Case Studies

Question 1

Define a case study

Answer 1

When a range of data is compiled for a detailed study of a single individual institution or event

Question 2

Explain What a case study may look like

Answer 2

• Allows researchers to reach great depth
• Study is often longitudinal and subjective
• Often generates qualitative data through interviews and observations although quantitate of data can be gathered to back up these ideas

Question 3

Evaluate the use of a case study

Answer 3

+ The data is often rich and in depth, May contain information that is overlooked by other methods
+ Allows investigation of rare or extreme instances of human behaviour that wouldn’t be ethical to generate experimentally
- It is difficult to generalise from individual cases as they are unique
- Often involves gathering retrospective data which can be unreliable as it relies on memory recall
- Can suffer from research a bias when the researcher interprets findings in favour of what they are aiming to show