Read “Caroline Sacks” (from Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath)
• Prepare case study critique – focus on Section 6 (p81-94) The attachment is the article
Guidline for the Summary and Critiques (must be followed)
1. Overall topic of the paper (or focus section of the paper)
• One paragraph summary（completely in own language）
2. Key assumptions that were made, and your assessment of them
3. What important missing factors?
• Not very helpful: ”I thought the authors should have discussed or included Topic X and they
didn’t
• Good: ”I thought the authors should have discussed or included Topic X because it might
have changed the overall conclusion of the paper (in what way)
• Best: “If the authors had included Topic X, I believe it would have changed to overall
conclusion, because ___________
4. Your biggest take-away; what did you learn that could be useful in some other avenue of research
Questions to consider for case studies（must be mentioned in the Critique)
1.What assumptions might change Gladwell’s conclusion that “how you feel relative to your peers” is the reason for the nearly-equal
percentage distribution of STEM majors among the 11 colleges shown
2. Do you accept the finding that “best students from mediocre schools were always a better
bet than good students from the very best schools”?
–If not, how would you reconcile the data tables of published papers that compare the very best (Harvard, MIT, etc.) with the mediocre (Toronto, non-top 30) schools
3. Has Gladwell provided compelling quantitative analysis to support the “Big Fish, Little Pond”
theory? — If not, what else is needed?
Please do not cite external sources
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