Case studies Flashcards
What is a case study?
It is an in-depth study of one person, group or event. Case studies are used to study people or situations that cannot be studied through normal methods like experiements, surveys or interviews
What type of cases do case studies focus on?
Abnormal
What type of study are case studies?
Longitudinal
What methods do recent case studies tend to use?
Mix qualitative approach with questionnaries and biological measures (like brain scans or genetic profiling) to collect quantitative data too.
What is the idiographic approach?
An idiographic approach involves focusing on one individual in order to provide insight into the uniqueness of their experience
What is the nomothetic approach?
If a case study shows interesting or unexpected results, it may be followed up with a wider-scale survey or experiment to draw conclusions about people in general
What are the 3 type sof case studies?
- Prospective
- Retrospective
- Instrumental
What is a Prospective case study?
They observe an individual or group of people in order to determine what happens to them. For example, a patient might be watched over time to observe the progression of a mental disorder. Bradshaw (1998) follows a young woman called Carol receiving therapy for schizophrenia
What is Retrospective case studies?
They look at historical information. For example, psychologists might start with an outcome, such as a mental disorder, and then uncover information about the individual’s life to determine risk factors that may have contributed to the illness. A good example is Freud’s case study of Little Hans which revealed the boy’s Oedipus Complex.
What are instrumental case studies?
They occur when the individual allows psychologists to understand more than what is initially obvious. A good example is Dr Milner’s case study of H.M., which revealed much more about his memory problems than was obvious at first.
What are some strengths of case studies?
- Provides rich, in-depth data
- Suggests directions for further research
- Allows investigations that might be difficult or unethical to do in other ways
What are some weaknesses of case studies?
- Problems generalising results to wider population
- Loss of detachment and objectivity
- Difficult to replicate and time-consuming
Why is generalisability low in case studies?
They are looking at unrepresentative people - people with deviant behaviour, mental disorders or unusual thought processes. These people might not be representative of normal people - they might not even be representative of other unusual people.
Why are case studies low in reliability?
Case studies that are rich in qualitative data may be unreliable. This is because they can be highly subjective: the researcher’s own, highly personal, impression of the participant. This is a criticism often leveled at Freud’s case studies.
How can you correct the subjectivity of case studies?
Researchers often use standardised procedures to gather quantitative data as part of a case study. This often comes from:
Biometric data: this might include brain scans, genetic profiles, fingerprints or blood samples Psychometric data: this often comes from filling in questionnaires or solving cognitive tests, like memory tests
