Subject and Course Guides: Public Relations: Case Studies

What is a case study?

The case study is a descriptive, qualitative research method that analyzes in great detail a person, an organization, or an event. Case studies are found in most applied areas, such as business, law, and marketing, and offer insight into practices and tactics. The case study's major advantage is the detail and analysis it provides of a specific person, organization, or event. Its major disadvantage is that it cannot be generalized to situations other than the one that was studied. Encyclopedia of Public Relations

In Public Relations, case studies:

Identify the challenge a particular customer faces
Describe the solution provided by the company
Illustrate the measurable results gained from using the service

Databases to Find Case Studies & Industry Info

WARC This link opens in a new window
Warc provides intelligence solutions for students, faculty and staff in marketing, advertising and mass communications.
Warc includes over 6,000 global case studies, and articles, opinion pieces and conference reports. It also contains comprehensive historic and forecast advertising expenditure data together with global media cost data.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides access to full-text, peer-reviewed business publications, as well as indexing and abstracts for many scholarly business journals.
Business Source Complete (BSC) is the world's most comprehensive scholarly business database that provides full-text access to almost 4,000 business and scholarly journals, plus indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals dating back as far as 1886. Select journals included in this database are: Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Administrative Science Quarterly. Additional full-text content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, faculty seminars (videos), and more. BSC is an important resource for researchers interested in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance, and economics. Updated monthly.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
IBISWorld provides access to detailed industry reports for over 700 plus United States industries. Each report includes industry structure, market characteristics, product and customer segments, cost structure, industry conditions, major players, market share, supply chain structure, and 5-year revenue forecasts.

Online Resources

Case Studies in Strategic Communication
Dedicated to the study of strategic communication through the case study form. Case studies illustrate the strategies, tactics, and execution of communication campaigns through in-depth coverage of a single situation. CSSC is a peer-reviewed publication housed at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.
Institute for Public Relations Research Letter
The Institute for Public Relations is dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™. We focus on research that matters to the practice, providing timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use.
Arthur W. Page Society
Includes case studies written by students for the Case Study Competition. Scroll to the bottom to load case studies from past competition winners.
PR Council -- Case Studies
The Council is dedicated to strengthening the recognition and role of public relations firms in corporate strategy, business performance and social education; to serve as an authoritative source of information and expert comment and to help set standards for the industry.

Related Guide

Company & Industry
by Janet Burka Last Updated Apr 16, 2024 1474 views this year

Video Tutorials

Introduction to the WARC Database

Note: the home page design has been updated since this video was made. In order to navigate to the Case Finder, click the three lines in the top right corner of the page, open the Case Studies+, and then Case Finder will appear.