Building A Case Study (Out Loud!)
Approaching It Like a Science Experiment
My favorite way to gather material for a case study is to follow the form of a science experiment. It goes something like this:
- Identify the research question
- Develop a hypothesis
- Design the experiment
- Conduct the experiment
- Analyze the data
- Draw conclusions
- Communicate your results
This post covers steps 1–3.
1. Identify the Research Question
→ Why did our social media engagement drop so significantly in 2021?
1a. App Tracking (err… Dependency on FB + IG)
The first big hit on engagement that we noticed was when Apple launched its “opt out of tracking” feature with the release of iOS 14.5 on April 26, 2021. This feature requires app developers to obtain users’ consent before tracking their activities across other apps and websites. Folks can choose to allow or block tracking on an app-by-app basis and change their preferences at any time in the Settings app. This feature is part of Apple’s ongoing efforts to improve user privacy and give users more control over their data. Ultimately, I’m for it.
