Case studies

Question 1

What is a case study?

Answer 1

Research method that involves a detailed study of a single individual, institution or event. Provide a rich record of human behaviour but are hard to generalise from.

Question 2

What methods may a research use to produce a case study?

Answer 2

Interviews
Observations
IQ and personality tests
Questionnaires
Experimental methods

Question 3

What are case studies often described as?

Answer 3

Longitudinal investigation of event-based research (or evidence-based research).

Question 4

What are 2 examples of case studies?

Answer 4

HM - pole through head
Little Hans - liked his mum

Question 5

(AO3) What is the biggest strength of case studies?

Answer 5

Rich, in-depth, detailed information. Provide insight into complex interactions between factors that may be overlooked by other methods.

Question 6

(AO3) What is a second strength of case studies?

Answer 6

Investigate rare cases. Enables research into the effects or rare circumstances that would not be ethical to produce in a lab.

Question 7

(AO3) What are case studies’ biggest limitation?

Answer 7

Difficult to generalise. Unique characteristics and tiny sample size.

Question 8

(AO3) Identify another limitation of case studies.

Answer 8

Ethical issues of confidentiality and informed consent. Is the participant in a position to give consent and how anonymous is it realistically?