Case Study Template

Use this structure for an Allocate case study. It sets out the sections, tables, and standards needed to trace a study from its question to its next action.

Purpose

Allocate case studies show the research workflow on a real topic. They help readers follow the work and give future agent runs, reviewers, and community investigations a common structure.

Each case study should demonstrate:

• how a question was framed
• what evidence already existed
• what evidence was missing
• what the system added
• what is actionable after the research

Standard outline

Use this section order for publishable case studies:

1. Research question
2. Why this matters
3. Geographic and temporal scope
4. Literature review
5. Public and operational data
6. Local or field evidence
7. Key findings
8. Costs, barriers, and tradeoffs
9. Action matrix
10. Unknowns and next verification steps
11. Methods appendix
12. Source appendix

Research question

Start with a narrow, answerable question.

Good:

• What are the main barriers to protected bike lane use in Venice, California?
• What infrastructure deficits most increase flood exposure in a specific Lagos district?
• Which interventions are low-cost enough to implement within one municipal budget cycle?

Weak:

• What is wrong with transportation?
• Why is inequality bad?

The question should identify:

• place
• issue
• timeframe
• intended decision context

Literature review

The literature review should establish the baseline and leave room for local evidence and analysis.

For each source, capture:

The review should end with an explicit evidence-gap statement:

• what the literature covers well
• what it does not cover
• what must be investigated through other means

Findings structure

Each major finding should include:

• a short claim
• evidence type and confidence
• supporting citations
• methodological note when inference is involved
• action relevance

Recommended phrasing:

Finding 2. Peak-hour lane obstruction is concentrated at loading conflict points across the corridor. Evidence: direct observation, city curb map, resident testimony.
Confidence: medium.

This keeps the tone readable while preserving auditability.

Figure and table standards

Figures should clarify an argument. Use them when they help a reader understand the evidence.

Recommended visual types:

• time series for trend or seasonality
• bar charts for cost, counts, or ranking
• funnel charts for workflow attrition
• maps for place-specific disparities
• Sankey or flow diagrams for system behavior
• evidence tables for cross-source comparison

Each figure should have:

• a figure number
• a plain-language title
• source note
• method note if derived
• explicit mention in the surrounding text

Action matrix

Every case study should include an action matrix.

The action matrix connects the research to specific work.

Unknowns and next steps

List unresolved questions clearly.

End with:

• what remains unknown
• which field evidence would reduce uncertainty the most
• what should be monitored over time
• what could invalidate the current conclusion

Methods appendix

The appendix should be plain enough for readers to audit.

It should include:

• search strategy
• data sources used
• inclusion and exclusion rules
• dates accessed
• geographies compared
• assumptions and limits
• whether any charts were derived or transformed

Source appendix

The appendix should separate sources by type:

• literature
• administrative records
• operational records
• media and observation
• testimony
• derived calculations

Case studies are stronger when a reader can tell exactly which parts came from the formal record, which parts came from local evidence, and which parts are editorial synthesis.