Topic selection

Case study thesis should focus on typical practices of public administration, mainly utilize methods like empirical research and data mining to acquire information and data, offers a complete case description, conduct an in-depth analysis of cases based on theories and approaches concerning public administration, analyze the causes, propose corresponding solutions, summarize lessons learned and theoretical extracts and expansions, and provide materials about practical experience in public administration, relevant theories and methods as support.

Composition

Main body should consist of four parts: introduction, case description, case analysis and research findings or conclusions.

1. Introduction: proposes the background, purpose and significance of the topic selected; reviews the developments of domestic and overseas studies on related topics, explains the representativeness or typicality of the case selected; extracts research problem and contents; establishes an analytical framework and selects research methods.

2. Case description: outlines background of the case and main channels to acquire information on the case; explains time, place, people, event and process of the case, and describes its causes and evolution in chronological order or according to logical relations between events. The overall length of case description should not exceed 30% of the whole text.

3. Case analysis: conducts an in-depth analysis of the case based on the analytical framework built and research method selected, analyzes the case and the causes, sums up the lessons learned from the case, and proposes corresponding solutions and approaches to popularize and duplicate successful experience.

4. Research findings or conclusions: make a summary of the case. Then, deepen or expand the reflection on case-related practices, policies and theoretical problems on the basis of finding solutions to this case or similar cases.

Other requirements

1. Contents reflected by the case must be true and valid and are from firsthand data, 访谈内容or statistical data collected by the author(s).

2. The case selected must be typical and representative; if the case involves the interest of the investigated (subject of the case) or affect the subject of the case, the consent of the subject of the case is required.

3. For case study thesis, text format such as font and word size should be subject to the standards for professional master’s thesis of each school.

4. In principle, the main body of a case study thesis should be not less than 20,000 words.

5. Each school may further detail requirements on this basis.