07. Research Methods- Case Study

Question 1

What is a case study?

Answer 1

-A case study is idiographic, an investigation that focuses on the individual and emphasises the unique personal experience.
-The study of one person, group or event, usually selected for their unusual or unique characteristics.
-Can be conducted within a short space of time or over a long time.
-It is an in depth study with a vast amount of detailed information collected.

Question 2

What techniques are used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires?

Answer 2

1. Interviews
2. Psychological tests
3. Observations
4. Experiments
5. Questionnaires

Question 3

How can information be collected?

Answer 3

-Information can be collected from the case study or from other people such as family and friends- both primary and secondary data can be used.
-A case history is also produced. This is a record of previous experiences of behaviours that the researcher has collected.
-Data is often triangulated, data collected using different methods are compared to assess reliability and validity.

Question 4

Describe triangulation.

Answer 4

-Triangulation refers to using two or more ways of collecting data and checking whether the data is similar and therefore reliable and valid.

Reliable if: Same/similar data has been found using different methods, as if replicated the same results will be found.

Valid if: The data matches, and at least some of this data comes directly from the individual, as this increases the likelihood of gathering accurate data.

Question 5

Describe the famous case study of HM.

Answer 5

-HM had severe epilepsy. As a treatment he had a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy, removing his hippocampus.
-He suffered with amnesia for the rest of his life, so was unable to form new memories.

Question 6

What is quantitative data?

Answer 6

Information that is or can be converted to numbers.

Question 7

What is qualitative data?

Answer 7

Information that is non-numerical prose.

Question 8

What are weaknesses of the case study method?

Answer 8

-Not generalisable.
-Unrepresentative of general population.
-Unethical as objectifying.
-Difficult to replicate.
-Time consuming.

Question 9

What are strengths of the case study method?

Answer 9

-Provides rich, in depth data.
-Suggests direction for further research.
-Allows investigations that might be difficult or unethical to do in other ways.

Question 10

Describe AO1 of the case study’s in terms of how much data is collected.

Answer 10

It is an in-depth study with a vast amount of detailed information being collected.

Question 11

What is a strength of large amounts of data being collected?

Answer 11

-Means that information that may be overlooked using other research methods can be identified.
-Provides opportunity to use a holistic approach, meaning complex interactions of many factors can be studied as opposed to experiments where variables are held constant.

Question 12

What is a weakness of large amounts of data being collected?

Answer 12

-Practical issues as it can take a long time to collect and analyse the vast amount of detailed data. —So a lot of time, money and effort is required to conduct a case study.

Question 13

Describe AO1 in terms of the variety of techniques used to collect data.

Answer 13

A variety of techniques are likely to be used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Plus both primary and secondary data can be used. It can be conducted within a short space of time (one day) or over a long time (many years).

Question 14

What is a strength of the data collection techniques?

Answer 14

-Vast amounts of different types of data can be gathered about a case using a variety of methods.
-This data is likely to be very detailed being both numerical and non-numeical.
-When lots of data is collected triangulation can take place to highlight reliable and valid results.

Question 15

What is a weakness of the data collection techniques?

Answer 15

-Data collected using certain techniques may be inaccurate, eg recollections of past events can’t always be treated as people’s memories are unreliable, so we may not recall information correctly.
-We are unable to make before and after comparisons because only anecdotal evidence of what the patient was like before they were studied is available. This means we cannot be sure of the causes of their behaviour reducing the validity of the data collection techniques.

Question 16

Describe AO1 in terms of data being triangulated.

Answer 16

Data is often triangulated. Meaning data is collected using different methods are compared to assess reliability and validity.

Question 17

What is a strength of data being triangulated?

Answer 17

-If same or similar results are found about a case using different method this shows findings can be replicated and therefore it is reliable.
-If the data matches, and at least some of the data comes directly from the individual, then this increases the likelihood of gathering accurate data.
-This is a strength because it improves the trust in the findings and the method is seen as more scientific.

Question 18

What is a weakness of data being triangulated?

Answer 18

-Researchers may lack objectivity.
-This means that results may be subject to bias because researchers interpret data subjectively.

Question 19

Describe AO1 in terms of how the case study is selected.

Answer 19

A case study is the study of one person, group or event- usually selected for their unusual or unique characteristics.

Question 20

What is a strength of using a case study of participant(s) with unique characteristics?

Answer 20

Can be used to investigate instances of human behaviour and experience that are rare (eg mental illness) or could not be created in research laboratories (eg brain damage). This is because it would be impossible to trigger a mental illness or highly unethical to administer brain lesions to a healthy patient.

Question 21

What is a weakness of using a case study of participant(s) with unique characteristics?

Answer 21

It would be inappropriate to generalise the findings from individual cases to the rest of the population/society. This is because case studies are conducted on unique individuals who are very different due to their unusual characteristics.

Question 22

How can ethical issues be avoided in a case study?

Answer 22

-There are important ethical issues to consider such as anonymity of the patient and confidentiality of their information. This is because privacy has been invaded so personal info must be protected. But case studies are often identifiable due to their uniqueness.
-People within case studies are referred to by their initials, eg HM to try and avoid them being identified and make sure they are kept anonymous.
-Other personal details will be omitted such as their address to ensure they cannot be identified.
-Any personal information must be kept confidential and not shared with others.
-In this way, researchers adhere to BPS ethical principles and guildelines.

Question 23

Describe the sample in the case study of HM.

Answer 23

-One male adult, HM, aged 27, from Connecticut.
-History of a head injury due to a bike accident when he was 7 which started his epilepsy.
-Became so severe he opted for surgery and he had his hippocampus removed.

Question 24

What is a weakness of the sample of HM?

Answer 24

-Low generalisability as HM was a unique individual with specific memory impairments due to the removal of his hippocampus and history of epilepsy.
-HM is unrepresentative of anyone else in society and it would be inappropriate to generalise the findings on memory from the individual case of HM to the rest of the population.

Question 25

What is a strength of the sample of HM?

Answer 25

-Strength is can be used to investigate specific instances of human behaviour and experiences.
-This is because these situations could not be created in research laboratories, so it would be difficult to replicate this research as it would be impossible to trigger a mental illness or highly unethical to administer brain lesions to a healthy patient.
-This means that the research from HM could be used to allow us to better understand STM and LTM as well as information on our procedural and declarative memory.
-Therefore the case study of HM has high generalisability as this specific instance of human behaviour can allow us to better understand certain parts of the brain.

Question 26

Describe the procedure of the case study of HM.

Answer 26

-HM’s memory was tested by carrying out tasks such as the star task which required him to look in a mirror while drawing between two lines.
-In addition it was observed that he was able to remember ST information such as where the bathroom was.
-A case study was compiled using reports from this mother, as well as data from his doctors from the past.

Question 27

What is a strength of the procedure of HM?

Answer 27

-The study of HM can be repeated on other individuals in similar situations.
-As the study of HM took place over 50 years, many techniques were used to gather information and triangulation was used to prove what happened to HM to lead to his situation of struggling with declarative memory.
-Procedures of techniques used to study HM were standardised so they could be repeated. Triangulation showed that they produced similar results highlighting that findings were consistent.

Question 28

What is a weakness of the procedure of HM?

Answer 28

-The study of HM will be hard to replicate and reproduce because his brain injury was unique to himself.
-He suffered from seizures leading to him to have an experimental brain surgery where his hippocampus was removed.
-He was then unable to make any new memories, as well as declarative memories.
-The function of his memory was individual to himself and it would be unethical for a researcher to inflict similar brain damage onto another person.
-This is a weakness because it reduces the reliability of the study because it can’t be reproduced by other researcher’s to validate the findings.

Question 29

What kind of data was gathered from the case study of HM?

Answer 29

-Milner gathered a range of data including secondary data, retrospective data about his past and test information which was quantitative.
-By the end of his live, HM had been studied for over 50 years using numerous techniques:

1. MRI scans
2. Mirror tracing star task
3. Interviews of friends, they recalled his personality had not changed.
4. After his death post-mortem studies and MRI scans of his brain were made in detail.

Question 30

What is a strength of the type of data collected by Milner?

Answer 30

-A strength is that a range of data is collected over many years using both qualitative and quantitative data, making results more valid as they can be checked and proved valid when results appear the same.
-For example HM was studied using MRI scans and multiple tests such as the mirror tracing star task. Himself, family and friends were also interviewed to recall his past experiences and personality.
-Strength as such a range of data was collected and it can be triangulated which improves validity as the data matched, and at least some of the data came from the individual, which increases the likelihood of gathering accurate data and it is valid.

Question 31

What is a weakness of the type of data collected by Milner?

Answer 31

-In terms of validity, a weakness is that Milner investigated HM’s youth and previous life before having his hippocampus removed.
-This required the collection of retrospective data collected from family, himself and looking at previous documents, eg school reports. This retrospective data may not be entirely accurate as it’s based on memory recollection from a long time ago.
-Inaccuracies in this data reduced the validity of the findings as Milner gathered qualitative data which is subjective and therefore may not be entirely accurate.

Question 32

What was the aim of the case study?

Answer 32

To investigate the unexpected and persistent memory deficit following a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy removing his hippocampus.

Question 33

What were the results of the case study?

Answer 33

-He could hold a short conversation, demonstrating a working STM.
-His semantic memory was intact.
-But he had severe impairment to his LTM, being unable to form any new long term memories, eg for years he reported that the year was 1953 and his was 27 years old.

Question 34

What was the conclusion of the case study?

Answer 34

This case study clearly demonstrated the localised nature of different brain functions and the role of the hippocampus in episodic/semantic memory, which has been confirmed in many other studies.

Question 35

How can the case study of HM be positively and usefully applied?

Answer 35

-Prior to HM, psychologists thought that memory was a single function that took place all across the brain.
-For example, after HM it became clear that there are different memory functions that take part in different parts of the brain.
-This is a strength because this information about the role of the hippocampus can be used to understand other cases of brain damage.
-Therefore the case study of HM lead to safer and more successful brain surgeries while also allowing for psychologists to make the distinction between STM and LTM, leading to the development of the multi store model.

Question 36

What is a weakness of the case study’s applicability?

Answer 36

-Despite HM’s vase study helping with ideas on STM and the use of the hippocampus the data can’t be applied to real life due to the lack of generalisability, as HM is a unique individual.
-He had a very dangerous and poor health meaning his brain may have functioned differently to the rest of the population.