Case studies

Question 1

Features

Answer 1

• In-depth investigation of one person or a small group of people (e.g. family)
• Typically investigate naturally occouring events so they allow psychologists to look at things that couldn’t normally be investigated
• Can be longitudinal or retrospective (looking back)
• Researcher gathers a range of information e.g. family r/ships, medical history, socioeconimic status etc, to form a case history.
• Researcher uses a number of methods to get info

Question 2

Strengths

Answer 2

• Method is rich and detailed - Highly valid. The researcher finds out as much as possible about the individual or small group often using a variety of researcher methods (that can triangulate findings). Therefore a large amount of data is gathered. A case study gives us more detail than lab experiments. This makes it more useful valid data.
• Ecological validity. As data comes directly from the people concerned and is generally gathered in their nataural surrondings, so is ecologically valid. As the data often comes from people’s lives, nothing has been set up or artificial. This means the data from qualititative techniques like case studies is more trustworthy.

Question 3

Weakness

Answer 3

Low reliability. Case studies aren’t replicable as the situation is unique and does not generally incoporate standardised procedures. Also another researcher at another time might get different data that contradicts the findings, showing clear inconsistency.