .

Once you have the framework down, what’s the best way to practice? Mock interviews with our coaches are very effective, as you’ll get feedback and helpful tips as you answer. You can also learn a lot by practicing P2P mock interviews with other Interview Query students. No data analytics background? Check out how to become a data analyst without a degree .

Finally, if you’re looking for sample data analytics case questions and other types of interview questions, see our guide on the top data analyst interview questions .

FOR EMPLOYERS

Top 10 real-world data science case studies.

Data Science Case Studies

Aditya Sharma

Aditya is a content writer with 5+ years of experience writing for various industries including Marketing, SaaS, B2B, IT, and Edtech among others. You can find him watching anime or playing games when he’s not writing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Real-world data science case studies differ significantly from academic examples. While academic exercises often feature clean, well-structured data and simplified scenarios, real-world projects tackle messy, diverse data sources with practical constraints and genuine business objectives. These case studies reflect the complexities data scientists face when translating data into actionable insights in the corporate world.

Real-world data science projects come with common challenges. Data quality issues, including missing or inaccurate data, can hinder analysis. Domain expertise gaps may result in misinterpretation of results. Resource constraints might limit project scope or access to necessary tools and talent. Ethical considerations, like privacy and bias, demand careful handling.

Lastly, as data and business needs evolve, data science projects must adapt and stay relevant, posing an ongoing challenge.

Real-world data science case studies play a crucial role in helping companies make informed decisions. By analyzing their own data, businesses gain valuable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and operational efficiencies.

These insights empower data-driven strategies, aiding in more effective resource allocation, product development, and marketing efforts. Ultimately, case studies bridge the gap between data science and business decision-making, enhancing a company's ability to thrive in a competitive landscape.

Key takeaways from these case studies for organizations include the importance of cultivating a data-driven culture that values evidence-based decision-making. Investing in robust data infrastructure is essential to support data initiatives. Collaborating closely between data scientists and domain experts ensures that insights align with business goals.

Finally, continuous monitoring and refinement of data solutions are critical for maintaining relevance and effectiveness in a dynamic business environment. Embracing these principles can lead to tangible benefits and sustainable success in real-world data science endeavors.

Data science is a powerful driver of innovation and problem-solving across diverse industries. By harnessing data, organizations can uncover hidden patterns, automate repetitive tasks, optimize operations, and make informed decisions.

In healthcare, for example, data-driven diagnostics and treatment plans improve patient outcomes. In finance, predictive analytics enhances risk management. In transportation, route optimization reduces costs and emissions. Data science empowers industries to innovate and solve complex challenges in ways that were previously unimaginable.

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  • Am J Epidemiol

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When Is a Complete-Case Approach to Missing Data Valid? The Importance of Effect-Measure Modification

When estimating causal effects, careful handling of missing data is needed to avoid bias. Complete-case analysis is commonly used in epidemiologic analyses. Previous work has shown that covariate-stratified effect estimates from complete-case analysis are unbiased when missingness is independent of the outcome conditional on the exposure and covariates. Here, we assess the bias of complete-case analysis for adjusted marginal effects when confounding is present under various causal structures of missing data. We show that estimation of the marginal risk difference requires an unbiased estimate of the unconditional joint distribution of confounders and any other covariates required for conditional independence of missingness and outcome. The dependence of missing data on these covariates must be considered to obtain a valid estimate of the covariate distribution. If none of these covariates are effect-measure modifiers on the absolute scale, however, the marginal risk difference will equal the stratified risk differences and the complete-case analysis will be unbiased when the stratified effect estimates are unbiased. Estimation of unbiased marginal effects in complete-case analysis therefore requires close consideration of causal structure and effect-measure modification.

Abbreviations

When estimating causal effects, careful handling of missing data is needed to avoid bias. Complete-case analysis (CCA), also known as listwise deletion ( 1 ), uses only the data records without missing values for any variable needed for analysis. CCA is the default method of several commonly used statistical packages, including SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina) and many R packages (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria), and it is frequently used in epidemiologic analyses. Before conducting CCA, it is important to understand whether it will yield a valid estimate of the effect that the study aims to measure.

equation M1

Previous work examining the validity of CCA has focused on estimating stratified effects and has largely ignored estimation of an adjusted marginal effect (i.e., an effect standardized to the covariate distribution of the study sample before any missing data). Marginal effects arguably inform public health and policy more readily than stratified effects and are the effects typically estimated by randomized trials ( 12 ). Closely related, simulations assessing the validity of CCA have rarely considered effect-measure modification ( 4–7 , 10 , 11 ), the presence of which would produce a marginal effect that is different from the stratified effects regardless of effect-measure collapsibility ( 13 ).

In this paper, our objective is to assess the statistical consistency of CCA for marginal effect measures under various causal structures of missingness. We specifically focus on estimation of the marginal risk difference (RD) in scenarios where stratified effect estimates are unbiased.

FRAMEWORK FOR DISCUSSION

equation M15

Stratified 2 × 2 Tables From the Full Study Sample a

a   X , exposure; Y , outcome; Z , confounder.

equation M72

MISSING DATA AND COMPLETE-CASE ANALYSIS

equation M90

Data missing completely at random

equation M114

Stratified 2 × 2 Tables From a Complete-Case Analysis in Which Data Are Missing Completely at Random a , b

a The table reflects the structure of missingness shown in Figure 2 .

b   f , probability that complete data are observed; X , exposure; Y , outcome; Z , confounder.

equation M118

Missingness caused by a confounder

equation M125

Stratified 2 × 2 Tables From a Complete-Case Analysis in Which Missing Data Are Caused by a Confounder a , b

a The table reflects the structure of missingness shown in Figure 3 .

equation M230

Missingness caused by exposure

equation M232

Stratified 2 × 2 Tables From a Complete-Case Analysis in Which Missing Data Are Caused by Exposure a , b

a The table reflects the structure of missingness shown in Figure 4A .

equation M264

Epidemiology is the study of population health ( 22 , 23 ), and thus estimation of population-level effects (i.e., marginal effects) is often a primary aim. Here we have shown that conclusions drawn about the validity of stratified effects from CCA in previous work ( 1 , 3–11 ) may not hold for the estimation of marginal effects and that effect-measure modification plays an important role in validity.

Stratified effect estimates from CCA are consistent when missingness is independent of the outcome conditional on exposure and covariates. If the aim is to estimate effects stratified by confounders and auxiliary variables ( 21 ) required for conditional independence of missingness and the outcome, then this condition may be sufficient to conduct CCA. If, however, the aim is to estimate a marginal effect, a valid estimate of the distribution of the covariates (confounders and auxiliary variables) that are effect modifiers is needed. In the causal structures we examined, when missingness was unconditionally independent of the confounder, the estimate of the confounder distribution in CCA was valid and thus so was the marginal RD. When missingness was associated with the confounder, the confounder distribution estimate was not valid in CCA and the marginal RD estimate was biased, except when the effect was homogeneous over the confounder on the absolute scale. Note that the marginal risks (as opposed to contrasts in risks) will be biased when the distribution of confounders and auxiliary variables is biased, regardless of modification. While our illustration uses standardization, estimation via inverse probability weighting would be expected to behave similarly.

We have focused on estimation of marginal effects, which is a contrast of the weighted average of the covariate-stratified risks weighted by the proportion of the population in each stratum. In much of the applied epidemiologic literature, however, it is common practice to obtain a single estimate of the effect of an exposure on an outcome from a main-effects regression. This conditional estimate is a statistical information-weighted average of the covariate-stratified effects. When the covariate distribution is altered in CCA, the statistical information provided by each stratum is also likely to be altered. Our conclusions, therefore, are expected to apply to these information-weighted average estimates obtained from main-effects models. Technically, when there is heterogeneity, a main-effects model is misspecified; however, it is common in practice to fit this model without checking the homogeneity assumption in order to produce a single effect estimate when stratified effects are not of interest.

Below we present a series of questions with responses to aid discussion of these results.

Question 1. It is known that for collapsible effect measures, stratified and marginal effects will be equal under homogeneity but will not be equal when there is effect-measure modification (   13 ). What do your results add?

First, we hope that our paper provides intuition for the relationship between stratified and marginal effects to readers who may not already have that foundation. Primarily, the work highlights that for equivalence of stratified and marginal effects in CCA there must be, in general, homogeneity of the exposure effect over the distribution of confounders and auxiliary variables. When we include only records with complete data, the distribution of modifiers that is necessary for the valid estimation of a marginal effect may be altered. Our work attempts to illustrate how to use DAGs to identify whether the unconditional distribution of covariates will be biased in CCA compared with the full study sample.

Question 2. Why have you not discussed the scenario in which the outcome is a cause of missingness?

When the outcome causes missingness, stratified RDs and risk ratios are biased ( 9 ). When stratified estimates are biased, it is generally not possible to estimate a valid marginal effect. The odds ratio estimate may be unbiased; however, this work focuses on contrasts of risks. We refer readers to the paper by Daniel et al. ( 8 ), which includes a visualization of the collider bias produced when the outcome is a cause of missingness.

Question 3. Is this a discussion of internal or external validity, and how does it relate to generalizability or selection bias?

The independence of selection and effect modifiers has been largely discussed in the context of generalizability ( 24 , 25 ). Generalizability is usually related to external validity asking, Does the estimate obtained from the study sample generalize to an external or larger target population? Because the aim of this work was to estimate a marginal effect in the study sample (our study target), our question was one of internal validity. The question of internal validity of CCA is analogous to generalizability asking, for example, Does the estimate obtained from the subset of records without missing data “generalize” to the study sample?

The potential bias that arises in CCA when missingness is dependent on modifiers may also be called selection bias without colliders ( 26 ). When the missingness is a direct or downstream effect of a modifier, then the missingness indicator itself is a modifier (effect modification by proxy) ( 27 ). It has been proposed that selection bias due to restricting analysis to 1 level of a modifier be called type 2 selection bias, whereas type 1 selection bias is conditioning on a collider ( 28 ).

Question 4. Have these results been illustrated before in prior work?

Daniel et al.’s algorithm ( 8 ) uses causal diagrams to determine whether stratified risks obtained from CCA are biased and includes a brief discussion of bias in marginal risks when the distribution of covariates is biased. Because work focuses on risk estimation, the potential impact of effect modification on the effect is not discussed. Causal diagrams specifically for missingness, m-graphs, have been developed ( 29 , 30 ). Because our conclusions are agnostic to which variables have missing data, we have not used m-graphs. An algorithm for ascertaining the “recoverability” of effects from an m-graph has been published ( 31 ). This work builds on Bareinboim et al.’s ( 32 ) conditions for recoverability from selection bias. The importance of the dependence of missingness on an effect modifier in CCA has been illustrated in simulations by Choi et al. ( 33 ). In scenarios with effect modification, CCA was biased even when data missingness was conditionally independent of the outcome. The authors explained that the CCA estimate is valid for the full study sample only if the modifier and missing-data indicator are unconditionally independent. Our work attempts to explain this observation. Howe et al. ( 34 ) have previously discussed these concepts related to loss to follow-up and have called this selection bias. Additionally, although the simulations are focused on estimation of the odds ratio, Bartlett et al. ( 11 ) discussed these concepts under the topic of model misspecification.

Question 5. What are the implications?

Estimation of unbiased marginal effects in CCA requires close consideration of causal structure and effect-measure modification. However, the amount of bias may not be meaningful. Further work is needed to understand how the amount of missingness, the strength of dependence of missingness on modifiers, and the extent of modification influence this bias.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Author affiliations: Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Rachael K. Ross, Alexander Breskin, Daniel Westreich); and NoviSci, Durham, North Carolina (Alexander Breskin).

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (grant 1DP2HD084070-01). R.K.R. was supported by the National Institute on Aging (grant R01 AG056479).

Conflict of interest: none declared.

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Qualitative case study data analysis: an example from practice, catherine houghton lecturer, school of nursing and midwifery, national university of ireland, galway, republic of ireland, kathy murphy professor of nursing, national university of ireland, galway, ireland, david shaw lecturer, open university, milton keynes, uk, dympna casey senior lecturer, national university of ireland, galway, ireland.

Aim To illustrate an approach to data analysis in qualitative case study methodology.

Background There is often little detail in case study research about how data were analysed. However, it is important that comprehensive analysis procedures are used because there are often large sets of data from multiple sources of evidence. Furthermore, the ability to describe in detail how the analysis was conducted ensures rigour in reporting qualitative research.

Data sources The research example used is a multiple case study that explored the role of the clinical skills laboratory in preparing students for the real world of practice. Data analysis was conducted using a framework guided by the four stages of analysis outlined by Morse ( 1994 ): comprehending, synthesising, theorising and recontextualising. The specific strategies for analysis in these stages centred on the work of Miles and Huberman ( 1994 ), which has been successfully used in case study research. The data were managed using NVivo software.

Review methods Literature examining qualitative data analysis was reviewed and strategies illustrated by the case study example provided.

Discussion Each stage of the analysis framework is described with illustration from the research example for the purpose of highlighting the benefits of a systematic approach to handling large data sets from multiple sources.

Conclusion By providing an example of how each stage of the analysis was conducted, it is hoped that researchers will be able to consider the benefits of such an approach to their own case study analysis.

Implications for research/practice This paper illustrates specific strategies that can be employed when conducting data analysis in case study research and other qualitative research designs.

Nurse Researcher . 22, 5, 8-12. doi: 10.7748/nr.22.5.8.e1307

This article has been subject to double blind peer review

None declared

Received: 02 February 2014

Accepted: 16 April 2014

Case study data analysis - case study research methodology - clinical skills research - qualitative case study methodology - qualitative data analysis - qualitative research

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case analysis of data

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Journal Retracts Studies Cited in Federal Court Ruling Against Abortion Pill

The journal found that the studies, which had suggested that medication abortion is unsafe, included incorrect factual assumptions and misleading presentation of the data.

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An orange box of Mifeprex (Mifepristone) sits on a table with papers nearby.

By Pam Belluck

An academic journal publisher this week retracted two studies that were cited by a federal judge in Texas last year when he ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should be taken off the market .

Most of the authors of the studies are doctors and researchers affiliated with anti-abortion groups, and their reports suggested that medication abortion causes dangerous complications, contradicting the widespread evidence that abortion pills are safe .

The lawsuit in which the studies were cited will be heard by the Supreme Court in March. The high court’s ruling could have major implications for access to medication abortion, which is now the most common method of pregnancy termination.

The publisher, Sage Journals, said it had asked two independent experts to evaluate the studies, published in 2021 and 2022 in the journal Health Services Research and Managerial Epidemiology, after a reader raised concerns.

Sage said both experts had “identified fundamental problems with the study design and methodology, unjustified or incorrect factual assumptions, material errors in the authors’ analysis of the data, and misleading presentations of the data that, in their opinions, demonstrate a lack of scientific rigor and invalidate the authors’ conclusions in whole or in part.”

The publisher also retracted a third study by many of the same authors that was published in 2019 in the same journal, which did not figure in the mifepristone lawsuit.

Sage said that when it had begun examining the 2021 study, it confirmed that most of the authors had listed affiliations with “pro-life advocacy organizations” but had “declared they had no conflicts of interest when they submitted the article for publication or in the article itself.”

Sage said it had also learned that one of the reviewers who evaluated the article for publication was affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

The institute denied that the studies were flawed, as did the lead author, James Studnicki, who is vice president and director of data analytics at the institute.

“Sage is targeting us,” Dr. Studnicki, who has a doctor of science degree and a master’s degree in public health, said in a video defending the team’s work.

Noting that the studies had been used in legal actions, he said: “We have become visible, people are quoting us, and for that reason we are dangerous, and for that reason they want to cancel our work. What happened to us has little or nothing to do with real science and has everything to do with political assassination.”

In a statement, Dr. Studnicki said, “The authors will be taking appropriate legal action,” but he did not specify what that would be.

The lawsuit seeking to bar mifepristone — the first pill in the two-drug medication abortion regimen — was filed against the Food and Drug Administration by a consortium of groups and doctors who oppose abortion. In fighting the lawsuit, the federal government has defended its approval and regulation of mifepristone, provided years of evidence that the pill is safe and effective and argued that the plaintiffs have no legal standing to sue because they are not abortion providers and have not been harmed by mifepristone’s availability.

In his opinion last April, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk cited the 2021 study to support his conclusion that the plaintiffs had legal standing to sue. That study reported a higher rate of emergency room visits after medication abortions than after procedural abortions. Citing it, Judge Kacsmaryk wrote that the plaintiffs “have standing because they allege adverse events from chemical abortion drugs can overwhelm the medical system and place ‘enormous pressure and stress’ on doctors during emergencies and complications.”

In another section of his ruling, Judge Kacsmaryk cited the 2022 study, writing that “plaintiffs allege ‘many intense side effects’ and ‘significant complications requiring medical attention’ resulting from Defendants’ actions.”

Judge Kacsmaryk’s opinion was criticized by many legal experts, and an appeals court struck parts of it but said significant restrictions should be placed on mifepristone that would prevent it from being mailed or prescribed by telemedicine.

Legal experts said it was unclear if Sage’s action would affect the Supreme Court’s decision. Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, said the retractions might simply “reinforce a position they were already ready to take.”

For example, she said, there were already strong arguments that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing, so if a justice was “willing to overlook all that other stuff, you may be willing to overlook the retractions too,” she said. For justices already “bothered by various other problems with standing, you probably were potentially going to say the plaintiffs didn’t have standing as it was.”

Similarly, she said, some justices would already have concluded that the vast majority of studies show mifepristone is safe, so if a justice was “prepared to say that, notwithstanding the weight of the evidence, mifepristone is really dangerous, you could easily do that again if you lose a couple of studies.”

Pam Belluck is a health and science reporter, covering a range of subjects, including reproductive health, long Covid, brain science, neurological disorders, mental health and genetics. More about Pam Belluck

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India could triple its biofuel use and accelerate global deployment

Jeremy Moorhouse

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IEA (2024), India could triple its biofuel use and accelerate global deployment , IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/commentaries/india-could-triple-its-biofuel-use-and-accelerate-global-deployment, Licence: CC BY 4.0

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India has quickly joined the ranks of major biofuel producer and consumer thanks to a set of coordinated policies, high-level political support, and an abundance of feedstocks. Over the next five years it has the potential to nearly triple consumption and production by removing roadblocks to higher ethanol blends and diversifying biofuel use to replace diesel and jet fuel. However, it will need to keep an eye on costs, feedstock sustainability and deploy supportive policies to other biofuels beyond ethanol.

India has another opportunity to boost global biofuel deployment as well through the Global Biofuels Alliance, which it launched in 2023 with leaders from eight other countries. Last year the IEA released “ Biofuel Policy in Brazil, India and the United States: Insights for the Global Biofuel Alliance ” to support the GBA’s development. In it the IEA recommends the GBA focus on developing new and existing markets since over 80% of production is concentrated in four regions: the United States, Brazil, Europe and Indonesia, which account for only half of global transport fuel demand. We also recommend accelerating technology deployment and commercialisation, and seeking consensus on performance-based sustainability assessments.

In this brief commentary we consider the global status of biofuels, India’s domestic potential and what the GBA can do to help accelerate sustainable biofuels use globally.  

Biofuel use is accelerating, led by emerging economies

Over the next five years biofuel demand is set to expand 38 billion litres, a near 30% increase from the last five-year period. In fact, total biofuel demand rises 23% to 200 billion litres by 2028, with renewable diesel and biojet accounting for almost half of this growth with the remainder coming from ethanol and biodiesel. 

Five-year biofuel demand growth, main case, 2011-2028

Most new biofuel demand comes from emerging economies, especially Brazil, Indonesia and India. All three countries have robust biofuel policies, rising transport fuel demand and abundant feedstock potential. Ethanol and biodiesel use expand the most in these regions. Although advanced economies including the European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan are also strengthening their transport policies, biofuels growth is constrained by factors such as rising electric vehicle adoption, vehicle efficiency improvements, technical limitations and high blending costs in some markets. Renewable diesel and biojet fuel are the primary growth segments in these regions.

India is the third largest global ethanol producer and can build on its rapid growth

India is now the world’s third largest producer and consumer of ethanol thanks to nearly tripling production over the past five years. It has potential to expand further with the right policies, keeping costs in check and securing sustainable feedstocks. In 2018 India released its National Policy on Biofuels which set blending targets for ethanol (20% blending by 2030) and biodiesel (5% by 2030), feedstock requirements for different fuels and laid out the responsibilities of 11 ministries to coordinate government actions. Beyond blending targets, India established guaranteed pricing, long-term ethanol contracts, and technical standards and codes. Financial support for building new facilities and upgrading existing ones was also provided. Buoyed by its success, the Government moved the 20% volume blending target for ethanol forward by 5 years to 2025-26, which was enshrined in an updated National Policy on Biofuels in 2022.

Feedstock demand in India, 2015 to 2028

Biofuel consumption in the acclerated case in india, 2015 to 2028.

Supported by these policies, ethanol for blending in gasoline production and demand nearly tripled between 2018 and 2023 and now stands at near 12% (7% on an energy basis). Sugar cane provides most ethanol production with the remainder from food grains such as maize and surplus rice stocks determined by the Food Corporation of India. To diversify feedstocks beyond sugar cane, India provides separate pricing for maize-based ethanol and includes ethanol produced from agricultural residues such as cotton stalks, wheat straw, rice straw, bagasse and bamboo.

Achieving 20% ethanol blending on average across India will require increasing the fleet of vehicles capable of accepting higher ethanol blending levels. India is encouraging flex-fuel vehicles and retrofits are possible for older vehicles, including two wheelers. In addition, a greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement and reporting requirement would help India assure and improve GHG reductions from biofuel use in the transport sector. India will also need to continue to diversify feedstocks to help avoid shortages as it experienced at the end of 2023. New cellulosic ethanol plants, one completed last year, and three others under development, will help.

India has other opportunities to expand biodiesel for use in diesel vehicles and biojet fuel as a replacement for jet fuel. The government has already established a 5% biodiesel target by 2030 which would require almost 4.5 billion litres of biodiesel per year according to IEA estimates. Mobilising production will require a similar mix of policies as provided for ethanol including production support, guaranteed pricing and feedstock support, especially for mobilising residue oils like used cooking oil and vegetable oils grown on marginal land.

Biojet fuel is another growth area. On 25 November 2023, the Ministry of Oil, Petroleum and Natural Gas announced indicative blending targets of 1% by 2027 and 2% by 2028 for international flights leaving India. We estimate this would require near 100 million litres of biojet fuel per year, likely to come from residue or vegetable oils grown on marginal land. However, future growth could come from other technologies such as alcohol-to-jet using ethanol and gasification technologies whereby agricultural, forestry and municipal solid waste can be converted into jet fuel. 

Biofuel demand must nearly triple on a net zero pathway

World leaders left COP28 this year with clear priorities to triple global renewable capacity, double progress on energy efficiency, drive down methane emissions by 2030 and transition away from fossil fuels – four of the five key priority areas for success indicated by the IEA well before the COP28 gathering. Biofuels are one of the keys to transitioning away from fossil fuels as a complementary measure to electric vehicles and vehicle efficiency improvements. They are also compatible with existing vehicles and over the medium-term play a significant role in reducing emissions from long-distance road, air and maritime transport. In the IEA’s net zero scenario, biofuels production nearly triples from current levels by 2030, but the world is not on track for this. 

Global biofuel demand, main case, accelerated case and in the Net Zero Scenario, 2010-2030

In the IEA’s accelerated case strengthening existing policies, establishing new targets and raising biojet fuel doubles annual historical growth rates to 8% through 2028. Nearly half of this additional growth, 29 billion litres of new demand, results from strengthened policies in existing markets such as the United States, Europe and India (for ethanol), and an additional 21 billion litres comes from new markets (biodiesel in India and ethanol in Indonesia). Biojet fuel offers a third growth avenue, expanding to cover nearly 3.5% of global aviation fuels – up from 1% in the main case.

However, even this level of growth falls short of a net zero scenario. To align with a net zero pathway, biofuels production from new processing technologies to access a large agricultural and forestry residue base must also quintuple by 2030, necessitating significant developmental support, as most remain pre-commercial. To address GHG emissions intensity, technologies such as CCUS applied to biofuel projects can very effectively reduce GHG emissions, with lower feedstock demand. Finally, biofuel production must expand significantly outside of the United States, Brazil, Europe and Indonesia that dominate production and use today. In all cases, predictable long-term policies with clear sustainability requirements are crucial to minimise uncertainty and stimulate investment. 

The Global Biofuels Alliance can help expand sustainable biofuels

On the 9th of September 2023, India launched the Global Biofuels Alliance with the leaders of Singapore, Bangladesh, Italy, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mauritius and the UAE on the sidelines of the G20 summit. As of January 2024, the GBA now has 22 member countries alongside 12 international organisations. The GBA aims to accelerate the deployment of sustainable biofuels. The Alliance is a welcome addition to international and domestic efforts to expand sustainable biofuel supplies in line with a net zero trajectory. Despite the urgent need to increase the production of sustainable biofuels to cut transport emissions and ensure energy security, current growth is lagging what is required to achieve global net zero emissions by mid-century, according to the IEA’s Net Zero Scenario. However, with the right policies and practices, rapid sustainable biofuel deployment is achievable. The GBA can help get sustainable biofuels on track by focusing on three main areas:

  • Identify and help develop markets with high potential for biofuels production : Over 80% of sustainable biofuels production and use is in the United States, Brazil, Europe and Indonesia. However, total transport fuel demand from these countries accounts for less than half of global transport fuel demand. Expanding sustainable biofuels use will therefore require expansion into new markets and expanded production in existing markets. Augmenting sustainable supplies in each market requires enhancing measurement and monitoring for sustainable supplies, assessing mixed technology deployment pathways and developing regional-specific policy packages, while learning from existing experiences.
  • Accelerate technology deployment to commercialise advanced biofuels: Advanced biofuels must grow 11 times by 2030 from 2022 levels in the IEA’s Net Zero Scenario, doubling total biofuels production over the same period. However, planned investments to date remain well below this level of growth.
  • Seek consensus on performance-based sustainability assessments and frameworks: More consistent and internationally recognised sustainability frameworks would help improve measurement and reporting, improve GHG reductions, encourage sustainable biofuels trade and help new markets incorporate lifecycle GHG accounting into their biofuel policies. 

India has already demonstrated how to quickly accelerate biofuel use. It now has an opportunity to extend those lessons learned to other biofuel types. Its leadership with the Global Biofuels Alliance is a welcome addition to international efforts to accelerate sustainable biofuels demand.

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Graphrag: unlocking llm discovery on narrative private data.

Published February 13, 2024

By Jonathan Larson , Senior Principal Data Architect Steven Truitt , Principal Program Manager

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Project Ire - GraphRag background: Blue-green gradient

Perhaps the greatest challenge – and opportunity – of LLMs is extending their powerful capabilities to solve problems beyond the data on which they have been trained, and to achieve comparable results with data the LLM has never seen.  This opens new possibilities in data investigation, such as identifying themes and semantic concepts with context and grounding on datasets.  In this post, we introduce GraphRAG, created by Microsoft Research, as a significant advance in enhancing the capability of LLMs.

  • Publication Can Generalist Foundation Models Outcompete Special-Purpose Tuning? Case Study in Medicine 

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is a technique to search for information based on a user query and provide the results as reference for an AI answer to be generated. This technique is an important part of most LLM-based tools and the majority of RAG approaches use vector similarity as the search technique. GraphRAG uses LLM-generated knowledge graphs to provide substantial improvements in question-and-answer performance when conducting document analysis of complex information.  This builds upon our recent research , which points to the power of prompt augmentation when performing discovery on private datasets . Here, we define private dataset as data that the LLM is not trained on and has never seen before, such as an enterprise’s proprietary research, business documents, or communications.  Baseline RAG 1 was created to help solve this problem, but we observe situations where baseline RAG performs very poorly. For example:

  • Baseline RAG struggles to connect the dots.  This happens when answering a question requires traversing disparate pieces of information through their shared attributes in order to provide new synthesized insights.
  • Baseline RAG performs poorly when being asked to holistically understand summarized semantic concepts over large data collections or even singular large documents.

To address this, the tech community is working to develop methods that extend and enhance RAG (e.g., LlamaIndex (opens in new tab) ).  Microsoft Research’s new approach, GraphRAG, uses the LLM to create a knowledge graph based on the private dataset.  This graph is then used alongside graph machine learning to perform prompt augmentation at query time.  GraphRAG shows substantial improvement in answering the two classes of questions described above, demonstrating intelligence or mastery that outperforms other approaches previously applied to private datasets.   

Applying RAG to private datasets

To demonstrate the effectiveness of GraphRAG, let’s start with an investigation using the Violent Incident Information from News Articles (VIINA) dataset (opens in new tab) .  This dataset was chosen due to its complexity and the presence of differing opinions and partial information.  It is a messy real-world test case that was recent enough not to be included in the LLM base model’s training.  

For this research, we use thousands of news articles from both Russian and Ukrainian news sources for the month of June 2023, translated into English, to create a private dataset on which we will perform our LLM-based retrieval.  The dataset is far too large to fit into an LLM context window, thus demanding a RAG approach.

We start with an exploratory query, which we pose to both a baseline RAG system and to our new approach, GraphRAG:

Query: “What is Novorossiya?”

In these results, we can see both systems perform well – highlighting a class of query on which baseline RAG performs well.  Let’s try a query that requires connecting the dots:

Query: “What has Novorossiya done?”

Baseline RAG fails to answer this question.  Looking at the source documents inserted into the context window (Figure 1), none of the text segments discuss Novorossiya, resulting in this failure.

Figure 1: LangChain Q&A Retrieved Context A table entitled “Relevant chunks of source documents” with 10 rows of text segments pulled from the VIINA dataset. Each text segment mentions a news event happening in Ukraine and Russia. None include the term ‘Novorossiya’.

In comparison, the GraphRAG approach discovered an entity in the query, Novorossiya.  This allows the LLM to ground itself in the graph and results in a superior answer that contains provenance through links to the original supporting text.  For example, Figure 2 below shows the exact content the LLM used for the LLM-generated statement, “Novorossiya has been implicated in plans to blow up ATMs.” We see the snippet from the raw source documents (after English translation) that the LLM used to support the assertion that a specific bank was a target for Novorossiya via the relationship that exists between the two entities in the graph. 

Figure 2: GraphRAG Provenance An image of the GraphRAG system displaying a table of the VIINA source text used to ground the connection between Novorossiya and PrivatBank. The table has three columns for source, date, and text. There is a single row of content shown. The row shows the source is from ‘interfaxua’, the date of publication is June 8, 2023, and the text box contains a paragraph taken from the source document. In summary, the text describes the creation of Novorossiya with intent to commit acts of terrorism targeting PrivatBank, the Regional Radio and Television Broadcasting Center, and other targets. It describes recruitment of residents of Odessa. Highlighted in the text box are two separate strings of text. The first is the word ‘Novorossiya’ and the second is the text ‘criminal blew up buildings of military commissariats, ATMs’.

By using the LLM-generated knowledge graph, GraphRAG vastly improves the “retrieval” portion of RAG, populating the context window with higher relevance content, resulting in better answers and capturing evidence provenance. 

Being able to trust and verify LLM-generated results is always important.  We care that the results are factually correct, coherent, and accurately represent content found in the source material. GraphRAG provides the provenance, or source grounding information, as it generates each response.  It demonstrates that an answer is grounded in the dataset.  Having the cited source for each assertion readily available also enables a human user to quickly and accurately audit the LLM’s output directly against the original source material.   

However, this isn’t all that’s possible using GraphRAG. 

Whole dataset reasoning 

Baseline RAG struggles with queries that require aggregation of information across the dataset to compose an answer. Queries such as “What are the top 5 themes in the data?” perform terribly because baseline RAG relies on a vector search of semantically similar text content within the dataset. There is nothing in the query to direct it to the correct information. 

However, with GraphRAG we can answer such questions, because the structure of the LLM-generated knowledge graph tells us about the structure (and thus themes) of the dataset as a whole.  This allows the private dataset to be organized into meaningful semantic clusters that are pre-summarized.  The LLM uses these clusters to summarize these themes when responding to a user query. 

We illustrate whole-dataset reasoning abilities by posing the following question to the two systems: 

Query: “ What are the top 5 themes in the data? “

Looking at the results from baseline RAG, we see that none of the listed themes has much to do with the war between the two countries.  As anticipated, the vector search retrieved irrelevant text, which was inserted into the LLM’s context window.  Results that were included were likely keying on the word “theme,” resulting in a less than useful assessment of what is going on in the dataset. 

Observing the results from GraphRAG, we can clearly see that the results are far more aligned with what is going on in the dataset as a whole.  The answer provides the five main themes as well as supporting details that are observed in the dataset.  The referenced reports are pre-generated by the LLM for each semantic cluster in GraphRAG and, in turn, provide provenance back to original source material.

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Collaborators: Holoportation™ communication technology with Spencer Fowers and Kwame Darko

Spencer Fowers and Kwame Darko break down how the technology behind Holoportation and the telecommunication device being built around it brings patients and doctors together when being in the same room isn’t an easy option and discuss the potential impact of the work.

Creating LLM-generated knowledge graphs

We note the basic flow that underpins GraphRAG, which builds upon our prior research (opens in new tab) and repositories (opens in new tab) using graph machine learning: 

  • The LLM processes the entire private dataset, creating references to all entities and relationships within the source data, which are then used to create an LLM-generated knowledge graph. 
  • This graph is then used to create a bottom-up clustering that organizes the data hierarchically into semantic clusters (indicated by using color in Figure 3 below).  This partitioning allows for pre-summarization of semantic concepts and themes, which aids in holistic understanding of the dataset. 
  • At query time, both of these structures are used to provide materials for the LLM context window when answering a question. 

An example visualization of the graph is shown in Figure 3.  Each circle is an entity (e.g., a person, place, or organization), with the entity size representing the number of relationships that entity has, and the color representing groupings of similar entities.  The color partitioning is a bottom-up clustering method built on top of the graph structure, which enables us to answer questions at varying levels of abstraction.

Figure 3: LLM-generated knowledge graph built from a private dataset using GPT-4 Turbo. A knowledge graph visualization represented by a collection in 3D space projected onto a 2D image of circles of varying sizes and colors. The circles are grouped together in space by color, and within each color area the larger circles are surrounded by many smaller circles. Each circle represents an entity within the knowledge graph.

Result metrics

The illustrative examples above are representative of GraphRAG’s consistent improvement across multiple datasets in different subject domains.  We assess this improvement by performing an evaluation using an LLM grader to determine a pairwise winner between GraphRAG and baseline RAG.  We use a set of qualitative metrics, including comprehensiveness (completeness within the framing of the implied context of the question), human enfranchisement (provision of supporting source material or other contextual information), and diversity (provision of differing viewpoints or angles on the question posed). Initial results show that GraphRAG consistently outperforms baseline RAG on these metrics.  

In addition to relative comparisons, we also use SelfCheckGPT (opens in new tab) to perform an absolute measurement of faithfulness to help ensure factual, coherent results grounded in the source material. Results show that GraphRAG achieves a similar level of faithfulness to baseline RAG. We are currently developing an evaluation framework to measure performance on the class of problems above.  This will include more robust mechanisms for generating question-answer test sets as well as additional metrics, such as accuracy and context relevance. 

By combining LLM-generated knowledge graphs and graph machine learning, GraphRAG enables us to answer important classes of questions that we cannot attempt with baseline RAG alone.  We have seen promising results after applying this technology to a variety of scenarios, including social media, news articles, workplace productivity, and chemistry.  Looking forward, we plan to work closely with customers on a variety of new domains as we continue to apply this technology while working on metrics and robust evaluation. We look forward to sharing more as our research continues.

1 As baseline RAG in this comparison we use LangChain’s Q&A (opens in new tab) , a well-known representative example of this class of RAG tools in widespread use today.

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COMMENTS

  1. Case Study Methodology of Qualitative Research: Key Attributes and

    It must be noted, as highlighted by Yin , a case study is not a method of data collection, rather is a research strategy or design to study a social unit. Creswell (2014, p. 241) makes a lucid and comprehensive definition of case study strategy.

  2. Qualitative case study data analysis: an example from practice

    Data analysis was conducted using a framework guided by the four stages of analysis outlined by Morse ( 1994 ): comprehending, synthesising, theorising and recontextualising. The specific strategies for analysis in these stages centred on the work of Miles and Huberman ( 1994 ), which has been successfully used in case study research.

  3. What Is a Case Study?

    Step 1: Select a case Step 2: Build a theoretical framework Step 3: Collect your data Step 4: Describe and analyze the case Other interesting articles When to do a case study A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject.

  4. Case Study

    Defnition: A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth examination and analysis of a particular phenomenon or case, such as an individual, organization, community, event, or situation. It is a qualitative research approach that aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the case being studied.

  5. Writing a Case Study Analysis

    A case study analysis requires you to investigate a business problem, examine the alternative solutions, and propose the most effective solution using supporting evidence. Preparing the Case Before you begin writing, follow these guidelines to help you prepare and understand the case study: Read and Examine the Case Thoroughly

  6. Google Data Analytics Capstone: Complete a Case Study

    There are 4 modules in this course. This course is the eighth and final course in the Google Data Analytics Certificate. You'll have the opportunity to complete a case study, which will help prepare you for your data analytics job hunt. Case studies are commonly used by employers to assess analytical skills. For your case study, you'll ...

  7. Data Analysis Techniques for Case Studies

    Data Analysis Techniques for Case Studies All Case Studies What are some common data analysis techniques for case studies and when to use them? Powered by AI and the LinkedIn...

  8. 6 Steps of a Case Analysis (With Example)

    1. Preparation Just like with any study, it's important to first prepare to conduct the case analysis. To begin, review the details of the case you're analyzing to make sure you understand it thoroughly.

  9. 10 Real World Data Science Case Studies Projects with Example

    Data Analytics Case Studies in Oil and Gas FAQs on Data Analysis Case Studies What is a case study in data science? How do you prepare a data science case study? 10 Most Interesting Data Science Case Studies with Examples So, without much ado, let's get started with data science business case studies! Data Science Case Studies in Retail 1) Walmart

  10. Writing a Case Analysis Paper

    Case analysis is a problem-based teaching and learning method that involves critically analyzing complex scenarios within an organizational setting for the purpose of placing the student in a "real world" situation and applying reflection and critical thinking skills to contemplate appropriate solutions, decisions, or recommended courses of action.

  11. Data Analysis Case Study: Learn From These Winning Data Projects

    Step 1: Reflect Upon Your Organization Whenever you evaluate data case collections to decide if they're a good fit for your organization, the first thing you need to do is organize your thoughts with respect to your organization as it is today.

  12. Data Analytics Case Study Guide (Updated for 2023)

    Data Analytics Case Study Guide (Updated for 2023) Table of contents What Are Data Analytics Case Study Interviews? How to Solve Data Analytics Case Questions Data Analytics Cases vs Product Metrics Questions Data Analytics Case Study Question: Sample Solution Product Data Case Question: Sample Solution

  13. PDF Open Case Studies: Statistics and Data Science Education through Real

    topic can walk through the case study to see an example of a complete data analysis. In addition, this method is particularly helpful for instructors who may not feel con-fident creating an analysis from scratch, especially if it is outside their main area of expertise, as our case studies built with domain experts and are peer-reviewed.

  14. Case Study Data

    Case study research. Peta Darke, Graeme Shanks, in Research Methods for Students, Academics and Professionals (Second Edition), 2002. Collecting case study data. The collection of case study data from case participants can be difficult and time-consuming and requires careful planning and judicious use of both the case participants' and the researchers' time.

  15. 10 Real-World Data Science Case Studies Worth Reading

    Data quality issues, including missing or inaccurate data, can hinder analysis. Domain expertise gaps may result in misinterpretation of results. Resource constraints might limit project scope or access to necessary tools and talent. ... Real-world data science case studies play a crucial role in helping companies make informed decisions. By ...

  16. When Is a Complete-Case Approach to Missing Data Valid? The Importance

    When estimating causal effects, careful handling of missing data is needed to avoid bias. Complete-case analysis (CCA), also known as listwise deletion (), uses only the data records without missing values for any variable needed for analysis.CCA is the default method of several commonly used statistical packages, including SAS (SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, North Carolina) and many R packages (R ...

  17. Qualitative case study data analysis: an example from practice

    Data sources The research example used is a multiple case study that explored the role of the clinical skills laboratory in preparing students for the real world of practice. Data analysis was conducted using a framework guided by the four stages of analysis outlined by Morse ( 1994 ): comprehending, synthesising, theorising and ...

  18. Complete Case Analysis

    Complete case analysis, also known as listwise deletion (LD), utilizes only the cases in a data set for which there are no missing values on any of the variables. This can result in loss of significant amount of information even in data sets that contain a modest number of variables.

  19. Data analytics case study data files

    Phase 3 - Introduction to Statistical Analysis. Stay up to date. Subscribe to our University Relations distribution list. Data analytics and case studies files.

  20. Campaign Goal Setting: Data Analysis, Predictive Tools, and ...

    And finally, we will review case studies in campus stakeholder negotiations that lead to comprehensive campaign ownership, including how to use data to encourage leadership to raise sights in goal setting. This interactive session will equip you to approach campaign goal setting with confidence! ... Data Analysis, Predictive Tools, and ...

  21. Some virtual care companies putting patient data at risk, new study

    Dr. Sheryl Spithoff, a physician and scientist at Women's College Hospital in Toronto, co-authored a new study that found the for-profit virtual care industry valued patient data and 'appears to ...

  22. Court's New Chevron Analysis Likely to Follow One of These Paths

    In Loper Bright Enterprises v.Raimondo, the US Supreme Court will decide whether to overrule one of its most frequently cited precedents—its 1984 opinion in Chevron v. NRDC.The decision in Loper may change the language that lawyers use in briefs and professors use in class, but is unlikely to significantly affect case outcomes involving interpretation of the statutes that agencies administer.

  23. Journal Retracts Studies Cited in Federal Court Ruling Against Abortion

    Sage said both experts had "identified fundamental problems with the study design and methodology, unjustified or incorrect factual assumptions, material errors in the authors' analysis of the ...

  24. India could triple its biofuel use and accelerate global deployment

    Access every chart published across all IEA reports and analysis. All data. Reports . Read the latest analysis from the IEA. Oil Market Report - February 2024 ... main case, accelerated case and in the Net Zero Scenario, 2010-2030 ... analysis, data and events delivered twice monthly. Subscribe. View sample Explore our other newsletters. Browse;

  25. Evaluating Diurnal Ozone Emissions: A Comparative Analysis of DSCOVR

    Evaluating Diurnal Ozone Emissions: A Comparative Analysis of DSCOVR EPIC, PANDORA, and TOLNet Data for Space-Based Monitoring Assessment: A Case Study by ASDC Stratospheric ozone occurs naturally in the upper atmosphere, forming a protective layer that shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

  26. GraphRAG: Unlocking LLM discovery on narrative private data

    Case Study in Medicine Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is a technique to search for information based on a user query and provide the results as reference for an AI answer to be generated. This technique is an important part of most LLM-based tools and the majority of RAG approaches use vector similarity as the search technique.