Case Studies

Question 1

What is a case study?

Answer 1

An in depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, group, institution or event –> generally produces qualitative data

Question 2

How can data be obtained in case studies?

Answer 2

Questionairres, medical history, interviews w individual, interviews w friends + family, observation, case histories, experiments

Question 3

Define longitudinal study

Answer 3

Involves repeated observation of the same variables over long periods of time

Question 4

What are strengths of case studies?

Answer 4

+ Offer rich, detailed insights into unusual forms of behaviour
+ Can contribute to understanding of ‘normal’ functioning —> can be widely applied
+ Can generate hypotheses for future study of an area

Question 5

Give limitations of case studies

Answer 5

– Small sample sizes = cannot be generalised
– Researcher bias —> information in report based on subjective interpretation
– Accounts from family + friends may be inaccurate due to bias + memory —> lowers validity of data

Question 6

Give limitations of case studies

Answer 6

– Small sample sizes = cannot be generalised
– Researcher bias —> information in report based on subjective interpretation
– Accounts from family + friends may be inaccurate due to bias + memory —> lowers validity of data