Case Studies

Question 1

What is a Case Study?

Answer 1

A detailed study of a particular group or organisation carried out over a long period of time whilst being extremely detailed.

Question 2

Who are Case Studies favoured by?

Answer 2

Interpretivists as they can gain information about attitudes and opinions as well as observe social interaction. Normally use observations and unstructured interviews.

Question 3

What is a Life History?

Answer 3

Case Studies that focus upon one individual. This is backed up by personal documents such as diaries and letters.

Question 4

Advantages of Case Studies:

Answer 4

They may have higher validity, they can be the only ethical way of investigating a certain area, they can be used to challenge existing theories.

Also, Interpretivists would not favour the use of case studies.

Question 5

Disadvantages of Case Studies:

Answer 5

They are not time and cost effective, it is not easy to check the reliability of the case, The Hawthorne effect could be a problem, they lack representativeness.