Case Studies

Question 1

Case studies

Answer 1

Case studies involve the detailed investigation of a single individual or group or institution. This may be because the psychologist has only found one or two individuals who display this rare and/or fascinating behaviour. Case studies provide rich, detailed qualitative data compared to other research methods. Case studies usually involve several methods (observations, interviews, etc.) which allows researchers to check for consistency, reliability and validity.

Psychologists can collect qualitative data (for example from interviews and observations); and/or quantitative data such as questionnaires or experiments.

Case studies can last weeks, months or years and so can be longitudinal. This means they are able to observe changes over time.

Question 2

Advantages of case studies

Answer 2

+ Case studies create opportunities for a rich yield of data, and the depth of analysis can in turn bring high levels of validity.

+ Studying abnormal psychology can give insight into how something works when it is functioning correctly, such as brain damage on memory.

+ The detail collected on a single case may lead to interesting findings that conflict with current theories, and stimulate new paths for research

Question 3

Disadvantages of case studies

Answer 3

• There is little control over a number of variables involved in a case study, so it is difficult to confidently establish any causal relationships between variables.
• Case studies are unusual by nature, so will have poor reliability as being able to replicate them exactly will be unlikely.
• Due to the small sample size, it is unlikely that findings from a case study alone can be generalised to the wider population.