Food Forum - Using a Case Study

About this section \| User Notes \|
Using a case study \| Producing a case study \| Lines of enquiry \| Using a case study Why evaluate products? You can learn a great deal by evaluating products. This involves looking in detail at the design thinking and development processes that ideas go through to become products. This may be done through case studies - other people's and your own. The purpose may be to: develop evaluative, investigative and information handling skills help with decision-making develop critical thinking and analytical skills raise awareness of how and why products are developed develop understanding of industrial design and manufacture practise the procedures involved in carrying out tests provide opportunities for collaborative work support the development of ideas provide opportunities to learn from real examples and contexts encourage you to justify ideas and account for your actions Specifically, case studies are a way of learning about: the human needs that products are designed to meet the industrial practices through which products are designed and manufactured the value judgements underpinning design ideas - egs. why things came to be the way that they are And can help you to: increase the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to be an innovator! You might also be asked to research and produce your own case studies, particularly at KS4, GCSE, Advanced and GNVQ levels. You will be expected to gather information from numerous sources, including those which you investigated yourself (primary sources). This might involve a visit into industry, an industrial placement or contact via phone, fax or email with people in the industrial and commercial world who have the relevant expertise to offer. back to top Producing a case study Plan your case study using the following steps and tips. Choose a subject think about what would make a good case study story - what will other people find interesting and useful? What would they like to know the inside story on? choose something that links with coursework you are doing, the brief you have been given, or an aspect of industrial practice that relates to food set yourself some key questions or lines of enquiry that you want to answer or address look for examples of innovation in product design, manufacture or marketing Decide what you need to find out This will help to identify which sources of information to use. In this section you will find some Case Study Lines of Enquiry that you might follow up. Another good place to start is at the end of each case study in the Innovation Case File where you will find further useful resources listed. Investigate your subject You will need to research around your chosen case study subject, so that you are well-informed about it. This includes finding and collecting information from a number of places or sources. Places to start books and magazines about food in the food technology room your teacher is a food expert and is a good source of information and can suggest where to look, even if they cannot help other people in your class and at home may have information that would be useful to you - ask questions and talk to them about what you are doing and how you might go about it make use of existing case studies to create your own - check out those in the F-files. What works well? How could you improve on them? the IT room and the libraries will give you access to software and possibly the Internet supermarkets may have free magazines and information leaflets TV, teletext, radio, encyclopaedias, books, newspapers and specialist food and industry magazines contact industry by phone, fax, email, or through their websites - explain what you are investigating and be specific about what you need to know Tips to help with your investigations decide in advance what you are looking for be specific about what you need develop the skill of scanning text or written information - headings, sub-headings, bold, underline or italics will help you to track down particular information. scan first, then zoom in on information that might be useful and read these bits in detail jot down notes and key pieces of information to remind yourself later do not copy or download great chunks of information - it takes too long, you will probably collect more than you need and you are less likely to take note of information once you start copying Analyse information as you scan or read it and decide what is worth recording or make a set of summary bullet points in your own words if you are using a computer you can cut and paste sections of information and save these to file or print these out - but be selective - it will be obvious if you just download other people's words if you are using the Internet, you will need to use search engines - these help you to find what you are looking for by searching on key words and phrases. If you are looking something up in a book or magazine, make use of the index or contents page if you are talking to someone to get information from them, decide what you need to know, plan some questions in advance, jot down the main points as they speak Plan the structure and presentation decide how it will be presented, egs. printed, on web pages, multi-media presentation, slide-show include an introduction, a number of headed sections and a conclusion your case study should 'flow' logically and keep the attention of the audience it should show that you carried out a piece of in-depth research and investigation don't forget to include any investigations, eg. sensory tests that you carried out use tables, charts, diagrams, bullet points and images to get the information across as well as extended writing - annotate or label these with your comments or explanations include your own views and justify them Further useful resources on product design and innovation 'Looking at Values through Products and Applications', DfEE, 1996 'Characteristics of Good Practice in Food Technology', OfSTED, 1996, HMSO 'Food Technology in Practice', DATA/DfEE, 1996 'Nuffield Foundation D&T Project', published by Longman - KS3 and KS4 materials Royal College of Art D&T Project, published by Hodder & Stoughton - 'D&T Challenges' for KS3, 'D&T Routes' for KS4 and 'Advanced Design & Manufacturing' for post-16 The Design Council's web site (look in the Education section) - www.designcouncil.org.uk back to top Case study lines of enquiry The following are the lines of enquiry around which the case studies in the F-files were written. They can be used as a template for producing case studies. A case study need not address all of these aspects. They can be generated by individuals, or as a group project, with each member addressing different aspects and then pooling information. ICT may be used for gathering, recording and communicating information. About the company and the product What is the background to the company and its role in new product and system development/technological development? Describe the product/system - how does it work and what does it do? What makes it innovative - is it the concept, production processes, equipment used, use of technologies and materials, marketing? About the design and development process Background to the system's development, egs. when and why developed and in response to what manufacturing or consumer needs? Where did the idea come from or what prompted it? What was the initial brief? What is its intended use and function? What influences and/or constraints informed the development of the product? Were alternative design ideas trialled before settling on this solution? If so, why was this one considered the best option? What was the more detailed design specification? Were there any problems that had to be resolved during development and trialling. If so, what were these and how were they resolved? Were there any important technical and functional decisions relating to the product's development, egs. re. materials, equipment or processes? What research was conducted prior to development or during trialling? How long did the process of design and development take, what were the key stages and who did this involve? What consultation and evaluation was involved? How successful has it been and how was this measured? Are there any further developments planned? How are these decided? About the manufacture What materials/ingredients are used and why? Where are they sourced from and to what specification? How is the product manufactured? How is the manufacturing process controlled? About the marketing Where and how is the product sold? How is it promoted? What assumptions are made about the potential consumers? ©foodforum.org.uk 2000. All rights reserved back to top